How important that all screws secured to case (asus P8P67 Pro)

tom1245 · 5 Apr 2011 at 21:11

Hi Guys,

Am hoping that someone can advise me... I ordered a pre-built bundle off the internet last week. the pre-built nature of it was the mobo, with CPU, Ram, Heatsink etc all mounted to the motherboard.

Before ordering the retailer told me that they would mount the mobo to the case but when I received it the mobo wasnt mounted.

Since receiving I've tried to mount the mobo (Asus P8P67 Pro), every screw is in apart from two:
- 1 where the mobo has 'BT+VIRM' written on it
- 1 in the corner near the 8 pin ATX connector

Despite several attempts I cannot secure the two screws in these positions because the heatsink is in the way. What would you guys advise?

i was tempted to leave it but now I'm thinking that the heatsink is probably the heaviest point on the board when the case is upright so might damage it in the long run. The board does seem fairly secure however despite these 2 screws not secured.

P.S. Unfortunately removing the heatsink really isnt an option, as I don't have thermal paste and I'm not sure how to do it - removing it may also invalidate the warranty on the OC that I have got from the retailer.

Thanks

1Day · 5 Apr 2011 at 21:22

The best thing to do is contact the support team here at OCUK they are rather good you know and they will be able to advise you as to how you should proceed.

tom1245 · 5 Apr 2011 at 21:53

I didn't purchase from OC - I just wanted to get some views from people on this forum. I will probably talk to the retailer tomorrow to ask them best options

setter · 5 Apr 2011 at 21:59

One tip that ive used for hard to get screws is to sellotape the screw onto the screwdriver, then reach in to screw it into place. Used to have to do this with my previous case to get the left hand side screws in to secure my optical drive.

tom1245 · 5 Apr 2011 at 22:10

Thanks, that's not a bad shout actually - does anyone know how important the mobo facia is that it's on there too? At the moment it is metal then it has some sort of cushioning on it which makes it difficult to push the mobo right up. All the holes line up fine for the screws I have already done but the 2 left to do, there is not a perfect line up with the holes in the case.

chippy08 · 5 Apr 2011 at 22:54

Make sure the back plate or I/O shield as its called which has some springy metal on them make sure there not blocking the way as that can cause the mobo not to line up properly with the holes.

tom1245 · 5 Apr 2011 at 22:56

yeah it has some spongy stuff on it. Even trying to use the celeotape suggestion I physically cannot get to the hole because it's impossible.

Just out of interest, could I safely remove the sponge from the IO panel in order to make there be a better fit? I reckon if I could do this then I could at least try and secure the screw with my finger and do the first few turns before switching to my screwdriver

setter · 5 Apr 2011 at 23:00

The sponge was a feature that asus introduced on their mobo io panels a few years ago. It does need a little more pressure to get the board lined up, but i much prefer it to the metal tabs on i/o shields of old.

tom1245 · 5 Apr 2011 at 23:06

Ahh ok... well, even with the pressure applied it is still physically impossible to get access to this hole, especailly with the heatsink already mounted.

Does anyone have any other alternatives instead of removing the heatsink to secure & then reapply the heatsink (which looks like it will be a monster of a task that I have never done before!)

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far everyone. Hopefully this gets sorted soon. longest PC build ever!

hernaldo · 5 Apr 2011 at 23:14

If it's just 2 screws, don't worry about it.

As long as the top right (top right of RAM) and middle are in...you're fine as far as any cooler goes.

tom1245 · 5 Apr 2011 at 23:26

hernaldo said:
If it's just 2 screws, don't worry about it.

As long as the top right (top right of RAM) and middle are in...you're fine as far as any cooler goes.

Which 'middle' screw do you mean? The one in the very centre of the board as well as the middle at the bottom are secured. The middle one right by the CPU slot isn't, the same with the one at the top, opposite corner to the ram - the corner nearest the io shield

TrojanWhore · 7 Apr 2011 at 16:23

setter said:
The sponge was a feature that asus introduced on their mobo io panels a few years ago. It does need a little more pressure to get the board lined up, but i much prefer it to the metal tabs on i/o shields of old.

yeah was very hard work for me holding the mobo in place with one hand whilst trying to screw in the mobo with the other, but still preferable to the springy metal tabs

@ OP: the purpose of that foam (and the old style metal tabs) is to earth the motherboard from static and other potentially damaging electromagnetic phenomena, leave it on!