Negative effects of crunching 24/7?

[narreth]

Could leaving your computer crunching 24/7 cause your PC parts to have a reduced lifespan?

 

[networkman]

Not that I've noticed, but then I have a tendency to replace PCs with faster machines before they break anyway.

Be very very careful! Distributed Computing can be very addictive. I've been telling myself I could stop at any time for... years! :shocked:

 

[BlackMountainCow]

You won't notice any immediate effects. But in the long run, chances are that for example cheap case fans will break earlier than on system, which doesn't crunch 24/7. I've been doing 24/7 crunching for 4 years now and in that time I lost two PSUs, a hard drive and a few case fans. But of course I don't know if they hadn't broken anyway. To sum it up: the benefit of crunching 24/7 is greater than the "danger" - as long as you make sure that your system component receive proper cooling. :evil:

 

[Alyx]

I've heard that that machines run 24/7 actually fair a little better than machines that don't. Basis of the idea being that the temp change from being turned off and then suddenly heating to the running temp is harder on the machine than running constant. I've no idea if thats actually true though.

Long term I think you'll see a larger hit to the power bill than the actual components of the system.

 

[BlackMountainCow]

Got to agree with Alyx. The two times I lost a PSU was while turning on the machine after being turned off for a couple of days. Same for the case fans. Never lost any hardware component while in use.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

After having ~5 machines ranging from a P2 to a P4 crunch in my garage is south Texas, I'm convinced no further damage is done due to additional load or heat on the machines. Granted new components can cause more heat than older ones, but they are also upgraded and replaced fairly quickly as well. I worry more about overclocking than I do running the machine @ 100% load 24/7.

 

[jonesthewine]

Piling on, I'll add one fact....many of the mechanical components in the modern PC (including hard drives, quality case fans, PSU) have a rated MeanTimeBeforeFailure of 30,000 to 50,000 hours (3.5 years to 5.7 years). Cycling the machine on and off and overclocking as mentioned by other members above probably does more to shorten the life span than does 24/7 crunching.

Bottom line, it's a hobby and like any other hobby it will consume resources.

 

[Thump553]

The main damage is to your electrical bill. I'm no hardware expert, but I fall into the camp that says leaving it on 24/7 extends the life of a computer. My main home computer is basically five years old, only replaced a fan or two, the psu (low cost earthwatts one to save $) and a cpu upgrade (not needed, just wanted) and adding a second internal hard drive.

My sister, OTOH, who is a firm believer in turning off her computer is she isn't going to use it for a couple of hours, has replaced or fully rebuilt her computer at least three times in the same time period.

 

[Assimilator1]

Only thing I've noticed die quicker over the years is fans, at least thier cheap

I've been very lucky so far with HDDs ,haven't had one die on me in about 9yrs! ,I've had a PSU go flaky on me but I blame that on Antecs poor build quality (which I hope was a temporary thing!) as I've had other Antec PSUs from the 04/05 era die on me too in friends rigs.
My previous rig ,a 4+yr old Asus Skt A rig had a bulged cap when I retired it last summer, but then so have many others who don't leave their rigs on 24/7. That was overclocked & running 24/7 virtually all of its life!

 

[Insidious]

One more in the camp believing that constant loading/temperatures are the ideal for life of semiconductor components.

You have to keep the air circulated about those HDs whether you crunch or not.... or thsy'll be one of the shorter lived components in your PC.

I run 24/7 and have for several years. I am very good about remembering to turn the thing off once every couple months and clean out the dust (vacuum and blow). I haven't even had the case fan failures mentioned above.

-Sid

 

[Assimilator1]

Oh I forgot to mention that my 2 case fans failed after about 6-8yrs of 24/7 running

 

[Michielhaisma]

Never had one single component failed, but noticed some major drops in the Fan quality of the vid card and the CPU. But a good blow 'n' Vacuum did the job and now its just noisy but still burning those WU's. You better watch ur elec bill though. it will raise a good amount if u run ur pc 24/7.

 

[poached]

interesting stories about computers living longer if running most of the time. Here is my story:

Recently I had to move across country and couldn't take my PC with me. I pulled the hard drive and posted the rest of the system to craigslist. No on wanted to buy, but when the guy who wanted my LCD monitor came over, somehow I convinced him to buy the computer as well. But he needed a harddrive so off he went to circuit city to get one. While he was gone I decided to boot up the machine, which had been sitting powered off for a few days to make sure it would still work. I plugged in the harddisk and plugged in the power cord. Out came nasty spark on the mobo, PSU, followed by the smell of burnt electronics. I watched my $230 went up in smoke, literally. So I called him to tell him not to buy the harddrive. To this day I still have no idea what happened. My friend thinks it's a dust or a screw that fell and short circuited the mobo. I doubt it's a screw because I don't remember dropping a screw and it can't be dust because the case was sealed.

Just thought I share that story. I don't distribute computing because my computer is a work machine

 

[Assimilator1]

Welcome to AT DC

Bad luck on your PC there ,it may of just been that either in the PSU or on the mbrd you had a flaky component to start with,possibly a leaking capacitor ,& when you powered the machine up it just shorted out & took the rest with it!
You don't have your own PC anymore?

 

[poached]

No I don't. I'm working on it, which is why I'm lurking

I still really don't know what happened. I gave the machine to a friend. He wanted my 6800gs to play games and ended up spend 500+ to upgrade the rest of his system - a new mobo, new ram, etc. It's the upgrade curse.

 

[Assimilator1]

lol

What system are you looking at building?

 

[IJump]

There are two main "issues: for me.

First is electricity. I am not sure if the 5 computers at my house are causing my electric bill to go up, or if it is the cold weather. I keep blaming the cold weather. I hope the electric bill drops when it gets warmer or I am in trouble...

Second, the stats addiction can be horrible. Do you know how addicted you get to stats when you are trying to get every last ounce of production? Now imagine that you are near the top of the production out of all users in a project and trying to get over the top or stay up there... man, I could spend a lot of time looking at stats and stuff...

 

[rabrittain]

Lost a fan the other day, but it's OK, and you're right --
Stats are cool!!

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: Alyx
I've heard that that machines run 24/7 actually fair a little better than machines that don't. Basis of the idea being that the temp change from being turned off and then suddenly heating to the running temp is harder on the machine than running constant. I've no idea if thats actually true though.

Long term I think you'll see a larger hit to the power bill than the actual components of the system.

I agree. Thermal stress (going from ambient temps, to operating temps) is harder on your electronic equipment than just leaving it on. But mechanical things, such as HDD, PSU, and fans will have a shorter lifespan.

 

[Rudy Toody]

I lost a HD yesterday that hab been running 24/7 for almost 2 years. I no sooner installed Linux over my last XP system when it wouldn't reboot. Linux on another HD fixed that problem. In 2 years: 4 HDs, 2 video cards, 2 PSUs, 2 MOBOs, 1 DVD/CD drive. And 1 Human Brain, which has never been used 24/7!