without a case

[douglasb]

does anyone know how to turn on an asus P5K Premium motherboard without a case?
i have ordered a CM690 from scan but they were out of stock so, for now, i have no case

[!TIMMY!]

Use a screw driver with a non conductive handle and use it to complete the circuit on the Power header on the mobo, just touch the + and - at the same time.

I used to do this on my v. old mobo, dont know if it works on newer mobo's.

[TAKTAK]

all you needto do is short the power connector so that it turns on...
thats all the power switch does...

[Will404]

all you needto do is short the power connector so that it turns on...
thats all the power switch does...

Would advise to do this, but remember to do it on the top of its box/anti static bag, so that it does not short with any other metals

Wouldnt want to short anything other than the power outpust

[Agent]

Or put a jumper on it for a second before taking it off if screwdrivers scare ya

[moogle]

or take out an old case's power and reset switch and use that
old cases are good for something.

[douglasb]

finished building and it lives!! lol
thanks

[Ben Rogers]

just some advice - don't run it on the anti-static bag that the mobo came in because the outside of it will have static on!

i run this PC caseless with the mobo on the box it came in and the hard drives to the side on their side and the PSU on top of a half built PC infront of the desk.

im not sure putting a jumper on the power/on header would work because you would need to remove it so quickly as the connection between the two points can't be more than a few milliseconds, just one brief connection between the two points with anything metal (I use a fan grill for some reason as it was the closest thing to hand, but have used flat headed screw drivers, keys etc) in the past when I had a lot of caseless PCs running.

[s3ds]

i have a jumper taped to a pair of plastic tweezers that works for me

[peterb]

just some advice - don't run it on the anti-static bag that the mobo came in because the outside of it will have static on!

No it won't! There won't be any static electicicity on the bag - that is the purpose of it! (However, the plastic is slightly conductive - which is why they are antistatic - so while the resistance is probably to high to affect operation of the mobo, you are probably better off standing it on a piece of cardboard. The box the mobo came in would be OK.

A small flat bladed screwdriver is fine for connecting the two power switch pins together.

[nvening]

most of the mobos ive ever bought come with foam inside the antistatic bay so i would just place it on that.

[Sprite]

Anti staticbags work by transfering the static around the outside of the bag, or so Ive heard

[Agent]

Anti staticbags work by transfering the static around the outside of the bag, or so Ive heard

They are essentially a Faraday cage. It'll protect whats on the inside (provided the "cage" is closed - in this case the bag is sealed) while allowing the charge to build up on the outside.

The black (commonly) lines that are all over it are conductive, but certainly not to the point where they would damage a motherboard placed on it. They have a very high resistance.
Once the bag has been grounded, it doesn't matter too much anyway

I usually use a book / bit of wood / paper / card / whatever. As long as its not a slab of metal and you use your noggin, you'll be fine

[Koolpc]

I thought it was best to place the mobo in a bowl of water? Just kidding!!!!!

[Ben Rogers]

So...does it depend on the actual type of anti-static bag the motherboard comes in? because I was told never to put the motherboard on top of the bag by a lecturer at college who seemed to know his stuff? Is he wrong then and there is no chance of static harming the mobo if placed on the bag? i am curious as to the answer to this for future reference.

This is how I run this PC and have done since I built it sometime back in early April and it has never had a problem, foam that came with mobo placed in the mobo box with the side pulled down to allow for I/O ports and connections at rear of mobo:

[peterb]

The bags are conductive (nort very - they don't need to be) because that is how they dissapate any static charge (or to be strictly accurate, prevent any building up) Hence it is probably better not to rest working electronic devices on it, although the conductivity (the inverse of resistance) is so low that it probably wouldn't matter.

Static electicity is a high voltage/low current phenomena, so static will leak away over high resistance paths - which an antistatic bag provides. (Where does is leak to? - the atmosphere, via water molecules in the air - and even if the air is very dry, the bag is at an equipotential - and when you handle the bag, you will discharge any static electicity.)