Is ESD risk exaggerated?

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RiVaL_GaMeR_5567@reddit

Kinda yes, I just put it on my box and touched a metal table and then went on with building

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hot take: ESD advice is cargo culted from the 90s when chips had zero protection. modern CMOS has input clamping diodes that eat way more voltage than a typical body zap. LTT literally tried to kill parts with static and couldn't. wrist strap industry survives on FUD. just touch the case once and stop dragging your socks on carpet mid-build, you're fine.

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metroshake@reddit

https://youtu.be/nXkgbmr3dRA?si=

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Zealousideal-Mud795@reddit

Kind of, i’d say put it on a cardboard and touch something metal before you assemble, but no need for wrists

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dabrainznl@reddit

Building a pc without wrists must be a new challenge. :o

In a more serious note: I agree. Touch something that's "earthed/grounded" like a metal sink stretching into the ground or radiator tubes. Cardboard is fine, it's both an isolator of sorts and also soft enough to protect parts and pins.

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metroshake@reddit

I'm all 'bows

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SolomonG@reddit

Literally just touch the case before you do anything, it's that simple.

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Beedlam@reddit

Only if its grounded and touch bare metal. The psu needs to be screwed in and connected to a grounded wall socket for this to be effective.

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SolomonG@reddit

No, it doesn't.

The point is to avoid ESD to the components you are putting in the case, equalize your electric potential to the case and you prevent that.

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Beedlam@reddit

Ok fine it doesn't NEED to, in probably most situations an ungrounded case would be sufficient, but it is far more effective given you're earthing yourself to much more material do it via a plugged in psu.

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Xjph@reddit

Equalizing your potential with the case is arguably better than grounding yourself to true ground if the case itself is ungrounded. If you're grounded and the case isn't then there's still a potential charge difference.

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Beedlam@reddit

TIL. Have you got a link that could explain this in more depth?

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Xjph@reddit

Not really sure what you're looking for exactly, but the wikipedia article covers this in the first sentence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_discharge

a sudden and momentary flow of electric current between two differently-charged objects

Emphasis mine.

This is more or less what's happening with a Van de Graaff generator. The object builds a charge differential and then shocks you. Grounding yourself just makes the shock stronger.

That said, it's usually much more likely that a person has a charge that deviates more from ground than a random ungrounded object. You're moving around, and presumably wearing clothes that are all rubbing together and against things, so people tend to build charges while inanimate objects laying on tables typically do not.

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SolomonG@reddit

I'm not so sure. If you're going to build in a case that is plugged in I might use a wrist band then.

Connecting it to ground actually makes ESD more likely as you are constantly draining any charge that is there

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Beedlam@reddit

I see. Going to have to go do some more reading on this.

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SolomonG@reddit

When the case is ungrounded and you touch it the voltage between you and the case is equalized.

If the case is grounded through the PSU and plugged in then any excess charge you transfer to the case will probably pass through to ground.

Meaning there is again a voltage potential if you have any more charge hanging around on you.

Easier to just build in an un-powered case, touch the case each time, and plug it in later.

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Mellowindiffere@reddit

Doesn’t have to be grounded, that’s very old fashioned. Just a large piece of metal is okay. Like your case or something.

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da_chicken@reddit

You also just need to be grounded relative to the case, so you should always be sure to touch the metal case or a metal screw on the motherboard first.

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dentarthurdent1@reddit

Touch the centre screw on a light switch/plug.

I just googled this, and it is totally a thing, I'm not alone in the world, as I originally thought!

As a child, I grew up in a house with insane levels of static electricity and I would purposefully touch the screw to relieve the static build up, so then when I started building, I knew that this was a good ground. There happens to be a switch near where I build, I always touch it before I handle components.

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31073@reddit

The average user is very unlikely to damage a component due to esd, but it's simple to avoid, and it would only take damaging 1 component to ruin your day.

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Dry-Influence9@reddit

In the past ESD used to cause millions in damaged, modern chips are better designed to be very resistant to ESD but there is always a tiny risk.

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psimwork@reddit

This isn't quite accurate.

Chips (like memory chips) before they're soldered/mounted to the modules we use are EXTREMELY vulnerable to ESD damage (so like the memory chips get soldered onto boards to make 288-pin DDR5 sticks).

But once the chips are mounted, they are fairly well protected. However, one could still damage a memory chip if you touched the chip on one of the metal leads connecting from the chip to the board, or the solder points on the back of the board, and discharged a bunch of static into it. In-order to protect against this, most modern consumer electronics boards are coated with a non-conductive coating after the board finishes production.

The only part, then, that could conduct static into the vulnerable chip comes at the contact point (so the aforementioned 288 pins on the RAM stick). But there's so little actual energy in an electrostatic discharge that the traces that go into the RAM chips themselves are designed so that they'll dissipate the energy before it reaches the chip itself.

It's not so much that the chip is designed differently, but the finished goods are designed to be resistant.

(I realize this is incredibly pedantic. I'm not typing all of this out to be all "Captain Ackshually", but just because someone reading this might find it interesting)

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Bleaker82@reddit

That was actually really fascinating. I personally had no idea about most of that. I was most surprised by the non-conducting coating on consumer electronics boards. That makes a lot of sense as to why I haven’t ever shorted live motherboards with loose case screws in 25 years building computers.

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jhaluska@reddit

When those coatings didn't exist, ESD was a higher risk cause it could happen to unprotected areas.

There's been a lot of incremental improvements over the last 50 years of PC computer building. It still doesn't hurt to know where the risks are and to minimize them, as fewer warranty claims saves time and money.

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jhaluska@reddit

As annoying as it is, I appreciate people clarifying. Otherwise we get a telephone chain of information that has people repeating misinformation as fact.

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psimwork@reddit

I don't mind the clarification if it's accurate. I'm not a huge fan of someone pointing out an extreme case of something that makes what I'm saying incorrect when my original response didn't include a situation for that edge case because what the person was asking about would never encounter that edge case.

What drives me even MORE bonkers is when I'll say something that is accurate at the time, and then like 6 YEARS will go by and someone will respond to it and be like, "well this advice didn't age well."

(seriously - I get that shit all the time. I just got a reply like three days ago from a comment that I made literally 9 years ago, when I said like "16GB is enough for most folks." And someone replied, basically, "LOL PEOPLE NEED MORE THAN 16GB!!!". Like, do people really expect me to go back through THOUSANDS of comments I make to update them to reflect current tech standards and market pricing?!)

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jhaluska@reddit

Hindsight is 20/20. Some people are very silly. Nine years ago, 16GB was plenty and great build advice. We're only now moving to 32GB and even that has been somewhat stalled due to the prices.

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More_Outside7127@reddit

GPU before installing the motherboard in the case is crazy work

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notadroid@reddit

its highly situational.

I've been building and working on systems since the early 1990s. There were only two times in my entire system building career where static came into play, and both of those times were on a standard commercial tile floors you see in places like doctors offices and cheap office space. and both times were in the winter with very low humidity days. both of them needed their motherboards replaced as a result of what happened. that beings said, one situation was found to be a cheap PSU situation, the other was done by someone wearing some very static-possible clothing.

aside from those two situations, I've built systems on my bed, on a carpet floor, on a desk, on a lab bench and never had issues. part of my operating procedure though is to put my hand on the PSU/frame for 10-20 seconds before I start doing anything, and make sure the pc is completely disconnected from power and all peripherals.

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Capokid@reddit

Its extremely difficult and unlikely that pc components will be damaged by ESD. Dont shuffle around for 10 min before you pick up a stick of ram and you should be good.

LTT did a video on trying to kill pc parts with ESD and they found that it was basically impossible to do by accident.

Don't build on carpet with socks and touch the case before working on the inside and you are good. Also, don't let your pets in the room, they can build up huge static charges sleeping on carpeted floors (My dog shocks the shit out of me during winter months and he actually killed the LEDs on my keyboard by electrocuting me while i was touching it.)

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ime1em@reddit

Lol I built and disassemble mines on carpet.

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leicanthrope@reddit

Do you at least wear one of those bomb squad suits?

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ime1em@reddit

Nope

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identifytarget@reddit

This. I accidentally shocked a mobo. The carpeted area would constantly shock me so I was sure to wear the ESD strap during build. I took it off for a brief moment and without thinking went to touch something and sure enough it zapped. I ain't my saving Grace was it was plugged in to power so it was grounded not sure. 3 years later and the PC is going strong.

I would say you only really need to take precautions if building on a carpeted area.

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pdt9876@reddit

I build on carpet with socks (because I don't wear shoes in the house) and I have never damaged a component. I also don't get a lot of static electricity build up for whatever reason. I don't think i've ever received a static shock at home other than when using the treadmill.

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hi_bert@reddit

Worked in an electronics repair centre and the review completed there was that additional ESD measures had a small effect on catastrophic (instant failures) but a much bigger impact on reducing latent (reliability) defects.

This was a volume repair business so decent sample size. I don’t recalls the numbers but there were less RMA units when using increased ESD measures so i still err on the side of caution.

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psimwork@reddit

So I worked in an electronics distribution center a while ago, and I talked to one of the engineers about this exact issue a few years ago.

We handled two types of goods with regards to this: unmounted chips (i.e. the un-soldered chips that would later be added to boards/modules), and finished goods (i.e. RAM sticks, video cards, motherboards, etc).

He had told me that for unmounted products, ESD precautions should ALWAYS be observed. So the areas where we stored all of this material had grounded shelving, we had dissipation nets integrated throughout the floor, everyone working in the area had ESD smocks and heel straps (which had to be tested every four hours), carts had drag chains, workstations had wrist straps and ESD mats. The humidity levels were controlled to reduce static (I believe we pumped a fair amount of water into the air in Phoenix). We were very, very serious about it.

On the finished goods areas of the warehouse, on the other hand, we were... significantly less serious. The engineer that I talked to about it basically said that for consumer goods, ESD issues, even latent ESD issues just weren't much of a problem. All of the hardware that was handled was coated with a non-conductive material after construction (i.e. the chips were mounted to the boards, and then sprayed to protect). The only parts that were conductive were such that by the time the energy from the ESD reached something vulnerable to damage, the traces in the board itself would be sufficient to dissipate the amount of energy transferred - there just wasn't all that much energy in an ESD. A shitload of voltage, sure. But not much amperage.

That was for consumer goods. AD&M (Aerospace, Defense & Marine) and especially medical, on the other hand, was another story. All AD&M/M materials got handled with the same precautions as unmounted goods.

TL;DR: unless someone is going to be doing medical diagnoses or sending a commercial jetliner into the sky, ESD isn't really something that needs to be worried about.

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Tiruin@reddit

Sounds about right, last I heard with power outages, it's not so much that it'll just die from 1 but that it gets gradually damaged each time.

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GTRagnarok@reddit

Dont shuffle around for 10 min before you pick up a stick of ram and you should be good

But how can I not dance after finally being able to afford some RAM?

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Portalearth@reddit

I once built a computer on shag carpet. I thought I was being so cool and living dangerously.

Nothing happened. Computer booted up just fine

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z3nbstrd@reddit

No, the ESD risk is not exaggerated. However, the damage isn't always immediately apparent. There's a phenomenon called "partial perforation" where the component isn't killed right away, but its lifespan is severely shortened. Source: I was an electronic technician at an electronics manufacturer that did a lot of research into ESD.

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ninjasauruscam@reddit

I've built 3 PCs on carpet/rugs with 0 issues

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ViruliferousBadger@reddit

I've built PCs since the early 90s and I've never owned an ESD bracelet or mat or whatever. I've never broken a piece of hardware installing it.

Of course common sense rules here; don't install stuff wearing synthetic clothes that are super prone to ESD, standing on a woolen mat, wearing woolen socks. Cotton is good.

I've had lightning break a couple of PCs - so use protection for that instead.

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edgemaster191@reddit

Yeah I’ve been building / working on computers since the late 90s and have never had an issue with ESD.

Not saying it can’t happen, but I’m guessing it’s extremely unlikely

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philmcruch@reddit

Funny thing is, ive been building for about the same amount of time basically broken all of those rules and never had anything break due to ESD.

You would have to be deliberately trying to do it for it to be a concern

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mavajo@reddit

Same. I'm "careful" in the same way that I would be around anything electronic, but I'm not taking any active measures.

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psimwork@reddit

I've built PCs since the early 90s and I've never owned an ESD bracelet or mat or whatever.

Mostly the same for me. However, I have owned one that I took along in my toolbox whenever I did freelance tech work. Whenever I was doing something for a customer's machine, I usually wore my strap and clipped it to the chassis. Was it necessary? No. But it would be just my luck that someone would throw a fit if I did some work on their machine and didn't have one.

I've never worn a static strap whenever I was working on my own hardware.

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Dunning-KrugerFX@reddit

Exactly my experience.

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SchmeckleHoarder@reddit

Modern parts have so much defense against it, it’s “almost” irrelevant.

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Consistent_Ad_5267@reddit

I built my rig drunk on my kitchen counter top, booted up fine.

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scewbs@reddit

Pretty much how I built my last two, except did it in my camper on the dinette.

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Prestigious_File9000@reddit

Wichtig ist dabei dass die Bierflasche ausreichend Abstand zum Computer hat

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Jenkinswarlock@reddit

Fuck German is such a beautiful language, it just sounds so intense

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scewbs@reddit

You don’t need to go full bore with a strap and anti static bags everywhere. Just use a non conductive surface (a wooden dining room table), low humidity environment, don’t stand barefoot on carpet, and poke something metal every so often to discharge static electricity.

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Year_Popular@reddit

If you're buying PC parts just pick up a band while you're there. It'll either save you thousands or waste 20% of a coffee

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Viking2151@reddit

I mean I've been playing around with PC hardware for 20 years now, I've never killed a piece of hardware by static, but I have zapped a USB port on a computer that was already built and caused it to restart, no damage at all. I have killed a tv by zapping the power button through plastic. It's possible but it's not likely not going to damage anything.

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toraai117@reddit

People take PC building more serious than handling explosives - Someone who handles explosives

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MallIll102@reddit

Yes, In my 25+ years of building PC's swapping parts, Cleaning etc I have never used an ESD strap and nothing has shorted or gone wrong.

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fancy_crisis@reddit

It's fairly exaggerated. I've always made sure to do any building on hardwood and touched metal before doing any handling and it's always been fine. Nothing wrong with being overcautious but don't feel like you run the risk of dying every time you pop your case.

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PenguinBasedGod@reddit

Yes, I built my pc on my kitchen table nothing is wrong with it and has been going strong for 6 years, my hard drive finally gave out so I an swapping that.

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UhhThisIGuess@reddit

Ive built maybe 8-10 pcs now over the years and ive never worn a wrist strap. I try not to build on carpet but I have before and just try to ground myself occasionally lol

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Millkstake@reddit

Yes. It is exaggerated. I built some of mine on carpet and it was fine.

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vtdone@reddit

For me, I'd say ESD wrist straps and an anti static environment are required if I am servicing customers' equipment doing volume loads where I don't have to be careful where I touch. If I am doing my own equipment at home where it's my toy and my cost, and I can take my time leisurely, and I know exactly which part I am touching, I don't worry so much about ESD risks.

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GeckoDeLimon@reddit

It is, until it's not. My college room mate handed me a video card and there was solid static "snap". She never posted again.

That was 1997. I've haven't lost a device to ESD since.

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Luckyirishdevil@reddit

I have built dozens of rigs and it's easily been a decade since I even gave static discharge a 2nd thought. Maybe I've been lucky, but very likely it's over blown. I remember a video from LTT a few years back with "electroboom" where Linus tried to kill parts with "static" and ended up just creating pretty significant electric shock straight to components.... None died

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tyler2k@reddit

I was the same way, never used an ESD strap during any of my builds. One day, I come home and need adjust my monitor, for some reason I have to adjust the HDMI cable and all of a sudden ZAP, I see a spark from my hand go right into my monitor and it instantly dies. Luckily, I tried again later and it was eventually able to power on. I still use it to this day.

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Dry-Proposal-4011@reddit

I build barefoot on tile. I wouldn’t recommend building on carpet and I own an esd mat but it’s not necessary. I would just build on the kitchen table with no cloth on it

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2raysdiver@reddit

Yes and no. Certain environments are more susceptible to ESD than others. Since I don't know what your environment is like or what your build habits are, I have to assume the worst and recommend you follow the appropriate procedures.

But if you live in at least a moderately moist climate and you keep everything in its ESD packaging until you actually build, it is unlikely that you will experience any sort of ESD event. Most components are pretty tolerant because manufacturers have made them so. Probably the component that needs the most care is the CPU. (I have talked to two people on reddit in the past year that have fried their CPUs because of careless handling before installation). The rest are pretty robust.

But what if the PC is already assembled? Well, the first thing you touch is the case, which is made of metal and grounded to the rest of the components. If it isn't, just touch the PSU before you touch any of the other components. Also touch the PSU if the case is already open and you haven't touched anything else inside the case in a while.

I've taken ESD classes and my company even bought us new ESD shoes every year. At the time, were were writing and testing firmware for a prototype CPU. Yields were so low they figured it cost them a couple million dollars for each CPU. We had six of them and one of my coworkers accidentally fried one. The classes and the shoes for anyone who might possibly enter the lab (over 100 of us) were a lot cheaper than another fried CPU.

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chr0n0phage@reddit

I’ve been mucking about in PCs for 20 years. Never owned a wrist strap, don’t actively think about grounding myself and I do maintenance cleans with my vacuum and a detail brush.

Following best practices is fine and all but I’m also not an idiot. I’m not changing how I do things.

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yehiko@reddit

Very. There was even a video limit testing it. Nothing happened

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dyttle@reddit

ESD is not overrated. If you discharge built up static it CAN, destroy things like RAM. I have seen this in action on a microscopic level. I can assure you ESD is real.

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Emergency_Present_83@reddit

normally I'd say yes but the with price of components these days i'm not going to judge anyone for being a little paranoid

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Uhmattbravo@reddit

Modern hardware is alot less sensitive to ESD than comparable parts used to be. That said, I use a ground whenever I can as an extra layer of protection. Parts are expensive. Caution is cheap.

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GBICPancakes@reddit

ESD is rarely some obvious loud spark or smoke or dead RAM chip.
ESD is quiet, patient, and subtle. If you shock a RAM chip, it'll boot fine and probably run ok for years. But it's been hurt, and its lifespan is now shorter.
I've been building my own PCs since the 90s. I always ground myself with a strap. My PCs run smooth for over a decade.
Friends who are "careful" and "touch the case" also build PCs.. and end up replacing components in 3-5 years.

I can't prove it's ESD, but anyone who studies EE and looks into it agrees with me.

Another data point - margins on some of this stuff is razor thin. (or it used to be before the world went crazy) Manufactures need to save money where they can. And are in it for profit. Yet every single component comes in an anti-static bag or shell of some kind. Why do you think that is? Why are they spending the money on packaging if it has no impact?

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irishsetter5566@reddit

For end user the modern product design is good enough to forget about it

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NSMike@reddit

I still use an ESD wrist strap, connected to the copper water pipes in my house. It takes two minutes to set up, almost never gets in the way, and provides some peace of mind.

As others have pointed out, you don't have to kill something outright to damage it. These components are expensive and delicate. Yes, the Linus video exists. Yes, the components still work. But also, Linus doesn't care if they don't work in a month because he has a stock room of parts, and no desire or obligation to tell you if those parts are still any good.

ESD wrist straps are super cheap and virtually no trouble to use. You can also just discharge by touching something grounded every few minutes. But with how expensive these parts are in good times for PC building, and especially now, I wouldn't fuck around.

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Kyro_Official_@reddit

Ive literally never done anything to mitigate it and ive messed with my gpu and ram countless times over the years and ive yet to have a singular issue.

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memething@reddit

I'm either extremely lucky or it's grossly exaggerated. My first pc build I wore an anti static wrist strap, ankle strap and pretty much held the plugged in psu.

My 2nd build on the tiled kitchen floor without any straps

My 3rd build was on carpet with no strap

My 4th build was on carpet with no strap

My latest build, that was pretty much done by my girlfriend was while be were both sitting on carpet, moving back and forth on the carpet, with socks, trousers the lot. It was an experience for sure... Watching as she lifts the old cpu out of the socket tilting it (not straight up, but tilting it like 70 degrees in the socket), hands ALL OVER the motherboard, underneath, on top. You name it everything was touched. Ram all of it handheld, put in the wrong way (i said check it's right, I didn't verify, she said good enough and rammed it in) anyway, touching that all to get it back out. Front panel connectors idek man, whole motherboard was touched at one point or another.

As the side panel goes on, I'm saying to myself "this is not posting.". It posted, it works, and has been working for 3 months so far

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flargh_blargh@reddit

Broadly speaking, yes.

Hell, I've assembled computers while sitting on carpet and never once had an issue. Don't actively try to build up static, and touch the frame before doing anything and you'll be fine, 99.9999% of the time.

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Doomu5@reddit

Mostly yes. I've built a lot of PCs over the years and it's never been an issue.

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Beanstiller@reddit

Do you shock yourself when touching metal? If so, maybe get an ESD bracelet or maybe just stop wearing sweatpants and other staticky clothing. If not, you’re good to go. I don’t imagine many people go around life shocking many things.

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OnlyCommentWhenTipsy@reddit

Exaggerated? no, you can absolutely fry components by static discharge. Is it unlikely and rare? Yes. I know 2 people in like 25 years to fry stuff so pretty rare. Basically know your environment, if you have carpet or wool socks and normally create a lot of sparks make sure you discharge it before working on electronics.

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wienercat@reddit

Very much so. People who work with PCs for a living don't care about it at all. It's like worrying about being struck by lightening. Can it happen? Sure. Can you prevent basically 99.9% of the risk by doing a few simple things? yeah.

Putting the components on a cardboard box is more than enough. Touch a large piece of metal, like the computer case, and you won't have any issues ever. You don't need a wrist strap unless you live in a super dry climate and will be walking around on carpet all day. In that case, you just attach the strap to your ankle and the ground to a metal leg on the desk.

But genuinely components today are much more resistant to static. ESD was a very real concern decades ago. You don't have to worry about it.

I can't remember who exactly it was. But one of the big tech creators did a ESD experiment and found that even direct visible ESD to components didn't damage them at all. All things considered PC components are pretty tough these days.

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Ok_Perspective_7978@reddit

Linus Tech Tips did a colab with electroboom a long time ago where they literally hit components directly with a static gun and it was shockingly (no pun intended) hard to kill components, even with way higher amounts of ESD than physically possible from the average person through normal means.

That said, it's never a bad idea to touch your case before you touch any component to be safe

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soljakid@reddit

I once needed to plug something into my motherboard, it was in a difficult to reach place, so I had unplugged all the wires from the back and sat on my bed with my PC on my lap and reached inside the case and my hand touched the heatpipes on my 980ti...

There was a tiny blue spark between my hand and the GPU and for a brief second some of the LED's lit up.

It never turned back on again.

ESD is a real thing kids

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Pete_Iredale@reddit

I've killed one card with ESD, and that was a network card almost 30 years ago. We used to worry about it back then, but it doesn't seem to matter as much now. I still never touch any cards anywhere other than the edge though just to be extra safe.

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Curun@reddit

It's about risk.
Some youtubers have buckets of free hardware from manufacturers. They won't shed a tear at losing one.

Redditors often assume fellow users are on a budget, and losing a $1000 GPU would make you very sad. Hedge against it.

ESD discharges are very variable, where they discharge, and how much. Just because one zap was fine, another might not. And its not always black and white, could shorten the life or stability, not immediately visible. Once a week bluescreens unexplained as a random memory register is used... or dies after 9years rather than 12.

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fyreburn@reddit

It's kinda exaggerated, but one thing I want to point out is there's a big difference between someone who works with tech for a living and someone who just wants to build a PC as a one-off thing. There's a lot of little things that they instinctively know to do from experience to minimize risk - i.e. don't shuffle your feet on carpet, don't rub cotton/fibers, try to avoid touching bare metal parts, etc.

An ESD strap is just an extra level of protection, and if you're not experienced with tech and do something wrong, the ESD strap can save your hardware.

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JS17@reddit

Risk is exaggerated. Touch some grounded metal before touching your components and you'll be fine.

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No-Repordt@reddit

Sure, I'd say as long as you're not doing something dangerously stupid, like working on a PC that's plugged in, you didn't need an ESD strap. It's not guaranteed that you'll kill whatever component you're touching.

But when it does happen, a shock so minor you'll convince yourself that it didn't happen until you try to power on your $2000 build and get nothing, you'll really regret not spending $8 on the strap. God help you if you were working on a customer's computer.

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Green__lightning@reddit

Not if you live somewhere dry and at high altitude. But I've literally rolled over in bed and seen sparks from it.

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TheWatchers666@reddit

20yrs ago it would have been an issue...not with modern components. You'd want to be wearing your nylon socks and penguin shuffling around on a wool carpet to be any way of a threat 🤭

Grab a rad for a quick discharge, wash you hands, go out and touch the grass, whichever suits you best 🤗

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ghostfreckle611@reddit

It is…

Until it isn’t. 😬

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Rich_Space1583@reddit

I just pulled out my graphics card on my shutdown PC yesterday and placed another one on without any ESD protection or discharging. I manhandle all my components and have for a decade and have never had a problem with something shorting out. I even start pulling out components before the power fully shuts down, and nothing fails. I wouldn't recommend it, but modern components are fairly tough.

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TallTelevision4121@reddit

Wrist straps have always been overrated. Ive use them once, until it got annoying because it was a wall plug wristband.

Just touch something metal first.

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lordhooha@reddit

Used to be I’ve built machines on carpeted floors in the past and never had a I issue

Back in the day it was bad not so much anymore

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Ok-Attention-4171@reddit

My god man some of y'all need a grounding plate or something if you're THIS paranoid.

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xXBongSlut420Xx@reddit

putting it on cardboard is insulating it. You should use an esd wriststrap if you want to be safe, but that said, i've assembled probably over 30-50 pcs and never worn one, and I've never seen a pc get damaged from accidental esd.

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Insidious_Ursine@reddit

Just touch either something metal on your case or a metal table/desk or chair leg before you touch your components to discharge yourself. Do this every time before you go to touch your PC internals, just make a habit out of it and you'll be fine.

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unitedducklings@reddit

I bought a wrist strap for my first pc build last year. I used it at first and was super anxious about ruining something. But after a little while it was annoying me and i reverted to touching the metal case before touching any parts, like numerous times making sure I touched it each time my hand went back in the case. All of this to say is that I realized i was worrying way too much. Use common sense, don’t build on a shag carpet despite there being videos of people doing just that. TLDR: use common sense and don’t unnecessarily increase risk by building on a shag carpet, but also don’t worry too much chances are it’ll be fine.

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bitbang186@reddit

I’m an electrical engineer and have worked in motherboard design. Short answer is that yes ESD can absolutely damage components. Is it very likely the happen while you’re building one PC with modern hardware? No not really. Low chance but not impossible. Modern motherboards have very good protection. But why not just ground yourself anyway and make it a 0%? ESD is a very misunderstood phenomenon leading to this mythology about it among PC enthusiasts. In manufacturing we’re making thousands of boards at a time so the chances of damage is greater. For every batch of boards there will be a percentage of them that have defects. We want to make this percentage as small as possible so one of the things we do is use ESD protocol. We use ESD protocol because it has been proven at the microscopic level that ESD can damage small chips. Every component has an ESD rating of some kind and some are more sensitive than others.

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-haven@reddit

The mythology of it likely just came from older hardware simply have no to less robust protections. ESD worries have been a thing far as I can remember since early 2000's. Then for how rare and spread about between builds the vast majority of people build a computer that hearing something like that years ago just sticks even if it's quite outdated/very minimalized.

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Eagle0913@reddit

As a fellow EE, I’d add this too: just because the risk of an immediate, catastrophic ESD event is low doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. There’s also latent ESD damage, where you weaken something like a gate oxide without noticing(unless you had an electron microscope), and it can fail prematurely a couple of years down the line.

ESD safety is really important if you value the electronics you work on. Why not eliminate all risk if its an easy and relatively cheap thing to do?

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alonjit@reddit

Like others said, ESD risk is minimal.But, installing the GPU on the MB before installing it in the case is just asking for trouble. I just install the cpu, and nowadays the M2s, before installing it in the case. CPU fan, RAM and GPU go in after.

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CharrMast_@reddit

i built my pc on carpet with no ESD protection. I've been some manner of electronics technician for the last 7 years. ESD is a risk yes, but modern electronics have circuits built in for overvolt scenarios. that being said you can use the case as a means to ground yourself. you don't need to be earth grounded. The case is the common ground for the entire system once it's built. paper, plastic, tape, and certain fabrics like carpet are prime static generators so if you're moving around on the carpet, you have to flip through a manual, or you have to deal with plastic film just give the case a quick touch afterwards (preferably somewhere on the case that isn't painted) and you're good to go. ESD is real and it is something to consider, but the odds of you completely frying modern electronics via ESD are pretty small

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TheMinisterOChlorine@reddit

I imagine it's higher risk in countries with carpeted floor, UK, US etc, I have build maybe 15 pcs for 14 or so years without an ESD bracelet on my desk usually with zero issue, just touch the case metal if you get paranoid but I consider that more a destress ritual at this point or a goodluck one maybe as it has had zero effect for me.

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PPVISION@reddit

yes but it only needs to happen once

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OscarEverdark@reddit

Kinda depends where you live.

While living in the south, ESD is essentially non-existent due to humidity.

When I lived in the northeast, I felt it was a true risk. YMMV.

How often do you shock door handles? If the answer is ever, you should atleast ground yourself on the case prior to "doing surgery"

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kami77@reddit

Exaggerated. I've been building/upgrading my own PCs for 25+ years, and building a few for others along the way, and I never took any precautions beyond making sure I was not obviously full of static by tapping something that would normally give me a shock if I was. Maybe if I lived in a dry climate I'd feel differently. I can't remember the last time I had a static shock tbh.

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Jpotter145@reddit

If you tend to experience ESD when touching light switches or when you "ground" yourself on an object get a shock, it's probably in your interest to be very careful or use said wrist strap just in case.

If you never experience ESD in the build room, then you shouldn't need to worry. I've never use one myself, but I don't shock anything in my house because we have a whole house humidifier.

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OldJellyBones@reddit

You'd have to try incredibly hard to actually cause ESD damage, components have been made to resist it for ages now, like 20 years ago it'd be slightly more of a problem.

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Uncle-Osteus@reddit

Way back, I was taught to discharge static electricity by touching a metal part of the case before touching the electronics

Never lost anything to static discharge that way

ESD wristbands are unnecessary unless you’re working in an electronics lab and even then they’re often only used situationally

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drmedicineman@reddit

I think so. I've never used an ESD bracelet. I just put the PC on a few neoprene mats to protect it and touch the case before working on anything sensitive. Maybe don't rub your feet on the carpet too much while working too. Also, I live in Colorado where walking across the room can cause ESD touching a light switch, but have built multiple PCs and done plenty of upgrades with no issues. Be slightly careful and you should be fine

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Hyperfyre@reddit

Hardware is a lot more resilient these days than it was when this advice started a few decades ago, but it's still always good to be cautious.

It takes zero effort to quickly tap a radiator or something metal nearby to make sure there's no static actively built up on you before you start working on anything.

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coyote_den@reddit

Never ESD fried a component building a PC.

But… one time I reached for the metal power button on the case of a fully built rig, got a big spark from my finger, PC immediately powered off. Totally dead mobo from that zap, CPU and all other parts were fine once transplanted.

So it can happen.

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TheDutchTexan@reddit

Just as long as you don’t build it standing on carpet when the humidity is low while wearing a knit sweater you’ll be fine.

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R3D_T1G3R@reddit

Not really no.

Nobody I know says that it is very likely to cause any damage, and while it is not super likely to cause any damage, it's easily avoidable and it should be avoided.

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BillyBlaze314@reddit

ESD has two failure modes: total and partial.

The first is easy to measure. Has a part failed? No? Then it's not a total failure.

Partial is the insidious one. What this means is that a part will still function normally, but at a much reduced lifespan. Where before you might get 10 years out of a component, you may now get 10 months. Or less. Or more. Who knows?

Testing for this is really fucking hard and usually involves some form of destructive testing anyway. Most of the time it looks like no failure at all.

So that's why the advice is, don't risk it. Just wear the wrist strap and prevent the zaps from occurring.

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Obi_Uno@reddit

My thought exactly. I’ve had the same $5 ESD wristband for over 20 years. It is a tiny cost and a no-brainer for is mitigation, IMO.

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Untinted@reddit

Depends. It's all about chance... Just ask yourself: "if ESD is the reason this device gets destroyed, am I happy to buy a new one?"

If the answer is 'hell no', then be aware of ESD and either wear a strap or regularly discharge yourself.

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Any_Fill_4124@reddit

I never use ESD strap. I’ve fried an older GPU doing this so probably I should start using one but I never have one handy.

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FromSwedenWithHate@reddit

ESD was probably a bigger problem a long time ago, the last component I broke to ESD was a GeForce4 Ti 4200 64MB and I did it by just being stupid, allowing a fuzzball cat to be in the room. It's much harder to break modern components this way, they've been manufactured differently to protect against ESD.. The chance to kill something with ESD isn't 0% though, so kicking the cat out of the room is still a good idea.. I mean not physically kicking obviously, just feed the cat in another room meanwhile you build if you have a cat so to say.

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HayesBrewery@reddit

I've always put it on the box. I always yet to touch a grounded metal piece first. But honestly I've forgotten before and have not had issues. Just don't scrub your feet on the carpet or play with balloons while you're doing this stuff. 😂

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LineHumble6250@reddit

I’ve built a dozen pcs since the late 90s. Never used a wrist strap. Never had static damage anything. Do what you’re comfortable with.

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CXDFlames@reddit

Linus did a video with electroboom where they used one of his death trap electrozappers to deliberately shock things a thousand times harder than a normal static shock would to see how hard they had to try to damage anything.

Long story short on any modern component it's incredibly unlikely to damage anything by accident this way.

Putting it on cardboard and trying to ground by touching something else is plenty

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r_z_n@reddit

I’ve never worn a wrist strap and I’ve built PCs on cardboard before with zero issues. Unless you’re building a PC on shag carpeting or something it’s really unlikely to be an issue. Just discharge any potential static by touching something metal and grounded before hand and use common sense.

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Razathorn@reddit

As others have said, a huge shock can instantly damage things, but the real risk is the reduction in life / early failure of something that has been exposed to ESD. In general, yes it is not an issue. I worked in a service center where we had wrist straps that attached to ground and at home I just put my power supply in, flip the switch off, and then liberally touch the case while building or another grounded surface. Just get in the habit. Always ground yourself before touching stuff. Easy.

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c0rruptioN@reddit

How is this safe? Does reddit exaggerate the risk, or are these youtubers being careless?

Unless you have a carpetted floor and drag your feet everywhere, I wouldn't worry about ESD. Been building PCs casually for almost 20 years and it's never been an issue. 100% exaggerated risk IMO.

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dudreddit@reddit

ESD is over rated ... until a PC compnent fails, and you can't figure out why ...

Occasionally ground yourself to the PC case OR buy a cheap ground strap to keep yourself grounded 100% of the time.

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Pia8988@reddit

Absolutely over exaggerated here

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Yuzumi@reddit

I usually just make sure I touch something metal every so often when working with hardware, usually the case. I've not had any issues.

Common PC parts aren't really that sensitive to shock as they use to be and even for the damage that can occur, either due to making faults worse or whatever, you have to shock specific parts in specific locations repeatedly to have a chance at damaging anything.

Some things are going to be more sensitive than others and it really depends on a lot of factors, including path to ground and how big the charge difference between you and the component is. If there is no path to ground via the component you are touching you are less likely to put enough joules through it for the small risk of damage it could have.

And if you are working in a case, grounded or not, the case itself is going to have way more "pull" on any charge you have and redirect most if not all of a discharge into itself, but especially if it is grounded.

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Secret_Time5860@reddit

My homie built his pc on his bed on carpeted floors. I built my PC shirtless dripping sweat in a 90 degree apartment.

ESD is a myth at this point

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AnnieBruce@reddit

It is a real risk, though also exaggerated in many sources. Like if you're a busy repair tech for years and don't take ESD precautions there's a decent chance you'll kill something at some point (keep in mind as a repair tech you're also dealing with a lot of hardware that is near death already) but if you're an enthusiast building your own PCs the odds are extremely small.

I've used an ESD strap in professional contexts but never hobby. Never had an issue.

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Raunien@reddit

I touch something grounded before I start working and don't wear socks to avoid generating a charge. Usually put the components on top of their own antistatic bag or cardboard box. Never had any issue.

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Beedlam@reddit

No it's not over stated. Ground yourself even just temporarily before working on electronics.. and for the love of god do not use a normal household vacuum cleaner on your pc.

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PraxicalExperience@reddit

ESD really isn't much of an issue with modern hardware -- it used to be much more of a thing. Just ground yourself on something that's grounded, and unless you're walking around in low humidity on a thick carpet in socks, you're fine.

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SupposablyAtTheZoo@reddit

100%, it's actually difficult to kill pc parts with static:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXkgbmr3dRA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SjOv_szzVM

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

Last time I built one I did it on a wooden table with my bare feet on the floor

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BZJGTO@reddit

Reddit exaggerates the risk of almost everything.

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skyfishgoo@reddit

ESD is real and can damage chips is not properly mitigated.

non ESD work surfaces (mats, cardboard, wood, etc) are essential.

grounding becomes more important if you are working in a room with carpet, or are wearing synthetic clothing.

but if you simply develop the habit if always touching the case before touching any electronic component, then you are going to be safe 99.9% of the time.

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forgotmapasswrd86@reddit

Yes

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Wooden-Agent2669@reddit

Yes it is exaggerated
The risk of overspinning fans is also exaggerated

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Validd__@reddit

Most of these Youtubers build so many to the point where they just don’t even care anymore

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sixnb@reddit

Have never worried about in over various builds. Did several builds sitting on a carpet floor. There is a small risk with modern components, but it is often over exaggerated on Reddit, yes.

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Android8675@reddit

Was is pretty easy thing to do. Get a wrist strap that plugs into your home outlet ground plug. Also test to make sure the outlet is in fact grounded. Done.

I work at an esd plant handling pcbs for gas measurement. Seen the failures enough to know it’s worth it.

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Cvxcvgg@reddit

Yes, the risk is highly exaggerated. However, it can happen, so why not do what you can? Don’t stand on a shag carpet, and just touch something metal before starting. Good enough.

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celestefleurs@reddit

pretty sure linus tech tips has a video about this!

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thecaramelbandit@reddit

Yes. I've never personally had a part get damaged nor heard of one getting damaged first hand. And I've been doing this for 30 years.

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timfountain4444@reddit

One comment - ESD can not only kill a device outright, but can also cause latent damage that degrades the life of a device. You'd never know it, but that latent damage can cause something that was working to just stop working for no apparent reason... Latent damage is a real risk.

The Hidden Threat: Understanding Latent ESD Damage in PCB Assembly

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Akumetsu33@reddit

Your link is about during factory production and the exposed parts, not the end product which is different and is much more resistant to ESD.

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timfountain4444@reddit

Do you actually know anything about electronics? There are lots of exposed components on a motherboard.... And there's no difference whatsoever between a component/bare die and the same component on a board. None....

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Akumetsu33@reddit

In PCB manufacturing, particularly during SMT processes, sensitive components like integrated circuits (ICs), capacitors, and transistors are at risk. A small ESD event—sometimes as low as 100 volts—can create micro-cracks in a component’s oxide layer or degrade its internal junctions.

From the same link: Surface mount technology (SMT) assembly involves handling tiny, highly sensitive components that are prone to ESD damage.

Another one: During SMT assembly, even a minor ESD event can create latent damage.

There are many more examples but I'm not going to point them out here.

Did you even read your link? Your link is all about in factory production. If you want to be correct, post the proper link.

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timfountain4444@reddit

I see. Got it.

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VoiceOfRealson@reddit

ESD is a very real thread and can definitely ruin stuff.

However

Discharge can be triggered in a safe way before assembly.

So make sure to touch the exposed "Ground" areas of your boards before you touch anything else. Maybe even touch "Ground" on both the parts you want to assemble at the same time, so your body can even out the potential difference between them before you plug them together.

When that is said, a lot of ESD damage is not violently destructive, but more like a gradual deterioration of the performance of a component. Degraded performance will not be obvious right away, but can show up over time, so it is better to be safe than sorry.

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IWillAssFuckYou@reddit

Yes, it is. There are YouTubers out there that have demosntrated this. One living in Southern California and he tried to build up as much ESD as possible and start touching components while the PC was ON. Nothing happened.

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qtx@reddit

Linus and ElectroBOOM did a few videos about this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXkgbmr3dRA&pp=0gcJCdoKAYcqIYzv

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ugJ1BJx0HE

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LeoLaDawg@reddit

I'd only be worried about it in low humidity winter days.

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Meatslinger@reddit

I've built seven PCs since 2012 - three for myself, four for family and friends - and worked in countless hundreds of laptops at work to do drive swaps and RAM installs since around the same year. I have never once worn an ESD strap, and not one of them has died.

It is of course a "only takes once" sorta thing, but even then it's very difficult to actually damage a device unless you're being deliberately careless like building on a carpet wearing a wool sweater and setting your parts on the rug to give them a good rub on the fibers before assembling.

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Vandalarius@reddit

Anecdotally, I've only ever built 2 PCs from scratch, but I never worried about it and it has never caused any issue.

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Riffler@reddit

It's like a seat belt, 99% of the time, it turns out you didn't need it, but that one time you needed it, you're really going to wish you'd put it on.

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LenDear@reddit

Well, considering I've never smitten a computer in my life and I always go through my arguably ritualistic and sacrificial setup to mitigate and prevent electro static damage and discharge that takes 30 minutes to set up and 20 minutes to disassemble and pack up

I would say maybe a little

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RabidTurtl@reddit

It has always been overblown, and modern parts are even less likely to be affected by electrostatic discharge. I've never used a wrist/ankle strap to ground myself in my life, too fucking annoying.

That's not to say it can't happen and cause an issue, its just highly unlikely.

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TDYDave2@reddit

In many cases the Electo-static damage is not absolute.
The device/circuit board will still work but have stability issues.
Sometimes people will blame the software/OS because it only happens when a particular piece of software code tries to use the damaged cell. etc.

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wheresbicki@reddit

ESD can still be an issue, but it's much less of an issue than in the past.

CE & UL immunity requirements have a section on ESD, so many products are designed to handle certain levels of ESD.

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ThatLunchBox@reddit

Yup

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nivlark@reddit

Yes, significantly so. It's the stereotypical source of massive anxiety for first-time builders that experienced ones don't even give a second thought.

Maybe 20+ years ago, components were more susceptible and building a PC was more hands-on so there was a higher risk, but nowadays it is really a non issue. Just be sensible and don't shuffle around on carpet before stroking the exposed contacts of your components.

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Bra-Starfish@reddit

The risk exist, its very unlikely a static shock will cause damage to your system, watch the linus and Electro boom collab, but it takes 2 seconds to touch a grounded piece of metal.

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twinpop@reddit

Yeah I always just touch the chassis between every component. If it happened to be one of the 5-10 days of the year where doorknobs are shocking me I’d wear the wrist strap though, momma didn’t raise no dummy.

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Rebel-Yellow@reddit

Is it a huge risk? Unless you’re going out of the way to build up static or your natural environment is conducive to generating it- no. I have a bracelet because if I’m building a 2k+ machine 12$ or whatever it may be for that little extra protection is a no brainer, I also just still have it from my first build which I was so nervous about I definitely over prepared.

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Few_Fall_4374@reddit

I've never grounded myself with a strap. Did a good 10 to 15 builds over 15+ years. Whenever in doubt I shortly ground myself by touching something like a radiator.

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Peepmus@reddit

I used to be super-careful when I first started building PCs, about 30 years ago. I don't take any precautions whatsoever anymore, and I haven't had any issues. Not that I rub my RAM on the carpet or anything, but I just build on the table top.

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postsshortcomments@reddit

Pretty darn uncommon, but you're making an extremely rare dice roll every time. Aside from a potential lab test in various conditions, no one really knows what the probability is as there are so many variables like if someone is wearing socks and humidity.

For what its worth, I wouldn't advice using a fuzzy blanket that's directly out of the dryer in the midst of winter in a house without a humidifier while wearing your favorite pair of wool stockings to avoid scratching the countertops, especially after doing a demonstration to a child showing them how a rubber balloon can make their hair stand on end.

You can probably get away with many die rolls of building it on carpeting while wearing socks, but when you're dealing with $1500-$2500 in equipment why take the risk if you don't have to?

I usually do it barefoot and try to touch the case here and there to be safe, but it's almost certainly unnecessary. If I'm moving parts across the house on carpet, I usually try to put them in an anti-static bag or a cardboard box.

Vacuuming the case is the big no-no. That's probably the one you have to be really careful about that I do see from time-to-time. Clean it with blown air (either a bottle of or a special blower which is probably worth investing in).

I wouldn't go as far as owning an anti-static wristband, personally. If you remember to touch the case to ground, you remember. If you don't, you don't. You'll most likely be fine either way, but a 1 second precaution never hurts and doesn't cost money, either.

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nesnalica@reddit

it depends on the view.

exaggerated? no

try to see it from this view: while the chance is usually very low it is never 0. the chances are higher depending on the environment.

now is this chance low enough for you to consider not spending like 3-5bucks on a strap and potentially fry your 2000usd graphicscard?

when building it is generally alright as long as you follow the ESD rules and ground yourself. that is if u take the risk yourself.

if youre building for someone else or pc assembly as a business I would definitely spend the 5 bucks or even 100 bucks for a ghetto ESD safe working station.

and lastly in the very big industry like making ram chips at micron. ESD safety isnt just optional. it is mandatory.

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