General Discussions

[floydefisher]

I have a question, would like some info from the actual design teams for the consumer level CPU's and chipsets if possible.

Are today's Ryzen and Radeon CPU's, GPU's and motherboard chipsets sufficiently hardened from EMF that it should be OK to use magnetic tools in assembling them?

Over the years I have shied away from (and taught others to avoid using) magnetic screwdrivers and other magnetic tools in computer assembly and want to know if I should continue to do so.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.  Have a wonderful day!

[johnnyenglish · Accepted solution]

If an official reply will happen, I don't know, but one thing I know.

There are several videos out there, like one from Linus and Electroboom trying to kill components deliberately with EMF/ESD and althought they suffer a bit, not a single component got permanently damaged.

As for storage goes, SSD's don't get affected as floppy's and older hard drives do.

I use magnetic screwdrivers on my builds, no problems whatsoever.

Cheers

[johnnyenglish · Accepted solution]

If an official reply will happen, I don't know, but one thing I know.

There are several videos out there, like one from Linus and Electroboom trying to kill components deliberately with EMF/ESD and althought they suffer a bit, not a single component got permanently damaged.

As for storage goes, SSD's don't get affected as floppy's and older hard drives do.

I use magnetic screwdrivers on my builds, no problems whatsoever.

Cheers

[floydefisher]

That is what I suspected.  Thanks.

[Vynski · Accepted solution]

I have always used magnetic screwdrivers, even installing HDD.  The magnets inside a HDD are incredibly strong and the close proximity that they are in with the platter is very precise. 

I have never caused damage or lost a single byte of data in the 40+ years I've been building and repairing computers. 

[floydefisher]

Thank you.  It's what I suspected, but since I have a past of turning electronics into e-waste with those kinds of tools, I needed to know for sure.