Turn a PC Off or Leave It On?

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To be honest, the only reason I linked this "Turn a PC Off or Leave It On?" article is because I want to know what you guys do. Personally, I have several PCs in the house and most are turned off every night but my main box (overclocked, 1000W PSU, 2x Radeon 6950's, Triple monitors) runs 24/7.

Call me a tree-hugger if you must, but I see no reason to keep a computer on when it's not in use. That wastes electricity, which is bad for your pocketbook and bad for the planet. And it's probably bad for the computer.
 
My main rig I turn off, but otherwise my HTPC, WHS and Untangle box stay online 24/7. My main rig takes very little to start up so I don't mind waiting.
A coworker of mine does leave his rig, his kids rig on 24/7 but he's BOINC'ing, tried to get him to Fold but no dice.
 
I guess you could leave them on and fold@home.. Don't HardForum have one of the best folding team in the world?
 
i keep all mine on 24/7. this is why i (stupidly) have a 12yr old PC running still w/ stock hardware. sure it'll die prob the next time power dies but it's still kicking. i swear a lot of it is from keeping it on 24/7
 
Computers were built to be on 24/7, I leave mine on for as long as possible, if I have used it or I am using it, either way really if it's hardly used, or hardly turned off, the system will last for ages.
 
We have 4 computers in the house... My PC, Unraid server, HTPC/XBMC, and a laptop.

The only thing we shutdown on a consistent basis is the laptop.

I personally like sitting at my desk, moving the mouse and have a workable system (I shutdown virtually every power-saving feature sans Monitor off and HDD disks off).

Server and HTPC, obviously run 24/7... though I am currently in the process of changing my HTPC from a budget system to a Zotac ND22 nettop to save a bit of electricity.

Laptop is mainly used by the GF to surf etc so she can wait to power on.
 
I have my Windows Home Server on all the time which has a wake on lan plugin installed. That way if I need to get into my PC's remotely I can just power it on and turn it off when I am done.

I turn all other machines off when I am using them. Current gen machines with SSD are so quick to boot it really doesnt bother me having it turn it on every time I want to use it.
 
Only if its doing something will I keep it on. With SSD drives now if you're that impatient to wait 25 seconds to boot. You've been babied too much and need to go back to the darkages when 7,200K IDE drives just came out.
 
Personally, I have several PCs in the house and most are turned off every night but my main box (overclocked, 1000W PSU, 2x Radeon 6950's, Triple monitors) runs 24/7.

Are you folding with this rig overnight?
 
I leave my main pc on and all my server/network stuff. HTPC is only turned on when I want to watch a movie. It has Ubuntu so it's a 10 sec boot, it's like turning on a cable box or something.
 
I leave my computer on most of the time. If I'm going to be gone for a couple days I'll turn it off, otherwise it stays on.
 
Why anyone would lave a PC on all the time is beyond me. S3 standby saves about 130w at idle, which - over 20 hours of idling, is a total of 2.6kw... At around 8c kwh in Ontario, that's almost 80$ a year... for idle time...
 
Just use sleep. Solves both problems, since its very low power and can be resumed quickly.
 
I shut all of mine off. Except the HTPC, that one hibernates or sleeps (whatever it's called) with the power button on the remote. Which is basically the same thing as shutting it off until it starts back up to record something.
 
Computers were built to be on 24/7, I leave mine on for as long as possible, if I have used it or I am using it, either way really if it's hardly used, or hardly turned off, the system will last for ages.

Agreed. Mine is never turned off (outside nasty weather outside).

All three of my PCs are always on and always available. We do turn off the monitors when not in use, but that's it.

IMO, PCs are like cars, they are meant to be used. If you let a car (or PC) sit too long, it's bad for it. :)
 
I will be honest, I turn my PC off whenever I'm not using it but it has nothing to do with hugging trees and everything to do with electricity costs.
 
Since getting SSDs I just turn it off while I sleep. I can wait 20 seconds, the rendering nodes get used when they are used. Other various network things I turn off/leave on depending on my mood.
 
Win7 allows you to set the default Shut Down button to Sleep instead. I don't understand why you wouldn't want to do this unless you're folding. I only reboot my PC every few weeks, usually when a critical update comes in that requires it.
 
Is there seriously no sleep option?

Sleep takes less than 2 seconds to go into and out of.
 
Main rig and HTPC stay on all the time. I never power off unless switching hardware or the once a year liquid change in my loop.

I make sure to set all the power management stuff to off as well. My comps are always fully on. No need for Intel Speedstep or whatever AMD has.

Basically, I just sit down and go to town. My htpc I usually have to wait 1-2 seconds when my tv first gets turned on. If I wanted to wait for my computer(s) I would never have upgraded from that first build with a 486 DX2 50mhz.
 
Another comment... that was the most pointless article ever. No facts, baseless comments, and absolutely no "Answers" from the "Answer Line".

"And it's probably bad for the computer."
"I have seen occasional arguments that shutting down a computer, then starting it up cold, cause more wear and tear than leaving it on for 12 hours. I just don't buy them."
"All computers potentially suffer from heat problems, and one that never gets a chance to cool down will suffer from more of them."
"a computer that's off is a computer that can't be infected with malware or behave under orders from afar if it's already infected."
"you should probably shut it down at least once a week to clear those cobwebs."

Nice... :rolleyes:
 
Server stays on 24/7.

HTPC sleeps when not recording or in use.

Desktops are turned on when they need to be used. With a SSD boot drive it takes seconds to be up and ready to go. The way I see it during the week I only use my desktop from about 6pm-11pm. No point in running it for the other 3/4 of the day.
 
HTPC is asleep aside from when I'm using it.

Main rig is off unless it's downloading something, I'm using it, or it's streaming. It goes into hibernate mode after 3 hours.

It costs about $.56/day to leave it idleing all day. That'll add up after a while if it's doing nothing...
 
File server stays on 24/7. (low power AMD e model)

My main rig usually goes on when I get home from work, and goes off when I go to bed. (in sig)

My stepsons rig usualy goes on when he is playing games, but is turned off otherwise. (Phenom II X2, unlocked to [email protected] and GTX470)

My laptop goes on when I need it (rare when I am at home), but otherwise stays off. (work provided Core i5-520)

The boys laptops (one C2D, one Arrandale Core-i3) and the wife's MacBook Pro (Yonah C2D) seem to stay on 24/7 but go into sleep mode when not in active use.

I see no reason to waste power unless I have to.

I feel like I am doing more good in the world by saving electricity than I ever could by folding.
 
Is there seriously no sleep option?

Sleep takes less than 2 seconds to go into and out of.

With sleep theres the hibernation file from 12gbs of ram. On an SSD thats going to be a sizable chunk that I could use for storing stuff/programs. Sleep still uses a load of power, but a cold boot uses none, and only takes 20 seconds.
 
i shut down mine if itll be unused for atleast 6 hours. that bastard puts out too much heat in the summer. i might leave it on 24-7 in the winter.
 
I never turn my computer off. I usually download/encode overnight but even if im not i just leave it on and walk out. That's just how i roll
 
I shut down everything except my Windows Home Server... if there was a way to WakeOnDemand, I would also "power down" the home server.
 
I have three Intel core i7 desktop machines and a 17" laptop with a i7 mobile processor.
I have SSD drives in all but the laptop and we turn them off after use.
The SSD's just reduce boot time so it's not a factor.
Also an older custom built HTPC that goes into S3 standby.

Being greener is not impossible, plus the electric bill is a bit better.
 
Old school sleep(S3 mode) should not have a hibernation file, since it does not power down the RAM. Hibernation(S4 mode), does have that file because the ram gets powered down. You can disable the hibernation and still let it sleep.

Personally, I just turn the thing off when I'm not using it for any period of time.
 
The desktop at home is shut down every night- unless the wife was the last one to use it. Work PC always shut off when I leave.

I guess that's green, but like others have noted I do it to save on electricity.
 
Why anyone would lave a PC on all the time is beyond me. S3 standby saves about 130w at idle, which - over 20 hours of idling, is a total of 2.6kw... At around 8c kwh in Ontario, that's almost 80$ a year... for idle time...

which is less than 25 cents a day.
 
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