Moving PC from UK to Canada - Advice please

deusexlumina · 30 Dec 2015 at 13:33

the cost and hassle involved will likely mean its easier to buy another case while you're out there and take components in well padded hold luggage.

CaNsA · 30 Dec 2015 at 13:53

Righto,

A mate of mine moved from the UK to Canada when Bizarre Creations folded a few years ago.

All his stuff was packed up into a shipping container and sent over.

Things he learnt about PC transport.

A CPU cooler can snap off the mounts, land on the graphics cards and break everything in the case.

His advice is....
Remove and box up:- CPU cooler, gfx card, psu, etc etc.
Basically everything in the case that isnt the motherboard, cpu or ram. Leave those mounted in the case.

Deathjester · 30 Dec 2015 at 14:28

Personally if it's air cooled, then I'd either go with taking everything out.

Or fill it up with the air bags which you get you OCUK packages filled with to prevent things shifting around.

theaterix · 30 Dec 2015 at 14:52

NCIX and TigerDirect are a couple of companies to look at when your out there for PC stuff, I watch LinusTechTips who is from Canada and he used to work for NCIX, and thats how I know of them... Your best chances are removing everything that with a sudden bang, could break off, such as GPU, CPU Cooler, things like that and carry hard drives with you as they are also sensitive to shocks..

b0rn2sk8 · 30 Dec 2015 at 15:00

Dark_Knight said:
I might consider that if the shipping costs turn out to be astronomical. But will definitely check on tower (and other component) prices beforehand. Money is tight, so I want to avoid paying for parts if I can.

Just had a look at shipping prices, 20KG's to Canada is going to be £62. Better than I thought to be honest.

Doubt each screen is going to be more than 12KG's making that £48 each, that is a little harder to swallow.

Sone · 30 Dec 2015 at 22:25

I did it the other way around. Shipped PC from canada to uk.

Stuck it all in a big box, towels and clothes around it and shipped it home. The mobo broke but everything else survived (inc monitor). Took about 4 weeks though.

Skynet5 · 31 Dec 2015 at 10:23

What do you use the machine for? If it isn't work related I wouldn't bother taking it. Having a kid takes all your free time

d_brennen · 31 Dec 2015 at 10:31

TheVoice said:
Sell it and buy a laptop, you're never going to have time to use your PC once the baby arrives anyway!

This, frankly! Not worth it IMO, sell up and concentrate on getting yourself there and getting baby stuff done. When you know where you are going to end up, then buy a new PC. It will have all depreciated so much in a year or two, the shipping costs may work out more expensive, not to mention hassle.

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 22:56

TheVoice said:
Sell it and buy a laptop, you're never going to have time to use your PC once the baby arrives anyway!

Haha, ...I wish I could, but I can't afford a decent enough lappy that'll be good for design work. It would have made life a lot easier, ...but unfortunately I will have to find a way to get my stuff shipped one way or another. But agree fully about time, lol. It'll be my second, so I know all too well how demanding those little beasts are

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 23:14

tres_kun said:
Well from experience
Got my entire PC in the cargo luggage on the plain
You should take the hard drives with you as they might not survive
The case was dropped on a corner
The case is a solid steel beast ,,old server case``

Aftermath:
Cpu cooler a 92mm fan &tower was tied with rope towards all sides
The CPU came out of the socket: no damage
And the case got crushed a hammer has restored its side door removal ability

SO: remove CPU cooler
Get a box and well wrap the case
Remove the magnetic storage if data is important

If graphic card is big and heavy advice to remove as well
For power supply compatibility with 110V check on the label
Or tell us make and model

Ouch, didn't expect they'd get that much of a battering :-S
I'll wrap everything as thoroughly as I can. I don't have the original case box, but have another case box of similar size, so hopefully that'll be fine.
CPU cooler, hard drives, graphics and sound card, etc will all be removed and packaged separately.
As for the PSU, it's a CoolerMaster 700w (model: RS-700-ASAA-A1)
AC INPUT: 115v/230v, so that looks good.
It does say on the label: 'Caution - Select the right input voltage!'
I'll have to look that up and see how to do that.

Thanks very much for sharing your experience/tips, ...and sorry for the late reply.

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 23:16

Rroff said:
Depends where you are in Canada - there are a few PC specialists plus stuff like tigerdirect (if they still exist) but given how big the country is and how remote some parts are that can very much be a problem.

Thankfully my partner's dad has built a few custom PCs, so he should know some good places to check out for parts if I resort to that. My gf thinks BestBuy might be my best bet, so I'll look further into that.

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 23:20

Confused Stu said:
What make and model is your PSU? If you're not sure, it should have a sticker on the side of it. Hopefully that sticker will show it's input voltage (usually "AC Input: 115-240V" or similar). If not, the manufacturers website will give you the details, or post up the make and model here and I'm sure someone will be able to find it for you and at least put your mind to rest on that.

CoolerMaster 700w (model: RS-700-ASAA-A1)
AC INPUT: 115v/230v, so I think that's ok.
On the label it says: 'Caution - Select the right input voltage!'
I'll check the website and see what it says, but it sounds like it's got the right range to work fine

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 23:24

mid_gen said:
I'd be amazed if the PSU doesn't just work on 110v automatically. Just check the label on the back, it will likely say 110-240v and you're fine.

I got my PC shipped back from Hong Kong in a container, just wrapped it in a few layers of cardboard and it got packed in a box same as everything else. I just had a stock cooler in it, if I had a monster one I would have removed it to prevent damaging the mobo, but otherwise, no problems.

It says 115v-230v, so it seems to be good. I'll check CoolerMaster's website to see how to set the right voltage if it doesn't do it automatically

I'll make sure to pack it well and remove anything that might come off or easily damage. Hopefully the mobo will remain undamaged if I leave that in

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 23:28

I fancy boys said:
the cost and hassle involved will likely mean its easier to buy another case while you're out there and take components in well padded hold luggage.

I'll be hoping to take a monitor or two with me if I can pack them well enough without requiring too many boxes to ship. If I did take out all the components and bought a case over there, I'd probably have to buy monitors too as I doubt I'd be able to fit even one in amongst my checked luggage. It seems increasingly likely I'll have to ship them, but bracing myself for how much it might cost once I have a better idea of box sizes and weight :/

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 23:32

CaNsA said:
Righto,

A mate of mine moved from the UK to Canada when Bizarre Creations folded a few years ago.

All his stuff was packed up into a shipping container and sent over.

Things he learnt about PC transport.

A CPU cooler can snap off the mounts, land on the graphics cards and break everything in the case.

His advice is....
Remove and box up:- CPU cooler, gfx card, psu, etc etc.
Basically everything in the case that isnt the motherboard, cpu or ram. Leave those mounted in the case.

Ah, thanks for sharing

Any idea what shipping service he used and roughly how much it cost him?

I'll deffo remove all those. Seems to be the general consensus in here, so I'll do just that

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 23:35

Deathjester said:
Personally if it's air cooled, then I'd either go with taking everything out.

Or fill it up with the air bags which you get you OCUK packages filled with to prevent things shifting around.

I will definitely take all components out and wrap separately. Air bags sound like a good way to go for keeping mobo and any remaining bits intact, so I'll buy a buy a good amount for the inside and anything else (monitors, etc) that I decide to ship. Thanks

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 23:37

theaterix said:
NCIX and TigerDirect are a couple of companies to look at when your out there for PC stuff, I watch LinusTechTips who is from Canada and he used to work for NCIX, and thats how I know of them... Your best chances are removing everything that with a sudden bang, could break off, such as GPU, CPU Cooler, things like that and carry hard drives with you as they are also sensitive to shocks..

Thanks for those suggestions. It looks like I'm likely to ship the lot, but if I change my mind owing to ridiculous shipping quotes, I might have to check those out when I get there.
I'll package all the bits separate, so there'll be minimal/no loose components.
Cheers

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 23:42

b0rn2sk8 said:
Just had a look at shipping prices, 20KG's to Canada is going to be £62. Better than I thought to be honest.

Doubt each screen is going to be more than 12KG's making that £48 each, that is a little harder to swallow.

That sounds very reasonable indeed. Thanks very much for going to the trouble of finding that out, very much appreciated. I might have to sacrifice taking one or both the monitors, so I'll play around with weights and what price brackets see best, and will dump anything that I could buy out there for cheap(ish) if need be.

Which shipping service did you get those prices from, please?

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 23:44

Sone said:
I did it the other way around. Shipped PC from canada to uk.

Stuck it all in a big box, towels and clothes around it and shipped it home. The mobo broke but everything else survived (inc monitor). Took about 4 weeks though.

Ah, sorry about the mobo, but glad all else shipped fine. 4 weeks is cool. I doubt I'd need it desperately once I'm there, so I think I can wait a bit.
Towels sound like a cool idea. I'll see if I can help add some additional cushioning with those. Cheers

Dark_Knight · 31 Dec 2015 at 23:47

lnoton said:
What do you use the machine for? If it isn't work related I wouldn't bother taking it. Having a kid takes all your free time

I need it for design work, if/when I'm able to do any. I already have one son who is a little over a year old, and yeah, he's been a handful as it is. Dread to think what this new chap (another boy) will be like

Should be fun finding out, sorta :/

...but money is tight, so gotta find time to work somehow also