Who leaves their PC on all the time?

Soldato
Joined
22 Jun 2004
Posts
2,756
Location
Bangkok, Thailand (formally London)
Someone mentioned to me on another post that they left their PC running all the time and didnt turn it off.. said its better for the PC.

Do you agree with this? I'm just curious to know how many of you leave your PC running all the time? If so do you set the PC to go into standby mode after a certain time or sumin?

Just curious :) ...

ta
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Nov 2005
Posts
12,970
not me... i have a very small room.. and cant sleep with it on.... i require silence..

which is why my next project is a totally silent... cube pc....to have on constantly.
 
Associate
Joined
6 Dec 2005
Posts
787
If you turn you PC on and off a few times a day like 4 or 5 times everyday for maybe 5 years then maybe. But if you only turn it on/off once or twice as day I think its better to turn it off.
 
Associate
Joined
20 Sep 2005
Posts
635
It is true, that technically its is good for machines to be left on 24/7 as they reach an optimal temperature and operating rythm. However, its not so good for the electricity bill if you have lots of things on the go.

My MCE machine is on 24/7, but others are only on as needed.
 
Associate
Joined
6 Dec 2005
Posts
787
keogh said:
is it possible to have a silent yet powerful PC? The higher performance of the parts the more airflow they need surely?

Depends. More modern components can sometimes be cooler than the older ones. Also if you have a lot of passive cooling going on then its possible for some systems to not to need mechanically created airflow. Depends what you are doing though. If you are encoding or playing 3D games for 24/7 then thats different.
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Nov 2005
Posts
2,946
Location
London
I keep my computer o 24/7 just because I prefer it like that. It hasn't caused me any problems, and I much rather like having it on when I wanna use it rather than wait for it to boot up :p
Last time I shut down my computer I think was when I went on holiday for a month about a year ago :p

If its better for it, then all the better :D

I do however, shut off the monitor power ferquently. Everyday when I go to school, or go to sleep, or go out, I switch off the monitor.
 
Associate
Joined
12 Oct 2005
Posts
504
I switch mine off once or twice a week at most, usually always downloading but if its got nothing to do I switch it off so hopefully I save a couple of pennies off the electricity bill :p
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Jan 2005
Posts
3,655
Location
Expat in HK
I'm with Sudden, my machine is running 24/7, my monitor off whenever i'm out. Unfortunately for the five people i live with they know nothing about it. Oops. :D
 
Associate
Joined
30 Nov 2002
Posts
1,851
Location
Birmingham
24/7 for a PC is fine and does TECHNICALLY reduce the chance of faults. Each warming/cooling cycle will slowly loosen things in sockets etc. and of course the shock of firing everything up will add another small amount to reducing life. Classic example of this is PSU's... if they pop more often than not it's when you turn them on ( not allways but the biggest and best bangs are at switchon).

HOWEVER in realworld I doubt you'd notice much difference between 24/7 and off/on... I keep all my PC's on ( Fileserver, 4 desktops and a firewall ) 24/7 just turning the monitors off. The electricity they draw when idling is very low (much less than a lightbulb most probably) even without powersave features.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Jan 2005
Posts
3,655
Location
Expat in HK
I agree BigDom, the electricity used up of a PC is minimal ad idling, even when i ran SETI@Home i never saw prices fluctuate much. Then again a few of my housemates really do believe every penny counts, SO... i always keep my door closed. :D
 
Associate
Joined
30 Nov 2002
Posts
1,851
Location
Birmingham
keogh said:
Do you set windows (or mac/linux whatever you are using) to go to standby after a certain amount of hours? Or do you just let it run all the time normally?

Run normally.. I HATE powersave/standby.. In the past had trouble with PC's not coming out properly so I keep everything on.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
22 Jun 2004
Posts
2,756
Location
Bangkok, Thailand (formally London)
cool, think im gonna leave my pc running now. Im considering upgrading my standard 120mm coolermaster fan though (its the one that came with my coolermaster cavalier case)... I've been looking at the asaka ones? any recommendations? (im not considering water cooling etc either!
 
Man of Honour
Joined
27 Sep 2004
Posts
25,821
Location
Glasgow
keogh/steve could you sort your signature out please. According the the FAQ you have 400x75 pixels and 20k to work with plus 1 line of small text. :)

I used to leave my PC on all the time because I would be downloading but now I don't have a net connection at home I don't see the point. The difference will be minimal in terms of damage done by switching on/off but once I get a net connection at home again my PC will probably just stay on.
 

Klo

Klo

Soldato
Joined
20 Nov 2005
Posts
4,108
Location
South East
I switch it on in the morning at off at the evening. I have no need to keep it on 24/7. Not that much stuff out there to download.
 
Back
Top Bottom