ArkiStan

With my school work (often involving 20+ hour CG renderings) combined with all the constant downloading/ripping/burning, I hardly find time to turn my computer off. On the rare occasion that I do, the stark, almost austere silence can be haunting. I lay in bed and hear sounds that I never knew could be heard. Trucks, birds, the wind, rain water dripping. Only then do I remember I live in NYC. Sometimes I've wondered if the computers noise is actually hindering me from getting good, deep sleep.

Obviously, computers contains moving parts, many of which (cooler fans, HDD) are crucial to the system's well-being. Is it bad that I have them running non-stop for very long periods, sometimes even several months, at a time? How often do you turn your computer off?

Thesifer

I have left my computer running for almost a year straight with only the occassional reboots for new software.. and maybe off a time or two to replace something or upgrade something..

But lately I have been turning it off more just to save on electricity..

But it usually seems to like being left on more.

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zippyjuan

I turn mine off every day.

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shocky123

I (would have) almost 2 months worth of uptime on my desktop had I not had to reinstall windows yesterday

I'm sitting good on almost 100 days on my workstation at work. I think I've only ever rebooted it maybe 4 times since I got it in like august..

.. and yes, the silence is quite bothersome.

~Kyle

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kimchicowboy

almost every night.

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Itsme

I turn mine on when I get up at around 5 am, and I leave it on till I go to bed at 10:15 pm...each and every day.

bachviet

I turned it off every night since I don't want to pay the extra $50 monthly for electricity.

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GilbertsGrape

do they really use that mouch energy. i thought they went into energy saving mode after you left them idle for a while. and i thoguht components where DV so less than 12 volts or so???

Hoser

You can use a device like this to see what the power usage of your electronics: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/7657/

DarkFury

Every day on weekdays and I leave it on all weekend.

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Bires

Your 450W power supply can use up to 450W. The cheaper PSs will run full power all the time. Some of the new, better PSs will power only as much as the computer needs, plus about 10-20 watts.

Most though, run wide open all the time.

Cost to run a computer...

Most LCDs are 50-150W (CRT's are twice that)
Most computers are 350-500W
Your UPS also dissipates about 10-30W of power, by charging and discharging its battery.

Lets take a convienant average of 500W (not including cable modem, router, speakers, etc) just for the box and monitor.

so...you are burning one kilowatt-hour every two hours. At $0.08/kwhr, running a computer all the time costs $.96 or about $30 a month.


BTW: I turn my gaming box off when I won't use it for a few hours. I turn off my file server on weekdays, and I turn on my HTPC in the afternoon and off at night.

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Five years...

ArkiStan

So purely from a maintenance point of view, is it a bad idea to keep a computer on for long periods of time? (electricity is included in my rent).

shocky123

No it isn't. (technically)
Most components nowadays have MTBF (mean time between failures) .. which is technically only supposed to be the time when the device is powered and on/running.. anyways, most devices have MTBF's of several decades. So from a strictly technical standpoint, (other than 'software maintenance') in terms of 'maintenance' it matters not at all whether you turn your computer on for a month or a year or a couple hours..
Ex: My WD hard drive has a MTBF of 1.2Million hours.
1.2Mhrs = 137years (assuming you never shut off the computer.. EVER)

granted not all components are rated at that level, however, most pieces are in the ballpark.
Cool little list I just pulled together:
component: MTBF:
PowerSupply: 500,000hr
AMD64 cpu: 2,000,000+
.. and it goes on..
both of those arent gonna last that long.. but compared to the manufacturers ratings.. turning off the computer for 8hrs a day will only technically increase your hard drive lifespan by a mere 68 years. Which is fools-play compared to the lifespan of say... a Giant Tortoise (which has an expected MTBF of close to 1,750,000 hours. .. just a bit little less than 200 years)

KIISQueen

I turn mine off everytime i use it

nickel

is it a bad thing to shut it down daily? i have read it is - you know it contributes to wear and tear, and it's best to just leave it running.

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DarkFury

Honestly, you will get differing opinions on this.... so pretty much I'd say "Do whatever best fits your lifestyle around the computer".

If you are constantly on it, then leave it on... However if you are just an occaisional user, then turn it off and save power.

(If a PC wasn't meant to be turned off... then it probably wouldn't have a power switch).

Jeffbx

The additional wear and tear on the components will probably start showing up about 3 years after the computer is obsolete. So click that power switch all you want - you'll probably have a new PC long before it wears out.

shocky123

Yeah, you gotta be careful with those fancy buttons.. sheesh, one minute they're working, the next minute, their MTBF just caught up to you, and you *shudders* will never be able to power off the box again!

heh,

~Kyle

verve247

This is a computer not a Honda. There are no moving parts. Powering off causes negligible damage.

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Bires

Uhm...I don't want to poop on your post, but your analogy lacks scientific merit. You are right about the negligible damage thing, but not the moving parts thing.

There ARE moving parts in a PC. Lots of moving parts.


In addition to the obvious ones, remember that electrons have to quantum tunnel (jump) the gaps in the semiconductors. You'll notice that modern computers don't power up right after you press the power button. The reason your computer does not power up and start immediately when you press the power button, but the BIOS holds the computer for about 1-2 seconds, is that it is attempting to warm (prime) the electronics before a large stress is put on them.

You are putting additional stress on your 'puter's silicon when you turn it on, but you are also putting stress on the fans, HD, etc when you leave it on. ... It's a wash.

verve247

I might have replied too quick. I was focussing on the processor and the motherboard. The act of powering on/off does not involve moving parts (electrons don't count).

ray

Ever since college I have left my computer on all day all night. The only time I turn it off is for software upgrades/installation, hardware upgrades or when I know I will be out of town for a few days.

Memo

I only really turn it off when I go out of town for several days.

Jane83

does it still eat up electricity when you have a laptop closed on sleep?

Hoser

My computer has an off switch?

Sirrich3

Nightly...

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Jeffbx

If it's in sleep mode, then yes, it uses a tiny bit. If it's in hibrinate mode, then it's completely powered off.

zero2dash

I usually don't turn our desktop off, but I did this weekend; I figured that after a few month's of 24/7, it deserved a break.

The laptop - we power off everytime we're done using it (and then we 'put it up', otherwise our 14 month old gets a little too "curious").

I haven't really considered our electric bill to be higher with the computer on all the time, but then again, at our new address I've left it on most of the time and we've paid a little more for electric (but I considered that to be furnace costs)...I will be doing an experiment for March - turning it off every night to see if our bill drops any. If it does, I'll post it.

Merlin

I used to leave it on all the time. Easier to download movies. But about a year ago I got a laptop that I keep on my coffee table so that I can check e-mail and do some web surfing. Since I did that I find that I turn my desktop off every night. This has also helped save me a few dollors on the electric bill. Maybe $15 or $20 or so.

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modena

Ditto.

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