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Hi there. I am kinda new to building pcs. My first one, I didn't raise the motherboard with offset screws. It's been running fine for 2 years. For the current one, I don't know if it needs to be or not. There seem to be different schools of thought. My concern is that when I raise it, then the connectors on the back are having a hard time to fit through the cutout. Things are very tight. Is it the case? Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks in advance.

"Offset screws?" You mean the standoffs? The standoffs that you are supposed to use to prevent accidential short circuits to ground?

You should ALWAYS use the standoffs that come with your motherboard.

Thanks, superjawes. Yes, of course, Im was talking about standoff screws. Wrong word. And point taken.

How could you even mount it in the case properly? I would think you'd have to use them to get the ports to come out of the I/O shield.

Don't some newer cases come with standoffs or "bumps" on the motherboard tray?

Been awhile for me; looking forward to breaking my old system down and building it new...

BIF wrote:

Don't some newer cases come with standoffs or "bumps" on the motherboard tray?

That's the only explanation why the OP's motherboard can fit the cutouts.

superjawes wrote:

"Offset screws?" You mean the standoffs? The standoffs that you are supposed to use to prevent accidential short circuits to ground?

You should ALWAYS use the standoffs that come with your motherboard case.

FTFY

5150 wrote:

How could you even mount it in the case properly? I would think you'd have to use them to get the ports to come out of the I/O shield.

I'm here to tell you that it can work. Don't ask, because it was my very first and I've thankfully forgotten, but it lasted for around three years before I re-used the case.

What case are you using?

If you have a case that doesn't have built-in standoffs and don't install them, there's no way the mobo would sit high enough for the rear IO panel to fit through the back faceplate. All standoffs are the same height for this reason. Otherwise cases and motherboards wouldn't be interchangeable. I have occasionally seen a random "tall" standoff or two stuffed in an accessories bag, but we're talking ~8 regular height ones (enough for the entire mobo) and a single tall one. The tall ones stand out like a sore thumb compared to the rest. Not sure what they're included for.

Oh, and don't over-tighten the mounting screws into the standoffs or you'll have a hell of a time getting them out. I had this problem in an old rig where I went to remove the mobo screws and the standoffs unscrewed from the case instead of the screws. Two fingers on the stem of the screw driver is plenty and/or use a drop of loctite on the threads of the standoffs.

It's been running for 2 years. If there were no standoffs and the mobo was on the case floor, it would have glitched out by now.

Thank you all for your input. The case I am using is a ThermalTake VM54521N2U. And yes, it came with brass standoff screws. But as I said, using them makes it tight for the connectors at the cutout. Maybe it's just a poor quality case.