do you leave ur pc on 24/7?

[rajhouston]

Do you leave ur pc on 24 hours a day and 7 days a week?
Does it improve the life of cpu/mobo if left on 24/7?
I have big server case with 5 fans inside, Is it okay to leave my pc on 24/7.
My wife turned off AC and fans when nobody is living in my apt..
Does it affect my pc a lots? or will it be alright?
Right now my cpu temp reads 27 degree C. highest it reach it 40. Is it normal?
sorry for too many questions.
thanx
raj

 

[mOeeOm]

I shut mine off once every 2-3 weeks now....I heard its better, something about gears grinding in the HD if you keep shutting it on and off.

 

[suicidalpigeon]

shouldn't be a problem, though you'll see a bit of a jump in electricity bill, but thats probably because i have a prescott. id rather turn mine off every night when i go to bed.

 

[mOeeOm]

Originally posted by: wafflesandsyrup
shouldn't be a problem, though you'll see a bit of a jump in electricity bill, but thats probably because i have a prescott. id rather turn mine off every night when i go to bed.

Apartments FTW .

 

[rajhouston]

I am not worried about electricity. I bought expensive processor so I am expecting my pc to give me entertainment for next 7 years
my old pc 1ghz duron gave me entertainment for 4 yrs and died on me
raj

Originally posted by: wafflesandsyrup
shouldn't be a problem, though you'll see a bit of a jump in electricity bill, but thats probably because i have a prescott. id rather turn mine off every night when i go to bed.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Yes.
No.
Yes.
That's fine, so long as it doesn't get extraordinarily hot in there, and leave the door open.
CPU temps sound great.
They were worthwhile, honest questions, so that's fine.

I have a large server case, with 10 case fans (not counting the two PSUs, two CPUs, and video card). The only problem with leaving it on is that it does build up heat in the room, so I have to leave the door open and turn down the AC one degree. But it won't hurt the machine at all.
Tas.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

i left mine on 24/7 when in halls.........but then i wasnt paying the bills

this year i am, so it goes off when im not using it, i bought quality components with good warranties so i dont see the harm in switching it off when not in use. i wish i could go into standby, sadly my rig blue screens and restarts when i try.

and i dont really wanna re-install windows since its set up perfect right now, plus FF memorises all my logins and passwords coz i cant remember them lol!

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
i left mine on 24/7 when in halls.........but then i wasnt paying the bills

this year i am, so it goes off when im not using it, i bought quality components with good warranties so i dont see the harm in switching it off when not in use. i wish i could go into standby, sadly my rig blue screens and restarts when i try.

and i dont really wanna re-install windows since its set up perfect right now, plus FF memorises all my logins and passwords coz i cant remember them lol!

To avoid the BSODs, use hibernate instead of stand-by. Much more stable, with the same effect (if not better). Just FYI for you to try...
Tas.

 

[Future Shock]

It's all a trade-off:
1) "Turn-On Transients" are voltage spikes and electical noise that occur in any electrical circuit when you power it up. Even the best PSU and UPS can't entirely stop them - they are a bye-product of the circuitry and the PSU. These transients DO wear and tear semiconductors over time, so limiting your power cycling helps reduce that.

2) On the other hand, HEAT wears components as well - your average semiconductor will show heat effects after a few years. This is more than just a function of how you leave it on - case cooling, heatsinks, ambient air temp in the room, etc. all play a major part. I have a small form factor case that gets noticeably hotter than my previous tower inside - of course, it has an A64, two 300G harddrives, and a decent graphics card in a small area and a single 120mm fan, so what do I expect when I leave it on 24x7? On the other hand, I don't expect my CPU to last more than a few years, because it will be obsolete by then anyway...YMMV, of course.

3) Lastly, a system left on 24x7 and connected to broadband is more vulerable to worms, hacks, etc. than a system that is powered off when not in use. Not to say you can't make a secure, 24x7 system, but the mere fact that it is always connected makes it somewhat more vulnerable. You definately need a high-quality hardware firewall, with strong anti-virus, and a bit of luck. Otherwise, power down when not in use...

Future Shock

 

[HomeAppraiser]

My homebusiness computer stays on 24/7 since it is also my FAX receiver. I restart it every Sunday to install Windows updates and free up system resources. My son's computer with a MSI 6600GT video card gets turned off every night to let the box cool down and give the fans a rest. My wife hates a long windows start-up in the morning so her personal computer gets put in to Hibernate mode every night with a restart once a week to install Windows updates.

 

[imported_itr]

all the computers in my house are kept on, including a pos laptop.

 

[Sureshot324]

Imo if you're not going to be using it for a while it's better to turn it off. Think of a light bulb. They are rated for a number of hours and a number of times turned on. Say turning it on causes as much damage as leaving it on an hour. It's still better to turn it off if your not gonna use it for 12 hours.

 

[sniperruff]

turn mine off every day or a couple times a day. this axp palomino has been strong for 3+ years.

 

[Engineer]

For the most part, yes. All of the PC's stay on 24/7 (4 of them), but they go into standby mode after an hour and the LCD's also do the same.

Also, the Athlon 64-3200 with Cool-n-Quiet coupled with Sonata = awsome quietness and very little power useage (unless playing games).

 

[imported_Nacelle]

Shut it off when you're not useing it. Unless you've got some filters, you're gonna get dust build-up.

 

[bfonnes]

Originally posted by: mOeeOm
I shut mine off once every 2-3 weeks now....I heard its better, something about gears grinding in the HD if you keep shutting it on and off.

it has nothing to do with the hard disk drive motor... it is the expansion and contraction of the metal in the circuits in your computer when you turn it on and it heats up and cools down. If you leave it on it usually stays at a near constant temperature (hot) whereas when it is off (cold). Theoretically, a computer will llast longer if you leave it on, because there is less damage due to heating and cooling cycles, but really, I think it would be years before such damage would take place. I have never read about a time frame for how long it takes for this damage to occur. You just have to weigh the cost of what you're paying for electricity, and the cost of replacing the computer in 5-10 years or so. I haven't heard any numbers on this.

The hard disk is rated in MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure). In other words, this is supposedly how long the drive will (live) while it is turned on to the hour.

BFonnes

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: rajhouston
Do you leave ur pc on 24 hours a day and 7 days a week?
Does it improve the life of cpu/mobo if left on 24/7?
I have big server case with 5 fans inside, Is it okay to leave my pc on 24/7.
My wife turned off AC and fans when nobody is living in my apt..
Does it affect my pc a lots? or will it be alright?
Right now my cpu temp reads 27 degree C. highest it reach it 40. Is it normal?
sorry for too many questions.
thanx
raj

No, I dont leave my pc on 24/7 to save power.
I would say yes probably a hardrive has moving parts inside and them running 24/7 wouldnt be great. servers run there system's 24/7 look at how much they have to replace hd's
what does your case and fans have to do with leaving your pc on 24/7? if your going with keeping it cool the case has to have good airflow. cooling your parts such as a hd is always good
well your gonna have to reboot i mean its windows get used to it
27idle is good 40 top is good.

 

[duragezic]

I turn mine off to conserve electricity (college house with too many other computers on costs a lot), its loud during sleeping, and I just don't see any point or how it can be good to leave it on 24/7. When for example I sleep all night, then go to school or work till roughly 5pm each day, or more. So I'm looking at 14+ hours of just having it idle. Not worth it IMO, so I turn it on and off once a day.

 

[yourdeardaniel]

only turn off to do upgrades, reboots. otherwise 24/7

 

[Greenman]

I turn it off every night, seems silly to burn power for no reason. I also turn of the tv if I'm not watching it, same reason. Also, leaving the computers running adds heat into my house, that means I have to run the AC a bit more, which in turn uses even more power. I also turn of unneeded lights, and keep the doors closed when the AC is running.

 

[MDE]

I leave all of mine on 24\7 and run Folding@Home on them.

 

[Smoolean]

My computer shuts it self down (completely silent, but a move of the mouse and it's right back into the OS, no booting up) after about an hour of inactivity. When I wake it back up, is this equivalent to turning it on, as far as damaging the parts go? Also, I assume it's not smart to have your computer let the HDs sleep after 30 mins of inactivity?

 

[Garlic]

I dont care what you guys say but leaving your PC on 24/7 does not hurt anything.

My old pentium 3 450mhz PC has a power on time of a total of OVER 4 YEARS and its still going strong. I built in back in 1998. Yes I left it on 24/7 for YEARS.

I know because the every harddrive has a power-on hour count which you can check though SMART and the western digital 13.6gb drive inside reports power-on hours totaling OVER 4 years which is accurate since it ran 24/7 most of its life.

Yes power-on hours meaning the hard drive has been spinning for over 4 years. I laugh at people that crap on western digital reliability.

In the end you know what? Who cares if the PC breaks 5-6 years down the road from it being ran 24/7....it wont be worth anything by then so who cares? Take my p3 450mhz.....its still going strong as if I built it on day one but now its only worth $50.

 

[international]

sometimes when I am doing decoding encoding etc...but not other time...normally just set to stand-by

 

[walkure]

Originally posted by: Garlic
I dont care what you guys say but leaving your PC on 24/7 does not hurt anything.

My old pentium 3 450mhz PC has a power on time of a total of OVER 4 YEARS and its still going strong. I built in back in 1998. Yes I left it on 24/7 for YEARS.

One example does not necessarily rule out problems for others. However, I bought a Compaq Presario P2 350MHz in 1998, and it ran 24/7 until earlier this year. Still works for the most part... only problem is the CDROM drive is a little flaky.

New computer is also on 24/7, since that's how often I'm downloading / uploading music (legal music btw) via BitTorrent. BT users -- it's all about sharing!