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Answer» Who here turns their computer off when not in use?
I've read from multiple articles and many videos ( linus being the most credible ) recommending and saying its ok to turn your computer off when not in use.
Reduces heat and potential wear and tear. The other thought is though everytime you turn your computer on your wearing on the parts as well.
Personally I turn mine off everytime I walk away. It literaly take 4 sec. to shutdown and 6 sec. to turn on.I usually turn off at night. During the day, I usually let it, or them, go into sleep mode after some inactivity. My laptop will automatically switch from Sleep to Hibernation (which is a fully powered down state) after being in Sleep mode for a certain length of time. There is no right or wrong. Do whatever makes you happy.I turn off all my computers when not in use. Some I have set to place into sleep mode when left for a period of time inactive such as my wifes computer.
The BIGGEST savings in shutting down is lowering your electric bill by a small amount if a regular computer, or greater amount if a extreme gaming rig with multiple video cards and 8-core AMD CPU etc.
There are pros and cons to cycling a system powered on and resting powered off.
Pros of powering off when not in use:
1.) Computer takes longer to accumulate dust and animal hair inside because cooling fans are not drawing in air. ( * Generally lasts longer )
2.) Lower electric bill
3.) Home computers do better when they are at least rebooted (warm boot ) to reset the memory and boot fresh since 99.9% of home computers are using Non-ECC ( error checking memory ).
4.) Hard Drives are not spinning when idle wearing on the mechanical hardware that make up HDD's.
5.) Motherboards with electrolytic capacitors take longer to dry up electrolyte because the capacitors are only heated when in use to vent out electrolyte vapor.
6.) Cooling fans last longer because less wear on the fans over a period of time.
Cons to powering off computer:
1.) Upon every power up there is a sudden draw for heavy current consumption that if you had lower quality components could eventually stress components that take a current draw spike on every boot such as VRM's, Power Supply, and other power related / conversion/ or filtration components.
2.) Heat cycles CAUSE EXPANSION and contraction that could fatigue parts over time. * Very unlikely to occur with quality parts, more likely with systems that have inadequate cooling and run too hot and then cool and run too hot again without emergency thermal shutdowns in which the components are thermally stressed.
3.) You have to wait for it to boot up before use. If you have a newer system with a SSD its not that bad, but if an older Pentium 4 or Celeron computer running Windows 7 on 1GB RAM, and a slow and older 40GB 5400 rpm IDE Hard Drive, it could be 2 or 3 minutes before your at the desktop to be able to use it, such as Windows 7 32-bit tested on a 2002 year eMachine with a socket 478 Pentium 4 2000Mhz with 1GB 266Mhz FSB RAM on a 60GB Samsung IDE HDD and integrated Intel 845GL graphics on 64MB shared memory took about 3 minutes to get to desktop after clean build with CPU and HDD running full bore
to boot for all but 8 seconds of the initial POST time delay.
Also to note when a computer is powered off, the soft power, which allows computers to be powered off of the front power button can cause a system to draw around 7 watts, if you add the flat screen monitor to it idle you will see about 12 watts as for its in its low power mode with backlight off waiting for a signal.
If your looking to save electricity its best to power off a power strip or battery backup that powers the computer.
The argument of leaving it on somehow making it last longer is nonsense IMO - Even if it did affect the lifespan, the machine will long outlast its useful life before any wear that that somehow causes would cause problems.
I'll leave my machine on or put it to sleep if I am currently working on it (for example I'll leave it on if I need to quickly run to the shop or something) because shutting it down means I need to reopen all my applications and get back working again when I get back to it. However, I won't leave it on 24/7 or anything, all that does is waste power and therefore increase my electric bill!
As Allan says, do whatever works best for you.Where's the off switch again ? ?Quote from: patio on May 30, 2015, 05:13:58 PM Where's the off switch again ? ?
Start. lolDo you have a PC or a laptop? I have a laptop and I always put him in a hibernation, not turn off. In my humble opinion, if you leave your computer for a few minutes, or even hours, it is best to put it in sleep/hibernation mode. With regard to off it for the night, then you need to turn it off. I think it will be useless to hear this buzz all night. Laptop can easily be left for the night, it'll fall asleep itself and wait until you wake it. But do not leave your computer on battery power, connect it to the network.
But the on/off is not necessary to abuse. All the technic, not just a computer, do not like to be turned on or off. Usually all damage occured during turning on. So for the PC is better to work an extra hour safely than start a new.
Well, of course, keep your computer turned on for weeks, it is also not necessary, this is not the server that run for months.
And the most important, if you are shutting down your computer, do it correctly and not by PULLING the plug out of the socket, and then your computer will work long and stably. Good luck!
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