Having to Upgrade my PC

Winuser · Nov 3, 2024

jaylob4 said:
It would be a mistake if I gave the impression I drilled large holes in to the MB, I didn't, I basically reamed out the existing and was careful in doing so.

I take the point about warranties but as @bobkn states, while not unheard of, MBs rarely fail, so yes, drilling a MB, especially a new one is not to be undertaken lightly and could have ended disastrously but as I said, needs must.

I'm surprised that you had to ream out the holes. They should already have been large enough for the screws. Glad it worked out though.

jaylob4 · Nov 3, 2024

Winuser said:
I'm surprised that you had to ream out the holes. They should already have been large enough for the screws. Glad it worked out though.

Under almost all circumstances they would have been but I had to enlarge my Case standoff holes and use bolts and nuts to act as stand offs, so I kind of created the problem.

It may have been the case the bolts were a micro fraction to large although I had made sure bolts used would pass through the MB holes, I hadn't checked all of them so when it came to fit the MB, not all would pass through, either the bolts were not uniform or the MB holes weren't.

Anyhows I couldn't do anything about the bolts accept start again with smaller bolts and it had been a fiddly enough job to start with, annoyance/ desperation maybe but easier to tackle the MB.

I was flying blind a bit, not done anything like it before, not had to.

Winuser · Nov 3, 2024

jaylob4 said:
Under almost all circumstances they would have been but I had to enlarge my Case standoff holes and use bolts and nuts to act as stand offs, so I kind of created the problem.

It may have been the case the bolts were a micro fraction to large although I had made sure bolts used would pass through the MB holes, I hadn't checked all of them so when it came to fit the MB, not all would pass through, either the bolts were not uniform or the MB holes weren't.

Anyhows I couldn't do anything about the bolts accept start again with smaller bolts and it had been a fiddly enough job to start with, annoyance/ desperation maybe but easier to tackle the MB.

I was flying blind a bit, not done anything like it before, not had to.

I don't know if I would have had the nerve to ream out the holes on a new motherboard. I just had bad luck trying to replace the cooling fan on my wife's old laptop. The fan gave me a little trouble trying to unplug it. When I tried to plug in the new fan, the whole socket broke off the motherboard.

jaylob4 · Nov 3, 2024

Winuser said:
I don't know if I would have had the nerve to ream out the holes on a new motherboard. I just had bad luck trying to replace the cooling fan on my wife's old laptop. The fan gave me a little trouble trying to unplug it. When I tried to plug in the new fan, the whole socket broke off the motherboard.

That's a sod and a LT too, I feel for you, did you fix it and how?

Winuser · Nov 3, 2024

jaylob4 said:
That's a sod and a LT too, I feel for you, did you fix it and how?

There's no way I can fix it and it's too old to even consider getting it fixed. I took everything I could out of it. The NVMe drive now has a new home in an external enclosure.

jaylob4 · Nov 3, 2024

Winuser said:
There's no way I can fix it and it's too old to even consider getting it fixed. I took everything I could out of it. The NVMe drive now has a new home in an external enclosure.

A small silver lining then.

spapakons · Nov 3, 2024

jaylob4 said:
That's a sod and a LT too, I feel for you, did you fix it and how?

If the pins broke off, he could try putting them back with soldering iron. He could alternatively solder the new fan cable directly on the motherboard. It requires a finer head than the usual soldering tool and is difficult to do for a beginner, but not impossible.

jaylob4 · Nov 3, 2024

spapakons said:
If the pins broke off, he could try putting them back with soldering iron. He could alternatively solder the new fan cable directly on the motherboard. It requires a finer head than the usual soldering tool and is difficult to do for a beginner, but not impossible.

I gather @Winuser has dismantled his Wife's LT but yes it was always an option to solder the fan directly.

I'm impressed he was able to dismantle the LT to get to the fan in the first place.

bobkn · Nov 3, 2024

jaylob4 said:
Under almost all circumstances they would have been but I had to enlarge my Case standoff holes and use bolts and nuts to act as stand offs, so I kind of created the problem.

(snip)

That explains things.

You may have created a false impression that the MB maker didn't make the mounting holes the right diameter.

Dru2 · Nov 3, 2024

jaylob4 said:
It would be a mistake if I gave the impression I drilled large holes in to the MB, I didn't, I basically reamed out the existing and was careful in doing so.

Motherboard standoff holes are standard, and thus wouldn't need to be reamed unless you're using improper stand offs and screws for the case, or the case isn't suitable for the board. Outside of that, there's zero need to ream the holes.

I've done at least 20 builds over the last 25 years beginning in 1998, and I've never had to drill or ream holes on a motherboard.

Anyway, enjoy the new build.

jaylob4 · Nov 3, 2024

bobkn said:
That explains things.

You may have created a false impression that the MB maker didn't make the mounting holes the right diameter.

Dru2 said:
Motherboard standoff holes are standard, and thus wouldn't need to be reamed unless you're using improper stand offs and screws for the case, or the case isn't suitable for the board. Outside of that, there's zero need to ream the holes.

I've done at least 20 builds over the last 25 years beginning in 1998, and I've never had to drill or ream holes on a motherboard.

Anyway, enjoy the new build.

I'm sure I created the issue but what puzzled me a bit was before attempting my fix, infact to avoid such issues I did try a bolt through a couple of MB standoff holes and they went through, I can only assume the bolts I used while the same size weren't completely uniform.

In any other situation I'd have gotten away with it, ( wiggle room ), guess I should have tried all the bolts I was using through all 9 holes.

Still got around it, that's what counts.

spapakons · Nov 3, 2024

jaylob4 said:
I gather @Winuser has dismantled his Wife's LT but yes it was always an option to solder the fan directly.

I'm impressed he was able to dismantle the LT to get to the fan in the first place.

All you have is to search for a model in YouTube to see a video.

Winuser · Nov 3, 2024

spapakons said:
If the pins broke off, he could try putting them back with soldering iron. He could alternatively solder the new fan cable directly on the motherboard. It requires a finer head than the usual soldering tool and is difficult to do for a beginner, but not impossible.

This is a laptop and it's way too small of an area for me to try and do any soldering. The area is tighter than the pic makes it look.

jaylob4 · Nov 3, 2024

Winuser said:
This is a laptop and it's way too small of an area for me to try and do any soldering. The area is tighter than the pic makes it look.

It's probably doable tho', fine tip, steady hand.

spapakons · Nov 3, 2024

It is doable with a fine tip and magnifying glass, but too advanced for the average user and too expensive for professional service.

Dru2 · Nov 3, 2024

jaylob4 said:
I'm sure I created the issue but what puzzled me a bit was before attempting my fix, infact to avoid such issues I did try a bolt through a couple of MB standoff holes and they went through, I can only assume the bolts I used while the same size weren't completely uniform.

Your case should have come with the proper screws and standoffs. And because these are standard, there should be zero need for reaming or drilling. And the need to ream also indicates an improper alignment.

jaylob4 said:
In any other situation I'd have gotten away with it, ( wiggle room ), guess I should have tried all the bolts I was using through all 9 holes.

Still got around it, that's what counts.

Yes, it appears you've "gotten away with it", but should that board need warranty service, especially due to electrical issues, well.....

At any rate my thoughts are also cautionary to those reading this thread that if you need to drill or ream holes in your board to fit a case, something isn't right.

Peace

jaylob4 · Nov 3, 2024

spapakons said:
It is doable with a fine tip and magnifying glass, but too advanced for the average user and too expensive for professional service.

Sure.

But as a DIY repair and as you say the right tip and iron.

LT is broken, it can't be made worse, might be worth ago.

jaylob4 · Nov 3, 2024

Dru2 said:
Your case should have come with the proper screws and standoffs. And because these are standard, there should be zero need for reaming or drilling. And the need to ream also indicates an improper alignment.

Yes, it appears you've "gotten away with it", but should that board need warranty service, especially due to electrical issues, well.....

At any rate my thoughts are also cautionary to those reading this thread that if you need to drill or ream holes in your board to fit a case, something isn't right.

Peace

It did, all them years ago, when I first built the PC it was a new case, I fitted and installed everything including the stand offs.

This time around having removed the old MB and having installed a new one, ( using the same case ), I discovered the standoffs screws that attach to the PCs back plate were spinning, not tightening, so yes something wasn't right.

I can only assume I caused the issue all them years ago on the original build but it never presented it's self or was aware of it as a problem in all that time, this time around it did.

New case or fix my existing, fixed the existing.

New MB sits nicely, secure, working with the reamed MB holes.

spapakons · Nov 3, 2024

jaylob4 said:
It did, all them years ago, when I first built the PC it was a new case, I fitted and installed everything including the stand offs.

This time around having removed the old MB and having installed a new one, ( using the same case ), I discovered the standoffs screws that attach to the PCs back plate were spinning, not tightening, so yes something wasn't right.

I can only assume I caused the issue all them years ago on the original build but it never presented it's self or was aware of it as a problem in all that time, this time around it did.

New case or fix my existing, fixed the existing.

New MB sits nicely, secure, working with the reamed MB holes.

If you tighten the standoffs too much, you enlarge the hole and then it might turn without unscrewing. Also depending on the size of the motherboard (mini-ATX, vs full-ATX etc) some holes are not used while others are. In that case you much move the standoffs to the holes required.

jaylob4 · Nov 3, 2024

spapakons said:
If you tighten the standoffs too much, you enlarge the hole and then it might turn without unscrewing. Also depending on the size of the motherboard (mini-ATX, vs full-ATX etc) some holes are not used while others are. In that case you much move the standoffs to the holes required.

Sure, in my case the new board lined up nicely as I was replacing one Mini ATX with another.

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