Do you shut down your PC each night?

[TearGod]

So I'm just curious, hopefully it is okay to leave a link to a Strawpoll I'll leave it down below.  

 

With my old PC I used to shut it off each night before I went to sleep, and would turn it back on in the morning when I woke up. I'd do this daily,

but the past few years I've gotten into the habit of just leaving it turned on (Not using Sleep Mode). And about once a week or so I would reboot it.

Not sure why exactly I rebooted it, but I guess I thought it felt a bit bogged down after being left turned on so long without a restart.

 

So what do you do with your PC's? Do you shut down each night? Just leave it turned on? Or have it in sleep mode?

Also, is leaving it turned on in any way harmful to the PC? I've heard that shutting down and turning on daily/repeatedly isn't good for the components.

But I'm not great with computers, so I have no idea.

 

Strawpoll

[seon123]

At the moment, I'm just leaving it on so it can fold

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1164541-ltt-folding-teams-emergency-response-to-covid-19/

[WereCatf]

Just now, TearGod said:

So what do you do with your PC's? Do you shut down each night? Just leave it turned on? Or have it in sleep mode?

Also, is leaving it turned on in any way harmful to the PC? I've heard that shutting down and turning on daily/repeatedly isn't good for the components.

But I'm not great with computers, so I have no idea.

I don't see the point in leaving my PC on, since it takes just a few seconds for it to boot to Windows. I do, however, see a point in turning it off: it consumes power and power ain't free where I live!

 

As for it being bad for a PC to shutting down and turning back on: no, it's bullshit. For a mechanical HDD it is technically harmful, but not any other components in an average, modern PC, and even HDDs can take thousands or tens of thousands of such cycles nowadays.

[minibois]

Usually I turn mine off at night.

Occasionally I leave it on overnight, in rare occasions (like downloading something, backing up large files, etc.). In the past I have had it running overnight for F@H too, but that can use a lot of power.

[5x5]

If setting down was bad for the components, why does every device come with that option? It's usually a good idea to shut down, let updated roll, let the OS restart and not push current through the transistors 24/7

[Murasaki]

I've shutdown my machines each night for many years, never had issues.

[Kilrah]

Turn off, no point wasting power doing nothing. Unless I have something specific I need it to do overnight of course, but that's rare. Have the whole desk on a power strip with a remote switch, and when I cut it (once the PC is off obiously) it cuts power to everything. 

 

 

[Gaires]

I turn off my pc if I don't use it for an hour or more and I leave the house.

[Fasauceome]

Sleep mode is so efficient, taking a watt meter to my PC shows anywhere from 0 to 2 watts being pulled which is a tiny fraction of something like when you accidentally leave the lights on.

[AdamDaBoss 7809]

I usually turn mines off, but I leave the plug on, so an RGB light on my motherboard stays on, but it doesn't consume much power, so I don't mind.

[Dr0y]

I don't turn it off when I'm off work.  Every time I start to work the I turn it off  cause I don't use my pc during work week.

[divito]

Mine runs 24/7. I've had more issues with my older computers and turning them off, and them running their course vs. the ones that I've kept running as often as possible. Perhaps some of that has to do with advances in technology, but I've never liked the idea of power cycling my equipment everyday.

[divito]

1 minute ago, VegetableStu said:

i could see that being a problem with a few kinds of appliances, but for CPUs, GPUs and SSDs i kinda wonder if it's negligible enough compared to rated voltage and usage ._.

And I agree, it's probably negligible; maybe it's a lingering feeling from some older studies and older technology.

[RejZoR]

Mine runs 24/7. You can easily see how system operates from Crystal Disk Info. If system drives have very high operational hours but very few power-on events, you know system ran 24/7 a lot. My Samsung 850 Pro SSD has just 1500 power-on events at 31.000 (3.5 years) operational hours. My "new" 8TB HDD only has 13 power-on events and 1300 (54 days) operational hours. Basically all those power-on events are only from system reboots because of crashes/updates/installs of something.

 

I basically run it 24/7 because I have either some torrents running (legal ones only ) or have my system ready for remote access from other devices. I have it set in such a way that on idle it's dead silent so it's no problem just have it running.

 

I still believe if system is set up well (good power supply and good cooling), continuous operation puts less stress on components than constantly shutting it down and powering it on.

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

99% of the time no, usually Sleep mode or won't bother to turn off. 

[MSMSMSM]

Hackintosh means booting the thing is sort of uncertain, sometimes it takes three or four reboot attempts before it boots properly (mostly it just gets stuck doing nothing), so it's 24x7.

 

Also, I'm too lazy to actually turn the thing off

[Helhound]

I have my Razer set up on a boat, the desk it's on is open to the air. At night, I turn it to sleep mode. The only issue here is the salt deteriorating everything. I have to replace devices every couple of years, but Walmart ships fast from Hawaii.

[IkeaGnome]

I work 2 weeks on 2 off. When I'm off at work, it's off and unplugged. The first full day I'm home I'll usually use it then set everything to update over night. I leave it on and not locked until it gets caught up with updates. Usually a couple nights(internet isn't that great out here). After that it just goes into sleep mode until I use it or leave for work again.

[bigmug]

Mine are almost constantly on. The one that functions as a NAS is never shut down or restarted. I restart my main rig occasionally, when an update requires it, but shut it down only when I leave my home for longer than a day.

[SansVarnic]

Only shut down at night when I am not folding.

[lexidobe]

I leave my system running 24/7, I once had over 50 days of uptime until the power went out.

[PlayStation 2]

I almost always put it to sleep or leave it on. I don't usually turn it off unless I have a reason to.

[steelo]

Unless Im seeding or downloading, I put it into sleep mode overnight. No reason to waste electricity and generate unnecessary heat when its not in use.

[dizmo]

I leave it on as I don't have much reason to turn it off. I also generally have 40 - 60 tabs open with things I'm working on, and it'd be more of a pain in the ass to bring them all back up than it is to pay the few cents it costs for the power to run it.

 

3 hours ago, WereCatf said:

I don't see the point in leaving my PC on, since it takes just a few seconds for it to boot to Windows. I do, however, see a point in turning it off: it consumes power and power ain't free where I live!

 

As for it being bad for a PC to shutting down and turning back on: no, it's bullshit. For a mechanical HDD it is technically harmful, but not any other components in an average, modern PC, and even HDDs can take thousands or tens of thousands of such cycles nowadays.

I don't think power is free in most places Though it was in my last apartment.

If you're worried about costs you must pay obscene amounts for energy.

3 hours ago, 5x5 said:

If setting down was bad for the components, why does every device come with that option? It's usually a good idea to shut down, let updated roll, let the OS restart and not push current through the transistors 24/7

I really don't think powering it on 24/7 causes that much damage. Certainly not enough that it'd be noticeable in the average life span of consumer PC parts.

[Roswell]

I just let it sleep when I'm not using it. Only time I restart is for updates.