Leaving your computer on: good/bad?

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Dougboy

Dougboy

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dougboyy
Ive googled this question and ive came up with different answers. Different people seem to have different opinions on this subject so i have not gotten a solid yes/no answer.

I know that some of you here on GTP are quite the expert when it comes to computers. :) So is it better to leave the computer on, or turn it on and off each time i use it (like a TV).
 
I'm no expert but here's my tupence.

Don't turn it on/off like a TV. Everytime you turn it on there's a small surge and this causes a tiny bit of damage to teh chips. Generally its nothing, but if you're turning it on off 5-10 times a day it'll start having an effect.

But []Don't[/b] leave it on 24/7. Can you imagine the bill, and thing of the environment :D

Best thing IMO, just chuck it on hibernate if you want to turn it off during the day and turn it off at night when you go to bed.
 
Bubble Bunny
or turn it on and off each time i use it (like a TV).
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Heh, thats funny. I haven't turned off my tv in 6 years.
So as you can probably figure out, I'm a "leave the PC on" kinda guy.

I think all you'll find here is the same as what you found on google.
Opinions.
I leave my stuff on because most of the gear I've owned has died as I was turning it on, or off.
I've never had a piece of gear blow as I was using it, so my personal experience tells me to leave it alone if it's working fine.
 
There's absolutely nothing wrong with 24/7 on the system unit. Let your monitor go to sleep, though. That's where the power goes, anyway, if it's a CRT.

I have a P-III/650 that has run 24/7 since I bought it new in 1997. Two hard disks, a DVD-ROM and a DVD burner, a TV tuner card, a USB/Firewire card, sound card (better than the system-board audio) and an AGP vid card. In other words, no empty slots, no empty drive bays. Nothing has ever failed on it (but a lot of parts have been removed to upgrade, like drives.)

Powering down every day generates heat cycles in the components, which is the damaging factor. Hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold. Bad for it.
 
Plus, booting up is a lot of work for the hard drive.

I dunno if this applies to Windows PCs (I have no clue how Hibernate works), but I know most people with Macs don’t even bother turning their computers off at night, but rather just leave it in Sleep mode (which uses almost no power) – I do that, so my computer is usually on for several weeks at a time.

[edit]: I type too damn slow.
 
It depends on how much you use it. I leave my computer on only during the times when I could be expected to use it.

For example, on a work day, I turn it on when I get home at night and turn it off when I go to bed. On the weekends, I turn it on as soon as I get up in the morning, and turn it off when I go to bed. On a few occasions, I'll leave it running overnight, but only if it's doing something (downloading, rendering, etc). I think the longest I've had it running was about three weeks.

That said, our systems at work, using many of the same components as the average PC, are designed to stay up and running indefinitely. We have systems out there that haven't been powered down in years.

The hardware can handle the uptime just fine, it comes down to whether the thing needs to stay on that long, and how much it will cost to do so.
 
Agent Smith
Heh, thats funny. I haven't turned off my tv in 6 years.
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:scared:


Anyways, yea its just the computer i was thinking of leaving on. I turn off my LCD monitor everytime im not using it.

I have to say that i use my computer a couple of hours each day. Not a couple of hours straight but some time here and there. Im not too worried about the electric bill because i cant see how a computer can use up too much electricity (unlike a tv). What im worried about is just wear and tear of the components being used 24h a day
 
With an LCD, you're better off powering it down. The backlights in those don't have a very long lifespan to begin with.
... and I've done the math in regards to my power bill and my TV cost me $60 a year to leave on 24/7.
That's not so bad.
 
well my computer is currently on for 3 weeks 2 days and a couple of hours ( ur internet connection can tell )

well.. just turning ur lcd screen off at night.. and thats all
 
I once left my computer on for probably a month and a half. The thing made my room a sauna, but it was my old Dell so I could give a **** less. But then it slowed my computer down from heat and stuff and dust collected, etc.

I usually turn my new computer I built now, off. I just don't wanna damage this computer and it's not usually too smart.
 
i hardly ever turn my pc off, i will be using the sleep mode for now on though, i never really considered it untill now. :)

as long the hardware doesnt overheat and you dust once in a while, it shouldnt do much harm....
 
MachỎne;2525545
I doubt you've left it on 6 years. Power surges? Power outages? Come on.
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Of course the power's gone out a few times, and I've even moved from one coast to the other.
So I guess I should have said that I never turn it off willingly. ;)

Kinda like my PC. I don't want to turn it off, but I still have to reboot sometimes.
 
Marouan
well my computer is currently on for 3 weeks 2 days and a couple of hours ( ur internet connection can tell )

well.. just turning ur lcd screen off at night.. and thats all
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Refrain from using "ur" kthxbai.

Owait.

Anyways, your internet connection doesn't tell you how long your PC has been on, it's your systems internal clock :lol:.
 
I always turn my PC off when I'm not using it, unless I'm coming back to it within 10 minutes or so, and even then I'll turn off both monitors, aswell as the TV, room light etc. The only time I leave it on for a long amount of time is if I'm downloading something large. :)
 
meh... i cant figure out how to come out of standbye. so i guess i wont use it afterall. i searched and nothing i tried worked.
 
I leave my PC on 24/7, never gone wrong. With my laptop I standby it a night, all the parts turn off but the laptop doesn't.
 
MachỎne;2525618
Just press Enter, or move your mouse, or something.
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I'm guessing he's tried those already... ;)

I've always had to press my power button to get it out of standby in XP (at least I think it was standby; could've been hibernate, it's been a while).

I usually turn my Dell off every night, since Ubuntu doesn't seem to respect my wishes to put it to sleep. As Sage already mentioned, the iMac rarely gets shutdown. I simply set it to sleep every night.
 
I usually only shut my PC down when I am really tired and can't sleep. The fan on my video card generates a crapload of noise in 2D and 3D mode, even at 50% power. If I put it any lower, the damn thing overheats. I can't win.
 
I dont mind the noise because mine only has 3 fans and its pretty quiet. Only thing thats kinda distracting at night is the bright blue LED's. As for the heat, its not that big of a problem. I dont find computers generating too much heat(CRT monitor is a different story).
 
I leave mine on partly because I'm always d/ling "something" but also because it's less of a hassle than on and off, on and off...
During the summer I'm less motivated to have it on for fear of the constant high temp but winter it doubles as a nice heater. :D

My question that's still unanswered is what's the difference between off and standby??
 
Integra Type R
I, like Sage and dougiemeats, let my MacBook Pro go to sleep every night.
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Don’t you love the pulsating white light? It looks like it’s breathing, or like it’s a beating heart. :) (Which is probably no coincidence – Jobs is known for loving anthropomorphism in product designs.)
 
DWA
My question that's still unanswered is what's the difference between off and standby??
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Standby turns off most of your computer's components, except for the RAM, so you can easily (and quickly) restore your session.

Or is that hibernate? Ahhh, I don't know... :ill:
 
Stand-by ftw. Restart when I need to clear cache/reboot. Hibernating IS powering down your pc, as opposed to stand-by. The only difference between Hibernating and shutting down is that your current information and cache and stuff is saved to a small partition on the hard drive.
 
It's interesting that so many people use hibernation or standby. For me, hibernation is when the battery runs out... It's turned off when I'm not around or asleep. I get really paranoid about it overheating. I don't worry when I do leave it on, it just seems stupid to let it use up electricity when I'm not doing anything.
 
Gabkicks
meh... i cant figure out how to come out of standbye. so i guess i wont use it afterall. i searched and nothing i tried worked.
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Standby for my laptop: Enter or Esc.
Hibernate: Power.
Unplugging the power cord to move laptop thinking it's off, then remembering that you had a web page pulled up that you can't remember the address to, then not being able to get it back because FF deletes history everytime it closes: Wanting to smash laptop in floo...er...um...Priceless :dopey:

EDIT:
Jondot
It's interesting that so many people use hibernation or standby. For me, hibernation is when the battery runs out... It's turned off when I'm not around or asleep. I get really paranoid about it overheating. I don't worry when I do leave it on, it just seems stupid to let it use up electricity when I'm not doing anything.
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Like me and my old HP.

From,
Chris.
 

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