How can I safely transport/move my PC in a car (not by courier, just me!) without the original box the chassis came in?

[MajorOuchies]

In a few months I will be moving from my town here in Canada to a city around 2-3 hours away for school. 

In doing so, I will be bringing my PC rig, which is rather heavy with a lot of components (I only have a decently big air cooler, not an AIO)

When I first built my PC, after having brought it home, one of my parents decided the chassis box was trash and decided to break the box down, recycling it.

So now that I don't have the original box my chassis came in, what are the best options for me to safely transport my PC without the danger of something breaking or coming apart?

Being that it is a short ride (however the roads on my side of Canada are famously terrible...), would it be safe enough for me to just remove my GPU/cooler and lay it on its back so nothing shakes it apart? Or are there any other options to ensure nothing breaks or something otherwise unfavourable happens to it? 

And for reference, the chassis I have is a Lian Li Lancool ii Black. Below is an image of all the parts I currently have in my computer, if that helps you out at all. I'm pretty new to this whole thing. 

Thanks!

[Giganthrax]

Just lay the PC down on the back seat and don't drive like a maniac and you'll be fine. 

 

If it'll make you feel better, you can take out the GPU and the memory beforehand, but it's really not necessary if you installed everything properly. 

[StackUnderflow]

I've transported computers by car with a NH-D15 and GPU attached and it was fine.

 

I'd suggest removing the cooler/GPU/any spinning rust (especially important) and it'll be fine.

[Skiiwee29]

Only thing you really should have to do is remove the GPU and transport that separately from the rest of the system. Everything else should ride just fine in a car seat without much issue. 

[Haraikomono]

if you are really worried when leaving anything inside the computer, just stuff the inside up with bubble wrap

[emosun]

yea if you lay it flat with the motherboard facing up it should be fine

[SupaKomputa]

Remove GPU, Cooler and HDD if you have any.

And just put it in the back seat.

[Moonzy]

What everyone said about removing GPU (and CPU cooler if it's a huge tower, but it's not really needed to unless you're going thru bumpy roads)

 

Lay it down so the board isn't being torqued, and finally, do data backup just in case

[trag1c]

Lay it down. Maybe take out the GPU and don't drive it like you stole it.

 

[Zando_]

Lay it down, loop a seatbelt around it and buckle it in/make sure it's taut, don't speed over speedbumps or delinquent children and ya should be good. 

[SupaKomputa]

9 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

unless you're going thru bumpy roads

You'll never know, better safe than sorry.

[kelvinhall05]

Remove cooler and GPU, put them to the side (GPU in antistatic bag, cooler is fine on its own). Hard drives can go out if you have better storage but they don't need to. Then just lay it on its side in the rear or passenger seat of your car and buckle it in. Should be fine.

[Kisai]

2 hours ago, MajorOuchies said:

In a few months I will be moving from my town here in Canada to a city around 2-3 hours away for school. 

In doing so, I will be bringing my PC rig, which is rather heavy with a lot of components (I only have a decently big air cooler, not an AIO)

When I first built my PC, after having brought it home, one of my parents decided the chassis box was trash and decided to break the box down, recycling it.

So now that I don't have the original box my chassis came in, what are the best options for me to safely transport my PC without the danger of something breaking or coming apart?

 

Option 1:

Lay it flat on the back seat, and use the center seatbelt to limit how much it moves. This is sufficient, but doesn't help bounce.

 

Option 2:

wedge it behind the front passenger seat so it doesn't flop around. This limits bounce, and how much it will move, but your car will still impose vibrations onto it.

 

Option 3:

Option 2, but wrap it in a few towels, or put a cushion under it first. This will dampen the vibrations, but it will keep it from bouncing as well.

 

Option 4: 

If you have a suitcase big enough, use the suitcase and just pack it with clothing/towels.

 

Option 5: 

Get a new box and pack the void space with clothing/towels.

 

In general a 2-3 hour car ride is nothing, and you shouldn't be too concerned unless you have to take unpaved roads.

 

Just don't "just throw it in the trunk", because it will slide around and bounce more.

[alnmike]

For the entirety of college (dont ask me how long, lets just say more than 4 years) I moved twice a year to college and back home. Now, I lived in Alaska. So each move was a 16 hour drive with some pretty bumpy sections. Some of the worst parts were in Canada funnily enough...

Wanna know my secret? Just jam the case somewhere so it doesnt move. For me, that was put it on the floor in the backseat and slide the front passenger seat back until it squeezes the case. Now it doesnt move more than the car moves.

 

Now, cars dont actually move that much, you feel it because your head isnt clamped to the car, its on your neck and is flexible.
Unless your going through speedbumps at top speed every 30 seconds, your PC will be fine as long as you "attach" it to your car. Carmakers have spent millions of dollars on suspension systems so cars have largely just stopped shaking apart constantly, use that R&D.

I have never had a hard drive fail due to those trips, and many of them have been through at least 6 trips ~16x6x2=190+ hrs of driving with that simple solution. Didnt bother laying anything down for the video card/cpu cooler bouncing. And I did use aircooling back then. 

Now, some of the coolers are bigger, and the GPU's are definitely bigger, but as an engineer (passed license exam, just waiting on bureaucracy) I can tell you its the jerk (acceleration of acceleration) that kills things, not the "gentle" bouncing you'd get with a normal car ride.

[LogicalDrm]

Lift it in, make sure it doesn't move. And don't drive on roads with cobble stones, lots of potholes or hard gravel. So pretty much on anything that would cause you discomfort.

 

This thing is starting to become one of those PC myths. The gravity and objects continuing motion is the key issue. For example the note about removing GPU only applies if the case is in big motions back and forth. The GPU would then become free-moving object and continue motion after the rest of the case switched direction. In a normal car that kind of motion is almost none.

[David82]

Wow, we're all.putting a lot of thought into this.

 

If I have to move a pc I normally just chuck them on the backseat and throw a seatbelt around it. I might also slow down a bit more for speed bumps.

 

Job done.