is it ok to leave my pc on over night

[A51UK]

Yes it ok, but going to cost you more. 

 

I did hear that better for you computer hardware to keep on all the time as most hardware go wrong when you keep turn on and of. You may be able to keep you hardware alive longer by not keep true it off. 

[akio123008]

2 hours ago, dizmo said:

Hydro, for example, often over produces at night, so you're not really causing more pollution or strain by running anything.

This is true, but also, that means you're now consuming hydro power that could be used elsewhere for something actually useful.

 

What you mentioned can definitely still apply if the grid was running purely on hydro power, and there was so much of it being produced that supply exceeds demand, meaning there's no other source of power on the grid, but that's quite rare and isn't the case in most places. 

[Alan G]

I leave my workstation on 24/7.  I have a Seasonic PSU set to ECO mode so the fan on the PSU hardly ever spins.  I have swapped in Noctua power managed case fans and the CPU cooler is also a Noctua and they hardly spin when there is no load.  I don't see any major dust accumulation inside the case (Fractal Design R6).  The PC does the daily backups and weekly system imaging at night which is the only load.  I hardly see any blip in the monthly electric bill.  I also have an HTPC that stays on 24/7 as there are movies that sometime need to be recorded.

 

I have not used sleep mode in some years as it was my experience that more issues were encountered waking up from sleep than were worth the small electricity savings.

[atxcyclist]

7 hours ago, PeachGr said:

Well servers are usually a bit different in terms of hardware, assuming you talking about a real server and not "just a big HDD PC"

I used folding at home and now Boinc, that means my PC is under load for many months now, I need to clean filters more often, but hardware is ok

This is just a Dell desktop turned into a file server. In all fairness, I did have the PSU fan go out a few years in, but it had a cheap OEM PSU in it.

[unsorted]

A freely-downloadable shutdown timer is a great tool. No need to waste power. Fall asleep to a video or show, knowing that the PC will be turned off when you specify (like a Sleep Timer on your TV).

 

Even when 'off', there is a low power draw just to keep everything (monitor, computer) in standby. Don't get me started on how much I dislike this power draw

 

If I'm not using the thing for a while, I switch it off at the power board. Power boards with individual switches on each socket are great.

[Vishera]

From my experiment that is still running it can prolong the life of your system,

I have been running 2 identical PCs for 7 years,one is always on,the other gets turned off each night.

The PC that i turned off every night died 3 years ago,the one that's always on is still running.

[unsorted]

11 minutes ago, Vishera said:

From my experiment that is still running it can prolong the life of your system,

I have been running 2 identical PCs for 7 years,one is always on,the other gets turned off each night.

The PC that i turned off every night died 3 years ago,the one that's always on is still running.

This is interesting, even though it is a very small sample and there are probably other variables. Which component died: the hard drive?

[Vishera]

Just now, unsorted said:

This is interesting, even though it is a very small sample and there are probably other variables. Which component died: the hard drive?

The motherboard died,the hard drive is still working.

[wanderingfool2]

14 hours ago, Vishera said:

The motherboard died,the hard drive is still working.

While I do get that turning off and on a computer could cause wear and tear...for myself leaving it on as well has other issues.  e.g. If the power grid has a surge, or a brown-out scenario (under supplying your computer)...I've seen a few computers that got fried because of that (fun fact, computers can sometimes run even when there is barely enough power being delivered to power a lightbulb).

 

With that said, it's also about electricity cost.  One of my system draws 50 watts on idle.  Assuming using it 8 hours a day (and the remaining 16 hours is idle) @ 0.14 cents per kwh, that's 11.2 cents a day ($40 a year).  If you aren't doing anything with the computer, then there isn't much reason to keep it on (in my opinion).

 

You have more likelyhood of dust, pump failures, etc.  With that said, mechanical drives will more likely fail in an on off cycle (but again, most hdds go to sleep now anyways which means that it likely would be put through at least similar loads)

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

I shut mine off every night. And for laptops in particular, you should as notebook powerbricks are not exactly built as well as desktop PSUs. With no active cooling or ventilation, when plugged in 24/7, it's going to burn out in maybe even just 1 or 2 years. 

[Vishera]

Just now, wanderingfool2 said:

While I do get that turning off and on a computer could cause wear and tear...for myself leaving it on as well has other issues.  e.g. If the power grid has a surge, or a brown-out scenario (under supplying your computer)...I've seen a few computers that got fried because of that (fun fact, computers can sometimes run even when there is barely enough power being delivered to power a lightbulb).

There are surge protectors,and in high quality power supplies there are even more protection mechanisms.

You can also use an UPS.

Just now, wanderingfool2 said:

With that said, it's also about electricity cost.  One of my system draws 50 watts on idle.  Assuming using it 8 hours a day (and the remaining 16 hours is idle) @ 0.14 cents per kwh, that's 11.2 cents a day ($40 a year).  If you aren't doing anything with the computer, then there isn't much reason to keep it on (in my opinion).

 

40$ a year is absolutely nothing for me.

 

1 minute ago, wanderingfool2 said:

You have more likelyhood of dust, pump failures, etc. 

Both machines have dust filters,i have never cleaned them but they are very clean (except for the intake fan which has not a lot of dust but not little either)

I used air cooler so no pumps

6 minutes ago, wanderingfool2 said:

With that said, mechanical drives will more likely fail in an on off cycle (but again, most hdds go to sleep now anyways which means that it likely would be put through at least similar loads)

the hard drive in the one that is still running clicked for a whole year but it resolved itself somehow o_O

And sleep for the hard drives is/was off.

[Purgent]

Electricity is more dangerous at night.  Computer parts also sense when it is dark out and are more prone to failure due to shifting of earth's magnetic fields.

 

For example - leaving computer on 8am to 6pm for work purposes is approved in most user manuals.  However, nighttime usage is markedly more dangerous and should be avoided unless it is a full moon.

 

Hope this all makes sense.

 

 

[wanderingfool2]

2 hours ago, Vishera said:

40$ a year is absolutely nothing for me.

It's speaking to the original author.  It's always good to know both sides to an argument of why leaving on a computer might not be great.  While $40 might be good for you, there are others where it wouldn't be.

 

2 hours ago, Vishera said:

There are surge protectors,and in high quality power supplies there are even more protection mechanisms.

You can also use an UPS.

I'm willing to bet that a large factor of people don't use proper surge protectors.  An UPS would protect you from power dips, but again, its about how many people do run it that way.  Again though, it was just speaking as general and just to say that there are pros/cons to everything.

 

e.g. While unlikely it can be an increased fire risk having it on 24/7.  (Personally had an 2 year old computer catch fire before...randomly caught fire while I was sitting next to it)

 

 

[tech.guru]

On 12/5/2020 at 11:16 PM, a poeple said:

i was wonder if i could leave my pc on over night and if it would hurt my pc 

 

here are my specs if it matters 

rtx 3070 amd ryzen 7 3700x 16 gigs of ram

dont leave it on over night. 

that monster under your bed will play fortnite