Asus Motherboard Box Doubles As PC Case

itwbennett writes "Taiwan's Asus has a novel idea to cut down on shipping waste: What if the shipping container became the PC case? That's the idea behind a box the company will begin using to ship one of its Mini ATX motherboards. It holds the motherboard snug for shipping and is constructed so additional components required to make a PC can be added, said Debby Lee, a spokeswoman for the Taipei-based company. An example of the box is showing at this week's Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany."

Comments

That is the coolest thing I've seen in years

[rsilvergun]

But is this safe? I thought you needed to ground the mobo against metal... Still, a pre-mounted mobo that can be moved to a better case when you feel like it? Sign me up!

Re:That is the coolest thing I've seen in years

[arivanov]

I have run motherboards for the last 20 years without grounding them on a regular basis. It is kind'a safe from that perspective. It is better for the motherboard if it is grounded properly, but most work fine anyway. Same for cards, adapters, drives, etc - very few rely on getting a proper ground from the bracket fixings or the fixing bolts.

I am more worried about the cardboard. Is this one properly treated with a flame retardant? If the MB or any of the components smokes for whatever reason is it going to burn merrily or fizzle out.

Re:That is the coolest thing I've seen in years

[icebike]

Ground is handled by the power connections, which includes a ground pin, and is grounded to the mains. Grounding the power supply to the case is only needed because the case (normally) is metal, and you want to be sure it is at ground.

But is a cardboard box safe for other reasons? Like FIRE?

I've had more than a few PCs get hot enough in certain circumstances where fire is a serious danger, especially in enclosed spaces (shoved under desks), or maybe pushed up against resistive electrical baseboard heaters etc.

This thing just cries out for the Slashdot "What could possibly go wrong" meme.

Re:That is the coolest thing I've seen in years

[SuperTechnoNerd]

It's not unsafe, however without a grounded metal chassis, it will radiate a great deal of RF interference. You could not sell them assembled in this form because they would never pass FCC rules for RFI

Re:That is the coolest thing I've seen in years

[Moryath]

The connectors to the power supply are grounded, and there are ground pins all over the freaking place in the case. It's not as if the thing weren't pretty much grounded anyways. I've seen motherboards run inside cardboard boxes, on top of bubble wrap, packing foam, even on top of a pile of packing peanuts.

What I'm worried about is: what happens if you get one of the usual USA-type drivers from FedEx/UPS who kicks the shit out of your package? The box'll be halfway useless for making a PC anyways then.

Re:That is the coolest thing I've seen in years

[geekoid]

IF you box gets hot enough to catch this on fire, it would have failed before it got hot enough to set this on fire.

You heard me.
Corrugated cardboard ignites at over 400 C

Re:That is the coolest thing I've seen in years

[gewalker]

I have seen the power supplies on running PCs catch on fire -- PC continues to operate while smoke is rolling out of the P/S. This condition does not last long though. The extra fuel of a cardboard case might be enough to get a more interesting fire going.

Re:That is the coolest thing I've seen in years

[h4rr4r]

I have seen motherboards catch fire, actual fire with flames and smoke. Sure the machine failed, but the metal case sure seems to reduce the risk of that fire spreading. Would this case then have gone up as well?

Re:That is the coolest thing I've seen in years

[Gilmoure]

Maybe if you coated the cardboard with an aluminum/iron oxide paint so that it'll reflect heat better?

Re:That is the coolest thing I've seen in years

[smellsofbikes]

For what it's worth, I've had a still-running (as in the monitor still had an image on it) motherboard with small parts sliding off because the solder had melted. Of course, solder melts way below 400C. However, I've also had the infamous Dell GX270 capacitor explosion, which blew actual flame out the back of my case -- clearly over 400C. As such I can imagine situations where the grandparent post's concern might be valid.

Re:That is the coolest thing I've seen in years

[Antarius]

A UPS Driver? Isn't power management just handled by a kernel module? ;-p

Interesting justification...

[mlts]

Giving people the ability to get everything attached to their motherboard for testing reasons until they find a real enclosure.

interesting

[networkBoy]

I suppose it's ok, but the article even mentions that it is for interim use while the buyer shops for the perfect case, thus they will still buy a case. Since this uses *more* material then a normal box I'd say overall the effect is opposite what they claim. As a marketing gimmick it's great though.
-nB

Re:interesting

[icebike]

thus they will still buy a case.

Says Who?

College dorm rooms and hacker basements will have these things stacked 4 high in short order.

No concerns about RFI?

[Ellis D. Tripp]

No way that a motherboard in a cardboard box is going to pass the various RF emission tests for FCC or CE certification.

Re:No concerns about RFI?

[icebike]

The thing is, that Joe Hacker need not comply with those. They pretty much kick in only when a device is offered for sale, and
certifications are summarily ignored in the home builder market in any event.

Fire safety is a bigger issue. But I don't know of any regulations that would prevent them from selling this
as long as they don't sell it as w working PC. Its a loop hole, and they know it.

Re:No concerns about RFI?

[VortexCortex]

No way that a motherboard in a cardboard box is going to pass the various RF emission tests for FCC or CE certification.

1) Fortunately they are selling the Motherboard, not the entire PC (the PC assemblers would have to pass the FCC or CE certs).

2) The FCC or CE (and possibly NFPA) would really flip out if they saw my "computer room" which has several computers sans cases mounted across 4x8 plexiglass sheets. They're so much easier to upgrade & clean, they're more functional than paintings/posters (and more aesthetic (to me) ). Wallputers give the room a cosy, cyber-punk feel...

Who needs cases? Also: the cardboard case is fairly bulky, ugh.

P.S. I use Synergy for my Multi-screen/Multi OS/Multi Computer command and control center.

Re:No concerns about RFI?

[Xtravar]

You have access to the machine. It is your duty as a nerd to root the machine. None of this sissy nonsense.

Re:No concerns about RFI?

[jojoba_oil]

On another note, the new /. posting method doesn't work with IE6. I know, I know.... IE6.... That's the company standard and I know I'm not alone here.

Which is one of the reasons Google decided to have Chrome install itself to the user profile; it doesn't require administrator access or installation privileges.

Re:No concerns about RFI?

[basotl]

Okay where is the link to the picture of your set up? I'm a sucker for checking out alternate mods and mounts.

Box in a box

[Anrego]

Now we need to pack the box in another box to protect it during shipping/

Given the state most packages I receive come in this seems somewhat impractical.

Also.. who orders a motherboard before the case? That seems kind of backwards to me.

I tend to order the case, power supply, and various fans/controllers/anything else I’m cramming into it first as I tend to do a little light modding. This gives me time to play without the “just want to get it running” jitters. Also I don’t like having too much stuff floating around “out there” makes me nervous. I usually order things in batches.. and wait for each batch to arrive before ordering the next.

Re:Box in a box

[billcopc]

I have never understood the point of buying a PC in batches. Even for a complete twit, it takes less than a day to assemble your first PC. For most tech-minded people, it's an hour or two. My current rig is an epeen showpiece, with peltiers, water, dual Xeons and SLI graphics, and it took maybe 4 hours to put together, including all the drilling and dremeling to make things fit. If you can't restrain your "get it running jitters" for a few hours without jumping out of your skin, um... well then I'm glad I'm not you :)

At the very end of the spectrum, I used to have clients that would come in every payday and buy one component. Two or three months later they'd finally have a working PC. I don't know what annoyed me more, the fact that a gainfully employed person couldn't let that same $1000 accrue in the bank, or having to listen to them mentally masturbate over their future PC every week. Every. Goddamned. Week. Fuck. Off. Kid.

I dunno, maybe because for me it's work, not play, I prefer to do things as efficiently as possible. Play begins once I pop in an OS disc.

Why can't I keep running it?

[guruevi]

If I keep the boxes dry, U-Haul boxes can last for 10 years in storage. Why wouldn't this thing last for 2-3 years or however long a PC lasts? This would be great for datacenters and stuff where all you need is processing power. Just pop out the box, fill with RAM and CPU, hook up to a 12/5V power tree, network and stack it in a rack. The flashpoint of cardboard is high enough that I don't think it will be a problem.

This is probably more functional

[craash420]

than the spent Budweiser case I've been using.

Knew it!

[Octopuscabbage]

.I knew my cardboard box fort making skills would come in handy some day!

Re:Unfortunately

[MiniMax333]

It's Mini-ITX.

Re:RF interference

[snowraver1]

You shouldn't be worried about the RF that is coming out of the board, you should be worried about what is giong INto the board. RF interference can cause random problems, like unexplained crashing, but I haven't ever had any issues with it. You can assemble a computer and just have the loose pieces laying on a table, and the computer will run fine. In practice, comptuers are pretty resiliant to RF.

been there, done that

[tverbeek]

I once built a "stealth" computer with an old ATX motherboard in a FedEx shipping box. It's more of a sit-in-the-corner novelty than a useful machine, though.

Re:No RF shielding

[arivanov]

It depends funnily enough.

Try running your PC at different HZ for the OS-es that support it (hint - BSD). You get some very interesting results with unusual HZ like 2000-3000 and when using ACPI timers. Very unusual. In fact so unusual that if you are running the MB "bare" on a desktop with no EM shielding and have audio kit nearby you may want to stick some earplugs in your ears first.

Tested with a Via EPIA motherboard by the way. I needed high HZ and spent half a day swearing until I found a frequency which was good enough and did not wreak havoc around the kit.

Re:Unfortunately

[2TecTom]

Exactly! Most people won't use this, therefore the amount of waste will actual increase. Personally, I just wish Asus would properly document and explain it's motherboards' BIOS settings. Think how much energy and time that would save! Sigh. ;~(