Options for resolving IO shield and IO ports misalignment

[UnusedUsername]

Hello all,

 

I'm in a bit of a predicament and the result of a couple hours of searching hasn't been a solution, but more confusion.

 

The relevant information: I'm mounting a MSI B550-A motherboard into a Corsair 4000D Airflow case. 

 

Problem: The IO shield does not line up with the IO ports (https://imgur.com/a/qgHNtCx). The motherboard is attached at 8 (of 8) standoffs and I don't detect any warping of the board. The overall offset (inward, towards the back of the case) is about 1mm, but it nonetheless seems to prevent use of several ports.

 

I think I have three options (in order):

1. Put a washer under the top right standoff (between the case and standoff, not between the standoff and the board), so that the IO ports line up correctly with the IO shield.
2. Cut out parts of the IO shield so that the lower IO ports are not blocked.
3. RMA the board and the case and hope that the replacements line up better.

Am I missing something? Is there something I should check/double-check? Can I ignore this issue entirely?

 

Thanks for any help.

[bmx6454]

check the case carefully, the motherboard tray may be bent. if so, i would just rma it.

[AbydosOne]

11 minutes ago, UnusedUsername said:

Put a washer under the top right standoff (between the case and standoff, not between the standoff and the board), so that the IO ports line up correctly with the IO shield.

If it's a big deal to you, this is what I would do (but to all standoffs to not torque the board).

 

That said, the shell of all those connectors and the backplate are all ground/grounded, so even if they touch is isn't a big deal. The alignment doesn't look too far off to prevent insertion.

[Enderman]

IO shield looks fine.

They often don't line up perfectly, especially the cheap ones.

Unless you're having problems with plugging stuff in just leave it.

From the picture it seems like everything can still plug in just fine.

[mariushm]

You didn't insert the motherboard properly and you screwed with those springy bits on the io shield

 

Take out the motherboard, and reinstall the IO shield, make sure it clicks into the case on all sides. Bend back the spring bits.

The yellow circled springy bits should be above the PS2 connector

The green circled springy bits probably go under the type c connector but not 100% sure.

 

Not sure if there's also a springy bit that's mangled above the ethernet port, if it is unmangle it and make it look like the ones above the ps2 connector

 

The typical way is to hold the motherboard at around 30-45 degrees, and slide it at this angle under the springy bits (for example the yellow circled ones) and then slowly lower the motherboard until it's flat on the standoffs - by the way , make sure you have standoffs installed only under the holes in the motherboard.

This way, those yellow springy bits should be above the ps2 connector and placing some pressure on it - their role is to provide a good grounding / esd protection for the connectors.

Once the board is flat, go to one of the corners of the motherboard (the ones furthest away) and add a screw, tighten a bit but not fully. Wiggle the motherboard a bit to let it center itself, and add a screw in the place diagonally opposite the previous screw, tighter it partially, then move to the next screw and so on ... don't tighten them fully.

As you add screws the motherboard will naturally shift and center/align itself on all the screws and the motherboard won't be bended or stressed mechanically (which could happen if you fully tighten a screw and then you force another screw in)

 

 

[UnusedUsername]

Thank you all for your help.

 

So, the motherboard tray was indeed bent - the deviation amounted to about 1.5 mm. Since the RMA process at this point would be quite onerous, I simply took a block of wood and a rubber mallet and straightened it out (with all other components removed and out of the immediate vicinity).

 

The standoffs themselves were also not perfectly orthogonal to the case surface, so those were straightened with pliers. I had to replace a few, since they also weren't all the same length (varying between 6.17 and 6.98 mm).

 

I also ended up using the washers to add some height to the standoffs (one for each of the eight standoffs).

 

The tabs on the IO shield were actually bent outward (that is, in the way of the sockets) when it arrived; I bent a few inward just to be on the safe side.

 

In the end, everything is correctly aligned with the IO shield and the computer works great.