Computer System & Static electricity question?

[DSebring]

Just a general question if anyone knows for sure, I am slowly building one of my systems piece by piece, still waiting for several items to arrive.

It occurred to me that maybe this is a bad idea?

I am wondering if the components are in danger of being damage by static as long as they are sitting installed in a system that is NOT plugged into power and therefor NOT grounded?

Or am I being to paranoid?

I have always had everything ready before i built in the past so I really didn't give it any thought, but THIS time it is taking a few days, so I am worried about the MB with RAM installed in particular.

Do you folks think this is a bad idea? should I dissasemble untill I have everything?

 

[jaguarskx]

Your PC should be fine. Just remember to ground yourself before you add any more parts to it that's all.

 

[mdalli]

"Better safe than sorry" is a well-worn axiom for a reason -- it's true.

A plugged-in (and therefore, grounded) metal case provides a convenient ground plane to get rid of your body's static electricity and physically separates your sensitive components from other things that might zap them (like cats, for example).

A wrist-strap with a verified path to ground is an even better idea.

A good rule of thumb re: static electricy is this: if you walk across carpet and shock yourself on a doorknob and can feel it at all, you are talking about ~1000 volts. Some of your components can be damaged with less than 5 volts.

 

[nikolokolus]

A wristrap is about the best $10 investment you can make to protect the hundreds (thousands?) of dollars worth of electronics you are handling.

 

[_Morphine_]

I guess you dont have a PSU yet? If you have one lying around and are concerned you can drop it in and plug it in. You dont have to make the MB connections, as long as its bolted to the case you should be fine.

If you dont have an extra, as long as its not sitting on carpet or in a high traffic area I dont think it would be in too much danger, but I would leave it all in the bags myself.

I find wrist straps annoying. I recommend them to people so they dont fry their parts but I use a power cord with the power pins broke off. You have to pay attention and make sure you are always touching the case when touching parts, but it keeps me from being "tied" to my computer. I have that feeling enough as it is... :lol:

 

[masterkrhom]

You want advice huh ive simply buyed a small PSU at 40$ and ive connected all my fan on it and hes outside of teh PC! WHY will everyone say very simple if you have a tons of fan in your PC the fans will induct a ondulation in your electric and data system may be nefast at long time. With a separate set you stop the ondulation in your system and it prevent some bugs and extend the life of your components!! Thats my advice no fans attached to main PSU is better !

 

[nikolokolus]

You want advice huh ive simply buyed a small PSU at 40$ and ive connected all my fan on it and hes outside of teh PC! WHY will everyone say very simple if you have a tons of fan in your PC the fans will induct a ondulation in your electric and data system may be nefast at long time. With a separate set you stop the ondulation in your system and it prevent some bugs and extend the life of your components!! Thats my advice no fans attached to main PSU is better !

Erm . . . I know it's bad form to pick at people who don't speak/write english natively, but from what I can gather out of this post, is that people should not put fans in their PSU. What the hell kind of advice is that!? If you are suggesting that fans create EMI or ripple (not really sure what "ondulation" means), that is utter nonsense. Even if they did, manufacturers engineer PSU's with certain amounts of tolerance in mind and have ways of shielding EMI and conditioning power.

Leave the fan in your PSU and stick it in your case where it belongs.

Then again, I may have completely misread the above post . . .

 

[DSebring]

You want advice huh ive simply buyed a small PSU at 40$ and ive connected all my fan on it and hes outside of teh PC! WHY will everyone say very simple if you have a tons of fan in your PC the fans will induct a ondulation in your electric and data system may be nefast at long time. With a separate set you stop the ondulation in your system and it prevent some bugs and extend the life of your components!! Thats my advice no fans attached to main PSU is better !

WOW.... 8O

 

[_Morphine_]

In soviet russia, computer overclocks you!

 

[GigabyteRules]

In soviet russia, computer overclocks you!

Huh?