Install the Motherboard
Now you need
to install the motherboard into the case. If you’re following this
tutorial, the CPU, fan and memory will already be installed onto the motherboard,
so you will be installing this whole setup into the case now.
Once the
case is positioned correctly for work, locate the holes on the motherboard
and the holes on the case or motherboard mounting plate. You might want
to hold the board just above the case motherboard plate and see which
holes on the case line up with holes on the motherboard. You might need
to place some components of the case out of the way so that you can do
this, including the power leads and motherboard hook-ups. But, the point
here is to find out which holes out of the many holes on the motherboard
mounting plate will need to be used for your particular motherboard. All
motherboards have mounting holes in different places.
Now gather your spacers, pictured to the right. Screw them in to the holes
in the case or mounting plate that line up with holes on the motherboard.
You can tighten them with a 3/16" nut driver or by hand. Some cases
have small spacers that snap into place. With these, you push them through
the mounting plate from the back side and they will snap into place.
Now slide the board into the case. Make sure it sits on the spacers and that all the spacers line up with an available hole on the motherboard. If you have any stand-offs installed, make sure the little disks on them are placed into the wide end of the eyelet hole, then slid over to the narrow part, thus locking them in. Once the stand-offs are locked in, all spacers should line up. If you have a case with a detachable motherboard mounting plate, simply place the board over the previously placed spacer screws on the plate, and make sure they all line up with holes through the motherboard. As you do this, you will need to make sure that the I/O connectors (parallel, keyboard and mouse ports) face backwards and properly align and go through the holes in the back of the case. Some cases have a flimsy removable plate in this back area, and you can easily poke out the holes you need to use so that the motherboard’s corresponding parts can poke through. Other cases have this rear portion as part of the chassis, and you will need to use a flat head screwdriver to pry the metal covers out of the holes. When this step is complete, you should have a motherboard sitting in your case, with the screw holes lining up with the spacers beneath it and the I/O connectors should be sticking out of the holes at the back of the case properly.
Inspect the screws you will use to tighten the board down. If the head of the screws are too wide, and you think they might contact any circuitry on the motherboard, place a plastic washer over each hole. I’ve had some ATX boards refuse to start up later because they were grounded somewhere to the case, probably by a screw.
Tighten the board down. Install the screws into each of the spacers underneath, through the board and the washers if you used them. Tighten them down by hand first, then finish them with a screwdriver. Make sure you do not tighten them too much. You don't want to crack your board. Just make them snug so that the board doesn't wiggle around in the case.
If you were installing the board to a removable mounting plate, install the motherboard mounting plate back into the case. On some cases, the plate is installed from the side. On these, you insert the bottom edge of the plate into a guide rail on the bottom of the case and then rotate upward. The top edge of the plate will contact the case, at which point you can screw it in or a spring loaded handle will lock it in. On other cases, the plate may slide in a different way, as from the rear. These plates are then easily removed later if you ever need to remove the motherboard.
Double Check your work. Check to be sure that the back of the motherboard is not touching any part of the case or mounting plate. Make sure the slots and connectors line up with the holes on the back of the case. And definitely be sure that the board is rigid and tight. If you press down on the board at any point, it should not bend down.