Static shock killed HDMI port on GPU. How to get rid of static?

[burnttoastnice]

Often when using my desktop I get static shock by touching the case, or even my bed nearby - which either freezes the computer or insta-reboots it.

 

Earlier today the computer screen went black (Happens often when the computer runs out of memory) so I went to disconnect and reconnect the display. My hand touched the case which gave for a very painful static shock, and the computer restarted. There was a problem though, the screen hadn't come back on. The keyboard lights flashed as they usually would, and the HDD indicator showed that windows was booting again. I then tried a different HDMI cable on both my nearby TV and the other port on the monitor. No signal. I then tried a VGA cable with a different monitor, and that worked perfectly. At this point I knew the HDMI port on the GPU had died.

 

After booting into Windows and going through Nvidia's control panel as well as Windows' display control panel, neither was detecting the monitor over HDMI. I even tried booting with both HDMI and VGA plugged in (the gpu prioritises dvi -> hdmi -> vga) but it went straight to VGA.

 

Seeing as there's no way to resolve this, how can I discharge myself of this static electricity? I've checked the mobo, psu and gpu grounding with my multimeter and they seem fine to me.

[Josephdalepi]

1 minute ago, burnttoastnice said:

Often when using my desktop I get static shock by touching the case, or even my bed nearby - which either freezes the computer or insta-reboots it.

 

Earlier today the computer screen went black (Happens often when the computer runs out of memory) so I went to disconnect and reconnect the display. My hand touched the case which gave for a very painful static shock, and the computer restarted. There was a problem though, the screen hadn't come back on. The keyboard lights flashed as they usually would, and the HDD indicator showed that windows was booting again. I then tried a different HDMI cable on both my nearby TV and the other port on the monitor. No signal. I then tried a VGA cable with a different monitor, and that worked perfectly. At this point I knew the HDMI port on the GPU had died.

 

After booting into Windows and going through Nvidia's control panel as well as Windows' display control panel, neither was detecting the monitor over HDMI. I even tried booting with both HDMI and VGA plugged in (the gpu prioritises dvi -> hdmi -> vga) but it went straight to VGA.

 

Seeing as there's no way to resolve this, how can I discharge myself of this static electricity? I've checked the mobo, psu and gpu grounding with my multimeter and they seem fine to me.

you have something severely wrong

to be honest, id recommend a new motherboard and psu, with protection from that kinda thing

best i can offer is to not wear wool socks and ground yourself on

something

i dunno what

[burnttoastnice]

1 minute ago, Josephdalepi said:

you have something severely wrong

to be honest, id recommend a new motherboard and psu

I changed by PSU to an XFX TS430 (the old one was a cheapo FSP Components 250W). I'm saving up for a new motherboard currently so hopefully that eliminates the rebooting issue.

[Josephdalepi]

Just now, burnttoastnice said:

I changed by PSU to an XFX TS430 (the old one was a cheapo FSP Components 250W). I'm saving up for a new motherboard currently so hopefully that eliminates the rebooting issue.

this is the strangest thing ive ever heard of

 

[Pesukarhu]

4 minutes ago, burnttoastnice said:

how can I discharge myself of this static electricity

Try different clothing and different walking styles. (you can test these by walking around, swinging your arms etc. and then touching something grounded) Also seen as you live in the uk, dont you have grounded faceplates on the outlets? (metallic ones) That can be a easy way to ground yourself.

[burnttoastnice]

Just now, Pesukarhu said:

Try different clothing and different walking styles. (you can test these by walking around, swinging your arms etc. and then touching something grounded) Also seen as you live in the uk, dont you have grounded faceplates on the outlets? (metallic ones) That can be a easy way to ground yourself.

The faceplates in my house unfortunately are plastic . I'll also give those a try

[Godlygamer23]

7 minutes ago, burnttoastnice said:

I changed by PSU to an XFX TS430 (the old one was a cheapo FSP Components 250W). I'm saving up for a new motherboard currently so hopefully that eliminates the rebooting issue.

Increase the humidity in your house if possible. Low humidity is going to cause more static electricity to be stored in your body or on your clothing.

[Aereldor]

Do you use your computer barefoot with your feet in contact with the floor? I get shocks from my case all the time until I put on a pair of slippers. I also managed to damage an old wireless card from a decade ago this way- or so I think.

[burnttoastnice]

Just now, Aereldor said:

Do you walk around barefoot a lot? I get shocks from my case all the time until I put on a pair of slippers. I also managed to damage an old wireless card from a decade ago this way- or so I think.

I wear slippers almost all the time. R.I.P. to that poor wireless card though

[Aereldor]

5 minutes ago, burnttoastnice said:

I wear slippers almost all the time. R.I.P. to that poor wireless card though

That computer was from 2001, if not earlier. Everything else was dead by the time I started ripping stuff out and teaching myself what did what.

To be honest, I don't quite know whether to insulate myself from the ground or to ground myself through my own feet while working with sensitive electronics. However, I don't get shocked with a pair of slippers on, so it seems to eliminate that problem at the very least.

An unusual problem I encountered once was with a friend of mine who kept shocking stuff from his desk. I found that he used a thick, almost fluffy tablecloth under his setup which resulted in static buildup. You wouldn't happen to have something similar on your desk, would you?

Also, you haven't taken to stroking a nearby kitten and touching your GPU immediately afterwards, have you?

[zMeul]

power outlets with ground connection that are actually grounded

if there aren't any grounded outlets, you could try and run a wire from the PC case to anything metallic that runs through ground, like heat pipe

[burnttoastnice]

48 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

That computer was from 2001, if not earlier. Everything else was dead by the time I started ripping stuff out and teaching myself what did what.

To be honest, I don't quite know whether to insulate myself from the ground or to ground myself through my own feet while working with sensitive electronics. However, I don't get shocked with a pair of slippers on, so it seems to eliminate that problem at the very least.

An unusual problem I encountered once was with a friend of mine who kept shocking stuff from his desk. I found that he used a thick, almost fluffy tablecloth under his setup which resulted in static buildup. You wouldn't happen to have something similar on your desk, would you?

Also, you haven't taken to stroking a nearby kitten and touching your GPU immediately afterwards, have you?

Haven't got a fluffy mat in sight. Your friend must've had such an electrifying experience using that computer & LOL, no kittens here yet . I might look into getting an ESD mat to rest my feet on to avoid this happening again