How deep do stand off screws have to go

[wybyrn]

Heyo, I just finished my first ever build and everything posted accordingly and everything’s going well but I’ve just been super paranoid that I didn’t screw my motherboard in the way it’s supposed to. I put a screw in every stand off and they all feel tight enough but none are screwed in all the way to the head of the screw. Is that fine? I attached pictures so you can see examples of the screws. 

[Harmsway1283]

Those aren’t the screws you use for your motherboard. Those look like they are for a hard drive cage or a dust cover.

 

 

These are what you’re looking for. Some should have came with your case, they might be black or silver.

[Harmsway1283]

The build looks good though. Damn that 4080 is a chonker.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

10 minutes ago, wybyrn said:

Heyo, I just finished my first ever build and everything posted accordingly and everything’s going well but I’ve just been super paranoid that I didn’t screw my motherboard in the way it’s supposed to. I put a screw in every stand off and they all feel tight enough but none are screwed in all the way to the head of the screw. Is that fine? I attached pictures so you can see examples of the screws. 

You are likely using the wrong length screws. The screw head should rest on your motherboard, which is how it would hold the board in place. Right now the board is just floating in place. 

[OU812]

51 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

You are likely using the wrong length screws. The screw head should rest on your motherboard, which is how it would hold the board in place. Right now the board is just floating in place. 

Could also used the wrong thread pitch screws. They wouldn't screw all the way in to the stand off.

[Godlygamer23]

30 minutes ago, OU812 said:

Could also used the wrong thread pitch screws. They wouldn't screw all the way in to the stand off.

Either way, it's the wrong hardware. 

@wybyrn

Double check that you used the right hardware. As mentioned before, the board is basically floating in place, and for the screws to properly work here, they need to be pressing against the board to provide a proper clamping force - this is important for both the motherboard and the screws themselves.

[mariushm]

YOU NEED STANDOFFs BETWEEN YOUR MOTHERBOARD AND CASE !!!

The back of the motherboard must not touch the metal of the case !!!

 

The standoffs look like this - the UTS 6-32 (imperial threading) is the most common on motherboards :

 

 

 

PUT these standoffs ONLY in locations where the motherboard has screw holes. 

 

SOME motherboards don't use standoffs by have raised bits of metal instead but the point still remains the motherboard back must not touch the metal of the case anywhere, as on the back are exposed pins and if the pins touch metal, electricity can flow between the pins touching the case and you damage the motherboard components.

 

 

[wybyrn]

I had put the stand offs correctly I just used the wrong screw they were threaded and then a bit thick at the top where the threading stops (thus not going all the way in), the motherboard was still secure but I changed the screws to the correct ones. Thank you for the answers

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, wybyrn said:

I had put the stand offs correctly I just used the wrong screw they were threaded and then a bit thick at the top where the threading stops (thus not going all the way in), the motherboard was still secure but I changed the screws to the correct ones. Thank you for the answers

Where the screws get installed, you'll see there's metal that surrounds the hole. That is for the screws to seat against - it allows, on top of the connectors that also provide it, the motherboard to be more consistently electrically grounded against the chassis. Reviewing the photos shows that the previous screws had very minimal contact with the motherboard, if there was any.