Hi, I just wanted your opinion on this one. My hardware instructor never had a definite answer on if it were better to leave your computer on all the time or if it was best to turn it off when you are done. If you leave it on all the time, the hardware will wear out faster because of its constant use? But he said that if you keep turning it on and off, the parts keep bouncing between hot and cold which stresses the parts as they expand and contract, making them more brittle and eventually breaking. Right now, I turn mine off when not in use, but I was wondering if you all had an opinion on this as what is the best thing to do. Regards :chk:
But did he tell you that keeping stuff on all the time uses more electric? Personly i turn mine on and off all the time, and i see no degrading in performance, my Emachines is still here after nearly 5 years and god knows how many times thats been turned on and off, i dont really think it affects it tbh.
Yes, there is wear by turning it on and off, but the fact is, your most likely to wear the switch out first if anything, and assuming you have it for ages. To get anything going, more energy is needed to get started than to sustain, so your instructor is correct from that aspect in that if you're turning it on and off freqently (something like every half-hour for example). However, the idea that you will wear out the electronics part is a theory at best, and just sounds like electromigration---and that's just something that happens by using a system. If you kept your system for, say, 20-25 years, you might see it, but who the hell has the same computer for that long? Most people don't even have it for five to ten years. That's a common myth really.
So also when turning a computer on, it uses more electric than when its running normally, even at full load? like a car takes the most stress when starting up.
Yes. I forget the names, but it's proven that a greater amount of force is required to get something going than to sustain that. It's like running: it's hardest to get going, but once you do, it's easier to stay moving. This is also why you don't have cold fusion reactors running.
mine is switched on and off once a day but if you left it on all the time id say your an idiot and you need to think about the environment, however... it also saves you looking like a complete gormless person whilst waiting for your pc to load up
If its true about this extra force required to get something moving, wouldent it mean someone is damaging the enviroment more by turning it on and off? Thats why people dont turn there cars off when there stuck in a long traffic jam coz of a train coming or something anymore as turning it on uses more petrol than when you were just sitting there with the engine on in the first place.
If I'm away from my computer for awhile, like when I go to work, I do turn it off. However, when I get home, I turn it on and leave it that way. Plus, I do folding, so that's my second excuse...
well if ur computer was under full load like when compressing or prime or converting video, then it would be the same as when starting the computer up wouldnt it. i dont get how starting your computer up takes more electricity than when it is running and under full load. it different for different things when they say when u get something started up its easier to keep it running eg when u get the ball rolling its easy to keep it rolling but it doesnt really apply to computer . u cant say that when u switch on the light its easier to keep it running than switch it off can u? or if u switch the light off and then on it will take more energy than if u keep it on for 10 hours
It makes perfect sense that it uses more really when you start it, its drained of electric, so you need to feed all the elctric into the capacitors, through all the pathways etc.., which is going to take more than when its flowing around.
Ah, so really the best thing to do would be shut it off when you are done :beer: Thanks for the advice!
Okay, here are the answers. We had a thread pretty much exactly like this one before, here. And Karan made a very helpful post at the bottom linking this website. It has the main questions that have been brought up so far answered very concisely and clearly. 1. Will turning a computer on/off often produce wear & tear and damage hardware? No, because computers are designed to handle a lot more on/off cycles than what computers go through in a typical 5-7 year life span. 2. No. The extra surge of power BigB was talking about, which it takes to start a computer, is less than only about 3 minutes of normal computer usage (according to the site). So, unless you seriously turn your computer off and on like every minute, you will save electricity (and therefore help save the environment) by turning it off.
