Have been building systems off the bench for years as long as ya use antistatic bags or anything that doesn't conduct electricity (static) to rest the board and Hard drive on. Its the best way i have found to build systems before installing in a case. Have assembled enough systems in my time to be over having to pull a board back out of a case just cause there is something up with it. Don't get me wrong Blato in some case its nice to pull things in and out Should try it some time.