CPU powered on 24/7?

Bob:

This is a frequently asked question with little consensus. My opinion? It does not harm your computer to leave it on, but it wastes electricity. A common practice is to turn it on in the morning and off at night.

If something is going to break, leaving the system running all the time won't extend its life. Of course, I understand there are people that leave their car running in front of the convenience store, leave their TV on all the time, etc. just because it's convenient. But it's still a waste of resources.

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@huntr wrote:
Thank you for those quick responses and yes each one have their opinion about it.  I guess I will leave it on 24/7 and reboot 1 or 2 times per week.  I thought that when the light is on 24/7 will shorten the life and it will feel hotter so I thought it does the same thing with the CPU.  

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No CPU's can run 24/7 365 forever if they need to.

It really doesn't shorten the life of your system at all, and over time you won't have as many problems either from what I have seen.

Thank you for those quick responses and yes each one have their opinion about it.  I guess I will leave it on 24/7 and reboot 1 or 2 times per week.  I thought that when the light is on 24/7 will shorten the life and it will feel hotter so I thought it does the same thing with the CPU.  

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@huntr wrote:

I just got a new Dimension 8400 and I would like to hear your opinion about leaving computer on when not in use or turn it on?  Will it short the life of the machine if it is on all the time? 

 

I look forward to your input.   

Bob

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There has been alot of talk about this subject over the years.

I personally leave all of my machines on 24/7 except my LT. (5 Computers)

With that said:

When something is going to break it's going to do it when you first turn it on because that is when the machine is under 100% load so talking that into account it is really better to leave it on 24/7 rebooting as needed, maybe once or twice a week, more if needed.

I am sure there will be more posts with different opinions though.

Thank you, osprey, for another repetitive post. Well, actually, this whole thread is repetitive. In the spirit of repeating ourselves, I will say this. I leave my computer on all the time. I have seen no problems associated with doing this. I have not seen a noticeable change in my energy bill. I do, however, have the monitor turn off after 20 minutes in an idle state. I don't believe that you will avoid many problems by leaving it on, but I also don't believe that you will avoid many problems by turning it off after you've used it. Basically, it's just personal preference. I leave mine on because it doesn't affect me budgetwise, it doesn't affect the computer, and I like knowing that it's ready for me to use no matter what time it is. I don't like waiting 2 minutes for the thing to boot up.

I guess Ill be the first "no stander" here. I contemplate shutting it down over night as opposed to leaving it on. My parents don't really notice an increase in the bill either, but I'm the only one who even EVER shuts it down at times. My brother's and father's run 24/7. I shut it down maybe 2 nights a week to give it a rest. It's also pretty noisy.

Message Edited by Bobman101 on 04-19-2005 06:48 PM

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@osprey4 wrote:
csk13, I did mention right off the bat that this is a frequently discussed topic, with lots of personal opinions. I find that most of the time, the people who leave their computers on 24/7 are not the ones paying the bills around the house, and that those paying the bills turn their systems off.

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That might be, but then Most companies leave their Networks on 24/7 too.

 

csk13, I did mention right off the bat that this is a frequently discussed topic, with lots of personal opinions. I find that most of the time, the people who leave their computers on 24/7 are not the ones paying the bills around the house, and that those paying the bills turn their systems off.

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@osprey4 wrote:
Business systems and servers are a different issue. I thought the subject was home computers.

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Yes it is, but both uses as far as workstations go are the same, a Home PC is a workstation so all that applies to them also applies to a Home PC.

That's why I brought it up.

Just a good cross reference.

Business systems and servers are a different issue. I thought the subject was home computers.

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@osprey4 wrote:
I'm just an average home user, not a tech guy at all, so I probably don't use my computer the way you do.

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I understand that, I just like to give other examples and cross reference different points of view as there is no real right or wrong answer to the question.