open air system and securing vid and PCI cards

[saint-francis]

So I have an open air system and I am pretty happy about this. The problem is that the PCI card I have which gives me four extra USB ports and the video card aren't secured like they are in a case. This is only really a problem when I plug and unplug USB devices like USB drive; which I do often. I am wondering if any one else has encountered this issue and what (if any) measures have been taken to secure them. Please post pictures if you have them.

 

[Bubbaxm2]

Never done it mysellf but have heard of people using a couple dabs of hot glue.

[Junfan]

Here is what you need.

 

http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merch...Code=TopTechSTD

[suedenim]

Or you could just buy a USB hub...

[General Septem]

I ripped the back plate out of an old case and am currently using that to hold everything together. Once my case is completed this back plate will be installed in it, but in the mean time it's holding my expansion cards in place.

 

Awesome setup by the way.

[TaterSalad]

you cold drill holes in the bottom of the card shims and skrew the cards to the board

[saint-francis]

Thank you every one for all of the replies. Very interesting suggestions.

 

 

 

 

I ripped the back plate out of an old case and am currently using that to hold everything together. Once my case is completed this back plate will be installed in it, but in the mean time it's holding my expansion cards in place.

 

Awesome setup by the way.

 

I have an ATX case that I was interested in doing something like this to. Could you please post a picture of it so I can have a better idea of what's going on with your system.

[General Septem]

I have an ATX case that I was interested in doing something like this to. Could you please post a picture of it so I can have a better idea of what's going on with your system.

 

Perhaps you can tell from these:

 

[saint-francis]

General Septem;

How did you fasten the back plate down, and is it fastened or is it just attached by the cards? Also how did you cut it? I imagine that if I tried doing that kind of thing with a dremel I would have grey hair by the time I was done. Also I was thinking that it would be a good idea to screw the mobo to the backing board from the case because the mobo is bent from the screws on the Tuniq Tower sticking down below everything else on the bottom of the board and the backing plate would elevate it a little bit. What do you think about that? Have any ideas since you are using the TT also?

[OsamaBinAthlon+]

here is what you don't need

http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merch...Code=TopTechSTD

[AnUnknownSource]

here is what you don't need

http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merch...Code=TopTechSTD

 

Haha, yeah, what a waste of money, you could rummage through the garbage and make something better than that... for free

[General Septem]

General Septem;

How did you fasten the back plate down, and is it fastened or is it just attached by the cards? Also how did you cut it? I imagine that if I tried doing that kind of thing with a dremel I would have grey hair by the time I was done. Also I was thinking that it would be a good idea to screw the mobo to the backing board from the case because the mobo is bent from the screws on the Tuniq Tower sticking down below everything else on the bottom of the board and the backing plate would elevate it a little bit. What do you think about that? Have any ideas since you are using the TT also?

 

It's just held together by the cards and all the connectors plugged into the back of the board. I didn't cut it out but I actually drilled the rivets out.

 

I haven't noticed any trouble with the board bending at all. I didn't use the hardware that came with the Tuniq though, the screws were way too short to even engage both of them with the springs on. So I took a trip to Home Depot to buy some threaded rod and a couple of knurled nuts. It works well and at least horizontally it doesn't seem to be flexing the board at all.