So I'm going to be driving about 2,000 back to school in a couple weeks, and I've decided to take my desktop with me. What's the best way to travel with it without having to totally disassemble it? Should I even bother? Currently the GPU has its outstretched corner tethered tautly to the top and bottom of my case because I saw my card beginning to sag at one point. Is there any reason that if I lay my desktop down in the back of my car and pack over it I should be worried about internal components getting damaged?
that's the reason for the case.
Yes, you should take at least part of it apart. The main thing to take out is the GPU, because if you hit a bump it'll wobble and possibly break, just pop it out and stick it back in the box it came in. Other than that, you may want to take out the CPU cooler, if it hangs out a lot and you have the case put upright in your car.
Other than that, nothing to worry about.
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Mechanical drives could also be an issue as they are pretty much the most fragile components inside a computer and a big enough shock could damage the them but the risk is fairly minimal especially since they would be turned off during the drive and shouldn't be much of a problem if they are secured correctly inside the case.
I just lay it flat on the side so the CPU heatsink is facing up
shrug
When I moved the PC sat in the front seat with the safety belt on. Monitor sat in the footwell behind me with my duvet around it. Screw the other passengers this is my PC!
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If you must you could transport the GPU outside the case and let the case lie motherboard facing up (as already mentioned). Backup your data on an external drive before moving the PC (and do not take the backup with you, no sense in risking it). Look at the trouble Logan had with his NAS because of the move. For extra security: remove the drives from the PC (spinning drives only, no SSDs, duh) and package them in bubble wrap or similar, shock absorbing material. Package them in the neat grey foil they are usually shipped in (forgot how it is called).
If you break a hard drive during moving, order a new one to your parents' place, let them copy it onto the new drive and ship the new drive securely in the packaging it came in to you.
Thankfully there is absolutely no sensitive data that is only on this rig. Everything sensitive is either backed up on the NAS in my room, which I can access remotely from school, or is also on Google Drive if it's school related. Breaking something would just make my gaming life a bit less enjoyable, as I'd be limited to the laptop which, while still great, just isn't the same. Should I bother trying to find some of those anti-static bags for the GPU and HDDs?
I actually hadn't yet worried about the CPU cooler, but I might just so I can re-apply some thermal paste when I get there. It's been a couple years since I had this one off, and that's just good form. If I were to do that, how should I go about making sure nothing settles onto the surface of the CPU? Is there such thing as a cover that I could put over it? I don't think I still have the packaging for the CPU that I could slot it back in to.
You might as well take it apart, anything that can move around should be removed, and the hard drives should probably be in some kind of packaging to protect them from damage assuming you have hard drives.
I think it's common form to remove at least the GPU though, since it's only mounted along two edges and any bouncing or jolting on a longer GPU could result in damage to it as it sort of bends in its socket. As others mentioned, HDDs could be damaged by jolting as well.
I'm sort of thinking, based on suggestions, that I'll pull the GPU and the HDDs and package them individually, and leave the rest in there. I don't think the mobo or the CPU/cooler are going to be an issue since it will be on it's side in my car, but the other components could bounce a bit.
Remove the Gpu, and if the cpu cooler is bigger then a single tower (noctua d14, d15, etc;) I would remove it as well. Anything lose in the case should be secured of removed. If you skimped on installed a screw here or there I would fix that. Removing hard drives and/or ssd's for separate packing could be beneficial if your case doesn't have the best hard drive sleds. Basically anything that isn't directly installed into the motherboard like ram and the cpu are, could be removed for added safety although I don't think much besides the gpu and larger cpu coolers are really necessary personally. If your hard drives aren't secured super well that could be advisable.
Put it in the back-seat of the car, and buckle it up. I give mine a coloring book so it won't get bored.
For short trips (<30mi) packing it in your car with a seat-belt is fast and easy. I've done this many times going to my dads... granted I don't give it a coloring book....
For long trips like your 2K mi trip I'd take out the heavy components like the GPU and large tower heatsinks, If you're hard drives are not secure tightly i'd take them out too.
Putting the big things into the original packaging is best, but a shoe-box with proper padding (non static) would work too if you don't have it.
Pretty much this. I was kidding about the coloring book, obviously. I may have had one too many beers.
If you have a large heatsink either remove it or lay your PC on it's side. For the GPU you mentioned you have something tied to help hold it up, if possible add anothor but on the bottom to help hold it in place so it doesn't jerk around on bumps, OR just remove it. If you have HDDS it'd be best to remove them and put them in anti-static bags and wrap them in bubble wrap to help prevent any damage even if you have things backed up (no sense in reducing their life span over laziness).
Those are the primary concerns, so if you do that then you'll be alright
You'd be better off taking off the gpu, and heat sync. The gpu would bounce around and would probably mess up the pcie on the motherboard. I don't think anything else would get damaged if you left it on.
I think my rig would rather enjoy a coloring book! Hopefully it won't get markers all over my seats though...
My heat sync is just a single tower, not very heavy, and it's rather well secured (plate goes through the mobo and the back-plate. Not sure if that's standard). I'll certainly consider it when I get in there though. I'm thinking GPU, HDDs, and then just make sure cables are all well secured so they're not bouncing around. I had to reroute some stuff recently so I imagine some are sort of loose hanging.