Is it possible to make a ghetto I/O shield?

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XacTactX

Supreme [H]ardness
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Dec 13, 2010
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So I was overclocking and burned up my last motherboard. I decided to get another one used off of eBay. Unfortunately I didn't realize that this board does not come with an IO shield.

This is the board I'm getting, the P7H55/USB3

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1156/P7H55USB3/

I see on eBay that IO shields are available but they cost about $17 and will take another three or four days to arrive. So are there any DIY things I can do to fix this?
 
  • Right now the US eStore is down but when it comes back online I'll take a look. Thank you for the info, I didn't know they sell front panels.
  • Hey guys will anything happen if I don't use the IO shield for a little bit? I can be careful to make sure my cables don't touch the wrong stuff and short something out.
  • Also, the IO shield for my broken motherboard is very similar to this one. There is just one pair of USB ports and an optical output that I need to punch out of the old IO shield. Will that work alright?
 
You can use without the IO shield temporarily if you like, I've seen many PCs where the builder didn't put in the IO shield and ran that way for years.
 
Yeah, I say just go without it. It's not like it really does anything anyway. There are plenty of other openings in the case already, if you were worried about EMI.
 
Forceman said:
Yeah, I say just go without it. It's not like it really does anything anyway. There are plenty of other openings in the case already, if you were worried about EMI.
Click to expand...

They do help prevent the connections being ripped off of the board if somebody trips over a wire or something.

I ahve run systems without IO shields before.. but I will only do that when there is no other option.

OP - You should be able to punch/cut the extra needed holes in your current IO shield and use that instead of buying a new IO shield.
 
If you've got a good hand, consider buying the smallest and thinnest piece of acrylic sheet (aka plexiglass), make an outlining print of the I/O components, and carve/file out a fit on the acrylic. It should cost you no more than $5 for the sheet (with plenty of left overs), and an hour if you take your time and go slow.
 
FrostBite said:
If you've got a good hand, consider buying the smallest and thinnest piece of acrylic sheet (aka plexiglass), make an outlining print of the I/O components, and carve/file out a fit on the acrylic. It should cost you no more than $5 for the sheet (with plenty of left overs), and an hour if you take your time and go slow.
Click to expand...

I was thinking Styrene would work well and you can buy a good amount for a few bucks. It's a bit easier to work with too.
 
Thanks guys, you've suggested some solid and creative ideas. But check it out, this is what happened. Not only did the motherboard not come with an IO shield (which hadn't been mentioned in the eBay listing), I got the wrong model! Instead of getting the P7H55/USB3 I got the regular versions without USB3 and a second PCIe slot. I told the seller that I wanted a refund because of these two issues (no IO shield and wrong model) and he gave me the refund, free return shipping and everything.

I'll make sure that the next motherboard I get has an IO shield. Thanks anyway and I hope someone benefits from this thread. :)
 
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