Keeping the computer on?

Keeping the computer on

  • I turn it off when I go to bed. My computer is never on for more then 24 hours

    Votes: 55 37.2%

  • I keep it on as long as I can.

    Votes: 93 62.8%
  • Total voters
    148
G

Ghostface Killah

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 25, 2005
Messages
139
I like to turn off my computer when I go to sleep. So when I wake up I will turn on the computer, and I don't turn it off until bedtime
I've been thinking of just keeping the computer on. Though is that good for the hardware? I also heard that if you keep turning on and off your computer it's bad for the hardware. So what is it, what do you guys prefer?
 
No hardware problems here. I keep my old p4 running for weeks at a time. I wonder how much power $$ I've wasted ...

I got in the habit after being tired of slow startups and shutdowns. I just prefer my system to be ready. After I installed a new vid card with a louder fan, I started to turn it off. Couldn't stand so much noise in my room :)
 
I turn my computer off when I go to bed, and turn it back on when I get home from work. So it is off atleast 16 hours a day during the week.
 
It is on when I need to use it, it is off when I don't need to use it.

I've borged my parent's PC, which is on 24/7, to fold for me, so I do have a constant folder. I used to feel guilty when asked why I didn't have my PC folding 24/7, but now I am satisfied. :D
 
I just leave mine on, despite thier "gas guzzler" status...
Desktop: Dual Opteron, 6800GT, 4 15k SCSIs.
Linux box: Dual P3 1.0, 1 7.2k SCSI + 3 10k SCSIs (one is a monster half height 12 platter unit) + 9 10k FC-AL.
I do, at least, turn off the CRTs. I think they use more power than my rigs, particularly the 24".
I've occasionally shut down my desktop when going on vacation, but the server box stays up unless there's a power failure, I'm working on it, or I'm moving. I just shut it down today to upgrade a disk, but before I did it had been up >200 days.
 
Just out of curiosity for the people who do leave their compies on - why do you do it? Folding (or any type of DC, for that matter) is very understandable, but I can't understand why else you would leave your computer on overnight. So what if it takes 5 minutes to boot up in the morning? Go make yourself a cup of coffee or something while you wait... :confused:
 
unless I'm messing with the motherboard, or vid card, or installed some new software. then my computer is NEVER off.
 
Only time my PC gets turned off is When

1) Thunderstorm knocks power out
2) Replacing parts/fudging around with parts
3) Leaving for more then 48 hours, Only done to prevent other fucktards in my house from screwing with my PC



Otherwise, its on all the time.
 
I am constantly downloading/uploading files around the intarweb. 24/7 for me unless its a restart here or there or when I got on vacation.
 
Media PC is always on. Laptop is more often than not downloading stuff from here there and everywhere and my desktop is a bit loud so it get's shut down from about 12 till 7 usually. Servers are always on. So my vote is for always on.
 
Well for starters it's easier on some of the components to leave it on 24/7. Additionally you consume less power having it run constantly then the power needed for a bootup.
 
I always leave my computer on not only for the above reasons, but also to allow the [H]ard|Folding to run during the times I am asleep.
 
I'll be more specific with my machines:

1) Main rig: Turned on when I get home from work, shut off all night and while I am at work.

2) Family rig: I am the only computer nerd, so it only runs when they have to check email or something like that.

3) Laptop: Only on when I use it

4) Linux box: Only on while in use. I only mess around with linux occasionally so I don't turn it on every day

5) Win 98 / BeOS box: See #3

6) HTPC: Used only when I watch divx so it follows #3

7) Main Server: 24/7 Has to always run to do server things

8) Secondary Server / P2P machine: I keep this on whenever I am downloading off of P2P, so basically 24/7

9) Linux Firewall: 24/7

I think I got them all. :rolleyes:
 
i keep my comp on at all times cept on the occasional storm i might shut it off but its usually on 24/7. I do restart every once in awhile for programs but technically its not shut off i would guess.
 
I try like heck to keep it on all day and night. That is unless a storm comes thru or our power plant decides to blow a transformer(very common especially with the heat here).
 
call me wierd but i try to balance the time my comp is off/on....right now during summer vacation i leave it off for about 9 hours and have it on for about 12-13 hours, but that varies everyday
 
x1600c said:
unless I'm messing with the motherboard, or vid card, or installed some new software. then my computer is NEVER off.
Click to expand...
werd.
 
The on/off-cycle induces thermal stress in the system's components, i.e., while operating they get warm, thus the materials they're made from expand. When turning the system off, those components cool down again, causing those materials to shrink again. Those constant thermal cycles causes small cracks and imperfections in the materials to form and increase in size and severity.

Also, when the system is turned on, most components are exposed to more current (circuits) and stress (HDDs) than they experience during normal operation. HDDs are rated for a number of spin-up/-down cycles for this reason.

In other words, leaving a system on for 24/7/356 vs 12/7/356 means that in the former case the system will last a lot longer and reduces the possibility of (catastropic) component failure.
 
wow i think ive had an epiphany, someone *looking up at the post before me* said something educated on this post.... just kidding, i leave my computer on all the time, and its loud as freaking hell, but, i know this is going to sound weird, the sound of a tornado or 2 in my room puts me to sleep.....i dont really have a reason to keep it on, i just do, sometimes for downloads, sometimes cause im too lazy to turn off/on.
 
on, off, on, off, and etc... isn't good thing to do with ur puter cuz of stressful electrical current flow through ur system. (short life)

leaver the puter on for 24/7 is the best method to use with ur sys cuz less stress with the current of electric. (long life just like the internet server)

Correct me if i am wrong bout this.
 
when I'm in college I keep my comp on almost 24/7 - one time I had an uptime of 7+ days.. it's a little loud and my roomate turns it off sometimes :p
 
I have kids that use my computer, and they have no idea of what to do when encountering a start-up problem. Although they have their own machines, mine is the main machine with the cable modem.
 
CyByte said:
i used to turn mine off for storms, then I purchased a UPS :)
Click to expand...

I have a UPS on my main rig because of rolling brown outs that were going on for a time in my area. That was very annoying. I leave most of my systems up and folding 24x7. ;)

All my comps are on all the time except my laptop.

 
b10d9fea.jpg


People who keep there computers on as long as possible what do you guys have the power settings set to?
 
I've left my computer on 24/7 for the past 5 yrs... to the point that even when I mean to turn it off, I always forget to.

At first I was in college, so electric consumption didn't matter much to me. Then I tried for a period to save power by shutting off -- but I just couldn't break my old habit and gave up on it :) My avg uptime before a reboot in college was 30 days (I sometimes got lazy on windows updating too.. haha)

I keep it on cause I don't like waiting for bootup and I've gotten use to always having the computer up and ready if I need it in an instance (sometimes I do have to look something up quickly before I run out, so not waiting to boot is great).

Also, many times, I leave my computer on overnight to do some video/audio encoding, since it is often very system intensive and takes hours on end. Other times, I might be downloading (or uploading, I use to run a file server), so my servers "had" to be always up, heh.

Put all together, it's just become a habit :) Now, if I'm playing a game and run off to work.. I sometimes just pause the game and come back to it afterwards (without exiting), haha.

Oh and one more thing, I somtimes remote desktop/VNC in when I'm out of the house, so another reason I leave it on when I'm not home.
 
I always leave it on. If I turn it off overnight, I would miss all the drunk MSN messages from friends, and ex girlfriends. That alone is worth it.

:D
 
bonkrowave said:
I always leave it on. If I turn it off overnight, I would miss all the drunk MSN messages from friends, and ex girlfriends. That alone is worth it.

:D
Click to expand...

He makes a good point :)

And there's always the drunk messages I send out that I don't want to forget the next morning...
 
Ghostface Killah said:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/dingly/Other/b10d9fea.jpg[img]

People who keep there computers on as long as possible what do you guys have the power settings set to?[/QUOTE]
HDD and Standby to 'Never', only the monitor is set to '3 Hours', in the hope that this will save a few extra mW during the night :p

Forcing a HDD to spin down/up when it's not absolutely necessary to do so is akin to killing it :eek: ^_-
Click to expand...
 
BigDaddy85 said:
on, off, on, off, and etc... isn't good thing to do with ur puter cuz of stressful electrical current flow through ur system. (short life)

leaver the puter on for 24/7 is the best method to use with ur sys cuz less stress with the current of electric. (long life just like the internet server)

Correct me if i am wrong bout this.
Click to expand...

YOU ARE WRONG. :D :cool: The idea of that is so old that it has become common knowledge even though the situation doesn't exist anymore. The problem was that in the old days when power supplies turned on they tended to "overvoltage" a bit to much. This in turn increased stress on the components. Todays power supplies all have softstart mechanisms which ramps the voltage up over a few mSec. Your CPU and 99% of the devices on the board are held in RESET until proper power is available so the current draw is very small actually.

Does anybody remember the "park" command on old HDD's. Heh...i had a person tell me that wouldn't shut down their computer because the OS no longe supported parking the heads. :confused:

-tReP
 
My pc is hooked to a 625va ups, so it pretty much stays on 24/7, unless a bad storm comes by and I unplug it.
 
Elledan said:
The on/off-cycle induces thermal stress in the system's components, i.e., while operating they get warm, thus the materials they're made from expand. When turning the system off, those components cool down again, causing those materials to shrink again. Those constant thermal cycles causes small cracks and imperfections in the materials to form and increase in size and severity.

Also, when the system is turned on, most components are exposed to more current (circuits) and stress (HDDs) than they experience during normal operation. HDDs are rated for a number of spin-up/-down cycles for this reason.

In other words, leaving a system on for 24/7/356 vs 12/7/356 means that in the former case the system will last a lot longer and reduces the possibility of (catastropic) component failure.
Click to expand...

Good ol' chip creep. I still turn my home comp off when I'm not using it, since it's on dial-up. But when I bring it to work for source and other gaming goodness, it's on all the time. T-1 at your disposal is kind of nice. My workstation stays on all the time and folds at work.
 
Mine stays on 24/7, however I think most other people that turn them off do so to protect them from intrusive others.

Fortunately, the only people I would have to leave it with would be my best friend (who knows even more than me about how to treat a rig), my girlfriend (who is knowledgeable enough to know what not to do), and my parents who taught me the simple lesson:

"Ask if you want to play with another person's toys."

Kept me in good stead ;)
 
Carnival Forces said:
why the hell would you turn it off when you can fold ?
Click to expand...

Save money!! When I first heard about F@H I borged all my machines. All running 24/7 100% load. Electrical bill went up $35. Do the math $35 X 12 months = $420. No thank you!! I'll fold when a) it doesn't cost me anything b) doesn't generate any extra heat.
 
I turn it when I goto sleep. Unless its encoding, downloading, then I leave it on as long as it needs.
 
brom42 said:
Save money!! When I first heard about F@H I borged all my machines. All running 24/7 100% load. Electrical bill went up $35. Do the math $35 X 12 months = $420. No thank you!! I'll fold when a) it doesn't cost me anything b) doesn't generate any extra heat.
Click to expand...

"Folding made my electricity bill go up! But I don't have to buy as much wood as I used to for the winter." This would be more funny in my situation if it wasn't true.
 
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