Weird allignment issue between case and motherboard expansion slots (O-11 Dynamic)

Bageland2000

Bageland2000

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 19, 2013
Messages
331
I have a BNIB Lian Li O11 Dynamic and an Asus Crosshair 7 Hero. The motherboard is (I'm 99.9% sure) installed/seated properly in the case on standoffs. The weird thing is when I went to connect my Strix 1080Ti to the top PCI-E slot, It would hit the case (where you screw the back plate of the GPU into the case) before the card could completely seat into the mobo slot. Lower on the case, I have a sound card in a x1 slot, and the tolerance is even worse.

Both cards seem to be connected enough to function, but on a brand new build it's obviously frustrating to not be able to fully push an expansion card in. This is a popular case and motherboard. Anyone else heard of or experienced this issue!?
 
Pics? Can you move the mobo to a different set of mounting points that align better?
 
I'd loosen the standoffs, slide the motherboard away from the edge slightly, and then tighten the screws in the standoffs. Should give you a little more room.
 
tU68LmJ.jpg


Here's a picture. I tried to capture what is going on as best I could.

kirbyrj said:
I'd loosen the standoffs, slide the motherboard away from the edge slightly, and then tighten the screws in the standoffs. Should give you a little more room.
Click to expand...

I don't think that would help. The I/O plate fits perfectly in the case cutout. Shifting the mobo toward or away from the I/O cutout wouldn't change anything. The card hits the height of the case area where you screw in the card into the case first. That's why you can seat the front of the card (near the power cables) better than the back plate side.

dvsman said:
Pics? Can you move the mobo to a different set of mounting points that align better?
Click to expand...

Nope. I think that raising the motherboard off the motherboard tray about a half mm would fix it, but that really isn't possible or how case/motherboard installs are designed AFAIK.
 
Wow that's kinda surprising. Lian Li is the good stuff and I wouldn't expect any fitment issues.

I've never used a Lian LI in particular but the only time I've ever had a problem with a case install was my own user error (I effed up) when installing the mobo's IO backplate into the case's rear IO hole. Had to jigger it a bit until it fit correctly and moved that extra 1-2mm that made it perfectly flush.
 
I noticed a slight misalignment with my O11D as well (with an asus zenith board). From your picture/description mine is off in the opposite direction - the expansion slot screws are just a little too far away from the bracket on the installed cards. It hasn't been enough to cause problems for me so i've just left it as is at the moment but it's definitely frustrating.
 
I had a similar issue, just did a little wiggling and was all set.
 
AthlonXP said:
I had a similar issue, just did a little wiggling and was all set.
Click to expand...
Wiggling the mobo? Or the expansion cards?


dvsman said:
Wow that's kinda surprising. Lian Li is the good stuff and I wouldn't expect any fitment issues.

I've never used a Lian LI in particular but the only time I've ever had a problem with a case install was my own user error (I effed up) when installing the mobo's IO backplate into the case's rear IO hole. Had to jigger it a bit until it fit correctly and moved that extra 1-2mm that made it perfectly flush.
Click to expand...
Maybe I need a second look at how well seated the motherboard is in the I/O cutout. It looks perfect, but maybe I'm missing something.
 
I've had this problem (to some degree at least) on my fractal meshify. I just don't go super tight on the screws and make sure it is seated enough so I can lock it in.
 
Standoffs commonly used for motherboards come in a surprising number of different heights that, when combined with various motherboard PCB thicknesses, can lead to issues like this. It looks like you might need some very slightly taller standoffs. Shouldn't cause any issues with the I/O plate.
 
viivo said:
Standoffs commonly used for motherboards come in a surprising number of different heights that, when combined with various motherboard PCB thicknesses, can lead to issues like this. It looks like you might need some very slightly taller standoffs. Shouldn't cause any issues with the I/O plate.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I've been building computers for 25 years, and I've never seen or heard anything about non-standard length motherboard standoffs, and I've never run into this issue. I'm pretty sure if I got longer standoffs, the I/O panel wouldn't fit in the I/O cutout of the case. Do you have a link to standoffs that are longer than normal? I wouldn't even know where to start looking.
 
Might be worth a try to get a right-angle/square tool and verify if your case is misaligned. I haven't had a misalignment but several cases that I worked with would have the VGA outputs or connectors rub onto the pci slots.
 
Nanogrip said:
Might be worth a try to get a right-angle/square tool and verify if your case is misaligned. I haven't had a misalignment but several cases that I worked with would have the VGA outputs or connectors rub onto the pci slots.
Click to expand...
That sounds like a good idea. I'll see what I can do. Thanks!
 
My Lian-Li PC-O5SX had a similar problem with its expansion-slots alignment. On the O5 the slots are separate from the motherboard, so motherboard alignment wasn't an issue, but the bracket where the PCIe-cable end attached. Lian-Li denied it was a problem even after I sent a photo of my GPU not fitting. Ultimately I drilled and tapped new holes in the brackets.

Anyway, I don't actually have anything to add here, just that I can't say I'm real surprised to hear about alignment problems in an O11.
 

Attachments

  • 0.jpg
    0.jpg
    62.2 KB · Views: 0
I'm sorry I know it's a very old thread but did you ever fix your issue ? I'm facing the same :(
 
I have the same case and my graphics card fits a little gimpy. However, it was a used mining card that I purchased and I believe that the endplate where the outputs are is bent a little. In my old case and this case, I had to pry the case out a little to get the screws started. Have you checked your card for being square? Does it fit well in another case?
 
I'l check the card in a few weeks when it comes out of storage. Thanks for the feedback!
 
Bringing this thread back to life. I have a brand new Phanteks case and a Gigabyte motherboard. Same exact issue which seems like the case is not perfectly square. Issue is with the card fully seated in the slot, the bracket does not come in contact with the case. When you push the bracket to the case and attempt to put in the screw, the back part of the card comes out.
 
Every time I have that issue, pushing the ear on the card's i/o plate gets the back in, then it all fits together as it should.

Edit: nvm, saw that heatspreader and the gap and it looked like it wasn't in the slot at all, except where it locks in the back. This is a different issue to what I normally encounter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top