motherboard fastening (to case)

[PC eye]

The main grounding for board, drives, and the case itself is through the supply. In some cases the mounting plate the standoffs are placed on is made of a non conductive material. Look at some custom modded cases to see how that comes into play there at times.

The standoffs not only secure the board inplace but generally isolate any exposed leads(+positive) from coming into contact with a ground source. The problem many see is forgetting that different boards will see different bolt patterns such as comparing micro atx models or server boards to the typical full atx model.

Any grounding seen with straps going to the fastener holes assumes that some additional grounding is done there. You''ll see those used for esd reduction while not being the primary method of ground. If you look at some Antec Cobra round ide cables you will see the extra ground wire there while the drives will still work without that secured. That also offers some additional esd protection.

 

[dznutz]

One of the most common mistakes while installing a motherboard is using these washers on all holes. This cannot be done. The metalized holes were metalized to make the proper grounding with the system case.

The holes without the grounding strip are no longer used! The only time you use the washers are if you have some kind of weird layout case plate

i've used the washers antec gave me. what problems am i to expect? i see none so far

 

[PC eye]

When you look closely around the board you generally see one type of coating after all components are spot soldered inplace usually by a soldering machine. The "flats" as they are referred to are for mounting and not seeing the standoff or fasteners chew into the board itself. Any straps going to those assume that there is metal to metal contact for the added esd protection while not being the primary common ground method.

Everything has to be grounded through the supply itself. That includes case and chassis as well as drives through the drive bays, board directly through the supply itself. You are slso groudning the board by way of the drives since those have a common with the drive bays connected to the chassis and the chassis connedted to the case and the ....

 

[nyhk]

It has something to do with EMI. They didn't design it to be isolated, but you won't break your hardware by doing it.

 

[PC eye]

If you take a look at one item for ide type drives namely a particular round ide cable produced by Antec with dual nylon wrapping over the cheap vinyl seen on many you will also note the additional ground strap for securing with one of the fasteners used for the intended or another drive. While simply looking at any ide cable you will find no necessity for the additional wire there since it's now required to ground the cable or drive. http://www.dvhardware.net/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=31