D
Dave
I can tell you that the major shops around here *always* mount the CPU
and fan before installing the motherboard, I'm assuming they have had
similar experiences to my own.
I don't doubt it, as that would be the fast and easy way to do it. You won't catch me installing anything on a mainboard before it's in the case, though. I've always been a do-it-right-the-first-time, rather than do-it-over-later kind of guy. I guess a good compromise is, if you feel you must populate the mainboard before installing it in the case, get one of those cases with a removable mainboard tray. Then you can do it both ways. -Dave