PC Games will shorten your computer's life?

[AdamTheNiceMemeMan]

Hello Linus Community, so my computer broke around 1month ago, and i have a question towards Gaming, 

My Heaviest Activities when using the computer is actually Editing, and Rendering Videos. I wonder if Gaming could shorten my life span? i personally say that it doesn't shorten the lifespan that much

because My Computer broke due to Electricity being super unstable in my house, and i don't have any UPS. So my Electricity goes off alot, and randomly. And i experienced blackouts in my house when the computer is on

let's say there's a total of 50x blackouts (Electricity goes off) when im using the computer, That will guarantee destroys your computer right? (from what i've read), my mom and dad always have this Stigma where when you play games

does not matter what your specs are, it will always break your computer no matter what because of you know, Parents have always bad stigma about Gaming, but i'm trying to prove otherwise. I explained that games nowadays ( i play competitive games like rainbow six, csgo, valorant ) which doesn't require heavy load, i always monitor my temperature when playing games and i never let my computer exceed 60c and it never did. The maximum temp that i get all my life is either a stable 55 up to 57, never goes up to 60+ at all, so i'm sure temperature is not the issue, But if anyone is experienced enough to Prove my parents statement wrong, please do share your experience and explanation since i am tired, I do college everyday yet they're still telling me that i play games most of the time, well it's because they always came to check when i'm taking a break from assignments etc. Sorry about this essay, but i really need to prove this theory to my parents so i won't have to argue about useless topics such as Gaming will always break your computer, Thank you!

[Xaring]

Editing and specially rendering are way more demanding and will burn out components way quicker than most gaming loads. Only AAA most-innovative titles (lets say, like Cyberpunk) are demanding enough to be compared to rendering. 

Having blackouts while rendering is waaaaaaaaay worse than a blackout while gaming. You risk corrupting your project files and losing hours of rendered content. 

During blackouts, your drives (HDDs and SSDs) are the weakest part, your PSU could also suffer quite a bit due to it.

You should really invest in an UPS  - Even a small one will be infinitelly better than not having one.

[da na]

Any heavy load technically will eventually kill a PC since there are more electrons zipping through it faster which means more heat which means the silicon will gradually degrade. But a pc should last a while before that ever happens.

[AdamTheNiceMemeMan]

Yeah, My Motherboard got Circuit problems after the 50th blackout or something, it also destroyed 3 of my ram sticks (i luckily have lifetime guarantee), i asked my service guy to diagnose the problems and yes it was because of Electricity but my mom still blamed everything on games (ill try explaning to her later), and also if you can recommend me a good ups, i can try searching it up, my computer will be fixed today or tomorrow, might aswell get one too. Thanks!

[12345678]

 reading the op post, those assumption seems to be pretty much boomer/functional illetarate assumption, I wouldn't waste time into explaining stuff

[Mark Kaine]

yes, of course.

for example i used my first ps3 pretty much almost 24/7, demos, games, videos, chatting, surfing, folding@ home…

 

After ~ 370 days or so it just died… the wood of the cabinet it was sitting on had a huge, dark almost burned looking rectangle where the ps3 used to be… 

 

- this is just an example  -  but of course using an electronic device will shorten its lifespan, theres no way around it.

 

 

2 hours ago, 12345678 said:

 reading the op post, those assumption seems to be pretty much boomer/functional illetarate assumption,

hi, that doesnt really make sense to generalize people  like that, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are "boomers" for example , wouldnt  exactly call them illetarate, technological or otherwise. : )

 

(btw, not a "boomer" ) xD

 

[AdamTheNiceMemeMan]

Just now, Mark Kaine said:

yes, of course.

for example i used my first ps3 pretty much almost 24/7, demos, games, videos, chatting, surfing, folding@ home…

 

After ~ 370 days or so it just died… the wood of the cabinet it was sitting on had a huge, dark almost burned looking rectangle where the ps3 used to be… 

 

- this is just an example  -  but of course using an electronic device will shorten its lifespan, theres no way around it.

 

 

hi, that doesnt really make sense to generalize people  like that, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are "boomers" for example , wouldnt  exactly call them illetarate, technological or otherwise. : )

 

(btw, not a "boomer" ) xD

 

Do you consider almost burned looking as overheating issues? because i use my computer 24/7 since 2019 and the highest temp it ever reached was 58c, never had overheating issues, only alot of blackouts , Because i have a friend who bought his computer back in 2015, his gaming habits are worst than mine he plays alot until now, and his computer never breaks, but i bought mine at 2019 but mine broke faster than him (trying to figure if it's really blackout and has nothing to do with my gaming habits)

[Mark Kaine]

9 minutes ago, AdamTheNiceMemeMan said:

Do you consider almost burned looking as overheating issues? because i use my computer 24/7 since 2019 and the highest temp it ever reached was 58c, never had overheating issues, only alot of blackouts , Because i have a friend who bought his computer back in 2015, his gaming habits are worst than mine he plays alot until now, and his computer never breaks, but i bought mine at 2019 but mine broke faster than him (trying to figure if it's really blackout and has nothing to do with my gaming habits)

yeah, it was for sure overheating… and bad manufacturing / cooling…

 

Eh, i was just more generally answering the question, but you're right, those blackouts cant be good and generally life span for a pc should be around 10 - 20 years, especially when its not running particularly hot and is otherwise looked after…

 

i mean, you do know that many blackouts are really unusual, and while not your fault, you should really try to prevent that from affecting your pc, right? So basically UPS…   

[AdamTheNiceMemeMan]

ok that sums everything then, thank you for all the answers once again 

[LogicalDrm]

Using any electrical or mechanical equipment will shorten its life compared to not using it. The talk about "will X shorten lifespan" is pointless, and usually gives you wrong idea of what "lifespan" means.

 

Life of PC hardware on average is 7 years. They can easily work over 10 years on active use and still work after 20-30 years of occasional use. Usually you are looking for upgrades before you even get close to end of life (note also that actual end of life and EOL stated aren't same thing, latter means end of the support from manufacturer). Does using PC hardware in normal environment and use shorten expected life of the components? No. Do extreme environmental issues or uncommon use shorten expected life?  Possibly. It is sensitive hardware compared to your fridge for example.

 

In your situation, you are dealing with unstable and/or "dirty" electrical grid. That's not common situation. Your use of the hardware is. So environmental issues have much higher effect than use of the hardware. Good thing is that, as said, you can do something. The purpose of UPS is to allow controlled shutdown or continue operations over short power cuts. But it also cleans incoming power fluctuations, preventing spikes that would kill PSUs and the more sensitive components.