Recent content by Gabrielle11

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    How clean do you need to be when building?

    I definitely washed my hands and dried them thoroughly before handling the PC. I'm more concerned about bits of metal foil or sand that may have fallen on my clothing, and then may be dislodged while the PC case is open. Am I just being paranoid?
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    How clean do you need to be when building?

    Ok, I was talking to someone else today, and I have a couple of other questions related to stuff falling in the case while building: 1) I ate a chocolate bar wrapped in metallic foil; 2) I handled some aluminum foil while cooking something; and 3. I then worked on the inside of my PC. What...
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    How clean do you need to be when building?

    Well one reason I'm asking actually is because there is some sand on my floor, tracked in from outside. I was sitting/lying on the floor for a bit and so I may have gotten some on my clothes. I have an ESD strap.
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    How clean do you need to be when building?

    This may seem odd, but I was wondering how clean you need to be when building a PC? What if sand, dirt, or crumbs from your hands or clothing fall into your PC while you are working on it? Would that seriously mess up the PC? What do you guys do prior to building a PC? Is it enough to just...
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    Boxes left on the porch

    I noticed that the cardboard for the power supply was a little crinkly, like it got wet and then dried. So if I just leave it to dry out for a few days I should be good, right?
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    Boxes left on the porch

    Cool, thanks guys. Yes, I am this paranoid about computer stuff. :)
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    Boxes left on the porch

    The postman delivered a case, power supply, and CPU heatsink to my front door this morning, but they were sitting out all day until I brought them in tonight. The parts are: - Corsair AX750 power supply - Corsair 650D case - Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus heatsink I have a couple of concerns...
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    Metal flecks/dust inside case

    Thanks fffblackmage
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    Metal flecks/dust inside case

    Quick follow up question In the unlikely event that these flecks were to cause a problem, would they cause data corruption? Or would it be more likely that they shorted something out resulting in BSODs, system crashes, etc.
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    Metal flecks/dust inside case

    Thanks fffblackmage, BoomerD. I have actually removed all the components, cleaned out the case, and put everything back, but then I noticed a couple 'flecks' again once I screwed everything in. I think they just flake off from parts inside the case during installation. e.g. When I was putting...
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    Metal flecks/dust inside case

    I opened up my PC case and I noticed that there are these little metal flecks/dust inside the case. They are not big filings, and more like metal dust. To give you an idea of the scope of the problem, I think I counted maybe 10 of them, but maybe there are more underneath the motherboard. There...
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    Static shock while touching mouse, permanent damage?

    Understood, but even though the mouse is mostly plastic, it does have metal components in it, and is connected to the rear USB port of the motherboard, right? I shutdown/restarted the PC a few times to make sure Windows would start OK, and IntelBurnTest ran about 10 times with no errors. Does...
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    Static shock while touching mouse, permanent damage?

    Hi, I was walking across the carpet to my PC (which was on), and I touched the mouse. I think I might have ESD static shocked the mouse, because the mouse pointer stopped moving. I unplugged and replugged the mouse USB cable back in, and now it appears to be working again. I'm not 100&#37...
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    Safe to clean processor with rubbing alcohol and q-tips?

    Ok, so I inspected the contacts side of the CPU and it looks like there is no TIM there. I cleaned off the other side (the top) of the CPU with qtips dipped in 99% isopropanol. I didn't see any fibres left over, but maybe I missed some, I don't know. After the processor dried, I plugged...