How static electricity can kill your gaming PC

Many PC gamers have heard stories about system builders damaging their hardware by not taking precautions against static electricity.

ESD (electrostatic discharge) can be a real danger to your PC components, and should be considered at all times when working on a computer.

While it may be difficult to build up a static charge strong enough to damage components, rather be safe and take the necessary precautions in order to avoid the possibility of irreversible damage.

Dangers

The probability of static electricity building up is affected by humidity, floor material and clothing.

If your environment or clothing results in common static shocks when interacting with metal objects, you should make sure to take the necessary precautions against accidentally killing one of your PC components.

The following video outlines the danger of a static shock and its effect on PC components:

Precautions

You can take a number of easily-implemented precautions when handling PC components which will negate the chance of ESD.

Grounding

The easiest method would be to maintain contact with the metal chassis of the computer when working on it, negating any difference in electrical charge which could cause a static shock.

Constant contact is not totally necessary but it is always a good idea to touch the metal chassis before touching any components mounted inside.

Unless you’re working in an environment with a lot of static build-up, this option should be sufficient for most PC builders.

Anti-static Wristband

If you are really worried about the possibility of electro-static discharge, an anti-static wristband will essentially eliminate the possibility of shocking your components.

Although being tethered by a wrist strap can be a bit of a nuisance, you will eliminate any chance of delivering a static shock to your components.

Anti-static wrist straps can be purchased from various local computer stores for around R149.