Desktops forum: Is it bad to have the PC running 24/7 ???

Theres on way you left your computer on for 24/7 for 5 years.... you have to atleast shut it down to clean all the fans, and heatsinks out.... after say 6-8 months of 24/7 computer time. the computer gets full of dust... you have to clean it out or the airflow going through the cpu heat sink will get clogged with dusk and which will deny sufficient cooling and the cpu can become overheated.... especially when you have animals in the house! your computer sucks up alot of hair and it gets stuck in the grills of the heatsink

I leave my computer on 24/7 with fan cooling and have to clean out the beast every 6-8 months... if you have water cooling its alot easier all you have to do is detach the fans from the radiator and maybe even clean the radiator out by rinsing it with water.

Besides all that computers are made to run 24/7.... low end computers not so much! laptops not so much.... custom built computers or high end oem computers can be left on for 24/7... harddrives go into sleep mode when you dont use them, i got 7 harddrives in my computer and after like 20-30 minutes the harddrives my computer isnt accessing goes to sleep... and as soon as i click on one of them the harddrive starts spinning up again and can take like 20seconds for me to access the files.... and most likely the monitor turns off after 20 minutes depending on the settings.

There are a gazillion discussions about leaving the PC on 24/7. No winner. My server is on 24/7 (home built running XP Pro). My main PC is turned off when I'm not there.

I do restart the server about once a week.

It's a "plain old computer", but it's used as storage for files and folders that can be used by other computers on my home network. File and printer sharing is enabled and I can keep programs and pictures and "stuff" that can be used by other PCs on my network.

It's also where my web site resides. Since web hosting sites charge by the megabyte, I can use my server to store and make available to my site, the size of a hard disk. I only pay for the site/domain name, and point it to my IP address connected to the software that runs my site.

Wayne

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Its not really bad to let your computer run 24/7, you get all your updates automatic, I'm assuming your running a good virus program. Turning your computer on uses a lot of resources while every thing is loading. Just shut it down to clean your system, power supply, and cpu fans to keep it from running to hot, there are some free temp. monitering programs online.

I leave my computers running almost all the time, and they have all lasted a long time in computer years.

It depends on how often you use your computer, though. IMHO, frequent powering up and down puts wear and tear on the computer, especially mechanical parts such as the hard drive and power supply. If you use it many times a day, leave it on. If you're like my mother and use it only every two weeks, then turn it off to save on electricity. If you're in between, well .... only you can decide.

If you are a frequent user, leaving it on all the time also provides the added benefit of automatic security and other scheduled updates when you're not likely to be using it.

The only negative side I have experienced in the last 2 years of running 24/7 is, The CPU fan & machine tends to collect more dirt than before. So a periodic monthly "blow out of the whole computer" becomes a must. The fans & heat sink collect a vast amount airboune dirt. Good advice when doing this clean up, outdoors is the only place. This dirt also causes your CPU to start running at higher temps. So keep monitoring the CPU temp. I have not found any other downside to running 24/7, besides this.

leaving your computer on 24/7 you should also pay attention to the room temperature.... if in the summer and you dont have a ac in your room. your room can get really hot... and the computer will be blowing hot air through the heatsink. and thats verrrrrrrry bad!... if you want to leave your computer on 24/7 in the summer make sure your room temperature is somewhat cool and comfortable....

if in the winter... leaving your computer on 24/7 is a good thing... well for me i enjoy it! actually in the winter my custom made computer that i built myself i7. i leave it on 24/7 and it actually heats up my room. its weird but it just does! sometimes i even leave my window cracked so i can lower the temperature in my room....

and sooner or later i would also like to try this in the winter lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Zp70eC670