QOTD: Do You Shut Off Your PC At Night?

[yoda8232]

I turn mine off always, unless I'm downloading something huge.

 

[Mizoguchi]

Sleep/hibernate. It saves money and energy. I'll be buying new computer components for college and the like within the next few years, so the damage done to components from the temperature change in the 9-10 hours it's off is not a concern.

 

[Guest]

I have a desktop that holds all my media content which gets accessed by my 3 laptops, Xbox 360 and PS3 frequently. For convience I leave everything running 24//7 except my consoles.

 

[zaam]

I turn mine off every time I don't use it. I'm usually only on it for about 2 hours at a time anyways. I'm so busy with work and all, I'm lucky to even spend that amount of time online.

 

[blmage]

I leave my "Main" system ON all the time as I occasionally remote desktop in throughout the day, also its running Seti@Home 24/7 [ C2Duo E6600@3.2GHz w/Arctic Cooler Freezer 7, EVGA 680i-SLI, 8GB DDR2 1066, HDD: 74GB Raptor, 3x320GB, 3x750GB, 2x1TB*green*, 2x250GB external (1USB/1eSATA *off most of the time*), ATIx1950XTX 512MB GDDR4, w/2 SATA/eSATA Raid cards & USB card, 760W TT Modular PSU, 2x22" LCD Monitors (sleep@30min), Running Windows7 & Ubuntu 8.10 (2xVirtual PC WindowsXP Pro), in Coolermaster Stacker 810 Case, w/2xDVD±RW SONY/NEC IDE] - My older secondary system (aka. "Space Heater" [P4 3.2GHz Northwood @3.8GHz w/Zalman Copper HS w/120mm fan, 4GB DDR 400 @475MHz, Gigabyte GA-8KNXP Elite (w/DPS 2 *daughter card/secondary power system/phase modulator*), HDD: 160GB IDE, 4x320GB IDE Raid5, 3x500GB IDE, HIS ATIx1650XT 512MB DDR3 AGP, 2xRaid PCI Cards, Soundblaster Audigy, Coolermaster 600W PSU, Windows XP Pro & Ubuntu 8.06, in Coolermaster Elite 330, w/1 DVD±RW LG IDE]) is off most of the time unless needed; used just for media hosting and/or for local displaying native 4x3 video on 20" LCD 4x3 monitor & 32" TV (mostly used for older games & TV/Anime viewing). "Space Heater" has a 1500VA 900W CyberPower UPS w/LCD (on all the time, yes I know I should shut it off when not in use but in hard to reach location). "Main" has a 2000VA 1320W CyberPower PSU w/LCD & Redundant 600W Direct UPS. Both Systems utilize a 260W "Max" Philips 3-Way Shelf System & a 7 Channel 1000W Sony system w/sub.

Since I built the "Main" system, there's been nothing but problems with the raid5 array in the "Space Heater" because of shut downs there is some age to the HDDs but none test bad individually, if it wasn't such a "heater" it would not be off at all. Never ever had a problem with the system when it used to run 24/7, partially age but I've experienced more shutdown/startup errors then ever before, when running it is fine 24/7 with occasional restarts (cold winter months additional heat *LOL*).

When not in use, a breaker switch on a power strip shuts monitors, TV & The big Stereo System. So night & when away only Main System and 1 Stereo System (in eco mode) are on all the time ~358W constant according to UPS including Dlink Gamer Wireless/Gigabit router, RCA Cable Modem & Peripherals (xbox360 controller, kb/m, etc.), also not in 24/7 use but plugged in occasionally are an old toshiba laptop and (my constant companion/right arm) ASUS G50 Laptop. My toshiba is only for backward compatibility use and occasional hardware/network testing, plugged in all the time but off (battery removed most of the time *if I remember its still there after recharging*). "Space Heater" uses more power at idle than my "Main" running Seti@Home 24/7 ~20W± more doing nothing. Hibernation is a waste of time & energy; I would rather have a fresh startup than "restored" services in most cases for what the system does.

 

[cablechewer]

I am in the habit of turning off my computer when it will not be used for at least 30 minutes. My main PC has a power hungury 4870 in it so I do not see the point in letting it idle. Maybe if Cool'n'Quiet was implemented and worked on graphics cards as well as it does on CPUs I would reconsider.

I am also looking at the possibility of moving to a house that is not connected to the grid so leaving a PC on 24x7 when it is not serving a purpose will cost too much generation capacity if I go through with my move. Hell I might have to give up the 4870 to fit under the cap I am considering...

 

[jerreece]

I shut down my PC whenever I'm not using it. It saves energy, and keeps my house cooler. Being in Montana, not many of us have A/C as it isn't really needed. My PC however, will warm up my office pretty quickly if it sits running.

So I shut it off anytime I'm not using it.

 

[mosdapwn]

24/7
My current uptime is 17 days and 2 hours.

 

[badaxe2]

Hardware components are stress tested more these days, as others have mentioned already. Turning your rig off every night and powering it on every morning or whenever won't affect the life of the system (unless perhaps you plan on keeping it for more than a decade) any more so than the dust and heat wear that results from leaving them on constantly.

A happy medium is to leave the system on when you're around and putting it into a sleep mode when not or you're going to sleep yourself. I only power mine off completely if Windows updates are available before I go to bed, and they happen rarely enough as it is.

 

[llemm]

you have to turn off your pc guys. this is not for your sake its for our Mother earth.

 

[cee_lo]

All these comments "I leave on all my electrical doodads for sheer convenience and prevent wear and tear", is the dumbest excuse for wasting energy. I'm glad to know with today's economy that people still have money to burn on electricity bills. Electricity doesn't come from thin air. Today's electrical grid is already running at full capacity. Everyone, let's put more strain on the power grid and expedite global warming by leaving on all our computers, tv's and all our other electrical gadget doodads. Their are people in third world countries who struggle with electricity, relying on power generators to run a light bulb at night. I'm glad to know us North Americans have the luxury of wasting it.

 

[neon neophyte]

24/7. All 3 computers.

Now, as demonstrated previously, the hippies can go ahead and vote me down.

 

[NoCaDrummer]

I only turn my PC at home on when I use it... pretty much every day when I get home from work. It goes into sleep mode if I leave it for dinner or any other "break" lasting longer than 10 minutes. I shut it off when I'm done for the day.
I also have a timer on the house DSL modem & wireless router, so they shut off in the middle of the night for some time. (If I get desperate for Internet, I can always manually turn it back on.) This allows the router & modem to reset (an apparent problem with some routers) and helps keep extraneous attacks from happening.
By shutting down my components when I'm not using them, I save about $500/year in electric costs. I could easily afford to buy a new motherboard, CPU & hard drive each year for that sort of savings. I save money and I don't damage the environment nearly as much as my "keep it on" friends.

 

[hydroshock]

I'm in the same boat as a couple people with the whole using my computer as a heater in winter months. It keeps my room just warm enough through the night. (So technically, it's not wasted energy *shrug*)

 

[kamkal]

[No message]

 

[theuerkorn]

An age-old myth which was true in the age of early CRTs, and frankly I always turn my computer (home & work) off when not in use for more than an hour or so -- ever since the late 80s. NEVER did I have any failures, and my monitor typically lasts longer than of colleagues that leave it on and have "screen savers".

 

[razzb3d]

I own 3 PCs and 1 laptop.

My main rig (core i7 920 / 6GB / FirePRO 8900 / 3TB Storage) is on almost 24/7. I only turn it off if i leave the house for the weekend or something. The reason I keep it on is because it contains most of my HDDs / media witch is being served all around the house.

Some of my friends recommended i buy a network storage solution, or build a low power PC (no dedicated gaphics, low power CPU, etc), but i find this unconfortable because i work in 3DS max and i need HUGE amounts of space(up to 500Gb at times) to be instatly accesibile, and a network storage solution is just to slow.

My laptop is connected to my LCD TV, so it's also on most of the time. My second desktop is a network rendering machine / second gaming PC (Q9550 / 4GB / 4870 512 / 1TB storage ). It's on only when i need it. The third one is an old 3DFX enabled gaming rig, witch is only ocassionly on (Barton 2600+ / 1GB / 9800PRO + 2xVoodoo2 SLI).

You can immagine what my power bill comes to

 

[kamkal]

Server is always on (downloading and doing other fun things)
"Main" rig is usually always on, just turn off the monitor
HTPC is on only when required
Laptop only on when required (haven't even taken it out of my bag since the last time i used it)
Parent's computers only on when required

 

[Guest]

My PC is housed in an Antec Nine Hundred case, and I haven't gotten around to replacing the fans, so I need to turn it off or else my room is flooded with blue LED light.

My Powermac G4 tower is a torrent box, so I keep it running at night, but I need to get around to replacing the PSU because the fan is starting to get pretty loud. But between new HDD cages and going back in and tightening everything, it runs fairly quiet for being an 8 year old workhorse.

 

[joefriday]

Always turn em off. The only PC to run close to 24/7 is the HTPC running MCE 2005. It won't wake up sometimes correctly to record, so leaving it idling instead is more reliable to its primary function. However, if nothing is recording for a day or two, I'll turn it off for the night to save some wear and tear on the fans and other components, and of course to save power.

 

[anarchy4sale]

my netbook is on 24-7, Since i started college to save money I now turn my main PC off at night.

 

[skycowboy]

Power Down at night, restart in day, or when windows gets buggy lol

 

[atarione]

S3 suspend is your friend

almost all the power savings of power down and nearly instant on in the AM.

 

[Zagen30]

[citation][nom]fausto[/nom]has folding @ home helped to find a cure for anything? provided a new insight? because as far as i know this is a waste of energy[/citation]

The 63 peer-reviewed papers that the Pande Group has published say that the project is not a waste of energy. A couple months ago the announcement was made saying that, while the results were still preliminary and had not been peer-reviewed yet, they may have found multiple ways to prevent Alzheimer's (http://folding.typepad.com/news/2008/12/new-fah-results-on-possible-new-alzheimers-drug-presented.html).

To answer the question, I have my laptop, 2 older desktops, and my PS3 running various Folding@home clients 24/7. They are doing useful work, so I don't consider it a waste of energy. Before I joined the project I would shut my electronics down when I wasn't using them, because I figured that the just idling at the desktop was waste of energy.

 

[drkim]

This is a practice that has been handed down from the military during the old tube-electronics days.

Back then - it was stressful to have the tube filaments cooling off and heating up (just like most light bulbs blow just when you turn them on) so they were left on 24/7.

With mostly solid state and cool running components, there is little reason to keep them running all the time; unless you need instant access, etc.

Hard drives are the fastest 'moving part' and are more likely to fail from being shocked (mechanically) while spinning than from being spun up and down. Which means you would be safer if you bumped it with your chair if it is off.

Mine are off when not in use.

Remember that old Windows message:
"IT IS NOW SAFE TO TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER"