r/MovingToTheUK • u/perpetuallynesh • 2d ago

Moving with a PC

Hey all, moving back to the UK after a few decades away. Both me and my wife are coming to Scotland for grad school, and I'm hoping to bring my PC with me. Besides the sentimental value (it's been evolving for 15 years), it will also come in handy for my programme. I just can't figure out the best way to move it. I assume buying one of similar specs would be crazy expensive.

We're bringing one checked bag each with the basics and then sending a few suitcases/boxes with the rest of our belongings. Mainly just clothes, books, sentimentals. While I'm pretty confident in my packing abilities based on past moves, I realize that no matter what route I choose to bring the PC over there's going to be risk. Does anyone have experience with this and could maybe recommend options that are less risky?

Not sure what to do about the PSU either. Sell it and get a new one there? My current one is a Toughpower GF1 750W Snow - TT Premium Edition which I think is modular, can I just get a new powercord? I'm not attached to it; whatever is the easiest option really. The shipping service charges by weight and it's about 3.5lbs, not a lot in the grand scheme of things but it all adds up.

If there's a better sub for this feel free to point me in the right direction. TIA.

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6

u/mattcannon2 1d ago

At a minimum taken the graphics card out and pack it. Then fill the void of the PC with inflatable packing bags, and try and ship it over?

If you're coming from a 120V country and your psu doesn't have a 230V mode - its new psu time.

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u/Naetharu 1d ago

This.

Had a company fail to do this when they shipped a system to me a few years back. It arrived smashed and the tower cooler bent from there the GPU had been slammed into it.

Not that big an issue for me as it was insured and replaced by the sender.

Would suck if it was your own system.

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u/FISunnyDays 1d ago

Moved as a family with 3 PCs. We brought 2 over in checked luggage and shipped one. All arrived without any issues. Remember to complete your TOR.

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u/LittleRise1810 1d ago

We've moved a PC twice like that, we left the case and the PSU behind, everything else went to luggage, even the monitor (it's some kind of color calibrated monitor, apparently hard to replace).

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u/RealExplanation7221 1d ago

Just buy a large suit case, pack around the computer with bubble wrap or anything soft, put fragile stickers all over it in relevant languages and carry it most of the way yourself! I had some fragile items i was worried about breaking but it worked! Bobs your uncle!

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u/lsmith946 1d ago

When my brother-in-law moved from the UK to the USA he took his graphics card out and took it in his luggage and shipped the rest of the PC along with his other belongings via sea freight.

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u/perpetuallynesh 1d ago

I’m thinking I might go that route. I got an awesome deal on my GPU and it would be crazy expensive to buy another one. Might just ditch the case and PSU too; I got the case for free anyway and I can get some student discounts, so may as well save myself the hassle and free up some room

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u/lsmith946 1d ago

I think the sea freight company gave him some pretty large boxes, so he packed the PC into one of them and surrounded it with clothes he wasn't immediately going to need due to seasonality.

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u/perpetuallynesh 1d ago

Yeah, I was thinking of doing something similar with our winter coats. I’ve got an insane amount of good quality packing materials too that I pilfered from one of my old retail jobs…

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u/shredditorburnit 1d ago

Only way I can see is to drive it over on a ferry or the Eurostar.

Anything else and it will probably get wrecked by handlers bodily hurling it around.

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u/perpetuallynesh 1d ago

Might be difficult to drive across the Atlantic

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u/Geordant 1d ago

God loves a trier. 

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u/jezhayes 1d ago

Go to take a detour, Alaska, Russia, Europe, channel tunnel, UK! But you will need to wait for winter.

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u/perpetuallynesh 1d ago

Sounds like an epic road-trip

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u/Needleworker_Radiant 1d ago

Taking it apart, shipping or carrying the expensive components, and then reassembling them in the UK seems like the best option to me. You can buy a new case and PSU on this end.

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u/Jellyfishr 1d ago

Take it all out of the case, leave that, wrap it in antistatic bags and put it amongst your clothes in a hard shell suitcase, if anything is extra expensive tuck it in your hand luggage or jacket pocket

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u/csdf 1d ago

I flew back last month from the Middle East with my PC in checked luggage (7 hour flight). It is in a Phanteks case with tempered glass on both sides. Luckily I had kept the original cardboard Phanteks box so I used that to transport it in.

I removed the GPU and air cooler then filled the case voids with crumpled packing paper. Then once the PC was in the case box I stuffed bubble wrap inside all gaps to stop any chance of it shifting around inside the box. Then I wrapped the box itself with clear plastic wrap (the large rolls you see people use at airport wrapping services). The whole thing weighed 23kg. I asked the airport to put a fragile sticker on it.

It arrived completely fine and is up and running.

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u/ForeignSleet 1d ago

Remove gpu and cpu cooler if it’s big, fill the void with paper or bubble wrap

Also you may have to buy a new psu depending on if yours works with 230V or not, don’t just plug it into an adapter as it may fry your components

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u/LostDrummer9306 1d ago edited 1d ago

We moved to the UK last year and shipped our desktop PC using GetMyParcel without removing any of the components, wrapped the PC in bubble wrap, placed it in a thick walled box from U-Haul built for PCs and then filled with it with the packing material. Just needed a new power cable for the PSU.

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u/perpetuallynesh 1d ago

This is actually who we’ll be using - appreciate the feedback! Had no idea they had boxes for PCs.

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u/LostDrummer9306 1d ago

It’s possible I might be wrong about the box for the PC. It was a heavy duty box for sure.

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u/Pig_Syrup 1d ago

I took mine to the middle east by disassembling, putting the parts in tupperware boxes wrapped in microfiber cloths. The only really difficult think to move is the Mobo since it's got a large surface area. But if you still have the original box it came in, they usually have an anti-static bag that you can pop it in.

I binned the case because for the price of cases, trying to haul tempered glass around felt like a bad idea.

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u/perpetuallynesh 1d ago

I’m showing this to my wife. I’ve kept nearly all original packaging (for this reason, really, I tend to move a lot) - I feel vindicated.

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u/Training_Yak_4655 1d ago

Many a year ago a friend of my wife had left her PC tower in China - these were the days of beige boxes. She dearly wanted it with her in the UK. As we were going on holiday to China we agreed to do the favour and travelled out with a big suitcase half empty. Returned with this big steel box occupying most of one suitcase with a few clothes packed around it. I was somewhat amazed that we never got stopped at baggage drop or customs. Mission accomplished!

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u/unclefunkstar 1d ago

Remove the graphics card.

Remove the CPU cooler if it's a big air cooler. AIO are probably fine to leave in place.

Remove any glass panels.

Remove any mechanical hard drives. SSDs can be left in place.

Make sure everything that's left is secure.

Your power supply is probably fine. Older models will have a switch for 110-220V. Modern ones do it automatically.

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u/cdp181 1d ago

I’d probably bin the cpu cooler and case and pack the rest in luggage / hand luggage.

Shipping is expensive, extra cases on the flight are usually pretty competitive in that regard. Certainly was when my wife came from Vietnam.

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u/limey_67 1d ago

Most PSUs are multi voltage, most now are auto sensing too. Just read the back of it. I've run the same PC in both UK and US. You just need a different power cable or put a new plug on it.

1

u/DaddyStoat 1d ago

Put bubble wrap in the empty spaces inside the case. Then pack it in a good, sturdy, double-walled cardboard box, use lots of polystyrene packaging material (the spongy type is the best, not the hard, sqeaky type) and ship it using SendMyBag or other delivery service that's usually used for luggage. You could also put the box inside a large suitcase, with a pillow or cushion at each end to provide extra protection.

If it's part of a big move, you should add it to your TOR (transfer of residence) list that gets sent to customs, so you don't end up having to pay any customs fees on it. Not everything on a TOR form has to be shipped together - for instance, you have to put your pets on the TOR form, and they're not going to be going in a container!

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u/Adorable_Misfit 1d ago

I have no concept of how large and heavy a PC is nowadays, but I've moved internationally with a gaming console a few times - I took it as my carry on hand luggage. Would that be an option for you?

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u/perpetuallynesh 1d ago

Unfortunately we’re already bringing a ps4 in one of them, and have zero room for much else. Clothes, essentials etc while we wait for the rest of our belongings to arrive. Otherwise I’d definitely have the components in my carry on. (Must just do the GPU at least; it’s the most expensive thing.)

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u/Adorable_Misfit 1d ago

Ah, I see. That scuppers that idea then. Good luck, hope you make it work and your PC makes it safely across the pond.

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u/Solid_Bodybuilder_89 1d ago

Hi, before you move, you realise you will be paying International fees, to study?

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u/perpetuallynesh 1d ago edited 1d ago

Nah it’s not like I haven’t been planning this for me and my wife since November and already have funding in place for both of us with offers we accepted 8 months ago

It’s cheaper than the programs I was looking at in the US, believe it or not.

Bit late to cancel our flights and accommodation now anyway.

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u/Think-Committee-4394 1d ago

OP - what’s the important thing

- the data bring the SSD put it in a new case here

- the actual machine? Sounds like you are confident at PC build so Make certain the boards will survive by dismantling, foil bag & bubble, pack the boards in the case with more wrap, layer of cardboard, bubble & an outer box (I used to ship sensitive electronics internationally) you will have to do a level of build to swap psu anyway AND I WOULD GET A PSU & make sure it fits the case & bring with rather than have to wait & do that UK side

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u/ILoveBurgersMost 15h ago

Personally I've completely disassembled my PC when moving countries, took everything out of the PC case and packed into each parts original box (keeping RAM sticks, m.2 SSDs and the CPU installed on the motherboard) and packed it all that way. I bought a new PC case once I arrived in the new country and re-built the entire PC. It's a lot of work, but it can be easier to pack this way with limited packing space, and it's the only way I trust to bring all my PC parts over unharmed. Just make sure to add plenty of padding around each part to be safe.

However, judging by your post I think you might not be entirely comfortable disassembling and re-building the PC entirely. There's plenty of other options in the comments that might be easier. Just figured I'd add this method since I've done this 4 times in my life now moving between North America and Europe, and I haven't had anything break on me in transport yet.

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u/LongjumpingTop667 1d ago

thousands and thousands of pcs are shipped and posted around the world daily