Ebay motherboards without I/O shield?

[EarthDog]

Yes, it does quite a bit of good as long as your intakes are filtered. I've been using it for years, even with computers sitting on carpet with 3 dogs in the house, and almost never have to clean out my computers.

it does a slightly better job at keeping dust out due to more cfm out. Otherwise its benefits, if any, are case/situation specific.

The purpose of those shields is two-fold. (1) To provide a good ground around all the connectors.

wow... first I've heard of them being a ground for the connectors....that are already grounded via their connections to the board. It may serve that purpose too, but I also highly doubt it's worth worrying about if there isnt one there.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Otherwise its benefits, if any, are case/situation specific.

Well, okay. But who is responsible for setting up case cooling? The user.

that are already grounded via their connections to the board.

This is true. But are you going to assume that $.50 cable connected to that port, made by whoknowswho was properly constructed in the first place and is still in excellent condition? Not me. That's exactly why formally trained professional technicians NEVER do and always attach a separate ground wire from the equipment they are working on to "station" ground before working on live voltages.

Interesting how you singled that out but chose to leave the just as, if not more important #2 reason when you decided to add your criticism here. .

 

[Mr.Scott]

Interesting how you singled that out but chose to leave the just as, if not more important #2 reason when you decided to add your criticism here. .

Probably because that little 2 inch by 4 inch piece of tin has even less value as any kind of 'shield' than it does a ground.

 

[freeagent]

He might be thinking of rf interference maybe? There was one time I did get a hum in an old harmon/kardon I had plugged into my computer. I don't remember what board, psu, any of that stuff, just that I forgot to put the io shield on.. I want to say it was an HP nf2 mobo, but I might be wrong. Im sure it was a cheap board, maybe before I discovered overclocking. I have run without them afterwards with no ill effects.. I was thinking of taking mine out to help vent the case in the summer when I turn my fans up a bit to game. With the AC on the extra noise will fade to white.

For me I like to have it just for aesthetics, but I would buy a board if it didn't have it. Because awesomeness is hard to come by, you usually pay to play.

 

[Jetster]

I can show you my case inside anytime. Absolutely No dust ever.

Positive pressure works but you have to filter your intakes and have at least 3/1 fan ratio
It doesn't keep a PC as cool but it keeps it clean

Back on topic: Who need an I/O shield? You don't "need one" I've run many back in the day without it

 

[SaltyFish]

As someone else mentioned, you can also get I/O shields from eBay. Some manufacturers might also sell them directly.

 

[E-Bear]

^^^ BS.
I/O shield does nothing but make it pretty.

You can say BS as much as you want but sine I started playing/working with computers in 1994 I seen a lot of things that does not happen often.

 

[Assimilator]

As someone else mentioned, you can also get I/O shields from eBay. Some manufacturers might also sell them directly.

Yeah, you can get them from Ebay... and pay 10 f**king dollars for a stamped piece of metal that costs 50 cents. Nice find of that reddit link though.

 

[rtwjunkie]

^^^ BS.
I/O shield does nothing but make it pretty.

Well, having it in eliminates the largest opening into the case for that mouse family looking for a home!

 

[Splinterdog]

I've got a box of about 50 old I/O shields and when I advertised them for sale locally, I never seemed to have the exact match when the enquiries came through.
You can mod them if it's just a few mm you're trying to adjust, but other than that they can be lethal on your fingers when trying to cut them.
I would say that they're mainly aesthetic.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I've got a box of about 50 old I/O shields and when I advertised them for sale locally, I never seemed to have the exact match when the enquiries came through.

Same here. It seems every motherboard, regardless the maker (which I think is most odd), uses a slightly different layout for all the ports - even when they have the same ports and same number of ports.

Sadly, I did not have the foresight to label each shield with the motherboard it came with. But also, I used to take in old parts, including old cases, to make computers to donate, or just to recycle. Many cases already had the boards pulled, but the shields remained. Too bad board makers don't label them either. Most have part numbers, but no brand.

 

[Splinterdog]

I used to lay them all out on a table, all nice and neat and then post up the photos, suggesting to potential buyers that they simply match up one of their choice with the motherboard in question.
I also made it clear that I had no Idea for which mobos the plates were for, so they'd need to match the holes up. Not that taxing actually.
Unfortunately this concept proved too complicated for most people, resulting in "Do you have a backplate for an Asus xxx or a Gigabyte xxx" etc etc and endless other inane questions, so I withdrew them from sale.
It was just too much hassle for me, especially since people are too lazy to read what I had written.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I don't blame you. Similar stories here. So a couple years ago, I cleaned out my storeroom and took everything to a nearby electronics recycling center. They gave me a few pennies for the metal value.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I see a mobo that I may want, but there's no IO shield included. What am I supposed to do?

Buy it, enjoy it. As stated earlier in this thread, the IO shield serves a purpose, but doing without one will not prevent the system from running. You'll be fine.

 

[newtekie1]

If you have negative pressure - even a tiny bit - air (and the dust, dander, hair, etc. it carries) will get sucked in through every little hole, slit, port, and crack.

AFAIK, every clean room is setup as positive pressure for exactly this reason.

 

[Bill_Bright]

AFAIK, every clean room is setup as positive pressure for exactly this reason.

I've been in a few and they all had positive pressure for that reason.

I think medical clean/isolation rooms are the opposite so any leak causes air to run into the room instead of contaminated air escaping out - but that's a totally different scenario.

 

[ChunkyC]

I think it should be good, but I just joined. Honestly, this thread has kinda been solved. I think @Bill_Bright
did a good job of explaining it. I do not think it needs a super expert explanation, as it's kind of a really simple topic compared to the other stuff I've seen on this forum.
It's safe.

 

[Bill_Bright]

And it only cost me $5 and a Kit Kat to get him to say that!

 

[Splinterdog]

I don't think I could ever leave my main rig without an I/O shield. I'd never sleep at night worrying about the aesthetics.

 

[HammerON]

Closing this thread for the time being.