Mobo Static Electricity!

[Chisfy]

I have recieved my brand new motherboard today and because it is the brain of the PC i wanted to inspect it to ensure nothing is visibly damaged during delivery. I have only unboxed it (not installed yet into case until i have my cpu). I took it out to hold it and see it what it actually feels like but when i did in my excitement I touched the back of the motherboard twice. It was only after i packed it away did i think "was i supposed to do that?" i am extremely scared that i have damaged my mobo without ever installing it, please will the motherboard be alright?!

btw yes i am a computer noob if you haven't noticed!

 

[mrmike_49]

continuous grounding versus chance to forget to touch a ground often enough, and you should touch BARE metal, NOT the painted outside of the case

you do realise that these scenarios have been rigorously tested time and time again over the last 30 years ? you talk absolute nonsense . nothing speaks more than experience . theory is no substitute . people don't forget to touch grounded objects.. they just don't. they are more likely to forget to wear a wrist strap or not bother . you do realise that you can make a wrist strap with a crocodile clip ? its not exactly some kind of wonderful unique piece of technology .

In ANY electronics assembly plant, ESD precautions are taken seriously: wrist straps, clothing rules, anti-static mats/furniture/floors. I would suspect that large electronic companies know a hell of a lot more about ESD protection than you or the other yo-yo's bragging that they never use an ESD strap.

And your argument that casual pc builders are more likely to forget to wear a wrist strap than they are to forget to touch a piece of metal once in a while is just plain idiotic

 

[Rogue Leader]

WOW! What a LOT of REALLY BAD ANSWERS!!!

SR71 : never uses a wrist strap: you must be 1) VERY LUCKY, and 2) live in a 'damp' area

ALWAYS USE A WRIST STRAP! Plug in the Power Supply, but turn OFF the power switch on back of pc.
Hook your strap to a metal part of the case (an interior part) This gives you an actual Ground!

gunit 1111 : JUST PLAIN WRONG!!! even a non engineer should know better! You absolutely CAN ESD damage a 'floating' board, or any 'floating' electronic device!

Somebody recommended a plastic floor protector underneath> this can be worse than carpet! (may not be, but can be)

A further tip: IF you walk across the floor, touch a doorknob and get a shock, do NOT work on your computer that day, even with a wrist strap your pc is at too great a risk

Nobody is disputing the possibility of ESD damaging a board.

What we are disputing is the great lengths needed to go, or the terror shown by the OP regarding this issue.

Heck the ASUS Crosshair VI Hero motherboard comes in the box with no antistatic bag, which was his concern. If it were that easy or common to fry a disconnected motherboard, ASUS wouldn't be selling expensive flagship boards like that, they would lose money hand over fist.

I suggest you go back to your electronics class or wherever you got these preconcieved notions and gain a better understanding of how this all works, because especially your last assertion is pure horsehockey.

 

[mrmike_49]

WOW! What a LOT of REALLY BAD ANSWERS!!!

SR71 : never uses a wrist strap: you must be 1) VERY LUCKY, and 2) live in a 'damp' area

ALWAYS USE A WRIST STRAP! Plug in the Power Supply, but turn OFF the power switch on back of pc.
Hook your strap to a metal part of the case (an interior part) This gives you an actual Ground!

gunit 1111 : JUST PLAIN WRONG!!! even a non engineer should know better! You absolutely CAN ESD damage a 'floating' board, or any 'floating' electronic device!

Somebody recommended a plastic floor protector underneath> this can be worse than carpet! (may not be, but can be)

A further tip: IF you walk across the floor, touch a doorknob and get a shock, do NOT work on your computer that day, even with a wrist strap your pc is at too great a risk

Nobody is disputing the possibility of ESD damaging a board.

What we are disputing is the great lengths needed to go, or the terror shown by the OP regarding this issue.

Heck the ASUS Crosshair VI Hero motherboard comes in the box with no antistatic bag, which was his concern. If it were that easy or common to fry a disconnected motherboard, ASUS wouldn't be selling expensive flagship boards like that, they would lose money hand over fist.

I suggest you go back to your electronics class or wherever you got these preconcieved notions and gain a better understanding of how this all works, because especially your last assertion is pure horsehockey.

A little education for the many .....people.. posting BS here

http://esdsystems.descoindustries.com/whitepapers/wp_humidity.html

note the reading on "foam cushion", "mylar tape", "picking up ..bag"
Note the extremes or RH used: 20% can be common in winter in cold, dry areas; 80% is rare, except in areas right on the ocean, like say Hong Kong
Note that 1.5KV can damage motherboards/cpus/ram/etc ! Extra note for the truly ignorant: I said "Damage" not destroy - there IS a difference, it has to do with the life time of the affected component. The built in ESD protection diodes are NOT infinite protection: they will fail with repeated spikes of "relatively" low voltage, like a few KV. So repeated ESD pulses that are much too small for you to sense can and will kill an electronic component.

In the IC industry, the standard way to test for ESD protection was to 'zap' the device 5 times at a certain level of voltage. A different device would then be zapped 5 times with a higher voltage, so on, until you got to a voltage that damaged/killed the device (caused it to fail the test program). Note the 5 times per device zapping. I've been out of industry for a while, so methods may have changed by now

another interesting link

http://www.asse.org/assets/1/7/Alan_McCartney_Article.pdf?ref=ps

uses different RH numbers, 18% and 55%

The original poster MAY have been overreacting, but maybe not! If he had <25% RH, likely he was right to be concerned! But my posts were really in answer to all the truly ignorant BS posted in the topic, and I really, really mean ignorant, unknowing, and uneducated!

btw, I worked in the Semiconductor industry, where did you get your "extensive" knowledge of ESD?

 

[Rogue Leader]

I work in the semiconductor industry now, and my father had a TV/VCR/Stereo repair shop I grew up in.

Again, nobody is disputing what can happen due to ESD.

What we are disputing is how easily it can happen, and how common it is during disassembly or build of a PC.

You're talking to people with what probably ads up to hundreds of years of PC building experience. Drop all the whitepapers on us you want, none of us are frying motherboards. So get off your high horse.

 

[Saga Lout]

Another point; who in their right mind puts the motherboard, chip and RAM together inside the case anyway?

I've built hundreds and always do it on its own box and that sits on a wooden bench whle I'm doing it. If it doesn't post first time, it doesn't get anywhere near the case.

 

[randomizer]

Another point; who in their right mind puts the motherboard, chip and RAM together inside the case anyway?

 

[synphul]

There are conflicting opinions and points of view but many experienced builders suggest that you're probably fine and haven't caused any severe or significant damage. Given all the advice suggested the debate has been pretty well exhausted. Advice was sought and advice was given, there's nothing more that can be added here.

This thread is being closed before any further debates go off track and turn into arguments rather than assisting the op with their inquiries. It's up to the op ultimately to decide what action they'd like to take moving forward based on the advice offered.