Front USB static discharge

Jan 23, 2019
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Hello all! I just built a new PC and when I went to turn the power on this morning, my finger came close to the front USB 3.0 port and a large static discharge happened from my finger to the USB port. The computer was off at the time and I was too afraid to try to turn it on. How likely is it that I destroyed my new machine? Are USB ports grounded to protect against this sort of thing?

Specs-
Cooler Master H500P
MSI MPG Z390 GAMING PRO CARBON
Intel Core i5-9600K Coffee Lake 6-Core 3.7 GHz
MSI Radeon RX 580
 
Solution
"I assume if everything works than it should be fine?"

yes.

I think the "outside" piece of metal on a USB jack is probably ground....and if the spark went from your finger to this....you should be fine.

I don't think the spark should have even went from your finger to the other conductors in the port because I don't think they are usually grounded, so you shouldn't have damaged them.
"How likely is it that I destroyed my new machine? "

It may be fine.

Hopefully what happened is...YOU were charged up.....the PC was grounded.....you touched the PC.....the charge went from you to ground.....and if this happened....your PC is fine.

If everything was wired up correctly.....i think this is most likely the case.
 
"I assume if everything works than it should be fine?"

yes.

I think the "outside" piece of metal on a USB jack is probably ground....and if the spark went from your finger to this....you should be fine.

I don't think the spark should have even went from your finger to the other conductors in the port because I don't think they are usually grounded, so you shouldn't have damaged them.
 
Solution