Help! Shipping & Packing a Desktop from Hawaii to Seattle

[Nynx]

Aloha, I'm going to be moving from Hawaii to Seattle and would like to take my gaming computer with me. But I don't have any experience shipping a used computer (the computer is a little over two years old). And unfortunately, I don't have the original packaging.

Being on an island, I figure my only options are UPS and FedEx. But I have no idea how to pack it. I'll probably take out the HDDs and GPU before shipping, but I would like to leave everything else inside--although I'm a little afraid the heatsink might break the motherboard during shipping (but I have no experience removing a heatsink). Could I put anti-static bubble wrap inside to keep things from jiggling around? Or is that a bad idea?

Also, should I let UPS / FedEx pack the computer for shipping or should I do it myself?

On a side note, is there anything I should be aware of when taking computer components in a check-in or carry-on bag when flying?

Any other advice on shipping desktops would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[smorizio]

what you want to do is get two boxes for the move. first box you want to pack it like a computer case is shipped. two blocks of foam on the two sides of the case and wedge the case into the box. before you do this pick up a anti static shipping bag that let you cover the whole case and then tape it shut. put the pc and box into a larger box and cover it with foam. depending on the vendor look at the max size and weight you can ship. in rl you want few inches of space between the two boxes. incase the hit the box with forks or drop it or pile other boxes on top of it. on shipping put a lot of money on the value of the pc...if they lose it or damage it you get a nice payday. when the pc gets to point b. dont plug it in...open the case and with a good led flashlight make sure the ram and cpu still in one peiece. if they played kick the pc with your pc ask for a supervizio of the shipping comp and have him open the box as your taping it. it prove that the rig was damaged by them and not you.

 

[jossrik]

Just something to add. I'd order some thermal paste and remove the heatsink from the CPU. I shipped a computer to a friend in Michigan (From Florida) and the heatsink came off during shipping and bounced around the inside of the computer for the week or whatever it took to get there. That was a standard heatsink like 10 years ago so it wasn't even a big or heavy heatsink, but it ruined the hell out of the motherboard and graphics card. Luckily I didn't have a lot of money into it, it cost me more to ship it than it was for the computer, but man I was pissed off. I wouldn't worry too much if it's screwed on, but if it's an AMD clip on, I'd worry, even the intel push pin type I'd think seriously about taking it out. If the graphics card has weight to it, take that out too. HDDs, ODDs, SSDs you don't need to worry too much about, when they're not spinning they can take a jolt, and they should be screwed pretty well to the case. You just don't want anything inside the case flying around in there. Maybe even fill the computer with packing peanuts before you box it.