better to leave computer on or off?

U

UriA702

New Member
what do you guys think? what maxmimizes hardware life? is it better to leave the computer on 24/7 or turn it off when not in use.
I do understand that when turning on and off often the hot-cold and then cold-hot aspect puts some stress on the hardware, but is it as much stress as leaving the computer on 24 hours 7 days a week?
what are the pros and cons of both sides.
thanks in advance.
 
I just put my on hibernate. Iv read around and it seems like its just he say she says. Half say turning it off and on each day hurts the parts, but people say leaving it on hurts the parts.
 
leaving it on could speed up your drive failure, turning it off could do some things, personally i just put it to sleep. the fans keep going, saves a LITTLE bit of power, and it turns back on in a blink
 
this is a highly debatable topic personally i have two pcs one for gaming and one that runs two game servers the server pc is on 24/7 and has been for months with no problems, my own thought is if you turn your pc on and there is a chance you will be on it at variouse times of the day then leave it on turning it off at bed time
 
I don't know a single person who leaves the TV on 24 hours a day. TVs contain many of the same components that computers do. TVs certainly have no problems being cycled on and off.
 
All hardware has a MTF rate. Most components generally have a high MTF so most people think that there is no problem with leaving the computers on. When those people who do that generally have higher failure rates due to heat and hardware stress issues. Most consumer grade computer parts are not meant to be left on all the time. The one reason is Heat. Heat is your computers enemy. If the computer generated no heat from anything, it could be left on all the time with no failures to heat. If the computer was designed as a commercial grade computer (i.e Servers, etc.) than leaving it on all the time is acceptable because the MTF is much much higher than your desktop components. If it is just your home computer, regardless of components or cost, shut it off or put it on hibernate. I had an older computer that was left on all the time. That thing broke down on a regular basis. My new computer is now shut down every night or when not in use and i have no failures from it and it is 3 years old.
 
and that debate begins::::::>>>>>>>>>>>>::::::>>>>>>>>>>>> NOW

lol jk but meanman is right many people disagree on it
 
What I do is leave it on all the time during the day. I will usually turn it off when I go to bed (unless I am downloading).
 
UriA702 said:
what do you guys think? what maxmimizes hardware life? is it better to leave the computer on 24/7 or turn it off when not in use.
I do understand that when turning on and off often the hot-cold and then cold-hot aspect puts some stress on the hardware, but is it as much stress as leaving the computer on 24 hours 7 days a week?
what are the pros and cons of both sides.
thanks in advance.
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24/7 is good if you have an good cooler and case fans. How much is your electricity bill and PSU wattage? Efficiency?
 
I say that if it is more or less even, turn it off... save some energy, save the planet... and put money back into your wallet(energy is not free).

I personally turn off my computer every night, unless I plan to run the antivirus or something like that. And although my computer has been a pos since day 1, I feel that after 5 years its getting better and more reliable... Although I wouldn't say that is due to turning it off... But then again, its hard and almost impossible to figure out a clear answer because every parts are different and if once u have such experience, you don't know what would have happened had u done the opposite.
 
oscaryu1 said:
24/7 is good if you have an good cooler and case fans. How much is your electricity bill and PSU wattage? Efficiency?
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i dont think psu wattage will make much of a difference, the computer only draws as much as it needs. now efficiency, thats a whole other ballgame there
 
lovely? said:
i dont think psu wattage will make much of a difference, the computer only draws as much as it needs. now efficiency, thats a whole other ballgame there
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Well Ceewi1 said that if your running like an 1000W on an Pentium 4 system, the efficiency drops alot, so wattage DOES make an difference, don'tcha think? :rolleyes:
 
I've actually heard it's best to leave your computer on rather than switching it on and off frequently. Believe it or not, I've seen researching even stating that hard drives tend to last longer that run continuously...

My thought, if you're not going to use the computer in more than about an hour, shut it down/suspend it. Otherwise, leave it running.
 
I turn mine off at night and leave it running all day... as long as you don't turn it on/off everytime you leave the room i highly doubt it will do any long term damage. Even if it did the computer would be ancient by then :P

I don't know a single person who leaves the TV on 24 hours a day. TVs contain many of the same components that computers do. TVs certainly have no problems being cycled on and off.
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We leave our living room TV on 24/7, i don't think it has been switched off in 2 1/2 years :D
 
The_Other_One said:
I've actually heard it's best to leave your computer on rather than switching it on and off frequently. Believe it or not, I've seen researching even stating that hard drives tend to last longer that run continuously...

My thought, if you're not going to use the computer in more than about an hour, shut it down/suspend it. Otherwise, leave it running.
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agreed, thats what i was made to believe also, leaving on is the best solution, i keep mine on all week, i turn it off for weekends.
but if you're in a place where its really hot its not a good idea to leave it on ;)
 
my temps have stayed consistent with stock cooling mobo <35c and processor <40c the reason i ask is my young brother leaves his p4 2.4ghz 478 with 1 gig of ram on 24/7 for about the last 4 years and never formats or does any disk utility and the thing still runs tip top, very fast and effecient (xp sp2)
 
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