how to transport rig to uni? is this a good idea?

[asim1999]

I am thinking about transporting my rig to uni as the workload in my computer science course at uni has increased a lot. I am now doing SQL and web development assignments as well as Java and i dont want to stay in computer lab late at night

I am thinking of removing my graphics card (GTX 980) as i have a got a replacement 980 Ti which i will install when i get there. 

I will put monitor in its original box and wrapping, and carry peripherals by hand as they are sturdy. 

I am thinking about putting my rig under thick pillows and wrapping it in my duvet from my bed while transporting it in the back of my mum's car (she has a big Volvo XC90 so fitting it in will be a doddle)

Is this a good plan?

[Guest]

The inside of the computer needs to be foritfied as well.

[NoxiousOdor]

That will be fine if you are driving. That is more effort than I would put into transporting my own rig

[knightslugger]

A bit excessive, but whatever makes you feel warm inside.

 

[manikyath]

if you're transporting it yourself, there's very little that can go wrong, offcourse i'd remove the gpu, but other than laying it flat and making sure it cant shift around, there's little that can go wrong.

[Levent]

I literally placed 3 monitors behind the drivers seat, and placed the case behind the front passenger seat and drove it to campus 650km away, no packaging no effort, nothing was damaged too.

[jared404]

Sounds like a good plan, If your removing the graphics card and you don't have water cooling your only concerns should be getting the case dinged or scratched. Wrapping it in a blanket is my favorite way of transporting computers

[TheGlenlivet]

I'd pull that Noctua off too, just to be safe.

[asim1999]

1 minute ago, TheGlenlivet said:

I'd pull that Noctua off too, just to be safe.

My uncle screwed it in, and he made sure it went on tight. He is quite strong, plus he does loads of DIY

[TheGlenlivet]

Just now, asim1999 said:

My uncle screwed it in, and he made sure it went on tight. He is quite strong, plus he does loads of DIY

Not knocking your Uncle's muscles, just thinking of the vibration from being moved around in the car etc. and all the weight hanging off the motherboard.  That and it's 2 screws to remove it.  I wouldn't take the chance, but to each their own.

[stefanDB]

take of the heavy stuf on the inside of the PC that isn't fastened on all sides, so things like GPU and cooler. components that are light or attached on all sides should be fine

[Doomed83]

1 minute ago, TheGlenlivet said:

Not knocking your Uncle's muscles, just thinking of the vibration from being moved around in the car etc. and all the weight hanging off the motherboard.  That and it's 2 screws to remove it.  I wouldn't take the chance, but to each their own.

 

He's right, it's not about the cooler staying on. it's about the stress it puts on the motherboard. That being said it may not be an issue, but it's not a bad idea to either remove it or support it inside the case to protect from vibrations.

[knightslugger]

Wow you guys are paranoid... It's traveling across pavement in a car. it's not like he's traveling down a fire road in a M35 transport truck.

[Thony]

When I moved to London and traveled over 300 miles by coach I simply placed all my hardware in boxes and fitted it in a suitcase. 

 

In your case I wouls still temove cpu, heatsink and gpu to be safe. Chances of damiging anything if u keep it in the case are low but What if you are the 1% who gets unlucky. I wouldnt risk that, not worth the money loss.

[dizmo]

Haha, if you're driving there's literally nothing to worry about. I wouldn't have removed anything, as long as the PC doesn't tip over while you're driving or something then you're fine. Just make sure that it's secure and go.

 

7 minutes ago, TheGlenlivet said:

Not knocking your Uncle's muscles, just thinking of the vibration from being moved around in the car etc. and all the weight hanging off the motherboard.  That and it's 2 screws to remove it.  I wouldn't take the chance, but to each their own.

Haha, that's extreme. There's no way vibrations from a car would dismount the cooler. He's not going by an ox drawn carriage with square wheels.

3 minutes ago, Doomed83 said:

 

He's right, it's not about the cooler staying on. it's about the stress it puts on the motherboard. That being said it may not be an issue, but it's not a bad idea to either remove it or support it inside the case to protect from vibrations.

The cooler falling off because it's in a car?

2 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

Wow you guys are paranoid... It's traveling across pavement in a car. it's not like he's traveling down a fire road in a M35 transport truck.

Right? This is a little ridiculous.

2 minutes ago, Thony said:

When I moved to London and traveled over 300 miles by coach I simply placed all my hardware in boxes and fitted it in a suitcase. 

 

In your case I wouls still temove cpu, heatsink and gpu to be safe. Chances of damiging anything if u keep it in the case are low but What if you are the 1% who gets unlucky. I wouldnt risk that, not worth the money loss.

Chances are you're more likely to suffer damage removing the CPU from the socket.

[TheGlenlivet]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

Chances are you're more likely to suffer damage removing the CPU from the socket.

I agree, don't remove the CPU.  I would still do the cooler though...

[knightslugger]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

Right? This is a little ridiculous.

no shit!

 

Everyone consider for a moment how prebuilt computers are shipped.

[GSTARR]

Yall say it's ridiculous, but if you ever broke something on the way you would never say it again

[manikyath]

14 minutes ago, TheGlenlivet said:

Not knocking your Uncle's muscles, just thinking of the vibration from being moved around in the car etc. and all the weight hanging off the motherboard.  That and it's 2 screws to remove it.  I wouldn't take the chance, but to each their own.

you need to be on one hell of a road for that to matter..

 

a client of the place i worked at recently moved everything into a new office. everything was moved by the same moving folks, several pieces of (rather pricy) office furniture got bumps and scuffs during the move, the worst that happened to the computers is one that had a bit of a hard time booting up after the fact (got it running after some troubleshooting, still running fine today)

[TheGlenlivet]

5 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

Everyone consider for a moment how prebuilt computers are shipped.

They have form fitted styrofoam to prevent vibration and movement.  That's actually my whole point.

My first computer was a prebuilt and the interior of the case was a giant foam block that enclosed the GPU and hard drive cages to make sure they couldn't move.  It had an intel CPU cooler so it's not the same as this situation, but like I said before- it's 2 screws and some thermal paste!  I'd just remove it.

[Moress]

6 minutes ago, GSTARR said:

Yall say it's ridiculous

I say its overkill because I've transported my rig to and from uni (~140 miles each way) at least 2 dozen times now. I took out the GPU the first time and never have since. Its fine. Unless you have insanely bumpy roads and a 2.5 slot card you'll be fine.

[manikyath]

8 minutes ago, GSTARR said:

Yall say it's ridiculous, but if you ever broke something on the way you would never say it again

if you've seen how i have transported hardware, you'd say its ridiculous too

[MikeSK]

Do you have more details of what is in the computer?  If your drives and components are secure in the chassis, you should be able to lay the computer on it's side on a thick blanket to protect from any extra vibration.  If water cooling, just drain it and top off on arrival.   The loops with water with the extra movement of transport may compromise a seal.  You might also want to make sure it is some what hidden from view to avoid theft.

[knightslugger]

Just now, TheGlenlivet said:

They have form fitted styrofoam to prevent vibration and movement.  That's actually my whole point.

My first computer was a prebuilt and the interior of the case was a giant foam block that enclosed the GPU and hard drive cages to make sure they couldn't move.  It had an intel CPU cooler so it's not the same as this situation, but like I said before- it's 2 screws and some thermal paste!  I'd just remove it.

...on the outside... They don't remove Video cards, coolers, CPUs, etc. The packing will not save an unsecured computer in a box with the worlds best styrofoam from ripping itself apart because it's banging around the inside of a shipping container. if it moves independent of it's carrier and is subjected to sudden acceleration (ie, sliding across a floor and hitting a wall) something is going to break. 

 

secure your load. don't drive like a reTard.

[LogicalDrm]

I've been on LANs by train and moved 3 times during last year. When moving my main rig was sitting nicely on front seat of van. Between me and driver (my dad). If it doesn't move around, you don't need to do really anything. Maybe if its custom water cooling, drain it. But on seat or floor in car, you really don't need anything special. If it would be shipped or packed into bigger haul, then using more padding is needed to keep case from moving and jumping around.