? about gold standoffs in server cases

[itsmikey]

the last few server cases i've seen have had the gold standoffs BUILT INTO the chasis, and NOT gold/brass..

but then, theres a bag of gold standoffs with the case. this isnt the first server case ive seen like this, but i didnt build the others so i figured that they were just locations to put the gold standoffs into.. but now I have a Chenbro and its obvious those are meant to be the standoffs themselves. Its an ATX/EATX chasis so it has the extra screw holes for extended boards..

anyone know of any problems not using gold standoffs?

should i put the gold standoffs wherever i can find a matching hole missing a built in standoff? there are holes in which i can use a gold standoff and then screws, but there are only 3-4..

 

[Logan321]

Gold-plating is a scam, imo. Yes, gold is a good conductor, but it also oxidizes rather quickly, and tends to cause surface corrosion when mismatched metals are combined. The contacts on the motherboard itself are usually a copper pad that has been covered with solder, a tin/lead combination.

So to answer your question, use any type of motherboard standoff you want. It is a ground, sure, but your primary ground should be through the power supply anyway.

 

[Arcygenical]

Umm... The reason gold is used as a plating material is because it doesn't oxidize very well... It's also known as the most unreactive of all natural metals. The reason gold plating is often used for these standoffs, is to prevent corrosion, it has nothing to do with electrical conductivity.

As long as standoffs are around high tension areas (RAM slots, CPU slot, IDE and PCI slots) you should generally be alright. I only use about 6 with my mobo.

I'd assume that any conductive standoff will do the job just as well.

Also, to the above poster... how do you use the "psu as the main ground?"

 

[Tim_axe]

Primary grounding is done through the motherboard-->psu now, and that connection is through the big bundle of 20/24 wires between the motherboard and psu. It isn't through the little holes on the motherboard through the case. I think that is what was meant above.

I've seen AT cases that really did ground to the chassis of the case (the power button ran a full 120v AC back then, but now it is just a ~3-5v signal line), but that whole practice isn't as important now...just look at the custom wooden and acrylic cases we have going around...there's no way you can ground through the chassis of a non-conductive case...

The standoffs could be made of plastic or any material - it doesn't usually matter a whole lot. It just needs to keep the motherboard from touching the (usually metal) motherboard tray. Since the backside of the motherboard is littered with hundreds of solder points, you don't really want those shorting through the motherboard tray...so do whatever you need to do to get the board the right distance...use stand-offs, etc.

 

[DeFex]

they are just brass not gold lol.
anyways if you find a spot you can put one in go ahead. some hole locations are standard for all motherboards, thats the built in ones. the standoffs are for the locations that are different on different boards.