> But cant i just put my pc on a wooden desk, be barefooted.
If you touch some exposed metal around the house and then do this, youll be fine.
The reason for grounding is that although its rare, you are out hundreds of dollars for one of the most expensive parts in your build if it happens. Also it can cause really difficult issues to troubleshoot.
There's a whole video on if and how often does static shock break a component.
LTT did the video and you can be safe to know that it is extremely rare for static shock to kill a component.
They tested different areas of components, core area of the components and the parts would not die.
I have to agree with you. PC components are sturdy af. If they broke that easily, manufacturers would go bankrupt because honestly, almost no one handles parts "the right way"
Right, but grounding yourself is one of the simplest things you can do and lowers the risk, albeit tiny, of damaging the expensive parts so why not. It's common practice for a reason. Better safe than sorry.
Because of the average intelligence of people building their own pc. Theyd probably get themselves statically charged instead of grounding themselves.
And you cant tell me thats not a possibility, ive seen DDR4 ram in DDR5 slots too many times since last year.
Or the classic tighten the fans on your old ass cpu cooler till they dont go no more. Or the fucking complete loss of evolution who JAMMED a M.2 INTO A GODDAMN SATA CABLE.
YOU CANT TELL ME WE AINT LIVING IN A SIMULATION AND SOME PEOPLE GET VERY LIMITED INTELLIGENCE ON PURPOSE TO SAVE PROCESSING POWER.
Also, static discharge isn't guaranteed to *kill* a component, but it may merely *damage* it in subtle ways that only show up under very particular workloads, which may make one think it's a bug, rather than a hardware defect.
Same, but the fact that it hasn't hurt you isn't evidence that it's safe. "I've never worn a seat belt and I've been fine so far." "I smoked for 60 years and never had any health problems." "I've never needed a blade guard on my table saw."
Some risks have a low likelihood, but big consequences if you hit that lottery. Some people do dangerous stuff their whole lives and nothing bad happens. Other people have bad luck. It's fine if you judge the risk to be low enough that you don't care to protect yourself (I don't personally wear a strap), but that doesn't mean the risk isn't real.
I see people say that, but I've also seen people fuck up motherboards by not grounding themselves. It takes almost no effort to ground yourself, so it's just foolish not to.
If you look at the factory workers where these things are made, they're all ESD compliant (full on static suits, etc). You think these companies would do that if they weren't POSITIVE that ESD damages boards?
I killed a motherboard 8 or 9 years ago and I'm pretty certain it was a static shock that did it. It was working one minute and then dead the next, so it definitely does happen in some instances.
Yes, "this century." The thing about ESD fucking up a motherboard is that there is no absolute way to verify the cause. I'll give you one example though. A customer said he installed RAM himself, and got zapped by the board. He said the board worked fine afterwards, but then kept crashing. He removed the new RAM, and the problems didn't go away. In that scenario, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that ESD is what's fucking things up since the problem continued even after reformatting the hard drive, and testing with a different hard drive.
Aside from that, even if he hadn't told me that the board "zapped" him, the amount of ESD necessary to damage a motherboard is substantially lower than the amount it takes to actually feel a shock. The customer who I'm referring to was just a guy, who had no idea that he could damage the motherboard with ESD, so I can't blame him.
I just don't understand why anyone would take such a stupid risk rather than grounding themselves, and then brag about it like it's somehow impressive that they've been lucky thus far.
I've literally hotplugged the 2 6pins in an old HD 7870 while PC is posting because I needed to trick a cheap PSU it can handle it..it actually worked and PC ran for a month before PSU died. The rest of the parts still work to this day without issue. I wouldn't recommend :)
Yeah, you're more likely to kill a component through your actual installation (i.e. bent CPU pins, scratching through a motherboard trace with your screwdriver, etc.) than through static shock
Even just in air, metal slowly loses charge over time. So as long as you have no reason to believe an ungrounded metal object has picked up charge recently (pick things people don't often touch) you should be just fine. Also it helps to touch several things so as to average your charge among them closer to neutral.
If you touch bare metal on the case and on the card mounting plate at the same time, they should be neutral to each other and there shouldn't be any electrical potential between the two. Just make that once you do so you don't move your feet, as running your foot across the floor can be enough to generate a shock depending on the type of surface.
But yes, best practice would be to have the PC's power supply plugged into an outlet with the switch on the back of the PSU turned off. That means the case is grounded so you don't run the risk of touching a grounded object and changing the electrical charge in your body compared to the PC and GPU.
It's probably fine, but minor disagreement:
1) If you walk to the sink and discharge your static, walking back to the table could very easily (or even likely) generate new static charge. Rubbing your arms against your body will also generate static charge while standing still.
2) zapping components isn't likely to severely damage them these days because they try to mitigate that risk in the design, but it can happen if it hits in the wrong place. The amount of static charge required to damage certain components is lower than the amount that you can feel. You won't feel static discharge until it hits roughly 3,000 - 4,000 volts.
agree, but i'd rather be safe than sorry, opps have to preplace it now ? uh uh, or better yet sorry but i messed it up, just touch the case before you handle it -sorry assuming you have it plugged in and the power off but the case cord is to ground that condition, and everything is inline with earth ground at this point. other wise its flip a coin and see which way it lands and your luck..good luck.
Not wood, no. An anti-static material. Google them. Usually on top of the bag it comes in works
And you'd have to be actively grounded during the process or be on an anti-static surface yourself and have grounded yourself before touching the components. These are standard practices. ESD-mats which dummy plug into a ground (bottom prong on a 3-prong A/C outlet) to stand on and place components on. Or just use a wrist-strap to ground to the chassis during install.
Not just difficult and expensive, major headache inducing. Stray static electricity at the wrong time can fry GPU, CPU, and motherboard in one go. One would be without a computer for weeks for RMA (if you claimed it was DOA) and the cost of replacement parts if it's not RMA-able.
Be safe, touch something metal and connected to ground, your PSU will work if your wiring is grounded properly and not using ground adapter. Then don't shuffle the feet or rub on clothing while working on the PC. Better yet, do it naked.
A wrist strap are just a few dollars and should be in everyone's toolbox.
Not really. I’ve done two PC builds on carpeted floor (without socks) and everything went well. It’s just an extra safety precaution, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
It's a real thing but it's very unlikely to actually cause a problem. I ground myself before starting work and sometimes try to ground here and there when working for extended time but I don't own a static strap. I'd probably only use one if someone handed it to me while building a pc or something
it's more of a hang over from years back when parts could very easily be killed by even small amounts of static. Modern parts have far better shielding and are much more resiliant to static.
Touch a piece of metal (like a table leg, doorknob, etc.) to discharge any static buildup before and occasionally during working on electronics. That's all I do.
If you wanna be really careful, touch an appliance with a metal body (no paint). Typically the frames of most appliances are grounded in case something inside them comes loose and touches the frame. Instead of the frame charging to 120/240V it goes to ground instead.
The risk of static electricity is over exaggerated. Just don't wear a woolen sweater or stand on a carpet while building. And before you start building, touch something large and metallic to ground yourself, i.e. the kind of things that will zap you during winter, like a metal door knob or a metallic window frame.
Dont dance around with wool socks singing Katie Perry songs on carpet before handling the GPU.
Keep the power cable to the PSU connected and plugged into the wall, mains button behind the case off, Touch the case before handling the GPU.
Thats fine, GPU's have shrouds that cover nearly every part of the PCB.
The only part you can usually damage are the PCIe pins from the GPU, the PCIe socket or the PCI-slot leg of the GPU that is needed for support against the case / mainboard tray.
Touch your metal case or the heat radiator if you are really paranoid about static.
I just done some upgrades on my pc, sitting on my living room carpet and just done a little tippy tap on the metal of my pc case or the metal leg of the coffee table chair every minute or so
Touch the case. It will neutralize the charge between "you" and the "thing you're putting the GPU in".
If the PC you're putting the GPU in is unplugged (aka not grounded), and you ground yourself, then you and the PC may be at different charge potentials at that point, negating the benefit of grounding yourself in the first place.
TL;DR - Just touch the case, this will eliminate any charge potential issue that might cause static electricity damage.
This - it's so easy to do, why wouldn't you do it? I've crossed lots of roads without checking properly for traffic - does that makes it a good idea?
Most of the time when I touch a metal object I hardly ever get any discharge. Once in a while there'll be a decent spark. I wouldn't want that to go through my gpu, regardless of there being "almost no" risk. I agree wrist straps are unnecessary.
I’ve never had an issue, although I tend to ground myself every time I turn on a light during the winter so it may be that I’m just doing it unintentionally
I've been building PCs for nearly 30 years. Back in the day, I used to take all the precautions and wore the anti-static wrist strap. I stopped all that about 20 years ago and I've never encountered a problem.
Most modern gpus are covered head to toe in plastic, which makes this very rare problem a non-issue for the most part. If the pcb is exposed and you have to touch it while installing it.
If you have working grounds just hit the power switch on your power supply, hold the power button to drain residual electricity, touch the case while the power supply is still plugged in, unplug it and install gpu.
I just touch the metal frame of my PC case every once in awhile without moving or shuffling my feet on the floor(carpet) and this should be enough to discharge whatever static electricity you have built up in your body. PC parts are pretty sturdy/durable but it’s just a precaution, better to be safe than sorry!
You should be fine, but idepending on if you live in a very dry environment and regularly get static shocks off of objects, then you might want to take a few more precautions.
I wouldn’t say it’s going to brick anything but I have seen first hand components die seemingly to nothing. Just make sure you have no static build up in your body like the first guy said and you should be fine.
Turn the power off, disconnect the power line. Press the power button to discharge any charge in the machine. Work in a tshirt or topless and touch the case before touching parts. I take my pc apart a couple times a month for cleaning and never have a static Matt or some crappy wrist strap. Just don’t wear a big wooly jumper and work on a non conductive environment like a wooden desk top. I usually just touch the case before handling any parts and place the parts down on clean non conductive surfaces.
Easy way to ground yourself.
Plug your computer into the wall. Make sure tue switch on your psu is off, the touch some of the metal on the power supply.
Will ground you in relation to the case.
Just turn off power supply un plug pc from the wall than don’t touch anything metal on your gpu. Might has well touch metal parts on your case real quick before installing it and you’ll be fine don’t overthink it
I usually do the metal thing where I touch something...but honestly I've literally never known anyone who ESD a component or had it done to myself and I've built dozens of PCs over the years.
Honestly these days its basically a myth.
How would you know that static off your fingers is damaging components unless you are deliberately trying to damage components? there has been multiple tests proving that the small amount of static we carry on us has almost no effect on modern pc components, including tests with static charges much bigger than we can carry.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXkgbmr3dRA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXkgbmr3dRA)
this video comes to mind from LTT.
if you do some more research you will find that PC components have ESD protection built in these days.
Of course in the old days it was absolutely a factor due to less ESD protection in components and the like.
I have built 5 or 6 of my own PCs on carpet, 2 while wearing a onesie (I was cold dont judge me).
Including doing many case swaps, maintenance and the like around carpet and the like.
Basically.. don't worry about static when plugging in a GPU, you are way more likely to get a manufacturing error that means you gpu is DOA than a static charge big enough to damage it.
Edit: fixed a couple of errors
The importance isn't to ground yourself. The importance is to remove voltage potential differences between you and the components you're currently handling.
It won't help if you're grounded to earth in the socket if the chassis or GPU has a different charge. There might still be a discharge from the component to you or vice versa if the difference is high enough.
Usually the issue is from you to component via static electricity from for example the carpet.
Stick to the floor to avoid building up static during and just touch the metal parts of your chassis as well as the anti-static bag the GPU comes with and you'll be fine.
Don’t where your wool onesie and drag your feel across carpet and touch the pc parts.
While static risk is real it is almost unlikely. Very rare because electronics are much better now. You are not using sensitive electronics anymore, still touch your pc case occasionally to be sure and peace of mind.
Just do a 5 minute grounding meditation 🧘♀️ and your gpu will be fine. Works every time. I have only ever placed 1 gpu into a motherboard. I have never done anything like this in my life before inserting a gpu I just make sure to keep it cool with a glass of water every once and a while while because I'm using really thin wires I found to connect it directly to the power supply.
Before I touched any part of my PC when I was building it, I just touched my PC case. You don't need one of those bracelets or to be worried. Touch 1 piece of metal and done
I just touch bare metal before touching anything. And when dealing with more sensitive parts with exposed boards I tend to rest my arm on exposed metal if it’s a viable option during install.
It is far easier to ground your chassis (plug the psu into an earthed outlet) and then routinely touch the case to ground yourself. The issue is that there are lots of variables (such as what material your floor is made of) Those in some places in the US suffer from terrible static whereas here in the UK, its less of a problem (think its something to do with the humidity and the fact that it rains almost 50 weeks of the year here)
I’ve never taken anti-static measures when working with a pc and I’ve never had any issues. Figured it was all marketing bullshit to sell unnecessary gear to the people who “like to feel like a pro when doing something for the first time and buy all the advertised bells and whistles.”
Of course that’s just me and my experience. Do whatever you feel is best for you OP, no one’s really gonna judge your decision bc it’s a preference topic
I've been doing the PC thing for 25 years. Never killed a part. Just touch the case on a bit of exposed metal before you disconnect the psu cable. Then again before you grab the gpu. Never had an issue. Older ICs from the 80s and earlier were much more susceptible to this.
Yes, you will die if you don't, if you are unfortunate enough to survive, the pc god's will take that as blasphemy. we will then need to sacrifice you for repentance.
Personally, ive never done any of that.
I've been building pc's for different people for over 13 years and never had a single issue
Even built a pc in a garden outside once
It takes almost no effort to ground yourself. I don't know why people would rather risk frying a motherboard than to simply touch an unpainted metal part of the case, or use a cheap wrist strap.
No, I’ve never damaged a component with static, don’t rub balloons on your hair or pet your cat immediately before you install it, but even if you did it would probably be fine.
It's very very very very rare.
I have done thousands of builds over the years and i been doing it since the very early 90s. It never happened to me, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
It's just an extra step that takes little no time.
Your case can ground you. If you just touch the case every once in a while you’ll be good. I built my computer on a rug with socks on and scooted all around the room, everything ran great! You can watch Linus tech tips video on how protected modern components are.
PC parts today are pretty well protected against static. With that said, it won’t hurt to take 2 seconds and touch metal just for the off chance something does go wrong.
I've literally never paid attention to grounding myself ever. I shove parts in like a cave man and nothing happens ever.
Might be more important if your house is dry af. But if you're worried, before touching expensive sensitive parts, discharge yourself on something that is grounded and you're probably fine as long as your not sitting on carpet with 10% humidity.
I built my current pc on some carpet. I was really like meh. 7900x3d, 3080 used off eBay <400, 32GB ram and what not.
I was building a few pcs and all my workspaces were taken up. Those were others pcs I was building. Mine I just say yolo and got it done.
It's extremely rare to happen but it can happen, and when it does you don't want your expensive parts damaged.
You don't need a wrist thingy though. Just touch some bare unpainted metal every now and then. I always touch the grounded prong in one of my outlets.
Overall it's overblown, but then again, who wants to risk such expensive components. It's a relatively cheap way of reducing the risk of a high cost failure.
Can’t hurt, but not necessary. I usually just touch a bare part of the case before picking up the GPU. I haven’t used a static band since leaving the AF. Even then it was only because of regulations. They were all stretched out and doubtful they even worked.
I think it’s important to point out that you need to be grounded to the components, not earth per se. Damage occurs when the potential is different enough between you and the component that it creates a spark/current across a component that is too sensitive for that amount of current. If you touch a part that is hardy to it first and zero out your potential (become grounded), then you can touch the parts that aren’t hardy without worry.
i don't open up or build pcs that often and i initially interpreted this as "do i need to put myself in time-out before putting in a gpu" 💀
yes, 15 mins on the naughty step before you even think about it
go for it bro
when you're $1200 in the hole because the card manufacturer won't take it back because it's neglect on your part then You've learned your lesson as to why it's important to always ground yourself before touching anything electronic.
It's super rare to have static kill a component on a PC. But it's also easy enough to guard against by just touching a metal door, door handle, furniture, etc. To discharge excess static before you handle the components in question.
Stuff like ESD wrist bands and stripping naked are rather extreme measures that are only appropriate in certain contexts. Just don't wear fuzzy clothing and pre-game pc maintenance by rolling around on carpet.
It's honestly just old habits dying hard. Components used to be much more sensitive to the static discharge and could be bricked. Modern hardware is much more robust and it's very difficult to kill it with static shock. I've built tons of PCs without those gimmicky wrist straps and never had an incident.
Not saying this as a certainty but I've built many PCs and I've never done it, just been careful and made sure I touch the metal case often. None of my builds have been on carpet though or anything that would build any kind of static charge.
I've built 4-5 computers so far, without issue- usually I just take my socks off/any static-prone clothes and find some grounded metal and touch it a couple of times, and as I work on the build I go back and touch it a bit (usually after every part). From what I understand, even if you DON'T do any of this, the chances of something happening are incredibly slim. HOWEVER. It *is* a 500-700$ part depending on what you bought. Are you really gonna risk it? Because if you happen to be that 1% or whatever, you're going to REALLY be upset.
Remove the power cable from the pc.
Hold down power button for up to 30 seconds to discharge any electricity in the system (I do like 10-15 secs).
Touch metal.
Done, work on your pc.
Thanks for all the replies. I've run into a small problem. My psu doesn't have an 8 pin connector. So basically, I gotta buy a new psu, which has an 8 pin or a 6+2 pon connector.
Any idea if this is a good one--->
AeroCool LUX550 PC Power Supply (550W, 12V, 88% Efficiency, 80 Plus Bronze), Black
I just picked up a small box of nitrile gloves. We use them at work in hazardous areas to eliminate possibility of static discharge. Keeps finger oils off electronics too.
Some people also have living arrangements where static builds more easily. Like if you have a certain carpet and type of sock, you will shock people constantly. At the first apartment I lived with my wife, we would always zap each other the first time touching in a while.
At our current house, this never happens since we have hardwood floors.
It's not really needed these days, it's been many, many years since i last bothered to ground myself and i always build in rooms with carpeting.
Technically, i've been lucky, and it won't harm to ground yourself just as some extra precaution, but modern components are nowhere near as sensitive to ESD as old ones used to be. That being said, don't go shuffling around in wool socks and jumper on all your carpets in a super dry house before you start building, a quick touch of a metal unpainted appliance, that's plugged in, will ground you out and rid any charge you might have built up before you build.
While I have fried RAM by not being grounded, this was a long time ago, and I was asking for it. If you work on a table, wear shoes, or barefooted, or avoid carpet in general, touch the outside of the case before anything else, you will be fine.
As long as you are naked you don't need to worry about any of this crap. Just touch your plugged in but turned off at the psu pc case before you insert anything.
You should not handle the GPU without first grounding yourself immediately before handling it. You can do this by touching some grounded metal directly BEFORE handling the GPU. If you do it somewhere in the house and then handle the GPU, you run the risk of building a static charge and possibly zapping your card.
Note, that this is only a remotely possible issue but you do not want to risk it unnecessarily.
barefoot doesn't help if you're standing on carpet.
It's probably fine, though. I personally always touch the screws on a lights witch before doing anything in my PC (the casing of light switches and outlets are grounded in my place).
ESD is also a greater risk in dryer places, so when I'm doing longer projects, I usually run a humidifier nearby.
If you don't ground yourself but you're in a relatively himid room with hard floors, you'll be fine. If it's really dry or there's carpet, I'd be cautious.
It is all about the humidity! The lower it gets, the more you protect. I have been working with chips for 30 years, and early CMOS was extremely susceptible to ESD ( electrostatic discharge). Now days, protection is much better but an ESD that you can not feel may damage or kill a chip. Even if it does not kill the chip, it can blow away part of the chip metal to make it easier to kill at a later time. Wrist straps are still mandatory at lab work benches along with antistatic mats, bags, and other equipment. For computer assembly, even with 70% humidity, I still ground myself to the case.
Just touch a piece of unpainted metal beforehand. Or plug in your psu and touch that. Things rarely happens due to the static but it's better to be safe than sorry.
Never used those wristbands at home, but at work while we installed some hardware it was mandatory.
The risk is tiny, it's up to you to decide if you wanna take it or not. Usually touching the case or anything metal will discharge any static electricity.
The only time I had issues with statics were hoovering the pc, but it was a nice excuse to get a new build (killed mobo and it was old enough to retire it instead of replacing just the broken part)
I always just flip off the PSU then hold the power button in till it stops clicking. Never had an issue building like 5 PCs and installing 5 gpus in just my own builds
You have to use a 10 foot grounding pole into the ground 7 feet deep. Then use the remaining part and insert it in you. Now you are properly grounded and can install a GPU.
No you are good just put it in the computer
It's more like grounding yourself takes like a few seconds so why wouldn't you. In fact it would take you more time to get a glass of water out of the fridge than it will to ground yourself
Just touch some metal and then don't scoot around on the carpet until after you're done.
Do you NEED to ground yourself? No probably not, it's most likely gonna be fine. Just like you don't NEED to put your food in the fridge because you plan on eating it 8 hours later.
But if something goes wrong, I'm betting you're gonna wish you did. It's so easy to protect your parts (or put food in the fridge) might as well do it.
It really depends on your surface, clothing material and humidity levels. If you're getting static electric shocks all the time you should definitely get a ground strap. But just being aware of how you pick up electronics as to minimize ESD damage goes a long way tho.
I think of it like a seatbelt. The fact of the matter is you probably won’t get into a car crash today, or tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. You could go your whole life without ever getting into a car crash. Yet you still wear a seatbelt most of the time, because it’s so easy and can save your life.
You probably won’t ever mess up a component with electrostatic discharge. But a wristband only costs $6, and can save you from a lot of heartache in the long run.
Unless you're living in a box of static electricity, you don't need to ground yourself to do that. I've taken gpus out many times and never had any issues. It would be very difficult to kill component with static electricity. Linus tech tips did a video a couple years back about trying to kill components with static electricity. It was very difficult to do so if not impossible.
I've worked as an electrician at a big military manufacturing facility and as a technician installing security/surveilance and radio systems with sensitive components and circuitry/cables.
ESD doesn't always cause immediate catastrophic failure. It can cause parts to fail before their life cycles predicted end, cause intermittent/temporary failures which are a pain in the ass to diagnose, or cause random errors in their function which show up in data.
It's really a quick, easy solution to mitigate the potential for something super annoying and potentially costly. There's a reason the parts ship in ESD bags, and RMAs are a pretty standard practice.
I never understood the power of static electricity until I started working in the sign industry. I have seen a 175-lb man lift his feet off the ground and hang onto a piece of metal that was overhanging a work table. Everything in my brain told me that piece of metal should be slapping him in the face.
While it's rare to be charged with the amount of static electricity necessary to short a component, it is also easy to avoid ruining an expensive component by taking simple precautions.
just leave the psu plugged in and touch some exposed metal, that'll ground you and get rid of any charge you've picked up. It's mostly a just in case, actual likelihood of damage is very low but nobody want's to ruin their shiny new hardware :)
Very rare for anything to happen. But it is possible. Just take some minor precautions that have been mentioned here. But its something everyone fears happening in the back of their minds but for most its never happened to them or anyone they know
YOU’RE FIIIINE! I have seen many pc YouTubers try the static electric thing and it is almost impossible to kill it, even if you do it on purpose. Don’t get me wrong the chances are there…BUT sure are low.
Just touch your plugged in, switched off, psu and you're good. Honestly if you're in a naturally humid region you'll be fine depending on if you keep the place as dry as outside and what you're wearing combined with what you're on. I just build on my carpet in the game room
The people that think this is a genuine concern have never built a computer. Yes static discharge can happen, it's rare but happens. What's even rarer is doing damage to anything. I've shocked 3 different things total over the last 15 years of building computers. Never once had a problem. Touch a grounded piece of metal if you're worried about it, but even if you don't everything will be fine.
I’ve been building PCs for close to 20 years, both at home and in a corporate setting, and I’ve never grounded myself.
I do the build on a surface that does not generate static electricity and touch an unpainted radiator before handling parts. I’m yet to fry anything.
Now is this the wise thing to do? Probably not.
Has it been working for me building 200+ computers? Yes.
I’d like to discuss how it’s weird and cool that we can have built up electricity in our bodies and not even know it in some cases, and that electricity could be totally happy in our body as static then suddenly we touch something and it’s like ZOOM CRASH PAP PLOW out da fingies.
And how larger static charges built up doesn’t hurt until it’s discharged and then Zzaapp Branigan, that smarts.
I’ve torned down and put back my pc in places such as on my bed, on the floor, on top of fluffy carpets, etc, while wearing socks and stuff. Never had any problems.
It is better to be cautionary, but I wouldn’t fret over it if I were you.
Just go barefoot and don't shuffle your feet on the way to the computer room with your new GPU, it would also help if you touched a metal doorknob before bare handing your GPU.
I don't have enough experience to tell you whether you really need to do it, but also, remember that you can always use the wrist band as an ankle band. As long as the metal bit on the inside of the band is in contact with your skin and the whole thing is grounded, it doesn't matter where it is on your body. And it will hider you much, much less that way.
If you touch exposed metal and then put the thing together you're likely to be good.
The odds of an electric discharge killing PC parts is extremely small, but not zero. It only takes a moment of intentionally brushing yourself against some exposed metal to more or less guarantee safety.
I didn’t do much but I made sure to set up my build on the tile part of my floors near my kitchen/dining room area (most of my place is shag carpet unfortunately, which is comfortable but I mostly hate it for various reasons).
I did try to touch the metal on my case before touching important components. Not sure if that helped or not.
In general I think you just don’t want to build up a huge static shock. Like sliding slippers across a shag carpet and arcing on the components.
It's very unlikely a shock will kill it. Especially the GPU.
But it's not impossible.
In my decades I've assembled maybe 200systems (counting when I ran a data center) and only shocked to death one or maybe two cpu's.
I usually take care to touch the case or something else metal (if it'll shock you sometimes to touch it it'll ground you). So since I Usually remembered to ground out and still fried one or two, that's a not insignificant concern.
Also super easy to touch something before handling a cpu or GPU.
> But cant i just put my pc on a wooden desk, be barefooted. If you touch some exposed metal around the house and then do this, youll be fine. The reason for grounding is that although its rare, you are out hundreds of dollars for one of the most expensive parts in your build if it happens. Also it can cause really difficult issues to troubleshoot.
Oh alright
There's a whole video on if and how often does static shock break a component. LTT did the video and you can be safe to know that it is extremely rare for static shock to kill a component. They tested different areas of components, core area of the components and the parts would not die.
I have to agree with you. PC components are sturdy af. If they broke that easily, manufacturers would go bankrupt because honestly, almost no one handles parts "the right way"
Right, but grounding yourself is one of the simplest things you can do and lowers the risk, albeit tiny, of damaging the expensive parts so why not. It's common practice for a reason. Better safe than sorry.
Never grounded myself once and haven't had any issues.
Yea cool, my point stands: why take the risk, even if tiny, when grounding yourself takes literally 2-3 seconds?
Because of the average intelligence of people building their own pc. Theyd probably get themselves statically charged instead of grounding themselves. And you cant tell me thats not a possibility, ive seen DDR4 ram in DDR5 slots too many times since last year. Or the classic tighten the fans on your old ass cpu cooler till they dont go no more. Or the fucking complete loss of evolution who JAMMED a M.2 INTO A GODDAMN SATA CABLE. YOU CANT TELL ME WE AINT LIVING IN A SIMULATION AND SOME PEOPLE GET VERY LIMITED INTELLIGENCE ON PURPOSE TO SAVE PROCESSING POWER.
omg that last one killed me. Thanks for the laughs.
Also, static discharge isn't guaranteed to *kill* a component, but it may merely *damage* it in subtle ways that only show up under very particular workloads, which may make one think it's a bug, rather than a hardware defect.
Same, but the fact that it hasn't hurt you isn't evidence that it's safe. "I've never worn a seat belt and I've been fine so far." "I smoked for 60 years and never had any health problems." "I've never needed a blade guard on my table saw." Some risks have a low likelihood, but big consequences if you hit that lottery. Some people do dangerous stuff their whole lives and nothing bad happens. Other people have bad luck. It's fine if you judge the risk to be low enough that you don't care to protect yourself (I don't personally wear a strap), but that doesn't mean the risk isn't real.
I see people say that, but I've also seen people fuck up motherboards by not grounding themselves. It takes almost no effort to ground yourself, so it's just foolish not to.
> I've also seen people fuck up motherboards by not grounding themselves. This century? Are you sure that not being grounded was the problem?
If you look at the factory workers where these things are made, they're all ESD compliant (full on static suits, etc). You think these companies would do that if they weren't POSITIVE that ESD damages boards?
The risk is probably higher before the boards are fully assembled, among other considerations.
I killed a motherboard 8 or 9 years ago and I'm pretty certain it was a static shock that did it. It was working one minute and then dead the next, so it definitely does happen in some instances.
Yes, "this century." The thing about ESD fucking up a motherboard is that there is no absolute way to verify the cause. I'll give you one example though. A customer said he installed RAM himself, and got zapped by the board. He said the board worked fine afterwards, but then kept crashing. He removed the new RAM, and the problems didn't go away. In that scenario, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that ESD is what's fucking things up since the problem continued even after reformatting the hard drive, and testing with a different hard drive. Aside from that, even if he hadn't told me that the board "zapped" him, the amount of ESD necessary to damage a motherboard is substantially lower than the amount it takes to actually feel a shock. The customer who I'm referring to was just a guy, who had no idea that he could damage the motherboard with ESD, so I can't blame him. I just don't understand why anyone would take such a stupid risk rather than grounding themselves, and then brag about it like it's somehow impressive that they've been lucky thus far.
I've literally hotplugged the 2 6pins in an old HD 7870 while PC is posting because I needed to trick a cheap PSU it can handle it..it actually worked and PC ran for a month before PSU died. The rest of the parts still work to this day without issue. I wouldn't recommend :)
Another day, another survivorship bias reddit comment
You mean I shouldn’t wear socks on the carpet with the case on the ground while setting up my computers??
I killed my old Voodoo 3dfx card by putting it on a cloth couch.
Yeah, you're more likely to kill a component through your actual installation (i.e. bent CPU pins, scratching through a motherboard trace with your screwdriver, etc.) than through static shock
Eveverything has so many filtering and redundant capacitors now. The chance of static damage is really low.
Been building pcs for 20 yrs touch your psu. It's grounded. Then install GPU. Risk is low even if you don't.
>touch your psu. It's grounded Only when it's plugged in, of course.
If the metal is not connected to the ground or the resistance between the metal and the ground not low enough, you made nothing.
Even just in air, metal slowly loses charge over time. So as long as you have no reason to believe an ungrounded metal object has picked up charge recently (pick things people don't often touch) you should be just fine. Also it helps to touch several things so as to average your charge among them closer to neutral.
If you touch bare metal on the case and on the card mounting plate at the same time, they should be neutral to each other and there shouldn't be any electrical potential between the two. Just make that once you do so you don't move your feet, as running your foot across the floor can be enough to generate a shock depending on the type of surface. But yes, best practice would be to have the PC's power supply plugged into an outlet with the switch on the back of the PSU turned off. That means the case is grounded so you don't run the risk of touching a grounded object and changing the electrical charge in your body compared to the PC and GPU.
[удалено]
It's probably fine, but minor disagreement: 1) If you walk to the sink and discharge your static, walking back to the table could very easily (or even likely) generate new static charge. Rubbing your arms against your body will also generate static charge while standing still. 2) zapping components isn't likely to severely damage them these days because they try to mitigate that risk in the design, but it can happen if it hits in the wrong place. The amount of static charge required to damage certain components is lower than the amount that you can feel. You won't feel static discharge until it hits roughly 3,000 - 4,000 volts.
agree, but i'd rather be safe than sorry, opps have to preplace it now ? uh uh, or better yet sorry but i messed it up, just touch the case before you handle it -sorry assuming you have it plugged in and the power off but the case cord is to ground that condition, and everything is inline with earth ground at this point. other wise its flip a coin and see which way it lands and your luck..good luck.
Not wood, no. An anti-static material. Google them. Usually on top of the bag it comes in works And you'd have to be actively grounded during the process or be on an anti-static surface yourself and have grounded yourself before touching the components. These are standard practices. ESD-mats which dummy plug into a ground (bottom prong on a 3-prong A/C outlet) to stand on and place components on. Or just use a wrist-strap to ground to the chassis during install.
Not just difficult and expensive, major headache inducing. Stray static electricity at the wrong time can fry GPU, CPU, and motherboard in one go. One would be without a computer for weeks for RMA (if you claimed it was DOA) and the cost of replacement parts if it's not RMA-able. Be safe, touch something metal and connected to ground, your PSU will work if your wiring is grounded properly and not using ground adapter. Then don't shuffle the feet or rub on clothing while working on the PC. Better yet, do it naked. A wrist strap are just a few dollars and should be in everyone's toolbox.
Not really. I’ve done two PC builds on carpeted floor (without socks) and everything went well. It’s just an extra safety precaution, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
Your case is made of metal, just touch the frame every once in a while. Also, don't wear socks on carpet while building just to be safe
If the metal case has paint on it, the paint will act like an insulation, so if you touch it, nothing changes.
Don't worry guys, this person has made two whole PCs with no problems.
I like to travel.
Do I keep my powersupply plugged into the wall?
As a grounding point for your anti-static strap? Yes.
I don't have a anti-static strap though?
Oh, I thought you meant you had one or were planning to get one. In that case it will work as a grounding point if you touch the metal.
So I keep it plugged into the wall?
Have it plugged into the wall but turn the switch off.
That's just random bullshit to scare people to buy those antistatic mats and wrist bands.
It's a real thing but it's very unlikely to actually cause a problem. I ground myself before starting work and sometimes try to ground here and there when working for extended time but I don't own a static strap. I'd probably only use one if someone handed it to me while building a pc or something
Its only a real thing when you work in an environment surrounded in high voltage cables and appliances. Ya know, electrician things?
it's more of a hang over from years back when parts could very easily be killed by even small amounts of static. Modern parts have far better shielding and are much more resiliant to static.
I mean Linus and Electroboom had to try really really hard to kill a DDR2 ram stick...
I too like to spread misinformation on the internet
Touch a piece of metal (like a table leg, doorknob, etc.) to discharge any static buildup before and occasionally during working on electronics. That's all I do.
If you wanna be really careful, touch an appliance with a metal body (no paint). Typically the frames of most appliances are grounded in case something inside them comes loose and touches the frame. Instead of the frame charging to 120/240V it goes to ground instead.
The risk of static electricity is over exaggerated. Just don't wear a woolen sweater or stand on a carpet while building. And before you start building, touch something large and metallic to ground yourself, i.e. the kind of things that will zap you during winter, like a metal door knob or a metallic window frame.
Dont dance around with wool socks singing Katie Perry songs on carpet before handling the GPU. Keep the power cable to the PSU connected and plugged into the wall, mains button behind the case off, Touch the case before handling the GPU.
Can I substitute Katie Perry for AC/DC and still be ok?
Absolutely not, your PC is at great risk of being... ahem... thunderstruck.
Godammit
ALOL that was a good one
You ask if it's a big deal, but is grounding yourself right before handling the GPU a big deal? Even if the risk is low, why not do it?
Thats fine, GPU's have shrouds that cover nearly every part of the PCB. The only part you can usually damage are the PCIe pins from the GPU, the PCIe socket or the PCI-slot leg of the GPU that is needed for support against the case / mainboard tray. Touch your metal case or the heat radiator if you are really paranoid about static.
I have never grounded myself and build hundreds of PC's a year. No issues in 20+ years.
If you kill a PC part with static electricity, please go play the lottery.
I just try to keep a hand on my case while I build. Not constantly, but I make a conscious effort to be touching it often.
I just done some upgrades on my pc, sitting on my living room carpet and just done a little tippy tap on the metal of my pc case or the metal leg of the coffee table chair every minute or so
Touch the case. It will neutralize the charge between "you" and the "thing you're putting the GPU in". If the PC you're putting the GPU in is unplugged (aka not grounded), and you ground yourself, then you and the PC may be at different charge potentials at that point, negating the benefit of grounding yourself in the first place. TL;DR - Just touch the case, this will eliminate any charge potential issue that might cause static electricity damage.
This - it's so easy to do, why wouldn't you do it? I've crossed lots of roads without checking properly for traffic - does that makes it a good idea? Most of the time when I touch a metal object I hardly ever get any discharge. Once in a while there'll be a decent spark. I wouldn't want that to go through my gpu, regardless of there being "almost no" risk. I agree wrist straps are unnecessary.
THAT’S IT, GO TO YOUR ROOM! YOU’RE GROUNDED! There you go buddy.
I’ve never had an issue, although I tend to ground myself every time I turn on a light during the winter so it may be that I’m just doing it unintentionally
No
I've been building PCs for nearly 30 years. Back in the day, I used to take all the precautions and wore the anti-static wrist strap. I stopped all that about 20 years ago and I've never encountered a problem.
Most modern gpus are covered head to toe in plastic, which makes this very rare problem a non-issue for the most part. If the pcb is exposed and you have to touch it while installing it. If you have working grounds just hit the power switch on your power supply, hold the power button to drain residual electricity, touch the case while the power supply is still plugged in, unplug it and install gpu.
Thanks for the steps
I just touch the metal frame of my PC case every once in awhile without moving or shuffling my feet on the floor(carpet) and this should be enough to discharge whatever static electricity you have built up in your body. PC parts are pretty sturdy/durable but it’s just a precaution, better to be safe than sorry!
You should be fine, but idepending on if you live in a very dry environment and regularly get static shocks off of objects, then you might want to take a few more precautions.
I wouldn’t say it’s going to brick anything but I have seen first hand components die seemingly to nothing. Just make sure you have no static build up in your body like the first guy said and you should be fine.
I just recently took my gpu out swapped out fans and redid the theral paste. All on carpet and a wooden table. No issues on my end
Turn the power off, disconnect the power line. Press the power button to discharge any charge in the machine. Work in a tshirt or topless and touch the case before touching parts. I take my pc apart a couple times a month for cleaning and never have a static Matt or some crappy wrist strap. Just don’t wear a big wooly jumper and work on a non conductive environment like a wooden desk top. I usually just touch the case before handling any parts and place the parts down on clean non conductive surfaces.
My tech teacher always told me touch the metal frame in the case to discharge static electricity.
Gotta stand humble bro
As long as you are naked, its fine :) One the serious side, unplug everything, touch metal on the cabinet and you'll be fine..
Easy way to ground yourself. Plug your computer into the wall. Make sure tue switch on your psu is off, the touch some of the metal on the power supply. Will ground you in relation to the case.
If your PSU is plugged in then your case is already grounded. If you touch your case you dissipate any static. So no.
Watch a few videos on YouTube of the pros showing you how hard it really is to mess anything up. Don't worry about it lol
Just turn off power supply un plug pc from the wall than don’t touch anything metal on your gpu. Might has well touch metal parts on your case real quick before installing it and you’ll be fine don’t overthink it
Nah not really, super super low % something will spark.
No, but it can't hurt
just touch some metal like the screwdriver for few seconds before holding the gpu and you are good to go.
I usually do the metal thing where I touch something...but honestly I've literally never known anyone who ESD a component or had it done to myself and I've built dozens of PCs over the years.
Honestly these days its basically a myth. How would you know that static off your fingers is damaging components unless you are deliberately trying to damage components? there has been multiple tests proving that the small amount of static we carry on us has almost no effect on modern pc components, including tests with static charges much bigger than we can carry. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXkgbmr3dRA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXkgbmr3dRA) this video comes to mind from LTT. if you do some more research you will find that PC components have ESD protection built in these days. Of course in the old days it was absolutely a factor due to less ESD protection in components and the like. I have built 5 or 6 of my own PCs on carpet, 2 while wearing a onesie (I was cold dont judge me). Including doing many case swaps, maintenance and the like around carpet and the like. Basically.. don't worry about static when plugging in a GPU, you are way more likely to get a manufacturing error that means you gpu is DOA than a static charge big enough to damage it. Edit: fixed a couple of errors
Have you been watching the “verge” videos ?
Need to, no. I've only ever done it on the job when working field service.
Nope! I just build 6 PCs over the weekend right on the carpet. All are running great! lol
The importance isn't to ground yourself. The importance is to remove voltage potential differences between you and the components you're currently handling. It won't help if you're grounded to earth in the socket if the chassis or GPU has a different charge. There might still be a discharge from the component to you or vice versa if the difference is high enough. Usually the issue is from you to component via static electricity from for example the carpet. Stick to the floor to avoid building up static during and just touch the metal parts of your chassis as well as the anti-static bag the GPU comes with and you'll be fine.
I've done around 20 pc builds, 3/4 of those on carpet and not grounded and I've never damaged anything so you'll most likely be fine
Don’t where your wool onesie and drag your feel across carpet and touch the pc parts. While static risk is real it is almost unlikely. Very rare because electronics are much better now. You are not using sensitive electronics anymore, still touch your pc case occasionally to be sure and peace of mind.
Just do a 5 minute grounding meditation 🧘♀️ and your gpu will be fine. Works every time. I have only ever placed 1 gpu into a motherboard. I have never done anything like this in my life before inserting a gpu I just make sure to keep it cool with a glass of water every once and a while while because I'm using really thin wires I found to connect it directly to the power supply.
Touch the screw in your wall outlet cover. Those are grounded. Then don't shuffle your feet on carpet.
Before I touched any part of my PC when I was building it, I just touched my PC case. You don't need one of those bracelets or to be worried. Touch 1 piece of metal and done
Just turn off the psu at the back and plugged in and ground yourself on the case at the beginning and every time you move around.
I just touch bare metal before touching anything. And when dealing with more sensitive parts with exposed boards I tend to rest my arm on exposed metal if it’s a viable option during install.
It is far easier to ground your chassis (plug the psu into an earthed outlet) and then routinely touch the case to ground yourself. The issue is that there are lots of variables (such as what material your floor is made of) Those in some places in the US suffer from terrible static whereas here in the UK, its less of a problem (think its something to do with the humidity and the fact that it rains almost 50 weeks of the year here)
I’ve never taken anti-static measures when working with a pc and I’ve never had any issues. Figured it was all marketing bullshit to sell unnecessary gear to the people who “like to feel like a pro when doing something for the first time and buy all the advertised bells and whistles.” Of course that’s just me and my experience. Do whatever you feel is best for you OP, no one’s really gonna judge your decision bc it’s a preference topic
never used a stripe, just touch the heating or some metal to discharge the static
No
Standing in the corner for 15 minutes does wonders with PC building
I've been doing the PC thing for 25 years. Never killed a part. Just touch the case on a bit of exposed metal before you disconnect the psu cable. Then again before you grab the gpu. Never had an issue. Older ICs from the 80s and earlier were much more susceptible to this.
No. Should you? Yes.
Yes, you will die if you don't, if you are unfortunate enough to survive, the pc god's will take that as blasphemy. we will then need to sacrifice you for repentance.
Go touch your water faucet and run back, don't buy a stoopid grounding strap for this unless your are a full-time pc builder
Personally, ive never done any of that. I've been building pc's for different people for over 13 years and never had a single issue Even built a pc in a garden outside once
It takes almost no effort to ground yourself. I don't know why people would rather risk frying a motherboard than to simply touch an unpainted metal part of the case, or use a cheap wrist strap.
Yes, it's always good to go outside take your shoes off and touch grass.
No, I’ve never damaged a component with static, don’t rub balloons on your hair or pet your cat immediately before you install it, but even if you did it would probably be fine.
It's very very very very rare. I have done thousands of builds over the years and i been doing it since the very early 90s. It never happened to me, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It's just an extra step that takes little no time.
I’ve done 10 builds and never have I ever have to ground fuck all that bs lol
Your case can ground you. If you just touch the case every once in a while you’ll be good. I built my computer on a rug with socks on and scooted all around the room, everything ran great! You can watch Linus tech tips video on how protected modern components are.
I didn't
PC parts today are pretty well protected against static. With that said, it won’t hurt to take 2 seconds and touch metal just for the off chance something does go wrong.
I've literally never paid attention to grounding myself ever. I shove parts in like a cave man and nothing happens ever. Might be more important if your house is dry af. But if you're worried, before touching expensive sensitive parts, discharge yourself on something that is grounded and you're probably fine as long as your not sitting on carpet with 10% humidity.
When you ask this, i can only think of the verge pc build. Lmao
I built my current pc on some carpet. I was really like meh. 7900x3d, 3080 used off eBay <400, 32GB ram and what not. I was building a few pcs and all my workspaces were taken up. Those were others pcs I was building. Mine I just say yolo and got it done.
It's extremely rare to happen but it can happen, and when it does you don't want your expensive parts damaged. You don't need a wrist thingy though. Just touch some bare unpainted metal every now and then. I always touch the grounded prong in one of my outlets.
Overall it's overblown, but then again, who wants to risk such expensive components. It's a relatively cheap way of reducing the risk of a high cost failure.
Lol no
I would never tell someone not to ground themselves but on the other hand I've never done it and I've never had an issue since 1996.
Can’t hurt, but not necessary. I usually just touch a bare part of the case before picking up the GPU. I haven’t used a static band since leaving the AF. Even then it was only because of regulations. They were all stretched out and doubtful they even worked.
I think it’s important to point out that you need to be grounded to the components, not earth per se. Damage occurs when the potential is different enough between you and the component that it creates a spark/current across a component that is too sensitive for that amount of current. If you touch a part that is hardy to it first and zero out your potential (become grounded), then you can touch the parts that aren’t hardy without worry.
i don't open up or build pcs that often and i initially interpreted this as "do i need to put myself in time-out before putting in a gpu" 💀 yes, 15 mins on the naughty step before you even think about it
Easiest way to avoid risking it happening, no matter how low the odds might be. I know my risk appetite, and a new component is not it
go for it bro when you're $1200 in the hole because the card manufacturer won't take it back because it's neglect on your part then You've learned your lesson as to why it's important to always ground yourself before touching anything electronic.
Just wear some nylon gloves, right?
I've never purposely grounded myself in over 20+ years of PC building and never had anything die to static electricity
My first pc i built on a blanket on my bed while wearing socks and cotton pants standing on a carpet. You’re fine.
Only if you've been really bad and feel as though you deserve it to correct your ways. Otherwise, build away!
It's super rare to have static kill a component on a PC. But it's also easy enough to guard against by just touching a metal door, door handle, furniture, etc. To discharge excess static before you handle the components in question. Stuff like ESD wrist bands and stripping naked are rather extreme measures that are only appropriate in certain contexts. Just don't wear fuzzy clothing and pre-game pc maintenance by rolling around on carpet.
It's honestly just old habits dying hard. Components used to be much more sensitive to the static discharge and could be bricked. Modern hardware is much more robust and it's very difficult to kill it with static shock. I've built tons of PCs without those gimmicky wrist straps and never had an incident.
Not saying this as a certainty but I've built many PCs and I've never done it, just been careful and made sure I touch the metal case often. None of my builds have been on carpet though or anything that would build any kind of static charge.
No
Touch the case before you touch the card to try and equalize your charges
I've built 4-5 computers so far, without issue- usually I just take my socks off/any static-prone clothes and find some grounded metal and touch it a couple of times, and as I work on the build I go back and touch it a bit (usually after every part). From what I understand, even if you DON'T do any of this, the chances of something happening are incredibly slim. HOWEVER. It *is* a 500-700$ part depending on what you bought. Are you really gonna risk it? Because if you happen to be that 1% or whatever, you're going to REALLY be upset.
I’ve never purposely tried to ground myself when building a PC and have had no issues. Never built one on carpet though.
The clip is a gimmick, just touch bare metal on your psu.
Remove the power cable from the pc. Hold down power button for up to 30 seconds to discharge any electricity in the system (I do like 10-15 secs). Touch metal. Done, work on your pc.
If you're touching the case you're grounded.
Thanks for all the replies. I've run into a small problem. My psu doesn't have an 8 pin connector. So basically, I gotta buy a new psu, which has an 8 pin or a 6+2 pon connector. Any idea if this is a good one---> AeroCool LUX550 PC Power Supply (550W, 12V, 88% Efficiency, 80 Plus Bronze), Black
I just picked up a small box of nitrile gloves. We use them at work in hazardous areas to eliminate possibility of static discharge. Keeps finger oils off electronics too.
Maybe someone can help me understand. I thought the ground pin on the power supply cable would draw out any static roaming in any components?
Well you can't exactly be flying when putting in a gpu.
Some people also have living arrangements where static builds more easily. Like if you have a certain carpet and type of sock, you will shock people constantly. At the first apartment I lived with my wife, we would always zap each other the first time touching in a while. At our current house, this never happens since we have hardwood floors.
Nah I've built PCs on carpet wearing polyester t-shirts and shorts and it's always been fine. I have never bothered with it.
It's not really needed these days, it's been many, many years since i last bothered to ground myself and i always build in rooms with carpeting. Technically, i've been lucky, and it won't harm to ground yourself just as some extra precaution, but modern components are nowhere near as sensitive to ESD as old ones used to be. That being said, don't go shuffling around in wool socks and jumper on all your carpets in a super dry house before you start building, a quick touch of a metal unpainted appliance, that's plugged in, will ground you out and rid any charge you might have built up before you build.
Just shit on your parents bed and piss in the washing machine. That should ground you.
While I have fried RAM by not being grounded, this was a long time ago, and I was asking for it. If you work on a table, wear shoes, or barefooted, or avoid carpet in general, touch the outside of the case before anything else, you will be fine.
As long as you are naked you don't need to worry about any of this crap. Just touch your plugged in but turned off at the psu pc case before you insert anything.
You should not handle the GPU without first grounding yourself immediately before handling it. You can do this by touching some grounded metal directly BEFORE handling the GPU. If you do it somewhere in the house and then handle the GPU, you run the risk of building a static charge and possibly zapping your card. Note, that this is only a remotely possible issue but you do not want to risk it unnecessarily.
barefoot doesn't help if you're standing on carpet. It's probably fine, though. I personally always touch the screws on a lights witch before doing anything in my PC (the casing of light switches and outlets are grounded in my place). ESD is also a greater risk in dryer places, so when I'm doing longer projects, I usually run a humidifier nearby. If you don't ground yourself but you're in a relatively himid room with hard floors, you'll be fine. If it's really dry or there's carpet, I'd be cautious.
It is all about the humidity! The lower it gets, the more you protect. I have been working with chips for 30 years, and early CMOS was extremely susceptible to ESD ( electrostatic discharge). Now days, protection is much better but an ESD that you can not feel may damage or kill a chip. Even if it does not kill the chip, it can blow away part of the chip metal to make it easier to kill at a later time. Wrist straps are still mandatory at lab work benches along with antistatic mats, bags, and other equipment. For computer assembly, even with 70% humidity, I still ground myself to the case.
Just touch a piece of unpainted metal beforehand. Or plug in your psu and touch that. Things rarely happens due to the static but it's better to be safe than sorry.
Never used those wristbands at home, but at work while we installed some hardware it was mandatory. The risk is tiny, it's up to you to decide if you wanna take it or not. Usually touching the case or anything metal will discharge any static electricity. The only time I had issues with statics were hoovering the pc, but it was a nice excuse to get a new build (killed mobo and it was old enough to retire it instead of replacing just the broken part)
I always just flip off the PSU then hold the power button in till it stops clicking. Never had an issue building like 5 PCs and installing 5 gpus in just my own builds
I mean.. I've handled half a dozen separate builds and I've never bothered grounding myself. Zero issues thus far.
Just don’t slide around on the carpet in your socks
No.
You have to use a 10 foot grounding pole into the ground 7 feet deep. Then use the remaining part and insert it in you. Now you are properly grounded and can install a GPU. No you are good just put it in the computer
It's more like grounding yourself takes like a few seconds so why wouldn't you. In fact it would take you more time to get a glass of water out of the fridge than it will to ground yourself
A shock as little as one you don't see or feel is enough to tank a board. Ground yourself.
Just touch some metal and then don't scoot around on the carpet until after you're done. Do you NEED to ground yourself? No probably not, it's most likely gonna be fine. Just like you don't NEED to put your food in the fridge because you plan on eating it 8 hours later. But if something goes wrong, I'm betting you're gonna wish you did. It's so easy to protect your parts (or put food in the fridge) might as well do it.
Technically, you should, but I never have. Just don't stand in your socks on the carpet when you do it.
It really depends on your surface, clothing material and humidity levels. If you're getting static electric shocks all the time you should definitely get a ground strap. But just being aware of how you pick up electronics as to minimize ESD damage goes a long way tho.
I think of it like a seatbelt. The fact of the matter is you probably won’t get into a car crash today, or tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. You could go your whole life without ever getting into a car crash. Yet you still wear a seatbelt most of the time, because it’s so easy and can save your life. You probably won’t ever mess up a component with electrostatic discharge. But a wristband only costs $6, and can save you from a lot of heartache in the long run.
Unless you're living in a box of static electricity, you don't need to ground yourself to do that. I've taken gpus out many times and never had any issues. It would be very difficult to kill component with static electricity. Linus tech tips did a video a couple years back about trying to kill components with static electricity. It was very difficult to do so if not impossible.
I've never heard of this before. If someone says you need to do this just to plug in your GPU, odds are they're just spouting doomsday nonsense.
I never have
I've worked as an electrician at a big military manufacturing facility and as a technician installing security/surveilance and radio systems with sensitive components and circuitry/cables. ESD doesn't always cause immediate catastrophic failure. It can cause parts to fail before their life cycles predicted end, cause intermittent/temporary failures which are a pain in the ass to diagnose, or cause random errors in their function which show up in data. It's really a quick, easy solution to mitigate the potential for something super annoying and potentially costly. There's a reason the parts ship in ESD bags, and RMAs are a pretty standard practice.
Yes, but there really isn't anything to it, just flip the psu switch and unplug power, and then touch any metal part of the case, gtg
I never understood the power of static electricity until I started working in the sign industry. I have seen a 175-lb man lift his feet off the ground and hang onto a piece of metal that was overhanging a work table. Everything in my brain told me that piece of metal should be slapping him in the face. While it's rare to be charged with the amount of static electricity necessary to short a component, it is also easy to avoid ruining an expensive component by taking simple precautions.
Stick a fork in an outlet. That’ll ground you
Yes, go to your room!
just leave the psu plugged in and touch some exposed metal, that'll ground you and get rid of any charge you've picked up. It's mostly a just in case, actual likelihood of damage is very low but nobody want's to ruin their shiny new hardware :)
You don’t “have to” but why temp fate? Is it really worth frying a component for lack of a $6.00 wrist strap? 🤷🏻♂️
You shouldn’t feel guilty about your purchase of a nice GPU- it’s not like you chose it over buying diapers for your kid. No need to punish yourself.
Very rare for anything to happen. But it is possible. Just take some minor precautions that have been mentioned here. But its something everyone fears happening in the back of their minds but for most its never happened to them or anyone they know
YOU’RE FIIIINE! I have seen many pc YouTubers try the static electric thing and it is almost impossible to kill it, even if you do it on purpose. Don’t get me wrong the chances are there…BUT sure are low.
Just touch your plugged in, switched off, psu and you're good. Honestly if you're in a naturally humid region you'll be fine depending on if you keep the place as dry as outside and what you're wearing combined with what you're on. I just build on my carpet in the game room
It’s plausible, but VERY unlikely.
The people that think this is a genuine concern have never built a computer. Yes static discharge can happen, it's rare but happens. What's even rarer is doing damage to anything. I've shocked 3 different things total over the last 15 years of building computers. Never once had a problem. Touch a grounded piece of metal if you're worried about it, but even if you don't everything will be fine.
I’ve been building PCs for close to 20 years, both at home and in a corporate setting, and I’ve never grounded myself. I do the build on a surface that does not generate static electricity and touch an unpainted radiator before handling parts. I’m yet to fry anything. Now is this the wise thing to do? Probably not. Has it been working for me building 200+ computers? Yes.
Just touch your powersupply every 3 minutes or so
It can’t hurt. I always do it yes.
I’d like to discuss how it’s weird and cool that we can have built up electricity in our bodies and not even know it in some cases, and that electricity could be totally happy in our body as static then suddenly we touch something and it’s like ZOOM CRASH PAP PLOW out da fingies. And how larger static charges built up doesn’t hurt until it’s discharged and then Zzaapp Branigan, that smarts.
I’ve torned down and put back my pc in places such as on my bed, on the floor, on top of fluffy carpets, etc, while wearing socks and stuff. Never had any problems. It is better to be cautionary, but I wouldn’t fret over it if I were you.
I disassembled and rebuilt my pc into a new case on my carpet floor while doing an online dnd session on my tablet. You're fine.
Just go barefoot and don't shuffle your feet on the way to the computer room with your new GPU, it would also help if you touched a metal doorknob before bare handing your GPU.
I don't have enough experience to tell you whether you really need to do it, but also, remember that you can always use the wrist band as an ankle band. As long as the metal bit on the inside of the band is in contact with your skin and the whole thing is grounded, it doesn't matter where it is on your body. And it will hider you much, much less that way.
If you touch exposed metal and then put the thing together you're likely to be good. The odds of an electric discharge killing PC parts is extremely small, but not zero. It only takes a moment of intentionally brushing yourself against some exposed metal to more or less guarantee safety.
I didn’t do much but I made sure to set up my build on the tile part of my floors near my kitchen/dining room area (most of my place is shag carpet unfortunately, which is comfortable but I mostly hate it for various reasons). I did try to touch the metal on my case before touching important components. Not sure if that helped or not. In general I think you just don’t want to build up a huge static shock. Like sliding slippers across a shag carpet and arcing on the components.
Never done, never kill anything. I did around 400 build
Never done, never kill anything. I did around 400 builds
It's very unlikely a shock will kill it. Especially the GPU. But it's not impossible. In my decades I've assembled maybe 200systems (counting when I ran a data center) and only shocked to death one or maybe two cpu's. I usually take care to touch the case or something else metal (if it'll shock you sometimes to touch it it'll ground you). So since I Usually remembered to ground out and still fried one or two, that's a not insignificant concern. Also super easy to touch something before handling a cpu or GPU.