Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
With that decision made, building the system suddenly became a lot easier.
Of course, if you use a different case or motherboard, you may have sufficient
clearance with the I/O shield in place. Or you may not.
The Intel DH55TC motherboard has eight mounting holes. The Antec Mini
P180 case comes with six standoffs preinstalled, so the first step in installing
the motherboard is to determine which, if any, of the standoffs are incorrectly
positioned and which motherboard mounting holes need additional stand-
offs installed. To answer those questions, temporarily lower the motherboard
into position, as shown in Figure 4-37, and note the locations that require
standoffs.
As it turns out, all six of the preinstalled standoffs in the Antec Mini P180 corre-
spond to mounting holes in the Intel DH55TC motherboard. Two motherboard
mounting holes have no corresponding standoffs, so we installed standoffs in
both of those positions, as shown in Figure 4-38.
Figure 4-37.
Place the motherboard in position to determine the
locations where standoffs need to be installed
Figure 4-38.
Install any missing standoffs needed to support the
motherboard
Once all standoffs are installed, again lower the mother-
board into position and make a final check that a stand-
off is installed for each motherboard mounting hole
and that no extra standoffs are present. From the parts
box, locate the small plastic bag labeled “Motherboard
only” and remove eight motherboard mounting screws.
Position the motherboard so that at least one standoff
is visible through a mounting hole and partially drive
a motherboard mounting screw into that standoff. Re-
align the motherboard as needed to line up the other
mounting holes with their corresponding standoffs, and
drive screws into each standoff, as shown in Figure 4-39.
Tighten all screws finger-tight plus about a quarter turn.
Do not overtighten the screws, or you risk cracking the
motherboard.
Figure 4-39.
Drive screws into all eight standoffs to secure the
motherboard
