Leaving PC on 24/7

M

machofairy

n00b
Joined
Jul 3, 2004
Messages
24
I had a random reboot problem ever since I built this PC 8 weeks ago. Could not find the reason for it, but I found that, if it stays on after 20 minutes, it will stay on without randomly rebooting.

So, is it safe if I decide to keep the PC on 24/7? Is there a good reason to do so? Is there one not to do so?

Is it expensive to do so if I turned the monitor off?

My system:
XP Pro SP1 with latest updates till July 2004
AMD 3200+ XP not oc'ed
512 mb 2700 DDR generic ram
Radeon 9800 pro
Pioneer 105
Maxtor 200gb IDE HDD

Idle temps
CPU: 45-47
Mobo - 24-27

Thanks in advance
 
I had a problem that kept my PC running for more than a few hours... I had a wrinkled IDE cable. Check if your cables or powerconnecters aren't damaged... just my 2c

The only reason why I had mine on 24/7 was for bit torrent downloads, otherwise I'd leave it off.
 
mine is on 24/7... and in fact many many many computers around the world run 24/7/365 (think of web servers and such)...

as long as you are running at safe temps and such, then it is no big deal...

and if you're worried about electricity bill i remember seeing a post around here about a year ago with a detailed brakedown of the cost and it came out to like $10 per year extra to leaver you computer running 24/7/365... so that really shouldn't be much of an issue...
 
ill bet you its the ram thats causing the instability.. generic ram isnt good, and that xp3200 needs pc3200 ram to sync up... i know this isnt what you are asking about...and in regards to running it 24/7, its fine, there are multiple compuers in my house running 24/7
 
Yeah I second that on generic RAM, I overclocked some old PC100 generic ram and after a few years it would crap out and BSOD in Windows 2000 all the time. Do a memtest
 
lithium726 said:
ill bet you its the ram thats causing the instability.. generic ram isnt good, and that xp3200 needs pc3200 ram to sync up... i know this isnt what you are asking about...and in regards to running it 24/7, its fine, there are multiple compuers in my house running 24/7
Click to expand...


Who told you that an xp3200 needs pc3200 ram to sync up? I suppose if AMD changed there system to identify processors then you would need to change ram, eh? That is completely untrue and I'd like you to smack the person who told you that. Enjoy.
 
that was seriously the most retarded thing I've ever read on this forum. I hope he hasn't been running around telling people that they really do need to sync up their processor and ram like that.
 
Ahriman said:
Who told you that an xp3200 needs pc3200 ram to sync up? I suppose if AMD changed there system to identify processors then you would need to change ram, eh? That is completely untrue and I'd like you to smack the person who told you that. Enjoy.
Click to expand...

In case you didn't know it, the XP3200+ does need PC3200 RAM to run in sync. The processor runs on a 400 mhz bus and so does the RAM.

Running PC2700 RAM (which runs 333 mhz) with an XP3200+ (which runs 400 mhz bus) is not a good thing if you are trying to run the RAM in sync with the processor. There was no mention that the guy said that the RAM would run PC3200 speeds and no mention that he is running it async.

Before you go ripping the guy giving advice, think about what he said. He is correct and you are wrong.

As far as leaving the system on 24/7, there is nothing wrong with doing it. I've been doing it with my systems for years. My work computer is now on its 66th day of uptime if I remember correctly. It's just a little Gateway PIII 700.
 
PopeKevinI said:
(legal) torrents
Click to expand...
:rolleyes:

also, I've read that the strain of booting up over and over again is much more stressful to a computer then running continuously - similar to how start up is rough on a car
 
I used to leave mine on 24/7, but since I am only home for a few hours in the evening and sleep during the night anymore, I find it hard to justify the $400-$500 per year increase in my electric bill.
 
Met-AL said:
I used to leave mine on 24/7, but since I am only home for a few hours in the evening and sleep during the night anymore, I find it hard to justify the $400-$500 per year increase in my electric bill.
Click to expand...
how many computers do you have for that to happen? :eek:

since the average CPU only takes 60watts at full load, and i'm guessing you didn't leave your monitors/speakers on..we'll add 20 watts for HDDs/VidCard/etc...that makes 80watts a box..at the average price of 9 cents per KWH...that means...365/24 = 15.2083 repeating, 15.2083 * 80 = 1216 and 2/3..*0.09 would give us

*drumroll...*
*cymbal*
$109.50 extra.

so you have what, 5 computers?

here's the justification (among other diseases): http://www.mercola.com/2002/may/29/cancer.htm

Fold. On.
http://folding.stanford.edu
Team 33!
 
look the system in my sig.
i run it 24/7 since so many years lol hehe
 
Carnival Forces said:
how many computers do you have for that to happen? :eek:

since the average CPU only takes 60watts at full load, and i'm guessing you didn't leave your monitors/speakers on..we'll add 20 watts for HDDs/VidCard/etc...that makes 80watts a box..at the average price of 9 cents per KWH...that means...365/24 = 15.2083 repeating, 15.2083 * 80 = 1216 and 2/3..*0.09 would give us

*drumroll...*
*cymbal*
$109.50 extra.

so you have what, 5 computers?

here's the justification (among other diseases): http://www.mercola.com/2002/may/29/cancer.htm

Fold. On.
http://folding.stanford.edu
Team 33!
Click to expand...

I can tell you for sure that my PC uses more than 60 watts of power. I used to have it on a APC BackUPS Pro 420 by itself, which has a maximum load of 260watts. Guess what, the APC's overload alarm wen't off frequently. Every time the CPU went under full load or when I would start a 3d game such as BFV or Doom3.

Let's redo your formula with 200watts being used and see what we get.
15.2083 * 200 = 3041.66
and * .09

*drumroll...*
*cymbal*
$273.7494 extra

Now let's add my second PC which is just a file server built out of a old Athlon 1ghz with 3 hard drives. Let's use your 80 watt figure, since I really have no clue to what it uses.

$273.75 + $109.50 =

*drumroll...*
*cymbal*
$383.25

Now, I will conceid that $383.25 is not equal to $400 to $500 like I said above, but it is a considerable amount of money to waist each year. I think of it like this, it's a video card upgrade.

And, I agree, running those distributed computing programs is a good way to make use of your PC when it is idle.
 
I guess i'm the minority here when i say i shut everything down......including my modem.
You see, everything is on a surge protector, so when i'm done for the night, i shut down the computer and flick the switch to the surge protector. This is habit for me and i've been doing it for over 5 yrs without any problems. (I guess all those years of my Father yelling at me to turn off the lights when i leave a room has really stuck with me :D ). While the saying "Turning it on and off isn't good", may be true, how many of us carry over hardware thats over three years old? By the time you wear down a device from "shutting it on and off", the thing would probably be 10 yrs old........just like cars. The '73 Duster i purchased 3 yrs ago has been started most everyday for the past 31 yrs and the original engine is sound.

Don't believe too much in the "It'll break" theory.
 
mined on 24/7 but somtimes my step-dad gets pissed and rips out the one cord powering my whole room/basement. Lol i have 6 surge protectors running off one extension cord :eek: , that cant be good
 
xbreaka said:
mined on 24/7 but somtimes my step-dad gets pissed and rips out the one cord powering my whole room/basement. Lol i have 6 surge protectors running off one extension cord :eek: , that cant be good
Click to expand...

You have a single cord powering your entire room? No, thats not good at all. I guess you're in the basement huh? Any chance of gaining access to the service panel? If so, hire a licensed electrician to give you a few more circuits. Having everything on an electrical cord is an accident waiting to happen. Good luck.
 
As several other people have said, random reboots are most often caused by memory. Try running memtest on it for a while and see if any errors crop up.
 
Ahriman said:
Who told you that an xp3200 needs pc3200 ram to sync up? I suppose if AMD changed there system to identify processors then you would need to change ram, eh? That is completely untrue and I'd like you to smack the person who told you that. Enjoy.
Click to expand...
probably the guy who had the temerity to also include a 400mhz FSB on the chipe DDR-400 (PC-3200) so to run in synch the FSB muc match the ram speed or the one will folloe the fastest speed of the other.



Myself, i would memtest that ram, if it test out fine from a an overnight of full tests, then i would bumb my ram up to DDr-400 if it isnt already, i ran 3 256mb sticks of ddr-333 pc-2700 2 sticks were samsung, one stick was Xerox, at 206Mhz fsb for a long time before i bought my Hyper-x
 
thanks for your responses.

I now feel reassured wnen running my PC continuously.
I have not tried new ram to resolve the random reboot problem. It did occur to me in the past, but having no 3200 type ram to try, I decided to underclock my cpu to 333 mhz.

I still experienced the random reboot.

I did a memtest once, only let it get to 100% and it was fine. Never tried it any longer.

I must add that this problem does not happen often ....no more than twice a week and less, if I do not cold boot my PC as often. So, I can live with it.
 
Ahriman said:
that was seriously the most retarded thing I've ever read on this forum. I hope he hasn't been running around telling people that they really do need to sync up their processor and ram like that.
Click to expand...

dude. the xp3200 runs at 400 fsb. pc3200 is DDR400. get your facts straight.

In case you didn't know it, the XP3200+ does need PC3200 RAM to run in sync. The processor runs on a 400 mhz bus and so does the RAM.

Running PC2700 RAM (which runs 333 mhz) with an XP3200+ (which runs 400 mhz bus) is not a good thing if you are trying to run the RAM in sync with the processor. There was no mention that the guy said that the RAM would run PC3200 speeds and no mention that he is running it async.

Before you go ripping the guy giving advice, think about what he said. He is correct and you are wrong.
Click to expand...

thank you.
 
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