Sleep vs. On during a brown out.

[corrado33]

So I have two computers at home. One is my server, which stays on all of the time. The other is my gaming PC which falls asleep after 20 minutes or so of no use. 

 

So twice in the last week I've come home to my server being turned off. (Obviously I didn't set "Turn on after a power outage." in the bios.) yet my gaming PC was still sleeping. 

 

Nothing else in the house was affected. Clocks hadn't been reset, everything was normal. The only thing I can guess is a short brown out. The PS for the server is a brand new seasonic (Tier 3 I believe on the ranking list.) Computer has ample cooling and is by no means overheating.

 

When I turned the server back on and booted into windows (I had it on windows instead of linux for testing something) it comes up with the "Windows wasn't shut down correctly" screen. 

 

Any idea? It hasn't happened since.

[RadiatingLight]

The gaming rig PSU could handle the brownout (maybe because a sleeping PC doesn't require as much power, and the PSU had an easier time), and the server PSU couldn't, maybe because the server was on, required more power, and the PSU couldn't deliver that much during a brownout.

[normpearii]

The capacitors in the power supply probably had enough in them to supply enough power to the motherboard in sleep mode during the time the power supply wasn't receiving power.


I personally have started replacing my HP server's dual power supplies every few years (Alternating) because they don't last through short hiccups in the grid either. (Nothing important enough to warrant a UPS. Just takes forever to boot.) 

[jools]

there was no brown out.

[knightslugger]

why don't you have UPSs on these computers?

 

chances are your gaming machine was in a low power mode and had enough juice in the capacitors in the PSU to supply acceptable voltage for the short time it was low input. obviously the server used quite a bit more and zonked out right away.

[corrado33]

26 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

why don't you have UPSs on these computers?

 

chances are your gaming machine was in a low power mode and had enough juice in the capacitors in the PSU to supply acceptable voltage for the short time it was low input. obviously the server used quite a bit more and zonked out right away.

Because I'm poor and the power around here is relatively stable, and it's not like my SERVER is essential or anything. Just gives me access to my home network when I'm away. Nothing a quick bike ride home can't fix if it goes out. 

 

It's not that I can't afford a cheap UPS. I can't afford a nice UPS that delivers anything but a square wave which probably wouldn't end up being good for the PSUs in the long run. 

[Donut417]

During a brown out there isnt enough power. My guess in the PSU in the gaming rig was drawing just a little bit while it was asleep. While the server was running. My gaming rig running idle uses like 120 watts of power. While sleeping its only a few watts. 

 

A nice UPS isnt that much. Mine cost me $170 which does the pure sign wave and up to 850watts. I also seen a slightly better one from the same company. Check newegg they have good sales on them from time to time. A USP is worth every penny. 

[knightslugger]

Not poor enough to own high end computers apparently...

 

UPSs save time and money. Data corruption due to a power loss can be a big deal. it takes time to re-install software and money to replace damaged components. a basic UPS is $60 and will NOT destroy a PSU over time. they are bypass run most of the time anyway so you get wall voltage and frequency until they switch over to battery power.

 

I have the cyberpower CP685 on my iMac and the FreeNAS backup server. i chose this model because it was small, inexpensive, and communicates with the computers and can safely shut down in the event of a power outage requiring battery power. i have another cheaper unit connected to my wifi and WiMAX APs so that my internet is always UP and available to mobile devices.

 

i think y\ou should reconsider a UPS. I see no downsides.