Building: Safety? (for my hardware that is)

[rox1co]

what are some things i should take account when putting a computer together?

to prevent static from frying my hardware (or anything else that could screw it up)

what kind of surface should i put my computer together on, and should i be wearing special gloves or something?

 

[darksparkz]

The only thing to take in account for is to screw things in slowly and not too tight first, then tighten everything at the end. Make sure you don't change or mod anything on the new computer for the first month or so, because once you mod or change heatsinks, the warrantys are void. Also don't overclock for the first month either, just run prime95 and superPI and other stress programs to hunt for errors incase you have to use the warranties.

You have to "ground" yourself, that more or less means removing all static eletricity as to not shock your system components. They sell grounding gloves or mats to work on. Once you open the box of a motherboard, it usually has instructions on how to ground yourself to be safe.

 

[TalRW]

For grounding yourself basically just touch the metal case on your PSU. It's similar to touching a door handle and getting zapped, you don't want to do that to your components and by doing that you get rid of any charge you have. Ultimatly you could do your work on one of those special mats they sell but thats kinda a waste of money. I do mine on wood/plastic/cardboard because none of that is conductive at all. Also just for safe measure put your motherboards anti-static bag underneath it (just to be safe). Just take the appropriate steps and you should be fine.

Also yeah don't screw stuff in too tightly and use the right screwdriver, you don't want to strip heads and then not be able to get a screw out.

 

[mort]

Almost any surface will do indeed. If put together quite some systems and just touch the case or centralheating thingy to get grounded. Advice is get a screwdriver with magnetic head so screws stay on, everything is so much easier then . Touch cards on the edges and never ever touch memory sticks on the chips itself. Last tip, don't assemble a pc on a hot day!

 

[Sshadow]

And don't ever ever wear WCT pants, a friend of mine did (it was hilarious). And he fried his board and cpu in the process. Had to wait 3 weeks on the RMA. Now he sits naked (almost) plus he touch the case and the heatradiator a few times before he mounts all parts.

Usually a nice woodpiece is enough to loose static, and touching the case is another one.

//Christian

 

[MaTT^]

The name of the product I can't remember, but what it does is clip on to your clothes, and helps prevent static electricity. Those are unneccesary and you'll do fine if you follow the directions to what previous posts say!

-MaTT

 

[nealric]

you are thinking of an anti static wristrap- pretty useless imo.

Just ground yourself before working on it and you will be fine- ive certainly never static fried anything.

 

[Superjed]

you are thinking of an anti static wristrap- pretty useless imo.

Hey, I use one of those!!!!! I do just because its easy and I feel cool wearing it

 

[Scott9027]

Anti-static wristbands are not worth it unless you get them for free.

I have never damaged a product with static electricity, even when working on a carpet.

Always touch the inside of the case (to ground yourself) before touching other components.

As long as you are relatively careful, and use common sense, you will be fine.

 

[Captain Slug]

You may find it easier to bench-test the hardware outside of the case with all the hardware laid out on a table and away from a desk. Make sure everything is working and set correctly, then test it with software. When you have a configuration you are confident is working perfectly THEN move everything into the case.

It saves alot of time and hassle to do it this way and make cable management less stressful sine you will (hopefully) only have to do it once.

Touching the power supply casing is all you need to do to ground yourself.

 

[Amarkarian]

sry but i sort of feel sorry for you if you feel cool for wearing a anti static wristband, lol

 

[Yuriman]

The only thing to take in account for is to screw things in slowly and not too tight first, then tighten everything at the end. Make sure you don't change or mod anything on the new computer for the first month or so, because once you mod or change heatsinks, the warrantys are void. Also don't overclock for the first month either, just run prime95 and superPI and other stress programs to hunt for errors incase you have to use the warranties.

Summed into one sentence, make sure your hardware isn't broken before you purge your waranty.

 

[Ascii2]

what kind of surface should i put my computer together on...?

A clean, flat surface; preferebly level surface and off the carpet.

 

[Xris]

building pc's at dell, we stood on grounded anti static mats, and built on grounded antistatic mats. We wore wrist straps to ground ourselves and had anti-static lotion.

i work there between college semesters.

 

[threeme2189]

antistatic lotion? weird.....
i have never grounded myself and never fried somethin because of static charge. but take precautions nonetheless

 

[Archer36]

building pc's at dell, we stood on grounded anti static mats, and built on grounded antistatic mats. We wore wrist straps to ground ourselves and had anti-static lotion.

i work there between college semesters.

You don't have to wear the white bunny suits? I have never fried anything with ESD working on both carpet and concrete.

But at the local State College they have this crazy basketball court made out of some weird materail. Let me tell you, when you play on that stuff and go to get a drink from the fountain, you put your finger like 3 inches from the foutain and then you will see a large blue spark from you hand to the fountain. I would love to bring an old video card or somthing there and just shock it.

 

[Dell_Axim]

When I built my Athlon 64 PC, I just held onto the case as I work. That's how I've been doing it for years.
If I happened to be really paranoid, I would first strip down. It'd be really strange to see a naked chick working on a PC, though!

 

[techun]

...what the heck?
did a fantasy break into your post..

 

[Dell_Axim]

...what the heck?
did a fantasy break into your post..

You didn't get the joke, did you?
But I'm not paranoid enough to go that far...

 

[illskills719]

just dont stand on a rug dont wear socks or cotton or anything thats a conductor of electricity....just make sure to ground urself by touching the comp case and u should be safe....when i build it i usually work in my basement which is a tiled floor on a wooden table