Turn it off or leave it on?

[konsole]

If your going to be away from your computer for more then a few hours then there is no good reason to keep it on, other then maybe you have it downloading or doing some other tasks while your not there like checking for software or driver updates or running a defrag or antivirus scan.

what I do is set my screen saver to come on in 10 minutes, the monitor to shut off in 15 minutes and the computer to go into sleep mode in 45 minutes. This way after 45 minutes the monitor has turned off and the computer has essentially been turned off, just with the fans left running. and it can be woken up in 5 seconds. Leaving your computer on, no matter how many components have gone into sleep or hibernate or whatever, will consume electricity and the computer wont be doing anything, so why leave it on?

 

[JareeB]

i turn mine off every night it only takes like 10 seconds to start up

 

[vr2jetta]

what I do is set my screen saver to come on in 10 minutes, the monitor to shut off in 15 minutes and the computer to go into sleep mode in 45 minutes. This way after 45 minutes

I have adjusted everything to go in energy saver/sleep mode after 10 minutes, and I have started turning it off at night too. I used to leave my old computer on because it was a POS and took a few minutes to start up, not to mention if I tried to get on the internet right after powering up it took another couple minutes to load too. Since powering down at night, its start up time on my new rig is about 20-30 seconds and that old internet lag is gone too. Thanks for the replies, and other than the useful info on this thread, it has been entertaining. LOL!

 

[Bodaggit23]

it only takes like 10 seconds to start up

That would be an exaggeration...

 

[vr2jetta]

I timed it, my machine takes 40 seconds from then time I push the power button to when windows comes up on screen.

 

[Concordedly]

1. JakeUSMC - It would behoove you to shut up and stop making a poor example of the United States Marine Corps, of which you have never belonged to, and will never belong to.

2. I always leave my system on, but I'm thinking it's going to be shut off a lot more after I make my adjustments.

 

[Springy182]

Some processors are 130 Watt like the Intel i7 series.

i7 CPUs dont use 130W just to idle though, I think idle power is 10-15W max for any recent (K7 or Netburst) CPU, not sure though

I turn mine off during the night, don't see the point of having a computer running and using up electricity. It's like leaving 5 or so 60 watt lightbulbs on with no purpose!

Idle power on a typical system rarely exceeds 150-175W, real world load is rarely even 300W in "reasonable" systems

Try building a computer without any moving parts, it'll either cost you a fortune or take forever due to the loads of custom parts you'll need to passively cool everything.

Not particularly, passive 300-400W PSU, low power CPU with passive heatsink (TRUE or a CM Hyper Z600) passive graphics card (9600GT for example) really cheap SSD, it wouldnt be that much more expensive than a regular system

 

[aviation_man]

I would say, turn it off at night. But, don't turn it off if you're going to use it for 35 minutes, go somewhere for a half hour, then come back and turn it on again.
It becomes 'wear and tear' on your system if you turn your computer on and off frequently like that, it's bad for the hardware to heat up (loosen) then cool off (contract) etc...numerous times..

 

[Bodaggit23]

1. JakeUSMC - It would behoove you to shut up and stop making a poor example of the United States Marine Corps

Amen

it's bad for the hardware to heat up (loosen) then cool off (contract) etc...numerous times..

Care to elaborate on that?

 

[StrangleHold]

it's bad for the hardware to heat up (loosen) then cool off (contract) etc...numerous times..

Care to elaborate on that?

Well it does happen to a point, but if you have a good quality board it should not be a problem.

But its the other way around. Things contract when hot and expand when cold.

 

[aviation_man]

Well it does happen to a point, but if you have a good quality board it should not be a problem.

But its the other way around. Things contract when hot and expand when cold.

Oh sorry, I didn't realize I had it backwards - Thanks.

Board and also other things that are metal that heat up. Over a matter of time though; and frequently.

 

[vr2jetta]

Things contract when hot and expand when cold.

No, things expand when hot and shrink when cold.

 

[StrangleHold]

No, things expand when hot and shrink when cold.

Yeah, your right. For some reason I had water on my mind.

 

[Bodaggit23]

I understand that metal expands when heated, but I was looking for the specific components he was referring to.

I really don't think this is an issue commonly related to computer failure.

 

[porlean]

i turn my pc off every night its pointless to leave it on all the time, besides my computer starts up in like 30 seconds anyway so i dont see whats the big deal with the waiting problem

 

[Vizy]

I'm forced to turn it off. Installed some new fans recently and 1 or more of them are defective, but it was expected, I bought them from Fry's. Anyways, they are ridiculously loud and their volume randomly changes, plus it's bright in there. And my bed is right next to it so yea, just act as if you guys care.

 

[zulu]

well i leave my PC on, i cant even turn it off anymore! LOL. No seriously it doesn't shutdown.

 

[porlean]

that must suck, why dont u try unplugging it

 

[zulu]

that must suck, why dont u try unplugging it

thats what i do before bed..

 

[porlean]

WOW dude lol u should look into fixing that