Do I need to screw motherboard into every standoff?

DavidHK

Honorable
Aug 11, 2012
43
1
10,530
Just got the extreme4 z77 and went to put it in my apevia xtrooper case. The mobo appears to have 7 screw holes that screw into the standoffs. The upper right screw hole in my case is stripped. Whenever I put the standoff in it, all it does is spin around and won't fasten. Should I just keep the standoff in the loose hole or just not use it? There are no other holes near it. Would it short the board? Help!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dynamisticality

godftw

Distinguished
Apr 7, 2010
110
1
18,690
you dont really need all standoffs to be screwed in, but if there are any cables that you have to push into the mobo near that screw it would certainly help as you dont want the board to bend from a lack of support. i dont imagine it would short unless you like touched the back of the mobo to the mobo tray while pushing something into it or maybe if the standoff got loose and scraped against something?.(while it was on??) i would personally put some thread tape on there and try to secure the screw in(or glue it or something?) then just screw it into that... if the mobo screwed into it is pushing it down and its relatively secure i dont imagine it would come loose.

not an expert though, may want to wait for some other opinions.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cile_st
Jun 23, 2019
1
0
10
No, you don't actually need all of them. Some people are saying standoffs are serving as a grounding points for MoBo but that's just plain stupid because standoffs are non-conductive and as such can't serve as a ground points. MoBo is grounded through PSU.
 
The upper right screw hole in my case is stripped. Whenever I put the standoff in it, all it does is spin around and won't fasten.
You're better-off actually fixing the problem, instead of working-around it, and motherboard support is definitely recommended at all points of securement.
Go to the hardware store and buy a small bag of 6-32 or M4.7 nuts.
Open up the right-side of the case and put a nut onto the threads of the offending stand-off and tighten it down well.
While you're at it, you can do the same to all the other stand-offs to keep them from backing-out when you loosen the MB screws.
 
  • Like
Reactions: drea.drechsler