Leave it on or shut it off?

[Rondar]

What is the general recommendation here for either letting the computer run or shut it off at night?  Are the fans going to wear out?  And I know a light bulb usually burns out when its flipped on, meaning if it is gonna quit it is usually when its powered up.  The computer is currently hooked up to a cyberpower battery backup along with all the other puter stuff I have.

[BluTrain]

Turn it off - it's a waste of electricity if you're not using it...

[Skuzzy]

Shut it off.

[BaldEagl]

I used to argue this with my best friend all the time.  I always shut mine off.  He always left his on.

We both bought machines around the same time.  Nine years later mine's still running strong.  His died and was replaced 2-3 years ago.

Turn it off.

[Krusty]

chips and transistors have lifespans. Whatever that life span is, if it's in use the lifespan is being used up. If it's off, it isn't in use.

The PSU, the fan, the CPU, the GPU, the RAM, the mobo. These things all have limited lifespans. While these may have YEARS before they die, why speed it up?

Just more cost effective to shut it down.

Think of it this way: Do you leave your car idling all night, or do you turn it off, then on again in the morning? 

[HomeBoy]

I think it's a bit of a wash.

The biggest argument for leaving the machine on all the time is that the components are under more strain during startup than after things get up and running.  This is particularly true for mechanically moving parts like the disk drives.  I think the difference is pretty insignificant though and when I hear people making that argument I sort of roll my eyes the same way I do when they tell me wind mills and solar panels are the answer to our energy crises.  My company (a fairly large software developer) uses lots and lots of computers and we leave our stuff running 24/7 for reasons including wear and tear.  I tend to do the same on my game machine.  The primary reason is I schedule disk scans, updates (Windows, anti-virus, firewall, etc) and if I keep the machine shutdown all the time, all that stuff wants to run right when I'm wanting to get humiliated in Aces High.  By keeping the machine up and running all the time, I know all the maintenance is up to date.  I like to "feel good" that the machine is facing less strain because it's not being powered up and down all the time but it's much like putting a low pressure faucet head on my sink to reduce water usage; all I do is wash my hands longer.  It doesn't do jack for water conservation but I sure do feel good about myself for caring!

[Confession]  I will admit though, I've been turning my machine off lately because of the incredible heat wave (over 100 degress) we've been having around here lately.   

[Krusty]

The saves-power argument is a good one in theory, and has been around in many shapes and forms, including light bulbs.

Then somebody stopped and said "is this even true? Let's test it!" (Mythbusters) and found it was really didn't work the way folks thought it might.

You have a bit of a savings, but the power used to start it up is only equivelant to a couple of seconds' worth of operation.

I'm sure a similar situation is true with computers and power savings.

[Fulmar]

I've had more PSU's in my experience die during boot-up than during regular use.  HD's?  Split even.  Video cards...only 1 during boot-up.

I used to leave mine on overnight for downloads/uploads/scans whatever.

I now leave it off to save money on electricity.

[Ghastly]

"the power used to start it up is only equivalent to a couple of seconds' worth of operation"

The argument is not that the power saved by continuous operation is greater than the power used by the startup, but that the initial surge on power up is what usually takes out a weakened electrical component.  Personally, I'm for shutting unused systems down both to save both electricity and to relieve heat-related stress and mechanical wear, which in my humble opinion out weighs the advantages of avoiding the power on surge by leaving a system unnecessarily operating continuously.

Now having said that, when I was doing network services (both for other companies and as a systems consultant) working with Novell servers where it was not uncommon to be called in to do maintenance on a system that had been running for more than a year straight, it was standard practice to ALWAYS shut down, power down and then restart the server BEFORE touching it in any other way.  You'd be surprised how many times a machine that's been running without a hitch for a year and a half straight fails to restart properly after a power off, even if it's been working just fine up to that point.  And of course, it's much easier to convince the customer you didn't break it when he's in the room and has seen that all you've done is shut down, power down, and power back up.

<S>

[BaldEagl]

I was on the Internet team for a major entertainment company for a few years.  We were running sequel server machines and we found we had to take them off-line and reboot them every 7-10 days or they would start to destabilize.

[Getback]

I shut it off for 2 reasons: 1. it saves electricity and avoids damage due to a late night storm. 2. Hackers can't get to it when it's off.

[68Wooley]

I was on the Internet team for a major entertainment company for a few years.  We were running sequel server machines and we found we had to take them off-line and reboot them every 7-10 days or they would start to destabilize.

That was probably due the fact you were running SQL Server / Windows Server XXXX  rather than any power related problem.

We recently found a 12 year old Sun box chugging away quite happily at the back our server room. As best we could tell, no-one had actually used it in about 6 years but it hadn't skipped a beat in all that time.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

That was probably due the fact you were running SQL Server / Windows Server XXXX  rather than any power related problem.

We recently found a 12 year old Sun box chugging away quite happily at the back our server room. As best we could tell, no-one had actually used it in about 6 years but it hadn't skipped a beat in all that time.

Windows will run happily for 10 years if nobody uses it. It's the users installing programs and programs creating system conflicts that corrupt the OS. Reversely it's the users running programs with memory leaks that get the system on it's knees.

Having said that, unless your machine is a mission critical server - turn it off whenever you're not using it. Something to think about: Most consumer grade harddrives are not qualified for 24 hour operation. They're meant to be turned off after a few hours by design. Western Digital Raid Edition drives, raptors etc. are some few exceptions to the rule.

[RTHolmes]

Windows will run happily for 10 years if nobody uses it.

[LePaul]

Yup, shut her down. 

Less power and with the fans always going, less of a pet hair vacuum