I touched my graphics card with static, help!

[SammChisnall]

I recently recieved my AMD Radeon 7950 3GB graphics card, i came home went upto it and without thinking unpackaged it and picked it up for inspection, i immediately realised my stupid mistake and put it back in the packaging, will i have broke it? i'm not having my PC built until February so i wont know till then officially but im hitting myself over it.

 

[Dnx]

Ok some1 correct me if im wrong, but if you took the card to inspection, that means you took it out of the antistatic protective bag where the card is, so, as far as i know those bags discharge any static charge you may have when you touch it, and it prevents it from getting to the card inside, like i said before im not 100% about this. but if that's the case, then you are safe.

 

[unoriginal1]

The card is most likely ok due to exactly what Dnx said. But just be-careful in the future. It doesn't take much to dmg components and it isn't always dmg that is instantly noticeable. Static electricity can cause issues that will degrade overtime.

 

[matt_b]

Unless I missed it, did anything happen or did you just take it out of the bag and put it back in? If you had ESD occur, you would have felt it. The bag is there to resist ESD reacting with what it is trying to protect.
Just remember these things:
1) Don't work while standing on or recently walking on carpet or wearing something like a thick wool sweater
2) Touch something metal like a door knob or the case of your computer to rid yourself if ESD is built up within your body
3) Wear a type of grounding strap is you're that paranoid about it

It's much worse in winter when humidity levels are very low and ESD builds much easier. If you didn't feel or hear anything while handling this, I doubt anything bad occurred.

 

[bigcyco1]

you should be fine be careful man.

 

[quilciri]

If you had ESD occur, you would have felt it.

This is not true at all. A discharge large enough for you to feel is a *large* discharge for an electronic device. Your body discharges electricity all the time; it actually generates electricity (this is how the capacitive screens on smart phones work!). 99.9% of the time, you *won't* feel it.

Your video card is probably ok, but just because you didn't feel a shock doesn't mean that ESD large enough to degrade the card didn't occur.

 

[RetiredChief]

^ great response.

It takes a considerable Charge to feel it, Forget the exact value but it is in the HUNDREDs of Volts. Hummm CPUs and Memory run at less than 2 Volts.

ESD damage can be instant failure, or create a "waking wound" condition which is when the component is weakend and fails prematurely.

Generation of Electroc static charge DOES not require walking on a rug wearing a woolen shirt. Just walking (air moving across clothing - ANY Clothing) can generate a charge especially winter time with LOW humidity.
Infact pulling a piece of tape off of the roll can charge tape to realatively high electro-static charge. There is a table of different materials and the charge depends on how far apart the two materials are on the chart.

Touching a door knob may or may NOT discharge you completely, it may only equalize the charge, ie You have a 1kv charge touch a door knob and the door knob is now 500V and you still have +500 V. all depends on the mass a Door Knob is not a large mass of free electrons. Touch the door knob a 2nd time and nothing - Because you both have the same potential.

The ESD bag is to protect the device while it is IN the Bag, it will not discharge the static from your body, and offers NO protection once the device is removed.

Most would be surprised at what percentage of computer components are RMAed as DOA. Companies will not test for it as it is to costly so they just eat the cost, or should I say jack up the price to cover it.

Can any one say you did or did not damage the card - NO, to many unknown variables.
Just cross your fingers and hope.

 

[matt_b]

This is not true at all. A discharge large enough for you to feel is a *large* discharge for an electronic device. Your body discharges electricity all the time; it actually generates electricity (this is how the capacitive screens on smart phones work!). 99.9% of the time, you *won't* feel it.

Your video card is probably ok, but just because you didn't feel a shock doesn't mean that ESD large enough to degrade the card didn't occur.

Generally if you felt or heard it, then enough voltage has been generated to cause serious damage though. True that you won't always feel it, and the slightest of discharge can ruin equipment, but start really worrying if you did feel/hear it as it's a guarantee that the ESD found its way to what you're holding.

In the end, referring to what I said

3) Wear a type of grounding strap is you're that paranoid about it

I almost always have that grounding strap between my wrist and the case/rack I'm working on. with your body grounded, any charge will follow the path you have created to ground before trying to use the device you're holding and the charge having nowhere else to go.