Grounding mobo without washers

[dalefarrell]

I have put many pc's together. They have all worked fine. Now I seem to have fried my second amd 64x2 in an asus a32n8sli. I have had all brass posts under at least 5 mobos in this one case, never used any fiber washers. Never read any where in the installation books to do so. No washers were provided in the screw kit. I rma'd the board and the processor, and they worked fine for maybe two months. Then while installing RC2 I got the boot error that there was a problem accessing the storage device. I gradually stripped the system, substituted all hardware. The whole 9yds. It powers up, fans run, memory activity led blinks once, then absolutely nothing but the whirring of little blades. There is no heat generated by the cpu. Bottom line is to rma the processor again, spending 80 bucks to ship it to Holland. But I would like to know if I have been committing some techno sin by not using washers somewhere over or under the board. Dale.

 

[Nodsu]

The washers are just a safety thing in case the standoffs or screws don't align with the holes perfectly and touch a track that is routed too close to the holes.

Examine the mobo and see if there are any tracks running close to the mounting holes so that ascrew collar can short something. Make sure you don't have any metal standoffs attached to the case that don't have a corresponding mobo hole.

 

[Tedster]

what not get some plastic standoffs? They're cheap!

 

[dalefarrell]

Plastic would insulate from grounding to the case, but not adjacent tracks being contacted by the screw head. If this were a concern wouldn't ASUS supply plastic standoffs and red washers instead of the brass? I am going to pull the board, but I doubt there will be anything visible. I've always been carefull to not use large head screws. Both boards and processors ran fine for a few months, and there are no high temps. I have read of high failure rates on some processors from AMD, maybe I have been a lucky recipient! Thanks.Dale.

 

[Tmagic650]

The standoffs come with the computer cases hardware. Like you, I have built many systems and I have scrapped many systems for their parts. I have not seen grounding issues for a few years now, but I know that motherboards only need 2 or 3 grounding points. thes points are near the keyboard/mouse connections and around the ATX power connector. Plastic standoff can be used in other areas like the IDE connectors

 

[dalefarrell]

Oh no. This could be the problem, but I don't like the thought. I wonder if the minimal compression pressure could just have slowly pinched a point where a short occured? I have run systems completely without a case. I am going to remove the mobo and examine it with a magnifier. The good news is that UPS just announced 3 shipments a day to europe, so my processor will get to Holland much quicker. Dale.

 

[Tmagic650]

Hi Dale,
This is a good idea to run the motherboard out of it's case. Check the standoffs for metal sharp edges where they contact the motherboard. The standoffs should all be the same height too. You might use plastic where the IDE and floppy connectors are. These areas receive the most pushing pressure...

 

[dalefarrell]

The cpu is probably toasted already. Most of the standoffs have been used for years, and I am constantly working in the case. The side panel has'nt been on in years. The last time this happened I rma'd the mobo first, and that did not fix it. Glad I have all those plastic standoffs gathering dust. Dale.