Leaving everything on all the time?

[Huskerfan]

What do you guys think about leaving your arcade machine on all the time?  I was once told that a computer uses about as much electricity as a 60 watt bulb and the flourescent light wouldn't consume much power.  I was also told that it is worse to power on and off your computer if you're going to use it fairly often.  Not to mention, every time I go downstairs I see my marquee and the Donkey Kong screen saver playing.  Makes me proud that I created such a nice project.  What do you guys do?

p.s.  I also think I will have my machine multitask and put in a wireless network card and back up files to this hard drive.

[Buddabing]

If you have internet access you can run some kind of distributed computing application which runs in the background, such as folding, seti, etc.

If not, I'd say just set your power settings to minimal power usage when idle.

[ahofle]

It's the monitor that uses the most power, so don't forget to factor that in.  Depending on the type of display you are using, you may also have screen burn to worry about if you plan on leaving the same game running for weeks.  I usually leave everything off unless I expect company, in which case I leave it running all day.

[RandyT]

Mine stays on.  I consider it a night light and a piece of dynamic art.  Use a screen saver that pops up screenshots or videos from the games, or that cool rendered arcade video that everyone likes.

But if you are concerned about longevity of the components, by not shutting it down, the monitor, the bearings on the hard drive(s), the bearings in the fans on your CPU and video card (if it has one) and your power supply are all taking a beating.  If you turn it off and on 3 times a day, just leave it on.  If you turn it on twice a week, leave it off.  Anything in-between is up to you to decide.

RandyT

[FrizzleFried]

Two of my cabinets have a separate power switch installed ONLY for the monitor.   When I leave mine on,  I tend to turn off the monitor (as it is the single most power sucking item in the cabinet).

[Huskerfan]

Mine stays on.  I consider it a night light and a piece of dynamic art.  Use a screen saver that pops up screenshots or videos from the games, or that cool rendered arcade video that everyone likes.

But if you are concerned about longevity of the components, by not shutting it down, the monitor, the bearings on the hard drive(s), the bearings in the fans on your CPU and video card (if it has one) and your power supply are all taking a beating.  If you turn it off and on 3 times a day, just leave it on.  If you turn it on twice a week, leave it off.  Anything in-between is up to you to decide.

RandyT

"cool rendered arcade video"  Now you piqued my interest.  Where could a guy get this animal?

[Encryptor]

I watched a special report on tv not long ago that discussed how much it cost to run diffrent household items and appliances. According to the people doing this report a computer running 24/7 costs approx. $25 per year. I would think that they meant your average home pc and not some modded out monster that dims the lights in houses 15 miles away when turned on.

Encryptor

[Loki]

If you don't use it, turn it off. That's my rule here with everything electrical.
Also no standby... it saves energy and everything will last longer.

[leapinlew]

If you don't use it, turn it off. That's my rule here with everything electrical.

Surely that rule bends. What if you use the bathroom? I'm sure you leave it on. But, what if you run to the kitchen to make a snack? What if you run to the store? Do you turn down your furnace too? I'm not trying to nitpick but it's not as easy as that. This electrical debate has been ongoing for years.

Does it suck up more juice and cause more damage if you turn it off and on repeatedly? You'll find plenty of different opinions. 

[ahofle]

Does it suck up more juice and cause more damage if you turn it off and on repeatedly? You'll find plenty of different opinions. 

Agreed.  Unfortunately, all I've ever found were opinions and conjecture.  I would love to see an actual study on this subject involving hundreds of computers/monitors used in both fashions, showing which particular components failed more often under which circumstances.

[Loki]

If you don't use it, turn it off. That's my rule here with everything electrical.

Surely that rule bends. What if you use the bathroom? I'm sure you leave it on. But, what if you run to the kitchen to make a snack? What if you run to the store? Do you turn down your furnace too? I'm not trying to nitpick but it's not as easy as that. This electrical debate has been ongoing for years.

Does it suck up more juice and cause more damage if you turn it off and on repeatedly? You'll find plenty of different opinions. 

I'm not that extreme :p
When I don't plan to use it anymore I turn it off, for just five minutes I won't, but when I'm leaving the house, even if it is for just half an hour I do turn it off.

[SavannahLion]

Essentially, whatever answer you pick is going to be the right one. Just keep in mind the costs involved. I had a PC that ran 24/7/365 for four years until every fan and the CMOS died on me. Now I have to retrofit it with new, non-proprietary, fans.

Barring any overclocking, mechanical things like the fans and hard drive will fail long before the PC itself does. Which is what happened to me, my fans ran for so long that when I finally powered them down for the first time, and let them cool off, they siezed.

Does that mean I won't run a PC 24/7 anymore. No, it just means I'll be more careful in the selection of my components.

It's a balance you have to pick between availability, longevity and operating costs.

My basic rule of thumb is, if the PC isn't going to be doing or serving anything in the next hour, then shut it off. This nets me two PC's that are on 24/7 and the rest get shut off while I'm at work or asleep (unless I wake up in an hour  ).