Grounding myself?

Merlin5

Merlin5

Merlin5

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Finchley, London
I receive a new case, mobo, psu, cpu, gpu, ram and hard drive from ocUK on tuesday. I was going to get someone to fit it for me, but now that I've watched a few youtube vids, I think I'm going to have a go and try fitting the motherboard and cpu myself. I have a better understanding now about standoffs, screws and IO plate, that it seems easier than I thought. My initial worry is grounding myself. I've often tinkered inside my computer and never had a shock, but is it more dangerous regarding static when fitting brand new hardware, particularly as I've never fitted a motherboard? Videos tell me to wear a special wristband and attach a wired clip to the case. Is that really necessary or is there a simpler way to avoid shocks? :confused:

Also, I know about some connectors that go to the motherboard, but I'm wondering if there will be some I don't have a clue about, or is it likely to all be clearly labelled on connectors and motherboard?

Shall I fit cpu and ram before mobo goes into case, after, or doesn't matter?


Many thanks.
 
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Don't ware nylon pants lol.

Seriously, if you are relatively careful and hold components and motherboards by their edges you should be fine. I have been tinkering with computers for all my life and can honestly say I have never killed anything with static.

As for motherboard connectors they only fit one way so just make sure you hook up the main power plug for the board, the additional power to the socket near the CPU and most graphics cards also need a extra power connector usually a six pin PCIe jobbie.

TBH the hardest part of PC building these days is attaching the power, reset and front panel audio/usb etc. to their motherboard headers. This is mainly cos their so fiddly and small!
 
Thanks mate. I've just pulled me trousers down and had a look, I've got 100% cotton underpants so we're ok there. :p

But if I just touch the case with my hands before doing anything, is that enough to ground me? Should I wear rubber gloves, like washing up gloves, or not bother?
 
Oh,. another thing. Do I need to set any bios jumpers on the motherboard for.. cmos is it? Or is that already set at the factory? Or jumpers for anything? Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770 (Socket AM3/AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard.

How about bios settings? Is the bios likely to automatically detect my cpu speed and voltages needed or do I need to do it manually?
 
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As an electronics engineer with 15+ years experience I would ALWAYS recommend
you use an esd wrist strap connected to an earth point (either a Plug or attached to a copper pipe on a radiator)

Its not about you getting a shock , its about the static charge a human body can hold
This charge an subtley damage / weaken parts inside the chips , this can cause premamture death to components on your board
 
well an alternate opinion is that they are a complete waste of time and ive seen hundres of computers built without one with no problems at all

ive never warn one and not had any problems with any pcs ive built

just my opinion, but you can manage fine without one if your careful
 
Paul11 said:
well an alternate opinion is that they are a complete waste of time and ive seen hundres of computers built without one with no problems at all

ive never warn one and not had any problems with any pcs ive built

just my opinion, but you can manage fine without one if your careful
Click to expand...

Good Idea , at the next managment meeting in our Electronics company I will suggest we stop using esd protection ,
we sure could do with saving the 30K a YEAR we spend on it ............
 
derkaderka said:
Good Idea , at the next managment meeting in our Electronics company I will suggest we stop using esd protection ,
we sure could do with saving the 30K a YEAR we spend on it ............
Click to expand...

im not talking about your electronics company, im talking about a guy at home building his own pc

OP asked a question, your opinion is that he should buy one, mine is that he shouldn't

no need for the sarcasm just because i dont agree with you
 
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Paul11 said:
im not talking about your electronics company, im talking about a guy at home building his own pc

OP asked a question, your opinion is that he should buy one, mine is that he shouldn't

no need for the sarcasm just because i dont agree with you
Click to expand...

The guy at home has probably a higher risk of doing damage than would potentially occur in one of our factories
( we have conductive flooring which is earthed , all work surfaces on work benches are also earthed , all workstation have esd bonding points for wrist straps)

Yes indeedy to OP asked a question , you answer with opinion , I answer with these things called facts

Dude , you could be a brain surgeon or a streeet sweeper ,
I would bow to your knowledge in these areas without question , cos its what you do , extend me the same courtesy
 
derkaderka said:
Yes indeedy to OP asked a question , you answer with opinion , I answer with these things called facts

Dude , you could be a brain surgeon or a streeet sweeper ,
I would bow to your knowledge in these areas without question , cos its what you do , extend me the same courtesy
Click to expand...

the facts are just what you do in your work place and working on electonic components is not the same as esembling a PC

and to say to offer you the same courtesy because its what you do assumes i have no knowlege in that area. whilst i may not be as knowldegable in the electronics field or how you work in your company, i have built many pcs and not had any problems, so you cant tell me that your facts are any better than mine

if you want to tell me about electronics then i will bow to your knowledge


edit:

infact if you want to start on poll on the forums of who uses a strap and who doesnt we can see what other people think but i think that most people do not use them to build their pcs at home. .
 
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Paul11 said:
the facts are just what you do in your work place and working on electonic components is not the same as esembling a PC

and to say to offer you the same courtesy because its what you do assumes i have no knowlege in that area. whilst i may not be as knowldegable in the electronics field or how you work in your company, i have built many pcs and not had any problems, so you cant tell me that your facts are any better than mine

if you want to tell me about electronics then i will bow to your knowledge


edit:

infact if you want to start on poll on the forums of who uses a strap and who doesnt we can see what other people think but i think that most people do not use them to build their pcs at home. .
Click to expand...

Emm beg to differ , most CMOS based chips are static sensitive to some degree , so handling a pcb in work or handling one while building a PC is pretty much the same , they all contain components that are able to be damaged.


Never assumed you had no knowledge about esd , feel free to google the term tho ....
Here is some links to start off with about esd and electronic devices:
http://www.static-sol.com/library/articles/ESD_damage.htm
http://nepp.nasa.gov/index.cfm/6095
http://www.static-sol.com/library/articles.htm

So just to recap , pcbs (thats printed circuit boards) have components on them , some are sensative to esd (electro static discharge) and could potentially be damaged by not handling it in a esd safe way.

For someone who claims to have built PC's for years , have you never noticed the little yellow ESD warning labels on new stuff you have bought?
Maybe you should contact all these manufacturers , beacuse according to you they are wasting their money printed these warning labels , you could save them a fortune in labels and esd bags!

A poll is a useless idea , a better one would be phoning around some PC sellers eg Overclockers.co.uk ,
ask them IF the they use ESD straps when working on building PC's ?
 
im only claiming that in all the time i have never used one i have had no problems

and that if we poll home builders, we will probablly find that most dont use one and also have not had any problems

the OP asked if he should get one and my opnion still stands at , no.

if you think he should , thats fine

but atleast be open to the fact that people can have different opinions to yours.
 
well its a fact to me that i have never damaged any components.

but this could go on all night,

lets agree to disagree..

OP has bought a strap, so its all good
 
Paul11 said:
well its a fact to me that i have never damaged any components.

but this could go on all night,

lets agree to disagree..

OP has bought a strap, so its all good
Click to expand...

I will correct that for you
well its a fact to me that i have never damaged any components - That I know of YET

The point I was trying to make is , esd damage can occur BUT the device will continue
to operate fine for a while ( days/months/years) later then it will fail for no apparent reason.
Its not like theres this almighty bangs , with a puff of smoke (tho I have seen a few of those in my day) , its subtle damage.

Now if that board gets sent back to the manufacturer they sometimes
do a detailed failure analysis to determine what went wrong (for quality improvement)
Chips are examined under microscopes looking for probable causes
Things like this show up
gal_comp_c2mos_2.jpg


Iam glad the OP got one.
 
Surely if you 'damaged' something with ESD you would see the effects of a dead cmos immediately....


Built several of my own machines, swapped hardware on several others and have never used anything like a wriststrap. Just common sense and being sensible with handling hardware is good enough :)
 
At the end of the day, it's not about not getting shocks. It's all about protecting your components. That's the most important issue here. Just get an anti-static wristband. They are pretty cheap. And worth it.

I have to agree with the opinions of derkaderka. I am an electronic engineering student, and I would certainly feel a lot safer handling a £100+ motherboard with an anti-static wristband. ESD damage is subtle. Better to buy a £3 band and be safe, than not buy one, and risk damaging an expensive motherboard.
 
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