Hand my LAN rig over to an airline?

[mickleby]

I'm building a LAN party rig using the Bitfenix Prodigy case. What is the best protocol for shipping the rig crosscountry to a LAN party?

For example, I'm looking at the mounting of the PSU. I suspect a small drop of the rig even in a well-cushioned box could damage the mounting plate and/or threads of the case and PSU screw holes. After all, the PSU is basically suspended in air with only the mounting plate attaching it to the case.

My inexperienced best guess is only the PSU is so massive as to be a concern and to require disassembly for shipping. Will I likely be ok if I box the rig assembled --minus the PSU-- and bring this with me as checked luggage?

(I'm going to try the Corsair H100 for CPU cooling, so there won't be a massive heatsink sitting on the mobo. The GFX card has some mass, but the mobo stress seems tolerable given the way GFX cards mount.)

Feel free to tell me if you believe this thread belongs elsewhere. This seemed most appropriate, but I am fairly new to the PCPer community.

[richardd43]

Am not sure about your case but my PSU sits flat on the floor and slides into position. All of the screw holes line up perfectly.

I would just pack it in the box the case came in and ship it.

Might want to put a "THIS SIDE UP" warning on it though.

[mickleby]

I'm a bit more confident in the PSU mounting, there is the PSU cage in the case to protect the other components tho I still think it's something that could get mangled by a short drop.

The empty case arrived via UPS with the styrofoam broken and the cutout handle on the cardboard box ripped. I'm sure with the added weight of the build I will need something more sturdy.

Also, I think I should work to place the weight/stress of shipping on the steel case rather than the plastic "I look like a Mac" feet/handles of the Bitfenix Prodigy. Perhaps these should be removed during shipping and this would leave a simpler 6-sided box case to pack.