Korean Job Discussion Forums

Kwai_Chang_Kain · Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Location: The Borg Collective

Is it harmful to leave your computer running 24/7??? I've been going bit torrent crazy lately and haven't had my computer turned off since last weekend when I went out of town and I honestly can't remember the last time I've had it turned off before that...

Antrugha · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Location: On a 2-wheeled engine

should be fine... reboot it once every couple of weeks or when you notice it getting sluggish and you should be ok. just watch the temps on it to make sure it's not overheating but if it's been running for a week straight, it should be good to go.

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

blunder1983 · Joined: 12 Apr 2005

how expensive is it to run pcs permenantly? what energy costs does it consist of?

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

Running a computer 24/7 should be no problem. You might need to replace fans eventually but that would be the only downside.

I keep mine on for months on end (just regular re-starts of course). I think it might cost me about 15,000won per month in electricity. Hard to say.

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

Think of a computer as a light bulb. When does a light bulb fritz on you? When it's on and burning for an hour or the moment you turn it on? Usually if a light is about to go, it's when you turn it on. The most "wear and tear" you do to your solid state electronics is when you power on. So in a way leaving your computer on is better than always powering it on and off. If you have a laptop, I'd suggesting getting a little airpad... a little pad with fans that helps cool your laptop even more.

jazblanc77 · Joined: 22 Feb 2004

JongnoGuru · Joined: 25 May 2004 Location: peeing on your doorstep

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

Kwai_Chang_Kain · Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Location: The Borg Collective

keninseoul · Joined: 09 Mar 2004 Location: Seoul

actually there is a reason is leave a PC on! Thermal stress happens when you turn it on (same thing with a light bulb, which is why it usually burns out when you turn it on), and degrades the life more than on/off.

The bearings in modern fans and hard-drives are usually rated to last years, so that is not an major issue either.

In our IT department, we used to leave the terminals on 24*5 - turning them off only on Friday evening. Til everyone got into power saving mode.

Which client are you using. I find bitcomet rather unstable (under XP-SP2)?

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

splok · Joined: 30 Jan 2006

accessories such as printers would use essentially no electricity unless they're actually in use. a monitor would use somewhat more (still quite low though, especially if its an lcd), but you can always set the monitor to sleep after being idle for a few minutes. how much juice your computer uses will vary significantly depending on what kind of computer it is. A brand new full blown gaming system is going to use MUCH more power than a low end comp. there are power saving options that power down certain components that will probably be on by default too. sure, it costs me a few bucks a month to keep all of my stuff turned on 24/7, but i consider it well worth it. if you're really bored or just really curious, you can check all of your power supplies for their rated power output to get an idea of how much electricity all of your stuff uses (not that that's very exact, but it's ok for ballpark comparisons).