keeping on

skier · Post by **skier** » Sat May 12, 2007 3:02 pm

is it bad to keep a computer on non-stop, with restarting every couple weeks and only turning it off six or seven nights a year (this is a dell dimension 4700 with P4 3.0GHz, 504MB DDR2,stock fan config.)

or should i just say, How Bad?

vicaphit · Post by **vicaphit** » Sat May 12, 2007 3:18 pm

regardless of what you may have heard, keeping a computer on does suck more power than powering on and off.

I turn my computer off whenever I go to bed, and work. I suppose if you have only an intake fan and no exhaust you might get more dust than if you dont turn it off.

It's up to you. As long as the idle temp isnt high, it probably wouldnt make a difference if you left it on unless you want to save some money via your electric bill

skier · Post by **skier** » Sat May 12, 2007 3:22 pm

well there is no intake, and the exhaust has a plastic funnel-like thing from the CPU out

vicaphit · Post by **vicaphit** » Sat May 12, 2007 3:28 pm

If you do leave it on, check the temps every once and a while, if it is hotter than usual, turn it off and let it cool a bit. Also check to see if there is an excess of dust, blow it out if there is.

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Sat May 12, 2007 7:11 pm

As someone on here always says, "when does a light bulb blow? When you turn it on"

So leaving it on, won't kill it. Admittedly it will probably wear it out some, but most likely not as much wear as the change in temperatures from it being off (and cold) to on (and hot) from turning it on and off all the time.

Dan

IssE · Post by **IssE** » Sat May 12, 2007 7:53 pm

Use the sleep function; your computer does not totally turn off that is clicking a button would quickly resume the task that you where on; it also saves some power

bubba · Post by **bubba** » Sat May 12, 2007 8:39 pm

My work machine never gets turned off outside of demanded reboots (like after an update) My current machine has been on 24/7 for 2 years, machine before that 5 years. No issues. My home machine I used to turn it off because it sounded like a jet most the time, now with the quite cooling I have I turn it off when I'm watching the electric bill (like in the summer) I only have it on when I need it.

I turn the monitor off if I will be away for more than 30 minutes, the on/off of that will be hard on it, but the electric savings to leaving a 19"crt on all the time.

But when I do a fresh build I will turn it off every night for a month or so, AS5 says it has to cool to room temp several times in 200 hour time frame to cure correctly.

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Sat May 12, 2007 8:42 pm

Woops, didn't do that much (if at all) with my AS5 ^_^

How much of a efficiency reduction do you think I've given myself?

Dan

bubba · Post by **bubba** » Sat May 12, 2007 8:44 pm

Not sure, didn't know to do it my self but one day I was board and read those pesky little instructions and saw that on there and thought OOPS. LOL

From their site

3) Break-In Period
Due to the unique shape and sizes of the particles in Arctic Silver 5 conductive matrix, it will take a up to 200 hours and several thermal cycles to achieve maximum particle to particle thermal conduction and for the heatsink to CPU interface to reach maximum conductivity. (This period will be longer in a system without a fan on the heatsink or with a low speed fan on the heatsink.) On systems measuring actual internal core temperatures via the CPU's internal diode, the measured temperature will often drop 2C to 5C over this "break-in" period. This break-in will occur during the normal use of the computer as long as the computer is turned off from time to time and the interface is allowed to cool to room temperature. Once the break-in is complete, the computer can be left on if desired.

KnightRid · Post by **KnightRid** » Sun May 13, 2007 5:07 am

DMB2000uk wrote:As someone on here always says, "when does a light bulb blow? When you turn it on"

So leaving it on, won't kill it. Admittedly it will probably wear it out some, but most likely not as much wear as the change in temperatures from it being off (and cold) to on (and hot) from turning it on and off all the time.

Dan

Mike

Someone has been paying attention ;)