"He found this red switch and after switching that it worked..."

Grunty

http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/12/135509124606522591/#c135509124607347822

OP's post;

"Titan x dropped on carpet [solved]

So my friend bought this really expensive graphics card called the Titan x but apparently it doesn't work I asked him if he did anything to it he said that he had dropped it but it wasn't from a high distance and it was carpet I told him that might of had something to do with it but he didn't believe me do you guys think he just installed it incorrectly or did the drop have anything to do with it."

 Three pages later:

"yes it looked quite extreme for me so that is why I didn't offer to help him build it plus he said he was an expert which I kind of wish I didn't believe."

"ok problem fixed he took the titan x out of the pc and after looking around he found this red switch and after switching that it worked."

"Guys he is really mad now... his pc stopped working again he said he heard some sort of popping noise...  he says its my fault for texting him and distracting him."

Aelious

That's what happens when you mess with the omniswitch. You never mess with the omniswitch.

cheyane

I don't know how many times I kept touching the body of the PC when I first changed a video card . I was so afraid I would fry it with static and this guy built it without grounding himself on a carpet floor.

Right now I have this Alienware which I had asked for help with before I bought it with a Geforce 770 GTX which I am thinking of upgrading to a Geforce 1070 GTX. I have been checking every where for the size of the card afraid it will not fit my Alienware Aurora R4 and guess what most of the cards won't fit because there is a plastic cover in front of the card that needs to be taken into consideration. The only card that fits is a Asus Turbo or the founder's one.

When I opened the computer to measure the present card and how far out I can go before it hits something I was touching the case repeatedly or just placing one hand on the body of the PC what is not grounding but bonding rather which is what the wrist strap does. True you do not need it but to build a whole PC you should use some form of bonding or grounding. All that money so sad .

I mean how could he have spent so much without doing some research it's insanity.

stayontarget

Titan X must be the new Ferrari.

Dakeru

cheyane said:

I don't know how many times I kept touching the body of the PC when I first changed a video card . I was so afraid I would fry it with static and this guy built it without grounding himself on a carpet floor.

I've built several pcs and the threat of a static charge feels more like an urban myth.


Either way after reading the thread I felt greatly reminded of a local radio prank show where the guy will make one weird decision after another to shock and amuse the people being pranked.

So I will assume this is just light hearted amusing trolling meant to entertain people.

cheyane

Dakeru said:

cheyane said:

I don't know how many times I kept touching the body of the PC when I first changed a video card . I was so afraid I would fry it with static and this guy built it without grounding himself on a carpet floor.

I've built several pcs and the threat of a static charge feels more like an urban myth.


Either way after reading the thread I felt greatly reminded of a local radio prank show where the guy will make one weird decision after another to shock and amuse the people being pranked.

So I will assume this is just light hearted amusing trolling meant to entertain people.

I guess you could be right it does sound a bit far fetched come to think of it.

Katilla

is he talking about the voltage switch on the back of the power supply?

Scorchien

cheyane said:

Dakeru said:

cheyane said:

I don't know how many times I kept touching the body of the PC when I first changed a video card . I was so afraid I would fry it with static and this guy built it without grounding himself on a carpet floor.

I've built several pcs and the threat of a static charge feels more like an urban myth.


Either way after reading the thread I felt greatly reminded of a local radio prank show where the guy will make one weird decision after another to shock and amuse the people being pranked.

So I will assume this is just light hearted amusing trolling meant to entertain people.

I guess you could be right it does sound a bit far fetched come to think of it.

i dont buld pcs , have never even opened a case , But ill tell you this , Last year we moved into a new home , had all new carpet put in .. (i think was the cause ,not sure) but anyway was sitting downstairs for abit , went upstairs sat down and my finger dint even actually touch the Tower but the biggest static charge i ever felt came off my finger to the Tower, it actually hurt ... PC crashed , and had to take to the guys that built it for me to get it up and running ... So not such a myth .. i suppose

cheyane

Scorchien said:

cheyane said:

Dakeru said:

cheyane said:

I don't know how many times I kept touching the body of the PC when I first changed a video card . I was so afraid I would fry it with static and this guy built it without grounding himself on a carpet floor.

I've built several pcs and the threat of a static charge feels more like an urban myth.


Either way after reading the thread I felt greatly reminded of a local radio prank show where the guy will make one weird decision after another to shock and amuse the people being pranked.

So I will assume this is just light hearted amusing trolling meant to entertain people.

I guess you could be right it does sound a bit far fetched come to think of it.

i dont buld pcs , have never even opened a case , But ill tell you this , Last year we moved into a new home , had all new carpet put in .. (i think was the cause ,not sure) but anyway was sitting downstairs for abit , went upstairs sat down and my finger dint even actually touch the Tower but the biggest static charge i ever felt came off my finger to the Tower, it actually hurt ... PC crashed , and had to take to the guys that built it for me to get it up and running ... So not such a myth .. i suppose

OMG don't scare me no I am going to buy the 1070 GTX as soon as the price drops and I will be putting it in my PC I have a wrist strap this time.  I am actually scared I might screw up and waste the money I spent on the card. The 770 GTX needs an upgrade badly for the newer games.

filmoret

cheyane said:

Dakeru said:

cheyane said:

I don't know how many times I kept touching the body of the PC when I first changed a video card . I was so afraid I would fry it with static and this guy built it without grounding himself on a carpet floor.

I've built several pcs and the threat of a static charge feels more like an urban myth.


Either way after reading the thread I felt greatly reminded of a local radio prank show where the guy will make one weird decision after another to shock and amuse the people being pranked.

So I will assume this is just light hearted amusing trolling meant to entertain people.

I guess you could be right it does sound a bit far fetched come to think of it.

I think it depends on the climate honestly.  I have always just opened a pc and did whatever without consideration for static myself.  Now when I lived up North in a very cold climate the air is full of static electricity.  Every time you touch a door knob or the car you get shocked.  I would tend to believe you would need something in a climate like that for safety reasons.

Bloodaxes

cheyane said:

Scorchien said:

cheyane said:

Dakeru said:

cheyane said:

I don't know how many times I kept touching the body of the PC when I first changed a video card . I was so afraid I would fry it with static and this guy built it without grounding himself on a carpet floor.

I've built several pcs and the threat of a static charge feels more like an urban myth.


Either way after reading the thread I felt greatly reminded of a local radio prank show where the guy will make one weird decision after another to shock and amuse the people being pranked.

So I will assume this is just light hearted amusing trolling meant to entertain people.

I guess you could be right it does sound a bit far fetched come to think of it.

i dont buld pcs , have never even opened a case , But ill tell you this , Last year we moved into a new home , had all new carpet put in .. (i think was the cause ,not sure) but anyway was sitting downstairs for abit , went upstairs sat down and my finger dint even actually touch the Tower but the biggest static charge i ever felt came off my finger to the Tower, it actually hurt ... PC crashed , and had to take to the guys that built it for me to get it up and running ... So not such a myth .. i suppose

OMG don't scare me no I am going to buy the 1070 GTX as soon as the price drops and I will be putting it in my PC I have a wrist strap this time.  I am actually scared I might screw up and waste the money I spent on the card. The 770 GTX needs an upgrade badly for the newer games.

Don't worry.

A graphic card is not that complicated to replace. Take your tower into an open room with no risk of static, place it flat so you don't risk hitting other parts, unplug the old gpu, insert the new gpu, and plug the wires in.

Done (Well then there's drivers but I'm sure you know about that).

kitarad

cheyane said:

Dakeru said:

cheyane said:

I don't know how many times I kept touching the body of the PC when I first changed a video card . I was so afraid I would fry it with static and this guy built it without grounding himself on a carpet floor.

I've built several pcs and the threat of a static charge feels more like an urban myth.


Either way after reading the thread I felt greatly reminded of a local radio prank show where the guy will make one weird decision after another to shock and amuse the people being pranked.

So I will assume this is just light hearted amusing trolling meant to entertain people.

I guess you could be right it does sound a bit far fetched come to think of it.

I think it is more the combination of events. The dropping of the card, the carpet,the static and not grounding himself while working on the carpet. The lack of knowledge yet spending so much it does not sound bad or unbelievable but taken together it sounds manufactured if you ask me.

Static is definitely a very real problem but this story does sound suspect if everything is taken into account.

Ridelynn

Red switch. Hmm.

I don't know that static had much to do with this one. I have seen static kill stuff before, it can happen, but it's pretty rare unless your in something a very dry environment on shag carpet. The fall could have very well been enough - if it hit the heatsink/shroud just right it could have easily damaged something mounted on the PCB.

A lot of higher end AMD cards do have a switch on them, because they have dual BIOS (so  you can adjust default/overclocks in the firmware), I wasn't aware of any nVidia that did this. But it's possible.

That being said, unless the guy was juggling it between PCs or something, it sounds like he's installing a new card in his computer. If that's tthe case it's definitely under warranty and probably still in the return window. Just sent it back in, claim DOA (good chance it really is, unless he had it working before in a different computer to prove otherwise), and just like baby shampoo - no more tears.

MadFrenchie

Yea I've changed parts out on my PC as well as my nephew's while standing on carpet with no damage done to the parts.  In my experience, the static is one of those things that's possible, but isn't a given and can easily be avoided by simply and quickly touching metal once to discharge any built up static electricity before changing out hardware (and again, I might be mistaken, but as far as I know your body wouldn't normally retain enough static electricity to damage the components unless you generated it directly before handling your hardware).

Actually, I examined my hardware for dust build-up ahead of installing a new GPU I bought just the other day in my office (carpeted with tall piles), including reseating the GPU itself and about the only precaution I took was handling the case while I removed the side panel.  PC still works fine, GPU has no issues.

My new 970 is sitting in its box awaiting me to get home tomorrow to put it in, so I wasn't too worried about the 760 Ti I have in there now when I looked over my hardware ahead of installing the new GPU.

Grunty

Oh, there's more in that thread than just what I quoted.  Like finding out the inside of the case was wet. It was a new system...

Octagon7711

I have a stack of hard drives I've saved over the years, some with Windows 5.1 still installed on them.  Just stacked on top of each other and have never had them fail.  I'm mindful of static shocks, especially during the winter but have never had it effect a pc while upgrading. 

MadFrenchie

Grunty said:

Oh, there's more in that thread than just what I quoted.  Like finding out the inside of the case was wet. It was a new system...

Oh wow.  Methinks this guy is trolling somewhat.  Even my 80 year old grandparents know that electronics shouldn't mix with moisture.

Dagon13

I know a guy that once opened his case and started snipping wires to troubleshoot some mundane issue.  Sometimes, these people are real.

Ridelynn

Having a unit plugged in will ensure it's grounded.

It will also ensure it's got power, which is less than good. There are safer ways to ground than leaving the electrical cord plugged into an outlet.

Scorchien

SedrynTyros said:

Scorchien said:

cheyane said:

Dakeru said:

cheyane said:

I don't know how many times I kept touching the body of the PC when I first changed a video card . I was so afraid I would fry it with static and this guy built it without grounding himself on a carpet floor.

I've built several pcs and the threat of a static charge feels more like an urban myth.


Either way after reading the thread I felt greatly reminded of a local radio prank show where the guy will make one weird decision after another to shock and amuse the people being pranked.

So I will assume this is just light hearted amusing trolling meant to entertain people.

I guess you could be right it does sound a bit far fetched come to think of it.

i dont buld pcs , have never even opened a case , But ill tell you this , Last year we moved into a new home , had all new carpet put in .. (i think was the cause ,not sure) but anyway was sitting downstairs for abit , went upstairs sat down and my finger dint even actually touch the Tower but the biggest static charge i ever felt came off my finger to the Tower, it actually hurt ... PC crashed , and had to take to the guys that built it for me to get it up and running ... So not such a myth .. i suppose

Interesting ... was it plugged into an outlet?  When properly grounded, static should discharge towards the ground.

Static discharge is definitely not an urban myth.  I did a lot of hardware work at my last job and can confidently say that you can fry electronics if you're not properly grounded.

Yea it was plugged in , was really crazy , as the first few days in the house was getting static alot , was funny i would touch my kid arm passin by and even get strong static , or any doorknob , I could call the guys that  build my pcs and find out what they fixed at the time , they keep a pretty good file (ill do that this week ).. But like i said it was the strongest static i had ever felt , it actually hurt the end of my finger