Shut down vs. sleep

[lariz]

I was wondering what you guys use when you're not on your computer(like when you're asleep). The problem I'm having with sleep is that my system stays idle but my LED lights stay on...and WOW are they bright! My whole computer case is lit up in the night, not to mention my router, keyboard and fan lights.

For long durations is it better to shut down or sleep?

 

[Auric]

By "idle", I get the impression that it is not in full sleepy time mode. Everything should be off except perhaps an LED or two (RAM state and maybe NIC). The keyboard's, at least, should be configurable from the same power management area in the BIOS/CMOS Setup (usually entered via DEL key during boot). Those which remain bothersome may be permanently disabled (as in the case of fan lights which have no practical function) or covered with "flaps" of electrical tape or such so that they remain readable (as with router status lights).

Suspend to RAM is a good thing as it saves almost the same power as off while retaining the system state and is much quicker to enter and resume than on/off and is also quicker than hibernation without requiring dedication of significant system volume capacity either. But I posit that if the system will not be used for more than a day then it may as well be powered off.

 

[Slugbait]

Whereas I have a bunch of LEDs and a couple of CCFL tubes, they don't bother me at all...I sleep upstairs.

But I digress, I shut down every night. I've lost a few fans over the years, and believe my fans last longer now...after all, the sooner the fan dies, the sooner the hardware dies (especially video cards).

Personally, if I were to sleep in the same room with a running machine, even without lights, I would kept awake by the noise (except those really quiet Dell machines, of course).

 

[John]

Turn it off and save electricity. It only take 30-60 seconds for most pc's to boot into Windows nowadays.

 

[StopSign]

I turn the machine off every night.

 

[mithrandir2001]

LEDs consume little power so I would not be too concerned.

While I do not have the slew of lights that you have, when I put my XPS 410 into sleep mode my Kill-A-Watt meter says the PC draws between 1-2 watts of power.

 

[Auric]

Ja, suppose you want to quickly check your mail... the added startup and shutdown would consume more power than standby would have in previous days and the wait could be excruciating

 

[stevolution]

Hi, correct me if i'm wrong, but seems like the sleep state you set in the bios seems like S1 instead of S3. When you say the fan lights are on as well, well I guess that means the whole computer is practically on. This is the case if you set sleep mode as S1. If you set to S3, the computer should be off including the Fan and the LEDs on the fan.

If you got problem with bright LEDs on the keyboard etc, just cover them up with Blue-tack or white-tack or something that should cover the lights.

 

[bob4432]

my main rig i turn off every night, the 2 servers i have up right now run 24/7, but i don't sleep in the office

 

[conlan]

We shut down our rigs everynight, but my bedroom is right next to the Computer room

 

[natto fire]

Distributed computing.

 

[fyleow]

..

 

[frostedflakes]

I usually leave mine on at nights to download. It's quiet and CnQ is enabled, so noise and power usage aren't a huge issue. The only time I actually turn the system off is when I'm working on it. Most of the time I just put it into standby, as power consumption is negligible (a few watts) and resume time is very quick. If I'm going to be away from the computer for more than a few days I'll set it to hibernate.