Turn my PC off?
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From: kramer.newsreader on 11 Jul 2006 13:51 This question isn't strictly hardware related, but I'm not sure where else to ask it. How often should I turn off my computer? Lately I've just been leaving it on all the time. I once saw a figure that an ordinary incandescent uses up the same amount of energy in one minute of continuous use as being turned on and off. Thus it makes sense to turn off a light if you'll be out of the room for one minute but leave it one if you'll be out less time. So I realize that my computer is a more complicated issue. There is the power issue, but there is also the stress on the hard drives from booting/shutting down. And what about the CPU and memory? Do they undergo more stress booting and shutting down once or idling for a long period time? An answer in general terms is great, but if you're interested, my hardware is: AMD 64 3000+ 1 GB PC2100 1 80 GB 7200 RPM IDE HD (boot drive) 1 250 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD 1 300 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD On board video SB Live card Ohh, and my monitor is an LCD which I'm sure saves energy over a CRT. It turns off after 10 minutes idle. Thanks for any thoughts.
From: Bazzer Smith on 11 Jul 2006 14:17 <kramer.newsreader(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:1152640287.074261.176260(a)b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com... > This question isn't strictly hardware related, but I'm not sure where > else to ask it. > > How often should I turn off my computer? Lately I've just been leaving > it on all the time. > > I once saw a figure that an ordinary incandescent uses up the same > amount of energy in one minute of continuous use as being turned on and > off. Thus it makes sense to turn off a light if you'll be out of the > room for one minute but leave it one if you'll be out less time. > > So I realize that my computer is a more complicated issue. There is > the power issue, but there is also the stress on the hard drives from > booting/shutting down. And what about the CPU and memory? Do they > undergo more stress booting and shutting down once or idling for a long > period time? > > An answer in general terms is great, but if you're interested, my > hardware is: > > AMD 64 3000+ > 1 GB PC2100 > 1 80 GB 7200 RPM IDE HD (boot drive) > 1 250 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD > 1 300 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD > On board video > SB Live card > > Ohh, and my monitor is an LCD which I'm sure saves energy over a CRT. > It turns off after 10 minutes idle. > > Thanks for any thoughts. Well, my 'old' PC which I never use anymore is still working perfectly, I got about 7 years of life out of it, I am still using its CRT monitor now. So I doubt you will shorten the life of the PC by switching it of more often, you will bin the whole lot through obsolesence before any part fails. (or sell it on assuming anyone would by a machine so out of date). So the short answer is switch it off and save power, but of course you have to put up with the shutdown and reboot times. >
From: Paul on 11 Jul 2006 14:44 In article <1152640287.074261.176260(a)b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>, kramer.newsreader(a)gmail.com wrote: > This question isn't strictly hardware related, but I'm not sure where > else to ask it. > > How often should I turn off my computer? Lately I've just been leaving > it on all the time. > > I once saw a figure that an ordinary incandescent uses up the same > amount of energy in one minute of continuous use as being turned on and > off. Thus it makes sense to turn off a light if you'll be out of the > room for one minute but leave it one if you'll be out less time. > > So I realize that my computer is a more complicated issue. There is > the power issue, but there is also the stress on the hard drives from > booting/shutting down. And what about the CPU and memory? Do they > undergo more stress booting and shutting down once or idling for a long > period time? > > An answer in general terms is great, but if you're interested, my > hardware is: > > AMD 64 3000+ > 1 GB PC2100 > 1 80 GB 7200 RPM IDE HD (boot drive) > 1 250 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD > 1 300 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD > On board video > SB Live card > > Ohh, and my monitor is an LCD which I'm sure saves energy over a CRT. > It turns off after 10 minutes idle. > > Thanks for any thoughts. If you place the computer in standby (S3 suspend to RAM), that saves some on reboot time, as the RAM still has all its contents. S3 draws about 10-20 watts from the wall. Your hard drives would be turned off and not spinning. Complete shutdown only eliminates all power consumption, if you switch off at the back of the computer. Modern hard drives have a "boiler-plate" specification of 50,000 start/stop cycles. It would take quite a few years to exceed that number. So, switching the computer off, from that perspective, should not be an issue (even if you choose to believe that the actual life of the drive is less than the listed 50,000 cycles). The life of the capacitors in the power supply and motherboard, is a function of temperature. Turning off the computer means they will be cool for the hours the computer is off. There are also effects on solder joint reliability caused by daily temperature variations. Turning the computer on and off is worse for that, but for a reasonable temperature swing, the lifetime is probably ten years plus anyway. In balance, I think switching off is the right thing to do. And if the computer is networked, it is harder to hack a switched off computer :-) Paul
From: Rod Speed on 11 Jul 2006 16:44 kramer.newsreader(a)gmail.com wrote: > This question isn't strictly hardware related, > but I'm not sure where else to ask it. > How often should I turn off my computer? There is no nice tidy answer, it depends on how much you use it, how its been configured to power down on inactivity etc, what you are using for a monitor etc. > Lately I've just been leaving it on all the time. Yeah, I leave mine on all the time. > I once saw a figure that an ordinary incandescent uses up the same > amount of energy in one minute of continuous use as being turned on > and off. Thus it makes sense to turn off a light if you'll be out of > the room for one minute but leave it one if you'll be out less time. Lights are quite different on that stuff. > So I realize that my computer is a more complicated issue. > There is the power issue, but there is also the stress on the > hard drives from booting/shutting down. And what about the > CPU and memory? Do they undergo more stress booting > and shutting down once or idling for a long period time? The main effect is that they dont thermal cycle when on all the time. That doesnt have much practical effect with modern systems because they are replaced before they die most of the time. > An answer in general terms is great, > but if you're interested, my hardware is: > AMD 64 3000+ > 1 GB PC2100 > 1 80 GB 7200 RPM IDE HD (boot drive) > 1 250 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD > 1 300 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD > On board video > SB Live card > Ohh, and my monitor is an LCD which I'm sure saves > energy over a CRT. It turns off after 10 minutes idle. > Thanks for any thoughts. You will save quite a bit of power if you configure it to sleep when you arent using it. While it will thermal cycle, that shouldnt have any real effect on the life of a modern PC.
From: Rod Speed on 11 Jul 2006 16:45
Bazzer Smith <me(a)invalid.net> wrote: > <kramer.newsreader(a)gmail.com> wrote in message > news:1152640287.074261.176260(a)b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com... >> This question isn't strictly hardware related, but I'm not sure where >> else to ask it. >> >> How often should I turn off my computer? Lately I've just been >> leaving it on all the time. >> >> I once saw a figure that an ordinary incandescent uses up the same >> amount of energy in one minute of continuous use as being turned on >> and off. Thus it makes sense to turn off a light if you'll be out >> of the room for one minute but leave it one if you'll be out less >> time. So I realize that my computer is a more complicated issue. There is >> the power issue, but there is also the stress on the hard drives from >> booting/shutting down. And what about the CPU and memory? Do they >> undergo more stress booting and shutting down once or idling for a >> long period time? >> >> An answer in general terms is great, but if you're interested, my >> hardware is: >> >> AMD 64 3000+ >> 1 GB PC2100 >> 1 80 GB 7200 RPM IDE HD (boot drive) >> 1 250 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD >> 1 300 GB 7200 RPM SATA HD >> On board video >> SB Live card >> >> Ohh, and my monitor is an LCD which I'm sure saves energy over a CRT. >> It turns off after 10 minutes idle. >> >> Thanks for any thoughts. > > Well, my 'old' PC which I never use anymore is still working > perfectly, I got about 7 years of life out of it, I am still using > its CRT monitor now. > > So I doubt you will shorten the life of the PC by switching > it of more often, you will bin the whole lot through > obsolesence before any part fails. (or sell it on assuming > anyone would by a machine so out of date). > > So the short answer is switch it off and save power, > but of course you have to put up with the shutdown > and reboot times. Not if you configure it to sleep instead. And hibernate starts quicker than a full boot too. |