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I just got a in win 503 case and I am having trouble installing the motherboard in it. It has raised rivets in the back of the case. It also came with 3 screws to screw into the rivets. I tried using the 3 screws on the case, 2 on the left side (closest to the I/O plate and 1 on the right side. In this manner I cannot get the motherboard to install properly. With the screws off and the motherboard is just on the rivets, it fits perfectly. As it is now, I have 2 screws on the right side and none on the left side (closest to the I/O plate and I am really worried about it.

Edit: Only use the standoffs the motherboard requires for mounting, leave the extra standoffs out of the case or you risk shorting the motherboard.

I just took the screws completely out and screwed into the rivets. The board fits perfectly that way. I don't really see anywhere to screw in the screws though.

toki wrote:

I just took the screws completely out and screwed into the rivets. The board fits perfectly that way. I don't really see anywhere to screw in the screws though.

What you're calling the "rivets" are standoffs molded into the case design itself. Most cases simply have screw holes into which you must insert the standoffs in order to line up the mobo with the backplate and slots.

So do I have it in correctly? I have an matx motherboard screwed into the standoffs. The motherboard would not fit into the case with the screws in the standoffs and the motherboard fits perfectly without the screws in the standoffs.

you place, and then line up the motherboard with the standoffs then proceed to fasten the motherboard to the standoffs using the screws included with the case.

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toki wrote:

So do I have it in correctly? I have an matx motherboard screwed into the standoffs.

Yes, that would be the correct way. Congratulations you did it.

toki wrote:

So do I have it in correctly? I have an matx motherboard screwed into the standoffs. The motherboard would not fit into the case with the screws in the standoffs and the motherboard fits perfectly without the screws in the standoffs.

Sometimes its one of a couple of issues with the motherboard backplate.

- remove backplate
- place motherboard in place to mark which standoffs should be installed
- install standoffs
- do a test install of motherboard.

If everything works, remove motherboard, install backplate and slide motherboard into place.
Sometimes force is necessary to get the grounding tabs in proper place, sometimes you need to bend them first.
It's somewhat common to have issue with backplate ground tabs and getting motherboard into place. Try with just positioning first. Dont bend any tabs unless it clearly needs to be.

All holes must have standoff+screw or you risk damaging your board when you add/remove stuff.

You could have rare case of improperly place standoff holes.

Link of random tutorial with pictures. Note, when you get to installing Power, HDD light,... Black and white are ground or negative. Any other color is positive.

When you say the motherboard "won't fit" with the standoffs installed, what exactly do you mean? What doesn't fit? Do the I/O ports not line up with the openings? Or something else? Can you post some pictures?

just brew it! wrote:

When you say the motherboard "won't fit" with the standoffs installed, what exactly do you mean? What doesn't fit? Do the I/O ports not line up with the openings? Or something else? Can you post some pictures?

I pulled up the case on line. It's got molded-in standoffs, so if you add normal standoffs, everything's out of line.

Ahh, OK. Molded standoffs all around, or just the rear holes near the I/O cluster and slots? Seems odd that they would supply standoffs in the first place if they're not needed.

just brew it! wrote:

Ahh, OK. Molded standoffs all around, or just the rear holes near the I/O cluster and slots? Seems odd that they would supply standoffs in the first place if they're not needed.

All 9 molded, so why there's standoffs in the goodies bag is beyond me,

Captain Ned wrote:

just brew it! wrote:

Ahh, OK. Molded standoffs all around, or just the rear holes near the I/O cluster and slots? Seems odd that they would supply standoffs in the first place if they're not needed.

All 9 molded, so why there's standoffs in the goodies bag is beyond me,

I do not like when vendors do that. If you have a motherboard that lacks a mounting hole at a standoff location you're screwed.

Edit: OK, I guess they've put the molded (probably more like stamped...) standoffs at the locations where nearly all motherboards have holes. The three extra standoffs are probably for motherboards which have additional mounting points. I see what appear to be additional screw holes in the panel the motherboard mounts to.

To the OP: Use the standoffs IF your motherboard has additional mounting holes that don't line up with the existing mounting points.

That's what I'm saying. I just screwed in the motherboard into the molded standoffs. With that the motherboard fits perfectly. I have just never done it with those molded standoffs already in the case and wanted to make sure the motherboard was in correctly or not.

ATX motherboard will use all mounting points in red, Micro-ATX will use six of the red mounting points starting from the I/O panel plus some of the blue. The blue will require you screw in the included standoffs +/- the one rectangle with the two screw holes.

Of course I'm not an expert, but I've had plenty of hands on experience.

ok. I have now put the standoff screws into the case. I seated the motherboard onto the standoffs that were pre biult into the case and also the additional standoffs that came in the bag. I hope that is correct. The pre built standoffs is what threw me off. I am upgrading the case from like a 16 year old previos case, so some of the parts are a little different to me.Although, with that said I really think this 503 case is pretty

toki wrote:

ok. I have now put the standoff screws into the case. I seated the motherboard onto the standoffs that were pre biult into the case and also the additional standoffs that came in the bag. I hope that is correct.

It is correct IF all of the standoffs correspond to mounting holes in the motherboard.

If there are any standoffs which are under the motherboard at a location where there is not a mounting hole, you run a risk of shorting the motherboard out.

just brew it! wrote:

toki wrote:

ok. I have now put the standoff screws into the case. I seated the motherboard onto the standoffs that were pre biult into the case and also the additional standoffs that came in the bag. I hope that is correct.

It is correct IF all of the standoffs correspond to mounting holes in the motherboard.

If there are any standoffs which are under the motherboard at a location where there is not a mounting hole, you run a risk of shorting the motherboard out.

If there are already 4-6 pre-built standoffs that fit the motherboard screw holes, I don't see a need to add more. Less chance of having a short (or other dumb mistakes) if you don't put the additional standoffs.

Flying Fox wrote:

If there are already 4-6 pre-built standoffs that fit the motherboard screw holes, I don't see a need to add more. Less chance of having a short (or other dumb mistakes) if you don't put the additional standoffs.

toki is using a Micro-ATX board so he will need to use the extra standoffs included with the case so the board is properly grounded, and supported.

Take this as an example (I circled in yellow the holes required for mounting the board)

Flying Fox wrote:

If there are already 4-6 pre-built standoffs that fit the motherboard screw holes, I don't see a need to add more. Less chance of having a short (or other dumb mistakes) if you don't put the additional standoffs.

It is a good idea to put standoffs wherever the motherboard has a mounting hole. It reduces board flex when installing DIMMs, HSF, etc. and may improve grounding.

just brew it! wrote:

Flying Fox wrote:

If there are already 4-6 pre-built standoffs that fit the motherboard screw holes, I don't see a need to add more. Less chance of having a short (or other dumb mistakes) if you don't put the additional standoffs.

It is a good idea to put standoffs wherever the motherboard has a mounting hole. It reduces board flex when installing DIMMs, HSF, etc. and may improve grounding.

Indeed. In the past (when those older cases didn't play as nicely with mATX), I remember making heavy use of nylon PCB spacers along the right side of many mATX boards. Pushing down on DIMMS, PATA cables, etc was dangerous with the edge of the board just floating out there.

I've also had motherboards where getting the main motherboard power connector to latch down required a ridiculous amount of force. You really don't want to be missing a standoff in that area!

just brew it! wrote:

main motherboard power connector to latch down required a ridiculous amount of force

Seems like this happens more often than not. Make sure to wither install the mobo power before laying the mobo into the case, or keep a finger under the board to prevent bending, even if there are standoffs at the far right edge (again, more and more mobos don't have the third row of screw holes...stupid)

@ toki: The built in standoffs are becoming more popular these days. The oldschool standoffs have the potential to grab a hold of the mobo screw. When/if you try to remove the mobo screw, it turns out the standoff instead. Its difficult to turn because the screw is still clamping the mobo to the standoff. Resulting in wear on the mobo solder rings at best, even stripped mobo screws. I had it happen to me once, was able to remove the screws, but ever since then I use Loctite on the standoff-to-case threads and don't overtighten the mobo screws.