Is "Put computer to sleep: Never" better for overall PC health?

[futurefields]

Is it better for overall PC health and lifespan of components to not allow the PC to go to sleep?

I tend to turn my PC on in the morning and it basically runs until I go to bed when I turn it off. So my PC is usually running 12-16 hours a day.

So the hard drive and the fans and everything are going constantly, they never have to spin down and then spin back up. In my feeble mind it seems better to let the components just run rather than having them spin down and spin up all the time.

What do you guys think?

 

[Ketchup]

This has been debated for years. There are arguments in both directions, letting a hard drive spin all day long at 7200 RPM, constantly removing and re-applying an electrical charge to system components, letting heat stay/build in a computer for long periods of time, etc.

Over the last few years, my preference for this is based on the time of year. I let the desktops go to sleep when not in use during the summer, and pretty much let the stay on all the time in the winter. I generally only shut them down when we are going to be out of the house for more than a day.

 

[KentState]

Since I've had only SSD in my computers since 2009, I've kept them on 24/7 without concern or issue. Prior to that, I had the typical HD failures after a year or two, but that was typically the extent of it. I did have a GPU and MB problem, but that was back in 2004.

 

[lif_andi]

You can adjust when Windows stops turning the drives in your power settings. There is a slight delay when you have to use them. I have an SSD for C drive, but the rest are all HDD and are turned off after about 15 mins idle. Saves tear, power and heat.

 

[futurefields]

Since I've had only SSD in my computers since 2009, I've kept them on 24/7 without concern or issue. Prior to that, I had the typical HD failures after a year or two, but that was typically the extent of it. I did have a GPU and MB problem, but that was back in 2004.

You had typical HD failures after a year or two?

 

[KentState]

You had typical HD failures after a year or two?

Yes. No matter what, I've always had HD fail after at least 2 years when on 24/7. They aren't made for that type of use so it really doesn't bother me.

 

[Cerb]

Doubt it. Mine go into and out of S3 daily, sometimes several times, and I haven't had any problems, except with components that were already quite aged (30GB laptop HDD, FI), and the occasional thunderstorm taking something out (not related to sleep modes).

 

[Torn Mind]

Turn it off when you don't need it. Less heat is better for the whole computer. Capacitors will die, and the less heat they have to deal with, the longer they will last.

Should a storm or any other atypical electrical load pass by, i.e brownouts, etc, you'll be glad you averted potential disaster.

 

[OGOC]

Leaving spinning things on like fans will wear them out faster, obviously. Wouldn't be a concern at all except there are usually fans in power supplies and on video cards, and replacing those might be annoying.

I'd set the hard drives to turn off after x amount of time. Again, spinning things wear out faster than when they're not spinning.

I'd use sleep mode simply for the power savings if nothing else.

The bigger question is probably which is better: turning off the PC completely, or leaving it in sleep mode. Cars prefer not to be cold-started. Computers don't have oil, but they do have power surges. Personally, I don't think it matters enough to matter either way.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Is it better for overall PC health and lifespan of components to not allow the PC to go to sleep?

I tend to turn my PC on in the morning and it basically runs until I go to bed when I turn it off. So my PC is usually running 12-16 hours a day.

So the hard drive and the fans and everything are going constantly, they never have to spin down and then spin back up. In my feeble mind it seems better to let the components just run rather than having them spin down and spin up all the time.

What do you guys think?

Most modern hard drives have built-in algorithms that put the drives to sleep after 10-30 minutes of inactivity, even when the computer is running. So, if you run an SSD boot drive and an HDD as a data drive, even if you run your PC 24/7 your HDD will probably spend a lot of time spun down.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yes. No matter what, I've always had HD fail after at least 2 years when on 24/7. They aren't made for that type of use so it really doesn't bother me.

Weird. I've had drives spinning for years and years without any appreciable failures. I have some from 2008 still spinning and no bad sectors.

I believe in letting them run 24/7, and always with active cooling (a fan).

 

[Zorander]

I never had a problem sending my PCs to sleep. It saves me unnecessary electricity usage and makes no noise (one of them is in my bedroom).

 

[piasabird]

I just leave my computer on till I get an update and it needs to reboot. Maybe when you overclock, that is what is really doing the damage. Anyway after a while the screen goes blank and I dont worry about it. So I dont know what kind of sleep state it goes into. Since I only use integrated Video, it does not use much electricity. I think the Monitor sometimes uses more power than the computer.

 

[Atreidin]

My guess is that when hard drives aren't "designed to run constantly for years" it is mostly because of heat concerns. They have to design those hard drives to survive some pretty poorly thermally-designed OEM cases, not to mention whatever scary stuff an amateur system builder might do. And with probably zero basic maintenance, like blowing out dust.

I had a lot more hard drive failures occur before I started only using power supplies that were high quality and UL-listed. Correlation does not equal causation and all that, but it wouldn't surprise me if my dead hard drives got messed up primarily because of POS power supplies.

(Based on the constantly falling hard drive warranty time, manufacturers don't seem to have a lot of confidence in their products anymore. It might be for other reasons, but I can't help but think that maybe it is because they "don't make 'em like they used to".)

 

[Sheep221]

I turn computer on only when needed, that is like 2-4 power on/off cycles per day, when left idle it disables HDDs and screens within 15 minuts and go to sleep after 20, been doing that since the day I had my first PC and I never had a HDD failure, so it technically is better to turn off and on only when you need to work rather than leave it on all day when you will be using for 1 hour. Also mobos and other components were pretty durable with this too.

 

[KentState]

Weird. I've had drives spinning for years and years without any appreciable failures. I have some from 2008 still spinning and no bad sectors.

I believe in letting them run 24/7, and always with active cooling (a fan).

Well, up until I started going SSD only, computer room conditions haven't been the most stable. Between going to college, moving, heat fluctuations and so on, I'm not surprised that they don't last for me. You probably have a much more forgiving environment.

 

[Deders]

You can adjust when Windows stops turning the drives in your power settings. There is a slight delay when you have to use them. I have an SSD for C drive, but the rest are all HDD and are turned off after about 15 mins idle. Saves tear, power and heat.

Doesn't powering your drives on and off wear out the mechanism quicker?