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Originally Posted by Rodp
This is starting to stray far from the OP, but I guess most threads do.
Firstly, there are many reasons why a PC won't POST and very few of them have anything to do with the supply of voltage on the rail. Secondly, POST doesn't test everything. In fact it barely tests anything. A POST is a very rudimentary test for a PC's ability to boot a ROM. There are many combinations of failures that equiment can have that will past POST at boot.
It would appear you still haven't read the question thoroughly because once it's going it still isn't fine innitially. Try reading the question again.
Lastly, because you've experienced no problems with ESD does not mean it isn't a problem. In fact, that's the biggest problem with an ESD failure... most of the time it isn't a hard failure but a latent defect. As part of ISO9000 certification, I'm required to sit through a boring environmental course on ESD packaging, handing and procedure every 6 months (for the past 15 years). Once a month I have to submit my straps and mats for testing. I've seen the effects of ESD under a microscope (it's part of the course) the surface of the IC is reasonably flat until it's touched by a finger at a higher static potential, then the IC looks like a crater on the moon. The same IC is on a board and will happily past POST, however, it has a largely diminished capacity (latent defect).
The company I work for estimates losses of about $600 million a year due to inadequate handling of static sensetive components. The equipment I work on is what keeps multinational companies running. If I was to walk up to a non-stop server, touch the case then start working on it, I'd be lucky if I wasn't fired on the spot. If I was to incorrectly handle a component that has been removed from a server and is proven to have failed, I still risk instant dismissal.
http://www.esda.org/esd_fundamentals.html
I suggest you read the above. |
I don't work for a large multinational company, and either does rodderz. He won't destroy anything by not using an antistatic strap, but if he feels the need to, then by all means he should buy one. I am not saying that nothing will happen, I am just saying that nothing that will effect the performace or reliability of his computer will happen. I have a guinea-pig machine here that I use when diagnosing a fault, so trial and error will work if Rodderz has another machine avaliable, but if he doesn't, then try and use as much of the information that is avaliable before going out and purchasing parts. In the past I tried to run 8 IDE devices off the single 350W PSU (with an IDE PSI controller card), and it had these exact symptoms. I have also worked with numerous other computers with similar symptoms, and it has come down to the PSU not supplying enough power. OK, it may not be the PSU, but there is a large enough chance for this to be the case, so I say yes, it is the PSU.