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Never ever do this.

Melting_Point
Level 10
I was searching some of the threads here last night to see if anyone had solved the issue of RIVE motherboards not booting after being powered down. (I did end up finding that removing the CMOS battery for 30 mins seems to have solved the issue for now.) I noticed some very dangerous advice being given in one of the thread, and just thought I'd point it out and why it was dangerous.

The advice was to place the MB in the box it came in, and power it up. The boxes these MBs are supplied in are conductive, which is why they protect the board from ESD damage. I'm sure I don't need to explain why it's not a good idea to power up a MB while it's sitting on a conductive surface, any more than I need to explain why it's a bad idea to power a MB up while it's submerged in water.

Please, don't power your board up in the box it came in, and if you're guilty of advising others to do so in the past, stop giving out bad advice.

PS, the post I'm referring to came from a Super-Mod, I'd have thought they'd know better.
Motherboard: RIVE (3602 bios)
CPU: Intel 3930K @4646MHz
OS Drive: 2 X Samsung 840 PRO (Raid 0)
Storage Drive: 2 X 1.5TB WD Caviar Black RAID 0, 2 X 3TB WD Caviar Red, Kingston V100 256GB SSD
Memory: 64GB G.SKILL Ripjaws Z (F3-12800CL10Q2-64GBZL)
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX580 @795MHz - 1536MB GDDR5
PSU: OCZ ZX1250
Cooling: Phantek PH-TC14PE
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64. (EUFI)
493 Views
59 REPLIES 59

EnderDragoon
Level 7
3 Inches apart through 2 layers of cardboard (4 total coatings). 150-180k ohms. I've started well over 30 Maximus boards on the back of these boxes fine.

Retired
Not applicable
Uhh, you poked holes in your box!!!!

Warranty void now?

EnderDragoon
Level 7
Meh, I got a few spares.

Retired
Not applicable
ahh, thats cool.....

always good to have spare boards

PuffY
Level 7
I have used every motherboard box for initial set up for every build I have ever done, never had any issues at all.

Retired
Not applicable
i think the thread topic is busted...

or??

Arne_Saknussemm
Level 40
I just stuffed my box into the mains socket and licked the other end of it...I am alive...:D




Disclaimer...no I didn't really

twisted1
Level 12
LOL Arne!!

I've used the mb boxes for lot's of motherboards. And everyone does it, in reality it does not seem to be a problem.

twisted1 wrote:
LOL Arne!!

I've used the mb boxes for lot's of motherboards. And everyone does it, in reality it does not seem to be a problem.

The problem with this logic is that you'll never know if you've shortened the life of the board. It may not be a problem in most cases, just as ESD damage is unlikely. But we should always take precausions with that, shouldn't we. If I were to make the statement "ESD is a myth, I've handled heaps of board without worrying about ESD, and I've never damaged one", I've sure I'd get shot down in flames for giving sach bad advice.

It's quite simple, if you're giving someone advice as to how to solve their issue, don't advice them to power their board up on a conductive surface. If you want to take that risk with your own equipment, I won't try to stop you, but don't advice others to take that risk with theirs.

I should also point out that I have over 10 years experience as a component level techician/design engineer, working on highly ESD sensative devices, and I do know what I'm talking about. Many of the boards I worked on would most likely go bang if powered up on a conductive surface.
Motherboard: RIVE (3602 bios)
CPU: Intel 3930K @4646MHz
OS Drive: 2 X Samsung 840 PRO (Raid 0)
Storage Drive: 2 X 1.5TB WD Caviar Black RAID 0, 2 X 3TB WD Caviar Red, Kingston V100 256GB SSD
Memory: 64GB G.SKILL Ripjaws Z (F3-12800CL10Q2-64GBZL)
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX580 @795MHz - 1536MB GDDR5
PSU: OCZ ZX1250
Cooling: Phantek PH-TC14PE
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64. (EUFI)

Retired
Not applicable
ESD strap?

i have heard about them.....

take it to the edge.....

are your house insulated with aluminum foil, to protect you from the northern light?