Can I put an old motherboard in a new case?

eternitygirl

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Aug 28, 2015
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While shipping my two computers, the cases were damaged. As I am working on a claim against the insurance, I want to know if I will have to end up getting a new motherboard or parts too? One of the CPU's needs replacing due to fan damage, but the rest of the parts seem intact.

Can I just get a new case and put the parts in the new case with no issues, or will I need to get some new parts too?

Bonus question: How much would a professional charge to switch two cases?
 
Solution
I would imagine they should fit, as long as the new case is big enough for the components to fit in. A custom build with a large GPU, for instance, probably won't fit in a Micro tower. Were these custom PCs or store bought name brand (Dell, HP, Gateway etc). Also how old? As long as you have a case type that matches the motherboard type you should be good with the options that fall in line with that; ATX mid, full, micro, BTX, etc.

Bonus: Something Misc like this I would guess would just be the cost of an hour, as I don't see it taking more time than that (transplanting the hardware from one case to another could as little as 10 minutes to as much as half an hour depending on parts you're working with). That said, I would imagine...

mudpuppet

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Jun 20, 2012
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I would imagine they should fit, as long as the new case is big enough for the components to fit in. A custom build with a large GPU, for instance, probably won't fit in a Micro tower. Were these custom PCs or store bought name brand (Dell, HP, Gateway etc). Also how old? As long as you have a case type that matches the motherboard type you should be good with the options that fall in line with that; ATX mid, full, micro, BTX, etc.

Bonus: Something Misc like this I would guess would just be the cost of an hour, as I don't see it taking more time than that (transplanting the hardware from one case to another could as little as 10 minutes to as much as half an hour depending on parts you're working with). That said, I would imagine anywhere from $20-50. At least that's what I would look to charge... or pizza and drinks ;-) still comes out about $20-25 for what should be easy work.
 
Solution
If shipping the computers damaged the cases, there could well be damage to the internal components as well, particularly hard drives. Have you started up the damaged computers? If it were me and I was filing an insurance claim, I would take them to a repair shop for a thorough testing and repair estimate. Now, if the computers are quite old, it may be time to upgrade.
 

eternitygirl

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Aug 28, 2015
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mudpuppet: Both were under 1 year old, about 10 and 8 months respectively. They were both custom built - with a lot of lurking help from this site! I would probably be doing the work myself, it took me about 3 or 4 hours each computer to build it.

mjslakeridge: I started up both computers, and they work, but the case doesn't close anymore. Would I get charged for a testing and repair estimate?
 


Unless there is some "deductible" in the insurance, I would expect the insurance to cover all testing, parts and labor at a professional repair shop.

Have they led you to believe that this is not the case?

Yogi