Stupid question

[Ninjutsu PiloT]

I want to drill a hole in the panel my motherboard mounts into but I don't want to take apart the computer entirely. If i removed the disc drives and hard drive would it be "okay" to drill and not worry about vibrations or something.

I am aware the most obvious correct answer is to remove everything to be safe.

[D1337]

You really should take out your mobo, even if you leave the drives in but unplugged. The drilling will drop metal flakes onto your mobo that could possibly resault in a short(circuit).

Its not worth the risk for a 10 minute disassembly and 15 more minutes to reassemble.

[.Maleficus.]

I'd remove everything, drill what you need to, and clean it out good. You don't want metal floating around in your computer. It'll get sucked into the fans, get places it shouldn't, and cause more trouble than the disassembly and reassembly would be.

[Spawn-Inc]

aside from the metal flakes/filings shorting your board, if you have every drilled into metal you always punch through at least a good centimeter, you would undoubtedly hit your mobo and probably crack it. if your doing any work with metal or drilling i would remove everything from the case, as much of a pain as it is it's better than a broken pc.

[SgtM]

Listen to those guys, they know what they're talking about.