What wears out your computer more?

[Sam Raven]

In the long run what wears out your computer more? Letting it stay running 24/7 or just switching the computer on every morning and switching it off before going to bed?

[riel]

I guess CPU would and if your CPU runs hotter it sheds years off your PC, like smoking sheds years off your life which I dont listen and continue to do it lol...KEEP overCLOCKIN BOYS!!!

[Sam Raven]

Well I know the worse one would be the one where the CPU runs hotter and all that, but still my question hasn't been answered, which one wears off the CPU the fastest, leaving it on 24/7 or switching it off every night.
Eight people viewed this thread and one answered and his answer did not answer my question, instead talking about overclocking and smoking.

[noobman]

We'll never know the answer. Some people say shut it off, some people say leave it on.

On one hand, your fans (which are good for something like 50 000 hours) will die a lot quicker if you leave your PC on all day. On the other hand, turning on your computer requires more power consumption than if it were already on. It's also not too good for cheaper power supplies.

Personally, I leave my machine on. Sometimes I'll put it to sleep to save on some energy consumption. Hibernation in Windows XP is basically shutting off your PC, except your boot time is wayyyyy faster.

So yeah, I'd mix it up. Some nights shut it off, other nights just sorta put it to sleep.

[Stanhead]

I always shut it off, but I may try hibernation as my PC takes ages to boot up. I got a new PSU, Mobo, and CPU, but it still takes a while to boot up, so yeah, hibernation might be a good option depending on how long your PC takes to start up.

Because most power consumption is when booting up, right?

[John Clabo]

I leave mine on. I'll let you know in 50,000 hours if my fans start to die.

[Sam Raven]

50,000 hours = nearly 6 years

[D3TON8R]

You would decrease the life of electrical componentry by continually adding and remowving power to it, ie: start-up and shutdown.

Therefore theoretically it would be better to leave it on, only shutting down say once a week to freshen your cache mem etc.

I leave mine running 24/7 and only shut it down on a sat or sunday to clean it out. (less dust = happier pc!)

It would be impossible to test the theory correctly as no two chips are the same. Still, things like extra heat will have an impact, although it's again hard to judge.

[riel]

I was always told if you press the reset button or power button continously it is not good for it in the long run but I never really proved that theory

[D3TON8R]

it's because electronic compenents - look at all those caps etc on your mobo - are volatile components. The more you turn 'em on and off, the more volatile they become. Same with over powering them. Since your pc is full of volatile componentry, wouldn't it make more sense to run it for longer periods rather than turn it on and off every night?

[Sam Raven]

it's because electronic compenents - look at all those caps etc on your mobo - are volatile components. The more you turn 'em on and off, the more volatile they become. Same with over powering them. Since your pc is full of volatile componentry, wouldn't it make more sense to run it for longer periods rather than turn it on and off every night?Good point there. Good to see that my threads are generating discussion here.

So the conclusion is, switching on and off on a daily basis wears out a computer more than running it 24/7?

[D3TON8R]

Theoretically speaking yes, turning it on and off would create more chance of componentry failure.

When i was an elec engineer in the RAAF, we used to spend about a million bucks a year per aircraft on repairs. The aircraft landed and were shut down. When we repaired them, they were ran, then shut down again. In america the same aircraft are landed then plugged into a ground power source which keeps the systems running......they had a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) half of ours.

Goes to prove that if it works on an aircraft (about fifty PC's in one!) then it should also work for your home PC. Like i say, it's theoretical and not all componentry acts the same.....ie: why it's volatile. However i generally run mine 24/7, only shutting down over a sat/sun for an hour or two to clean it. Since i run extensive cooling, i don't see heat being a problem. Working in I.T, if you have any questions about heating and cooling of your PC, feel free to ask. :)

"So the conclusion is, switching on and off on a daily basis wears out a computer more than running it 24/7?"

Yep. :)

[Sam Raven]

Theoretically speaking yes, turning it on and off would create more chance of componentry failure.

When i was an elec engineer in the RAAF, we used to spend about a million bucks a year per aircraft on repairs. The aircraft landed and were shut down. When we repaired them, they were ran, then shut down again. In america the same aircraft are landed then plugged into a ground power source which keeps the systems running......they had a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) half of ours.

Goes to prove that if it works on an aircraft (about fifty PC's in one!) then it should also work for your home PC. Like i say, it's theoretical and not all componentry acts the same.....ie: why it's volatile. However i generally run mine 24/7, only shutting down over a sat/sun for an hour or two to clean it. Since i run extensive cooling, i don't see heat being a problem. Working in I.T, if you have any questions about heating and cooling of your PC, feel free to ask. :)

"So the conclusion is, switching on and off on a daily basis wears out a computer more than running it 24/7?"

Yep. :)That is interesting. At least that means the USAF doesn't need to worry about booting up its computers when it needs to warm up and get going.

[D3TON8R]

yeah, not like us Aussies.....then again, you gotta get our pilots from the pub first....lmao

[John Clabo]

You have pilots? Wait you have airplanes? Woah! :P

Just messin.

[D3TON8R]

lol, yeah believe it or not we do! :)

and without bragging, we ALWAYS slay the yanks on Maritime missions...:P

[Sam Raven]

lol, yeah believe it or not we do! :)

and without bragging, we ALWAYS slay the yanks on Maritime missions...:PThat's the way man, keep it low until the real deal comes.

[OWNAGE TIME]

In the long run what wears out your computer more? Letting it stay running 24/7 or just switching the computer on every morning and switching it off before going to bed?


Well shutting it off for 8 hours or so is better than just leaving it on. The thing that would wear out your computer the most is if you constantly have strain on the CPU. However keepinng the CPU at idle is perfectly fine, but if I were you take the extra 2 seconds and click Shut Down, or what I do is standby. That works real well for me.

[D3TON8R]

Well shutting it off for 8 hours or so is better than just leaving it on. The thing that would wear out your computer the most is if you constantly have strain on the CPU. However keepinng the CPU at idle is perfectly fine, but if I were you take the extra 2 seconds and click Shut Down, or what I do is standby. That works real well for me.

Ummm, just out of curiosity, did you read th whole thread and the reasons FOR leaving it on?

[SaladFork]

But you cannot deny that with all the memory leaks found in Operating Systems, you will notice a significant decrease in system performance after a while.

Personally, I try and restart my computer at least once every two to three weeks.

~Salad

[Celeron Gamer]

It depends on hardware, and traditionally, it was power-on, and off. But with current-gen technology, it really depends on what you buy

[OWNAGE TIME]

Ummm, just out of curiosity, did you read th whole thread and the reasons FOR leaving it on?

First yes I did read the thread thats why I posted and he didn't say why he was leaving it on, just said what wears out your computer more and I answered that and gave a suggestion as to what I do. Thats it.


~Greg