Moving with a massive full-tower

[Cralineleader]

Hey everyone.

 

I'll be moving in about half a year so I wanted to get the routine down beforehand. I have a massive build that is heavy as all crap, put in a Raidmax Vampire bulky case (which I'm planning on upgrading to a MasterCase Pro 5). I'll be flying across the country on 2 connecting flights.

 

I know to remove my GPU and rad ahead of time and put them in separate boxes (preferably in carryon), but what should I be doing with my case/mobo? I don't have anything remotely big enough to hold my monstrosity, should I just pack it in a box or remove the mobo first? Would I put it in the unusual baggage for extra safety, or should I just kiss my computer's safety goodbye as soon as I get on the plane?

[paprikman]

You can put a plastic bag inside, fill it with self-expanding foam, so it won't break apart. But I'd suggest to remove gpu and cpu cooler, transfer them separately. You don't really need to take off the mobo, 'cause it sits well on all those screws.

And yeah, you can buy bubble wrap (with big bubbles) at any local post office and wrap your case with it for some scratch protection.

[Windows7ge]

9 minutes ago, Cralineleader said:

Hey everyone.

 

I'll be moving in about half a year so I wanted to get the routine down beforehand. I have a massive build that is heavy as all crap, put in a Raidmax Vampire bulky case (which I'm planning on upgrading to a MasterCase Pro 5). I'll be flying across the country on 2 connecting flights.

 

I know to remove my GPU and rad ahead of time and put them in separate boxes (preferably in carryon), but what should I be doing with my case/mobo? I don't have anything remotely big enough to hold my monstrosity, should I just pack it in a box or remove the mobo first? Would I put it in the unusual baggage for extra safety, or should I just kiss my computer's safety goodbye as soon as I get on the plane?

I'd leave the CPU socketed, leave the RAM in put the GPU in a different box. Make sure the PSU is well secured. If the HDD's have screw in options use them. If you're using a AIO liquid cooler yes definitely remove it completely. If it's full custom you can probably leave the waterblock attached to the CPU but take the rest of the watercooling out.

[Cralineleader]

2 minutes ago, paprikman said:

You can put a plastic bag inside, fill it with self-expanding foam, so it won't break apart. But I'd suggest to remove gpu and cpu cooler, transfer them separately. You don't really need to take off the mobo, 'cause it sits well on all those screws.

And yeah, you can buy bubble wrap (with big bubbles) at any local post office and wrap your case with it for some scratch protection.

Thank you, that's really helpful. I'm a bit of a dunce with traveling with computers, I've had a lot of stuff stolen off the carousel and broken by the luggage handlers so I'm planning ahead haha. I'll probably just box it in something sturdy and do bubble wrap plus the expanding foam, I hadn't thought of the foam part.

[paprikman]

1 minute ago, Cralineleader said:

Thank you, that's really helpful. I'm a bit of a dunce with traveling with computers, I've had a lot of stuff stolen off the carousel and broken by the luggage handlers so I'm planning ahead haha. I'll probably just box it in something sturdy and do bubble wrap plus the expanding foam, I hadn't thought of the foam part.

Just make sure the plastic bag is thick, you don't want this shit on your components, it's flamable. And yes, this is a pure ghetto way.

[Cralineleader]

Just now, paprikman said:

Just make sure the plastic bag is thick, you don't want this shit on your components, it's flamable. And yes, this is a pure ghetto way.

I can do ghetto so well lol. I once fit a dining table and 4 chairs into a squat station wagon. And gotcha, I can probably find one of those reusable ones at Ross.

[Monster Killer Bear]

That's why I now use mini ITX.

[Cralineleader]

I'm still trying to downsize, but I didn't know that I would be moving when I built it 3 years ago. The problem arises with my 240rad and my need for drive bays.

[TheRandomness]

1 minute ago, Cralineleader said:

I'm still trying to downsize, but I didn't know that I would be moving when I built it 3 years ago. The problem arises with my 240rad and my need for drive bays.

mATX?

[Cralineleader]

3 minutes ago, TheRandomness said:

mATX?

Downsizing to a MasterCase Pro 5 soon. Just about to order it. I've got an ATX board.

[paprikman]

1 hour ago, Cralineleader said:

Downsizing to a MasterCase Pro 5 soon. Just about to order it. I've got an ATX board.

You can always try to go with even smaller case. Many of them have holes for guiding tubes to external radiator, so this can be useful.

 

P.S. So far your scenario is not critical. Think about people with either custom-made cases (who's not allowed to take anything apart in case of voiding the warranty) or who have built their pc into the desk (that thing is massive lol).

[Cralineleader]

13 hours ago, paprikman said:

You can always try to go with even smaller case. Many of them have holes for guiding tubes to external radiator, so this can be useful.

 

P.S. So far your scenario is not critical. Think about people with either custom-made cases (who's not allowed to take anything apart in case of voiding the warranty) or who have built their pc into the desk (that thing is massive lol).

Yeah, I know. I've just never had to transport it before. The maker is about 2/3 the size of my Vampire, and I do want to keep the full size because of my radiator and full size card. I also want something that can hold my insane amount of HDDs, so that's why I went for the Maker.

[Cralineleader]

37 minutes ago, dmoz47 said:

@Cralineleader

I cant help you out much on this topic, but Id love to see some pics of your build before you move it into the MC5. Sounds pretty cool.

Sure, I've got some older pictures at the moment because I have to stow it, and some are pretty yikes on cable management due to my installing a new GPU at the time, but I'll add em.

1st one is without my GTX770, Second is the back when I was removing the 770 for my R9 390x, third is also removing. I don't have any pictures with my R9 390x currently.

Tbh, this case isn't great. You'll find a lot of people praising its cable management, which is fine, but it's extremely irritating to clean and doesn't have nearly enough management options. Mounting fans can be a pain (for the most part it's fine, but it would've been nice with a modular drive cage setup).

 

Most of why I chose the MC5 was the drive bays- I neeeeeed drive bays. I have a USB 3.0 expansion bay and a Bluray Drive, and most of the other models out there just didn't have them.

For reference, this case is half my size in height, and about a third of my bodyweight when everything is in it. I weight 115lbs. The amount of extra plastic on it is unreal.