Static damage?

[Weave92]

I'm building my first PC and just got all the components delivered. Perhaps a little too eagerly, I immediately started unpacking everything. Now, a few days later, I'm getting paranoid. When I was so excited to have received everything, I completely forgot to ground myself or at least discharge any static buildup. I was standing barefoot on a carpeted surface and handling many components, including a CPU (Intel i5-2500K). I didn't feel or see a static shock. I haven't built my system yet (haven't had time), so I don't know for sure if anything's dead or damaged, but I am starting to get nervous. How likely is it that I damaged or killed any of my components?

 

[Paperdoc]

Not likely, although possible. But don't repeat the error. Do your assembly off the carpet. And arrange a ground to prevent the problem. Then relax - you sound a little too worried, although I know how that can happen as you start your first build.

 

[oynaz]

Generally, static discharges are not as dangerous as people think. In worst case conditions (rubber soles on a carpet in the winter), the chances of damaging equipment is something between 1:100 and 1:1000 (off the top of my head, unscientific, but still educated, guess warning!). Sufficient to worry people who deals with computer parts regularly, but unlikely to damage anything of you forget it a single time.

 

[Modelworks]

In the winter time the risk is much higher than summer due to the dry less humid air. The problem with static damage is it often doesn't destroy the hardware it weakens it making it prone to future failure. I often recommend working in a room with a concrete slab floor like a garage because the concrete is well grounded and the moisture + salts it contains makes it a great conductor bleeding off static charges. Your hardware is probably fine, but if you do this in the future then consider getting a grounding wrist strap and a rubber mat for the work surface. The wrist strap connects to a ground source to bleed off charges and the rubber mat work surface prevents build up of charge and also protects the hardware from scratches and scraps . Total cost for the wrist strap and work surface can be as low as $20

http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Unlimited-ACC-1400-Static-Grounding/dp/B000EDMPQK/ref=pd_sim_e_2
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-...XT3H/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311163310&sr=8-1

 

[oynaz]

A rubber mat? That would increase the risk of building up a static charge, not decrease it. (Go rub a balloon )

Do you mean an anti-static mat?

(Or is this a linguistic misunderstanding? I am not a native English speaker).

 

[dpodblood]

Chances are you haven't damaged anything. Putting your system together and powering it on is the only way to know for sure though. No point in worrying till you get at least that far.