Need advice on packing an open box motherboard for a friend

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StoleMyOwnCar

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My friend is building a new computer. I noticed the motherboard they wanted to get for their new AM5 build was in Microcenter's open box section for half off (MSI Mag Tomahawk B650, marked down to 99$ from 199$). I picked it up for them. I'm going to take some time to test it for them just to make sure it posts (which is a PITA, considering I only have one AM5 chip but oh well) before shipping.

I don't really sell my computer parts at all. Supposing it posts, I need some tips on how to pack this so it survives its trip to Missouri, from people who sell parts a lot. One thing I noticed is that the individual who had it before did not repack it with the little plastic cap that goes onto the CPU socket. I'm worried about its pins getting bent in transit if somehow some of the other material under it rubs into the socket at the right angle en-route. It's unlikely since the motherboard takes up most of its box, but anything is possible. It is still in its OEM box. it's just not exactly very secure in there.

Oh and maybe some tips on which carrier you use.

Not sure where else to post this, thanks
 
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I use pirate ship to figure out shipping....sometimes a regular box is cheaper than a flat rate box.

I've seen where cardboard packed over the cpu socket has been used when there isn't the guard. Maybe you could go back/call and ask microcenter if they have any spare guards.
 
Secure, cheap and ugly - is how i do it with non-conductive scraps filling the box until nothing moves around anymore.

But i always put the hardware in an anti-static bag before. Even the ones suitable for a motherbard are cheap on amzn.

Then i put the Original box in a slightly bigger (2-4 fingers all around) box and fill that with scraps.

The already mentioned cardboard cpu cover i usually tape onto 2 empty cigatette boxes and secure that on the cover lid of the original box so i does not move around when i fill the rest of the box.

If i don´t have a suitable cardboard box i cut and tape something together. The uglier it is, the less likely it "falls of the truck".
 
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I tested it out, it does post with my CPU and RAM, so looks good. Updated the BIOS for them, too. I'll ship it out to them whenever they get their finances together. 50% off is a pretty nice savings lol, this feels like a pretty good mobo.

applegrcoug said:
I use pirate ship to figure out shipping....sometimes a regular box is cheaper than a flat rate box.

I've seen where cardboard packed over the cpu socket has been used when there isn't the guard. Maybe you could go back/call and ask microcenter if they have any spare guards.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm assuming you mean putting the cardboard just over the top of the entire socket, including the metal clamp? Normal plastic guards go underneath the clamp in between the socket and the clamp. Since we can't get a perfect shape like that, and it's risky to possibly have the cardboard rub against the pins, I'm assuming you mean over the top of the entire thing right? I don't know if I'll be in the Microcenter area again for a bit. It's 20-30 mins away which isn't much for some people but I quite despise driving.

How much would you say shipping would be for a motherboard overall? I know you don't know the location yet, I'm just curious as to what rates we should be expecting roughly, for shipping within the US.
Carlyle2020 said:
Secure, cheap and ugly - is how i do it with non-conductive scraps filling the box until nothing moves around anymore.

But i always put the hardware in an anti-static bag before. Even the ones suitable for a motherbard are cheap on amzn.

Then i put the Original box in a slightly bigger (2-4 fingers all around) box and fill that with scraps.

The already mentioned cardboard cpu cover i usually tape onto 2 empty cigatette boxes and secure that on the cover lid of the original box so i does not move around when i fill the rest of the box.

If i don´t have a suitable cardboard box i cut and tape something together. The uglier it is, the less likely it "falls of the truck".
Click to expand...
Thankfully its original box is intact, including the cardboard standoff. I do plan to put some more filling in there after I get a CPU cover, thanks. Tons of packing paper filling from all of the weeb stuff I order. I have a lot of packing material thankfully.

It also still includes its default anti-static bag, so should be good there. No cigarette boxes because I don't smoke though.
 
Another quick question, is there any harm in shipping it with the CPU installed already? I saw the 7800X3D on sale and managed to get it discounted to the $196 bundle price and with the RAM. I assume that it would probably be fine, and could also act as the socket cover.

I'm not sure about shipping it with the RAM already installed though. I think that could snap if they happened to apply force to the top of the box in the wrong way. Plus the entire RAM box should probably fit inside the mobo box.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
Another quick question, is there any harm in shipping it with the CPU installed already? I saw the 7800X3D on sale and managed to get it discounted to the $196 bundle price and with the RAM. I assume that it would probably be fine, and could also act as the socket cover.

I'm not sure about shipping it with the RAM already installed though. I think that could snap if they happened to apply force to the top of the box in the wrong way. Plus the entire RAM box should probably fit inside the mobo box.
Click to expand...
It's fine to ship it with the CPU installed already. The RAM I would not leave installed. And yea usually the RAM box is small so it should fit fine.
 
Good stuff, thanks for the input everyone. I'm just running memtest on it with XMP on before I send it out.

$526 with tax, for a 7800X3D, nice B650 mobo, and 64GB Hynix M-die kit. Even with shipping, should be a pretty damn good deal. Just waiting for him to get the money together before I ship it.
 
I'd leave the CPU installed, put the motherboard in the anti-static bag and then just wrap the board in bubble wrap if you don't have the original box for it. I've sent boards out like that and have never had issues. Generally, I don't take any chances with the CPU pins, so the CPU installed is better than a bare socket or something that "could" fall off like cardboard/tape over it. I've gotten used boards from fleabay, etc. without a socket cover, and it's 50/50 as to whether or not it survives the trip intact without bent pins.

That's a pretty good deal for your buddy.
 
Well, I've sold & shipped 15-20 mobo/cpu combos over the years, leaving the cpu installed but NOT the ram, and never had any issues whatsoever...

But for computer parts in general, I tend to over-pack things with large amounts of bubble-wrap, peanuts, and or styrofoam though, and I AWAYS use the original box if available, and then put that box inside another generic one with even more packing materials :)

As for services, for small stuff like 3.5" drives, ram kits, AIC's etc, USPS Priority offers some nice boxes with decent rates, and as they say "if it fits, it ships" regardless of weight or destination for decent prices....

HOWEVER, for anything like a mobo or larger, it can get tricky because of "shrinkflation"....ie.....they have steadily made their various boxes smaller & smaller over the past few years, so that you have to use the next larger size at the next higher price bracket :( The older medium size flat box from 2 years ago (of which I have many stockpiled) used to be a perfect fit for an ATX mobo inside it's mfgr box, but now is not tall enough, so it would now need the "Large" box....

I also use PirateShip to get & compare rates now, since most of the time they offer the same services for a good bit less $$...

The last item I shipped was a very large & very heavy pc case in a HUGE box that I fabricated myself.... UPS wanted $189 to ship it thru their website, but PirateShip took it via UPS for only $97....
 
I wanted to thank everyone for helping out. Unfortunately things didn't go too great. I mean my packing job was pretty good, but some issues cropped up when they were building it.

First the minor stuff, I'll put it in spoiler because this isn't what I need help with:
Somehow a random standoff screw ended up loose inside of the motherboard bag. This is probably because I took it out of my testbench after testing it and put it straight in the anti-static bag. I thought I shook it down, but the nasty little bugger got loose somehow and got lodged somewhere I guess.
1717529262369.png


Good news is that I don't think it messed anything up. Didn't see anything that looked like scrapes from it, so probably harmless.

Then there was also this random stuff that got on the back of the board near the socket:
1717529364168.jpeg

1717529387957.png


This worried the shit out of me because that's basically right on top of the traces near the CPU socket. But I couldn't figure out what the hell it was. I don't remember splooging on the motherboard before sending it off, and I don't remember eating yogurt off of it either. I kept asking them whether they could see the traces being damaged under that stuff, but couldn't get a clear answer so I had them try rubbing the stains off with some iso alcohol (91%). Turns out they came off with no issues, so none of the traces were damaged in any way, board is in tip top shape:
1717529522566.png


Everything's good.

So you know, all good. I try to guide them through installing the rest of the system. Advising them on what order things go in to make it easier on them. Then this happens:

1717529626231.png

1717529648373.png

1717529676769.png
1717529695553.png


Basically they somehow broke the retention clip on one side (and warped the entire holder) while trying to slot the RAM in, and then on the other side both the clip and the entire retention mechanism got blown off.

It's a bit risky, but to me the electrical contacts look okay. So I had them carefully leave the thing on its side, put the RAM in, and then try running memtest86:

1717529782358.png


Turns out the socket is electrically fine. There's no way memtest would run for 83% if any of the pins were physically not functioning.

But I don't know what to advise them to do at this point. I think if they just glued that part back to the board and then used some adhesive to keep the stick in, they would be perfectly fine. They managed to get the side that wasn't totally blown off to stop being warped, so even if the case was vertical the stick would at least be kept from going down. But RAM unplugging during computer operation is extremely risky. So what kind of glue, and what kind of adhesive would they even use to keep it in the socket? Obviously they could just buy another board, but it's a lot of money wasted. If they re-purchased this board for MSRP, then essentially I will have only saved them about $70... sigh... maybe I should make this a separate topic.

I guess another option is to just run single channel... but god that's such a large waste of some really nice sticks.
 
And I just can't help but realize how short-sighted I was while helping them. There are just so many things that I take for granted due to my experience with building. They had poor lighting which probably lead to this. I have headlamps that I've been using for a long time. I would have sent them one if I knew this would have been an issue. I have like 6 of them. They probably used too much force in a bad way in part due to that. I kind of have an intuitive feel on how RAM (and components in general) should slot in, to begin with. To me it's always been easy. I might actually be able to build most of it with a blindfold. But these budget minded folks sometimes go for 10+ years without building anything, and they don't have a proper grasp for these things that I take for granted.

Guess it's just a bad learning experience... feels really bad trying to help someone and it ending up like this.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
I wanted to thank everyone for helping out. Unfortunately things didn't go too great. I mean my packing job was pretty good, but some issues cropped up when they were building it.

First the minor stuff, I'll put it in spoiler because this isn't what I need help with:
Somehow a random standoff screw ended up loose inside of the motherboard bag. This is probably because I took it out of my testbench after testing it and put it straight in the anti-static bag. I thought I shook it down, but the nasty little bugger got loose somehow and got lodged somewhere I guess.
View attachment 657876

Good news is that I don't think it messed anything up. Didn't see anything that looked like scrapes from it, so probably harmless.

Then there was also this random stuff that got on the back of the board near the socket:
View attachment 657877
View attachment 657878

This worried the shit out of me because that's basically right on top of the traces near the CPU socket. But I couldn't figure out what the hell it was. I don't remember splooging on the motherboard before sending it off, and I don't remember eating yogurt off of it either. I kept asking them whether they could see the traces being damaged under that stuff, but couldn't get a clear answer so I had them try rubbing the stains off with some iso alcohol (91%). Turns out they came off with no issues, so none of the traces were damaged in any way, board is in tip top shape:
View attachment 657880

Everything's good.

So you know, all good. I try to guide them through installing the rest of the system. Advising them on what order things go in to make it easier on them. Then this happens:

View attachment 657882
View attachment 657883
View attachment 657884View attachment 657885

Basically they somehow broke the retention clip on one side (and warped the entire holder) while trying to slot the RAM in, and then on the other side both the clip and the entire retention mechanism got blown off.

It's a bit risky, but to me the electrical contacts look okay. So I had them carefully leave the thing on its side, put the RAM in, and then try running memtest86:

View attachment 657887

Turns out the socket is electrically fine. There's no way memtest would run for 83% if any of the pins were physically not functioning.

But I don't know what to advise them to do at this point. I think if they just glued that part back to the board and then used some adhesive to keep the stick in, they would be perfectly fine. They managed to get the side that wasn't totally blown off to stop being warped, so even if the case was vertical the stick would at least be kept from going down. But RAM unplugging during computer operation is extremely risky. So what kind of glue, and what kind of adhesive would they even use to keep it in the socket? Obviously they could just buy another board, but it's a lot of money wasted. If they re-purchased this board for MSRP, then essentially I will have only saved them about $70... sigh... maybe I should make this a separate topic.

I guess another option is to just run single channel... but god that's such a large waste of some really nice sticks.
Click to expand...
They probably didn't realize that RAM only goes in one way. The divider isn't directly in the middle. And they tried to force it to go in. Pushing well beyond what should be reasonable.

I would see if you can get another deal on another open box mobo, and see if they have the money to cover it.


"poor" lighting isn't your fault. If they didn't take the care to setup near a window with full daylight and/or under an overhead light, that's on them.
 
chameleoneel said:
They probably didn't realize that RAM only goes in one way. The divider isn't directly in the middle. And they tried to force it to go in. Pushing well beyond what should be reasonable.
Click to expand...

They said they felt like they actually didn't push in all that hard. But yeah the socket looked symmetrical to them, despite me repeatedly telling them that it was slightly off (by design). But I don't know how they did this, though. Part of me worries I somehow packed it too firmly and it developed small cracks in transit... but I don't think it would blow apart like this, and it was surrounded by so much packing material that everything was practically untouched when it arrived. I wonder if maybe the retention mechanism was latched inwards and they somehow forced the stick onto it... but the stick itself is perfectly fine, which is odd. No idea how that would be possible. All I can think is the heatsink somehow did most of the forcing, but somehow they did both sides, and the heatsink doesn't reach both sides even if off center.

chameleoneel said:
I would see if you can get another deal on another open box mobo, and see if they have the money to cover it.
Click to expand...

I don't know if that's a good idea anymore. I don't think I would have time to test it before sending it over to them. Testing this one took a long time for me to test with my current CPU (having to yoink it out of my current system). Also that deal was frankly probably once in a very long time. Finding a good motherboard for essentially half off is incredibly hard. I think their best bet might be to just get a cheap B650M and then sell this one on Ebay as "For Parts". I'm pretty sure someone would purchase it for a large discount considering that all they have to do is glue the RAM holder back on and then just secure the ram with some sort of adhesive. They would more or less almost break even, +/- $50.
chameleoneel said:
"poor" lighting isn't your fault. If they didn't take the care to setup near a window with full daylight and/or under an overhead light, that's on them.
Click to expand...

They unfortunately don't live in a very good situation to do this. I guess I can't put it on myself but I wish there was something I could do...
 
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