What is best for a computer

[paradoxos]

TO keep it on or to shut it down every night? I thought I had heard it is hard on your system to shut it down and turn it on every day.

 

[Nodsu]

It's not that hard, but yes - keep it running. Not the monitor though.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Must be pretty low quality components if they fail from turning them on and off a couple of times a day.

Does this really happen, or is this just a myth used to scare beginners?

On a side note, a computer turned off won't catch malware

 

[DonNagual]

Why not turn it off?

this results in a million tons of carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere every year. It also estimates that home computer users waste £41m a year and pump out an extra 220,000 tons of carbon dioxide as a result.

SOURCE

 

[Tedster]

another greenie. Personally I don't buy into global warming as a total result of mankind. The sun has a lot of say. Quite frankly, I hate cold weather. I've lived in too many cold places most of my life. I like it here in the desert.

And one volcanic eruption can spew more CO2 into the atmosphere than 10 years worth of cars.....


I keep mine on 100% of the time. I run SETI at home all the time.

Turning a computer off and on isn't healthy for components. Bringing any computing device from an offline state to an online one stresses components.

Most of the time this isn't a problem.... if you turn it on and off once or twice a day... but if you're constantly doing it... it's bad.

 

[Samstoned]

this has been a known issue in the electonics world since big dumb tubes / transistors.
its a life cycle componant curve electronic parts are made by humans in a world thats not perfect , some will make them cheaper by not using good material
company A uses resisters and capicitors with a value +- 1 %
in design the electronic assembly runs far better and longer
company B uses resisters and capicitors with a value +- 20 % now what do you think is going to happen here
you may buy at a cheaper price ,but in time there will be more failures
I remember reading about it in a sams issue,back when I started trouble shooting TV's
and it still applies today
try your power management setup and turn off your hard drive drives if not being used

 

[Tedster]

in short, it sounds like you get what you pay for.

Buy cheap = more failures.

 

[shiv_skanda]

I think its better to switch off and restart the next morning, specially becasue even though the hard disk and the processor sleep, heat is continuosly generated increasing the temperature.

The system and processor fans can do a good job but continuous working for weeks together can run them down also. Your system will become slow with time to come. The fan in your SMPS box also gets heated up like hell if its on for so much time. So. unless your system is configured as an server, I would say shut it off and restart in morning.

 

[pkroks]

i leave my on for a few days at a time coz my connection is slow and i download lots of appz and stuff for testing and watever. My pc doesnt get hot though coz i leave it in a room with an aircon and a fan. if i point the fan at the pc the temp sits around 30C. if i don't point the fan at the computer it sits at around 35C with the aircon. i wouldn't switch it off everytime you leave the room. on in the morning and off in the night or the next night...

 

[Tedster]

My motherboard has a smart fan. It only runs when necessary.

Plus a have many case fans.

I clean my system at least once a year, sometimes twice.

 

[sllewe]

The only reason i would leave it on is for my HDs. I have never heard of a CPU "wearing out"

Personal preference? Considering it is in my bedroom, i turn it off at night. But if im going to do something, or go to school, i leave it on.

 

[Tedster]

wearing out? Most computers will become obsolete far before the CPU will wear out.

 

[Akio]

I've heard that it is bad to turn off your system aswell. Is this because it makes your system more open to viruses? Or something along those lines? This is interesting because my computer was running just fine for a few months. Then I began to turn it off because it was loud at night. (Removed the case, it had some fan problems) The blue screen of death started to appear a week later, while I was still on my routine of turning it off.

 

[sllewe]

wearing out? Most computers will become obsolete far before the CPU will wear out.

Was that directed at me? because that is exactly what I was saying lol

Sean