How many standoffs?

[jasonditz]

So I swapped out the Q704's iffy standoffs from some shiny brass ones. It looks like the board (Z490 MPG Gaming Edge Wifi) will fit in those more easily. That said, the case has 9 standoffs by default, and the board has 9 holes. Standard ATX stuff, of course.

 

But the manual for the board's instructions shows only 4 screws being used, just in the corners. Is this the new standard or something? I assume if I wasn't screwing into a standoff it's better to remove it outright instead of leaving it there.

 

While swapping the standoffs to brass (before I threw my back out because old people shouldn't assemble on the floor), it struck me that the board lines up with the 9 standoffs more or less perfectly, but even then, the IO plate on the board (there is no external IO shield, it's all one piece) doesn't push through the case hole at all. The ports would be accessible, but set in a bit. Probably not a deal-breaker, but just making sure that's roughly to be expected.

[Skiiwee29]

If the board has 9 holes for stand off securing points, then you use all 9 for best security of the motherboard. 

[jasonditz]

I fried a mobo on my first build with bad standoffs (plastic and a 486 board) so ever since I'm wary.