It appears your PC, your choice.
Is keeping your computer on 24/7 in standby mode bad for it? I've read different answers from different sources.
while i sleep/work/etc ...
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Question
Is keeping the computer on 24/7 bad?
Discussion is locked
15 Posts
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Answer
It appears your PC, your choice.
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About ready for bed now anyway. I'll close programs like always, take a reading, then put in lock/sleep and in the morning on waking it, immediately take another reading. Tomorrow then!
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But I've seen drivers leak on suspend resume. It's not a sure thing but the CNET video and my experience that I'll reboot from time to time.
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My kernel log showing sleep and wakeup times.
http://glenburniemd.net/CNET/Sleep/Kernel_Log_SleepWake_Memory.png
Just before going into Sleep, around midnight, after being awake for 8 days.
http://glenburniemd.net/CNET/Sleep/MintMemory_Night.png
Wakeup about 7am, shows about same Memory usage.
http://glenburniemd.net/CNET/Sleep/MintMemory_Morning.png
Immediately after a Reboot.
http://glenburniemd.net/CNET/Sleep/Reboot.png
Long Term - Leaving computer running without reboot for 121 days.
http://glenburniemd.net/CNET/121_Days.png
Of course during the long term 121 days, there were times when the memory usage was over 2GB, but Linux seemed to take care of it very well over that long haul. What I could do is identify the processes that weren't there between last night and a reboot and set their TTL (time to live) to a shorter time period than obviously they currently are, so like over a longer term, they also would shutdown in a short term like overnight.
However, as I started firefox and began to do this post, I noted the RAM usage jumped almost immediately back above where it had been during "sleep" all night, so don't see much point of the reboot, so long as sleep function works OK on good equipment, good RAM.
http://glenburniemd.net/CNET/Sleep/Today.png
I would challenge anyone who wanted, to see how Windows does on overnight sleep, and used for 7-8 days constantly on, like I had on Linux before doing this test.
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Or rather Windows. Linux, the OS, apps and drivers are subject to a lot more inspection than Windows and it's drivers. Don't need much proof for that.
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I've see good releases run for 5+ years without a leak. The advice about sleep, reboot is all about Windows.
Then again, if a PC is in standby 24/7 that tells me it never gets turned on so why waste Watts like that? Pull the plug.
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Answer
I leave my lower power computer on all the time in sleep mode, but do turn off if indoor temps will be above 85 F for some reason. I don't think I'd leave those board burners that are 100-125W on overnight, even if they dropped voltage down to half over night. Mine is 45W and drops to 20W in sleep mode. I think of how much heat each wattage in an incandescent light bulb would put out to realize the heat potential and then condense that heat into a 1.5 x 1.5" space size. So, I do leave this one on, but not my other AMD Phenom X4 when not in use.
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Answer
Does that mean sleep mode?
I've used sleep mode for years.
I use the machine and when I'm done I back it down to the desktop and put it in sleep.
When I want to use it again I just hit a key and I'm back to the desktop in a few seconds.
In sleep mode the machine pretty much shuts off....just the ram stays active.
Hit a key and the machine powers up reads the ram good to go.
I doubt it would be a good idea to do this over a long time span without a reboot.
With windows there always seems to be some reason a reboot is needed so I've never run into a problem.
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that is what causes need for reboot in windows, but you never have to reboot in linux for updates unless it's a kernel update and those are by choice and mostly avoided if everything is running OK.
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Answer
as long as the computer is running normally, there should be no problems leaving the computer on. I leave all of mine on 24/7 and don't remember the last time I shut them down for an extended period. My newest computer is over a year old and the the others are about 4-5 years old (slept since getting them so not sure) This is one of those questions where you will find good and bad points on both sides. In the end, it is up to you.
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Answer
Leaving it on physically wears and tears on fans, and components and it does collect a lot of dust in case of computer.
If you leave it on, I would advise to clean your desktop internal more frequently to rid yourself of the dust collected.
My fan on my graphic card eventually gave out because of so much dust collected on it and yes I leave on my computer 24/7. I did have standby mode. but had to disable it because it was causing some problems. So now I shut down the computer when I know I will not use it for the next several days.
I hope this helps.
-Lee
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Notice in my screen captures the CPU was getting overly warm. So after those yesterday I pulled off my HSF and did a cleaning and new paste and now in 81 degree home running at 110 F about 30 degrees cooler. Only took about 6-7 months to get there. When mine is on sleep though, since all fans including the PSU are temp controlled, only the CPU fan seems to cycle once in awhile. Of course that's where the dust builds up. I've often thought about making it a filtered case, at least for air intake areas.
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Answer
Honestly that is up to you, there will always be debate on which is better but you should always keep in mind to restart it every now and again to keep your OS up to date with updates. Keeping it on all the time will attract more dust so be sure to clean it out more. If your computer offers and energy saver mode that may be another viable option as some are very efficient.
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Post was last edited on July 1, 2015 4:41 PM PDT
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