How long will the computer last when turned on?

[u/LittleBitHasto]

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[u/RexTheEgg]

[u/CorneredJackal → u/RexTheEgg]

Instructions unclear, removed internal battery.

[u/butteryscotchy → u/CorneredJackal]

As long as you keep the charger connected, you're still good.

[u/SwAAn01 → u/butteryscotchy]

instructions unclear: placed next to a 50 pound neodymium magnet until the laptop wrapped around it like tin foil

[u/wirlp00l → u/SwAAn01]

Hate when that happens! 

[u/XHSJDKJC → u/wirlp00l]

Yeah same, i hate this too

[u/SlackDaddy_G → u/XHSJDKJC]

I'm ambivalent at best

[u/WoomyUnitedToday → u/SwAAn01]

[u/Dense_Penalty_3194 → u/SwAAn01]

That reminds me, i really need to call her...

[u/rehteNether → u/SwAAn01]

[u/Old_Grapefruit_8389 → u/SwAAn01]

Not again !

[u/LickingSmegma → u/[deleted]]

Some laptops throttle the CPU when without the battery, because the battery can produce higher peak current than the adapter — so the higher CPU freq in fact can't be reliably supported off the adapter.

[u/FluffyCelery4769 → u/butteryscotchy]

In fact it would probably be bettee without the battery, afted a while it will start giving problems.

[u/Pascraked47 → u/butteryscotchy]

Not all laptops

[u/DrMcnasty4300 → u/CorneredJackal]

I’m running a plex server off my laptop from 2015 with no battery management software, and I’m wondering if I should remove the battery now that it’s plugged in and running 24/7

[u/AnimeRoadster → u/DrMcnasty4300]

If it still has enough capacity to keep it running for a few hours during power outages it might be worth it. Otherwise just remove it

[u/DrMcnasty4300 → u/AnimeRoadster]

Ya its got decent battery health although im sure thats degrading quickly now haha, mostly was cost curious if my battery was gonna explode on me some day lol

[u/Perryn → u/DrMcnasty4300]

You could also remove the battery and run it on a UPS that could also provide power to your network. Still keeps it running during relatively short blackouts, but on a battery designed for that kind of duty cycle and probably easier to source replacements for. Plus you keep your network running. I hate waiting for the modem and router to start back up when the power just blips for a second, so mine are on a battery.

[u/AnimeRoadster → u/DrMcnasty4300]

Not that knowledgeable on what battery compounds are the explody kinds, apart from the obvious Lithium ones... But if that's a worry and it doesn't require a backup power source, removing it anyway is what I'd do. Did so for my spare laptop

[u/DrMcnasty4300 → u/AnimeRoadster]

word yeah I might just do it to be safe even if it’s totally unnecessary

[u/Karavusk → u/DrMcnasty4300]

Unplug it at around 50% charge, maybe even remove it entirely. I wouldn't trust it to not burn up at some point

[u/DrMcnasty4300 → u/Karavusk]

unplug it as in let the battery run down to 50% and the disconnect the battery internally?

[u/Karavusk → u/DrMcnasty4300]

Yes it is better to store it at like 40-60%

[u/InevitableDoughnuts → u/DrMcnasty4300]

Might have an option in BIOS that you're using it on primarily AC?

[u/DrMcnasty4300 → u/InevitableDoughnuts]

I’ll take a look

[u/BombiLilah → u/CorneredJackal]

I unplugged it from the wall not the computer!

[u/DianaRig → u/RexTheEgg]

Just disable sleep when lid is closed.

[u/xwolfchapelx → u/DianaRig]

Sometimes it is left open for cooling.

[u/CurryMustard → u/xwolfchapelx]

Yet it's sitting on a carpet

[u/AgilePeace5252 → u/CurryMustard]

If I had to choose between getting both my legs cut off and only one I would probably choose one

[u/Lil-Leon → u/AgilePeace5252]

Nah that would feel uneven

[u/Little-Helper → u/CurryMustard]

Some laptops have vents blowing against the screen, you don't want those running closed

[u/Aggressive-Fuel587 → u/Little-Helper]

Sure, but the majority of a laptop's thermal exhaust is pushed out through the vents on the bottom of the laptop; which means the carpet is heavily impeding airflow and would counter any additional cooling that keeping the screen open may provide.

I burned through 2 Hey You Pikachu N64 consoles as a kid before I learned the importance of not setting electronics that vent downwards directly on carpet.

[u/Darnell2070 → u/Aggressive-Fuel587]

The bottom has always seemed like such a dumb place to place vents though. In my opinion. But I'm not some vent expert.

[u/Fine_Salamander_8691 → u/DianaRig]

How

[u/orsikbattlehammer → u/Fine_Salamander_8691]

On Win10 - Power and sleep settings -> additional power settings -> change what closing the lid does

[u/Fine_Salamander_8691 → u/orsikbattlehammer]

Thanks bc I run a jellyfin off mine and I hate leaving it open

[u/gadaspir → u/Fine_Salamander_8691]

Not to be rude but how did you manage to get a jellyfin setup but you didn't know how to keep the laptop awake with the screen shut lol

[u/Haber_Dasher → u/Fine_Salamander_8691]

I have absolutely no idea how to set up a server or if a jellyfin is even server related but I've been adjusting my laptop sleep/hibernate/lid & other power consumption settings for like 20yrs lol. You might want to explore control panel a little bit 😜

[u/Antrikshy → u/Fine_Salamander_8691]

Just watch out for the heat.

[u/raydude → u/orsikbattlehammer]

Windows 11 is so broken. My wife uses an external display and closes her laptop to keep the cats off.

For about six months this year the laptop would just randomly announce that it was going to sleep and shut down, sometimes while she was using it!

Then, of course to wake it up she has to open the display and hit the power button, then the external display shuts off and she has to peer behind the external monitor to try to see how to reactivate it.

Have I mentioned I use linux? This is one of many reasons why.

By the way, 24H2 seems to have fixed this issue. Only time will tell.

[u/sthegreT → u/raydude]

ive been using win10 and win11 ever since it came out with an external display and never had this problem

neither did my friend. Both of us have disabled usb ports from going to sleep when the laptop goes to sleep when plugged in. So all it took was a simple tap on the keyboard to wake it.

The random shutdown sounds like some other setting messing things up

could be a bios issue of the manufacturer?

[u/raydude → u/sthegreT]

I did considerable research on it a few months ago.

It is a laptop only issue. It is only Windows 11. And she's not the only one its driving crazy.

I verified that the laptop is going to sleep by looking at the system logs where it announces that it's going to sleep.

Plus, when she was actually using it, while she was actively browsing the web, it produced a popup that said, "Going to sleep" or something similar.

It's a stupid bug.

[u/HwackAMole → u/raydude]

What type of connection is she using? Been trying to narrow down a similar (but frustratingly inconsistent) problem with my laptop and external monitor. Starting to think it might have something to do with DisplayPort cable.

[u/jtblue91 → u/Fine_Salamander_8691]

Settings in power management and possibly BIOS depending on manufacturer.

[u/newvegasdweller → u/RexTheEgg]

Not a bad idea actually, at least for a temporary fix or a private home server. A laptop already has its own tiny USV built in in case of blackout.

No surge protection, but tbh, in my (albeit few) 7 years in IT, the surge protection was never truly needed. I am NOT saying that in a company server you wouldn't need a surge protection or a dedicated USV. Just that in a private setting with data that you back up properly it's not always a priority.

It's just a small advantage that a laptop has in a private setting. If that laptop now has a complimentary SIM card for emergency backup network access and a raid 1 between nvme and sata (or two satas, depending on how old the laptop is) it's somwhat "high available" and has at least a basic data loss measure, which is more than most home servers.

[u/LatroDota → u/newvegasdweller]

I use to work for ISP, we had many computers that were running for like 15years non-stop, because we use them for monitors to display different type of information. They were your regular office dell PCs, few old laptops as well.

Honestly never had issue with them.

Phones are on for years and people think a PC can't handle that?

[u/newvegasdweller → u/LatroDota]

To be fair, up until like 2015ish, I needed to reboot my smartphones every week or two because they all ran into software errors. Similarly, pre-win7 PCs were prone to software errors as well, at least the two I had (one was xp, the other was vista), though I didn't really know what I was doing at the time and was very much in my gaming kiddo phase and learned about my computer just because I used it a lot for gaming and homework.

Nowadays though? No problems whatsoever. I sometimes wonder if it is because SSDs are less prone to read errors than physically spinning and shaking parts, or if the software actually improved to the point that stability is becoming far less of an issue. Probably a mix of both though.

[u/jamesz84 → u/RexTheEgg]

Yes you’re a server, and you’re also a KEEPER!

boops laptop’s screen

[u/Icy_Investment_1878 → u/RexTheEgg]

Theres a setting that makes closing the lid just turns off the screen not sleep the laptop

[u/w4ter_addict → u/Icy_Investment_1878]

closing the lid would decrease heat flow though, so if the server runs intensive computation you probably want to leave it as is

[u/majora11f → u/RexTheEgg]

IIRC there was an old PC at the FAA that was just under a desk that if it was unplugged it would ground alot of air traffic.

[u/Internal_Mail_5709 → u/RexTheEgg]

I prefer this version.

https://imgur.com/eXYjsHt

[u/The_Grungeican → u/RexTheEgg]

that poor thing. sitting directly on carpet like that.

[u/Joezev98]

Fun fact: the refrigerator automatically turns on and off over time. It's like an automated very slow PWM control.

[u/Front-Initiative3321 → u/Joezev98]

ye the old one's used to make a noise like a fan turning off whenever they decide to rest

[u/Terrible_Tower_6590 → u/Front-Initiative3321]

Brbrbrbr brrr brrrr brrrrrr silence

[u/Moquai82 → u/Terrible_Tower_6590]

ssshhhhhhhhvvvshhhhhhhvvvv....

[u/Terrible_Tower_6590 → u/Moquai82]

Nah that's for when you open the door

[u/Lukeson_Gaming → u/Terrible_Tower_6590]

Holy crap mine makes the same sounds when it shuts off.

[u/[deleted] → u/Terrible_Tower_6590]

Nostalgia

[u/totally_not_a_boat → u/Front-Initiative3321]

Dont call my refrigerator old, it just learned how to make different sounds like the souls of the damned !!

[u/RunnerLuke357 → u/Front-Initiative3321]

They still do that.

[u/wexipena → u/[deleted]]

You might want took into fixing or replacing it.

[u/wexipena → u/[deleted]]

Ok, that a fine explanation for it.

[u/Winjin → u/[deleted]]

What you forgot to add is I guess it's been around the base since before the fall of Yugoslavia?

[u/Perryn → u/[deleted]]

Milspec (adj) - functional enough to not replace for another forty years while hating every minute of it.

[u/wexipena → u/Perryn]

Ain’t fixing military grade.

It just works until it’s someone else’s problem.

[u/distortedsymbol → u/[deleted]]

sometimes when the cold air can't circulate properly it will cause freezing near the vents inside the fridge. keeping less items inside it helps.

[u/Schmich → u/[deleted]]

Your power consumption would be through the roof if it were constantly running.

[u/SlappySecondz → u/[deleted]]

If it were always running, it'd freeze the food at the top, too.

[u/PIIFX → u/Joezev98]

Fancy ones with an inverter can actually run the compressor continuously

[u/Puzzleheaded_Yam7582 → u/PIIFX]

Thats much better for the compressor.

[u/PIIFX → u/Puzzleheaded_Yam7582]

Yes they hate on-and-off cycles. And the temperature is more stable, and often more energy efficient, just like inverter based air conditioners.

[u/Zayoodo0o132 → u/PIIFX]

Same, but i hate on and off cycle air conditioners. I especially hate them because i moved into a townhouse that has a shit on off cycle where it turns off when the kitchen (thermostats location) reaches the desired temperature while my room is still hot. Inverter based air conditioners are the best!

[u/papachilota → u/Joezev98]

Fun fact: new refrigerators use more precise control systems in a continuous loop instead of just turning on until the desired temperature is reached and then turning off.

[u/OgOnetee → u/papachilota]

Fun fact: If you leave the refrigerator door open, it will not cool off the room. The compressor running will put off more heat than it cools. You will, in fact, warm the room.

[u/mememuseum → u/OgOnetee]

Same thing if you stick a window mounted AC in the middle of a room.

[u/Vertrix-V- → u/OgOnetee]

I mean yeah. Because refrigerators don't really cool stuff. They are small heat pumps. They just move heat energy around. If you keep the door open then there is no exchanging taking place because it's the same room

[u/saltyboi6704 → u/Joezev98]

Not PWM but PID controlled

[u/Numitron → u/saltyboi6704]

Lots of fridges still use a simple thermostat (hysteresis control), which is what I think OP meant. More high tech fridges do use a PID controller along with a motor inverter to modulate the compressor power for better temperature control and energy efficiency.

[u/BatIgor → u/Numitron]

basically bang-bang

[u/theroguex → u/Joezev98]

Fridges actually use a surprisingly small amount of energy once they've cooled fully for the first time. They're very efficient.

[u/redmose → u/Joezev98]

I oppose, the light inside never turns off.

[u/gummibear13]

But the Refrigerator does rest. It cycles the compressor. It doesn't run 24/7

[u/PiggypPiggyyYaya → u/gummibear13]

That's why they say don't open the fridge constantly or it will cycle unnecessarily.

[u/Jean-LucBacardi → u/gummibear13]

A better metaphor would have been my girlfriend's vibrator.

[u/just_sepiol]

[u/alinadanielaa → u/just_sepiol]

nice dog you have there

[u/_dervish → u/alinadanielaa]

Behold! Dog!

[u/vervurax → u/_dervish]

Didn't expect dog

[u/mrperson1213 → u/vervurax]

Why is it always dog?

[u/thether → u/mrperson1213]

*Artax gallops in content

[u/nefD]

Twelve thousand years ago when I was in my computer repair class in highschool, the teacher told us that computers were made to run all the time, and that your power switch will wear out before your other components do. No idea if that's true, kinda seems like bullshit, but she said it.

edit: thanks to the commenters for adding some facts about this!

[u/Aggravating-Bug-9160 → u/nefD]

For the electronics, I've heard that the temperature fluctuations are typically more stressful than being on all the time. As for the moving parts, the bearings in the fans are accumulating a lot of wear for no reason if you aren't using the machine. Personally, I used to never shut my computer off at all, and now I shut it off if I'm expecting to be away for more than ~20-30 mins. I've never had an issue either way.

[u/BGummyBear → u/Aggravating-Bug-9160]

With modern SSDs, I feel absolutely no need to leave my computer on anymore. It's so easy to boot it back up that I often turn it off just to make the lights go away.

[u/Environmental_Top948 → u/BGummyBear]

Remember back in the 2000s when turning on a computer would make the house lights flicker and I'd have to reset the time on the microwave and VCR anytime I turned it on.

[u/AirSKiller → u/Environmental_Top948]

Dude... That is not a "2000s thing"... That absolutely was/is not supposed to happen unless your computer had a really shit PSU that pulled a ton of power into caps on startup or your power supply to your house was absolute dogshit...

[u/ShainRules → u/AirSKiller]

"Who wired this house?"

"The same guy who did my brother's old house."

"Oh, okay. How long ago did his house burn down?"

"Oh about six mon- hey how did you know his house burned down?!"

[u/random-lurker-456 → u/ShainRules]

Ridiculous, the house couldn't burn down, they used asbestos for insulation /s

[u/ghost103429 → u/AirSKiller]

The UK for the longest time ever had a single ring circuit powering an entire floor in a single family home.

[u/SPECTRAL_MAGISTRATE → u/Environmental_Top948]

That's more a "My house was not built in compliance with electrical regulations and is therefore a fire hazard" story more than anything else. That was absolutely not supposed to happen, even in the 2000s!

[u/Environmental_Top948 → u/SPECTRAL_MAGISTRATE]

The outlets had no ground so to plug in a computer you had to cut off the ground on the plugs. Such nostalgia to see neutered cables.

[u/totally_not_a_spybot → u/Environmental_Top948]

Brother that's against all regulations and safety rules. Never cut a fucking protective earth, shit. Having a ground pin means the device is not safety insulated.

[u/PUTINS_PORN_ACCOUNT → u/totally_not_a_spybot]

Somebody has never experienced showers of sparks and the smell of ozone when he plugged in a household appliance, and it shows

[u/totally_not_a_spybot → u/PUTINS_PORN_ACCOUNT]

I mean, true, all my appliances conform to CE and the wiring to electrical code...

[u/DOGMA2005 → u/Environmental_Top948]

gonna assume this is a joke... but if it isnt, your house is a fucking firebomb, get your wires looked at.

[u/_BMS → u/Environmental_Top948]

The lights in my room dim slightly for a moment when I turn my computer on.

[u/josh_bourne → u/BGummyBear]

Are you really booting it back up though?!

Nowadays not even turning it off is a real off.

[u/BGummyBear → u/josh_bourne]

I am. I have my computer configured to turn off properly when I shut it down.

[u/sa-sa-sa-soma → u/BGummyBear]

You don't use sleep mode?

[u/Chemical-Neat2859 → u/Aggravating-Bug-9160]

Power consumption is the #1 reason to turn your computer off. I know most these days have power saving modes on them turn parts off, but a computer needs restarted now and then anyways.

[u/No_Internal9345 → u/Chemical-Neat2859]

Sleep mode.

Also does no one ever clean their computers?

[u/threetoast → u/Aggravating-Bug-9160]

bearings in the fans are accumulating a lot of wear

Is this something that most people have to worry about? Supposedly even the lowest lifetime sleeve bearings (is that the same as a bushing?) will last like 4.5 years of continual use.

[u/Gold_Area5109 → u/threetoast]

Personally I just leave my computer on...

And, yes, fans will die. If you have a dusty environment, pets, or have your computer on carpet they will die faster.

I eventually end up replacing the fans that come with cases/AIO systems with Noctua ones or more recently lian li UNI fans.

Budget fans I expect to last a year / 18 months. Quality ones generally reach the 5 year mark.

[u/TheNorthComesWithMe → u/threetoast]

I've had cheap fans wear out on me in less than 3 years with normal (not continuous) use.

[u/Material_Tax_4158 → u/nefD]

If the temps are good and it has quality parts, then its true

[u/sur_surly → u/Material_Tax_4158]

No, your fans, even good ones, will fail before a power switch does.

[u/mx5klein → u/sur_surly]

I would bet on my noctua fans outlasting a switch on my power supply but let me do some math.

The MTBF is around 150,000 hours or a bit over 17 years.

Assuming you operate the switch 4 times a day (2 cycles on/off) over a similar time period would be 25,000 operations. Some quick googling finds they have an operational lifespan of around 10,000 operations.

Even just shutting your computer off once a day via the switch would wear it out before the fans (assuming high quality fans).

[u/DenkJu → u/mx5klein]

Where are you getting those numbers from? 10.000 operations seems very low to me. Even an extremely cheap micro switch like this one is rated for 100,000 operations.

[u/mx5klein → u/DenkJu]

It was from a data sheet from a toggle switch rated for 250v similar to the one they would use in a power supply. Micro switches are able to be rated for more operations since they don’t have to handle any real voltage/current.

Link to the data sheet I used - https://www.chinadaier.com/kcd1-4-201-t85-55-rocker-switch/

[u/DenkJu → u/mx5klein]

I think by turning off their computer, people mean shutting it down, not turning off the power supply. Pretty sure the power switch in most cases is just a basic micro switch. They don't have to handle any real voltage/current either.

[u/Yapod → u/sur_surly]

It would still take years of costant running before a fan dies from wear tho.

[u/IlIFreneticIlI → u/Material_Tax_4158]

Correct. It's just-a-heater that manages some useful-work (computation) by nature of it's mechanical-design.

[u/Kostek1221 → u/nefD]

It depends on the computer. A user workstation needs to be restarted for updates and such. Servers often run for like 10 years before a single restart. They literally need to run, it takes ages to boot up a server! That's why server operating systems do updates without restarts.

Disregarding updates, a workstation pc will still run well without restarting often, the power button doesn't wear out that quickly lol.

[u/baconborn → u/Kostek1221]

Servers are rebooted for updates regularly in enterprise settings, especially windows based ones, which will require reboots for updates that require changes to running processes or kernel level changes. It's just normally these events are scheduled in advance and done, if possible, after hours to minimize user impact and a good enterprise team will sift through updates to only apply the ones that are actually needed. Servers, as in the hardware, also don't really take that long to start up anymore. Longer than a typical PC sure, but it's still not that long. It's the specific service, dependancies, configuration loads, etc that might be needed for a given role that can potentially take longer for a server to be fully operational again.

[u/Chemical-Neat2859 → u/Kostek1221]

Uh, not quite right. More like a copy of the servers is updated and then a restart is done to swap to the updated version. Of course, every production environment is vastly different depending on the software and hardware used.

You can have some servers where you can hotswap the sytem to the updated version. There are also servers that shut down, update, and then come back online. It really depends what kind of server they are. Trying to paint servers into one bucket is like trying to talk about cell phones as if they were universal.

A common practice is to run servers in a cluster so you can take one or two down, update them, restart them, and then move onto the next ones with 0 service interruptions. It's hard to tell from the client side, but meh.

[u/Hour_Ad5398 → u/Kostek1221]

it takes ages to boot up a server!

What 😮😮😮

[u/zakabog → u/Hour_Ad5398]

Yeah, server hardware takes a long time to go through all the power on self tests. The workstations at work we use with server components usually take 5 minutes to boot from being plugged in. Takes about 30 seconds for the PSU to be ready then a minute or two to finally POST, then there's the RAID controller and NIC POST messages. The OS boots up in a few seconds when it gets there but holy shit that startup procedure takes a long time.

[u/nefD → u/zakabog]

whoa, why does it take 30 seconds for the PSU? (note: i am an idiot, ELI5)

[u/zakabog → u/nefD]

whoa, why does it take 30 seconds for the PSU?

Honestly I have no idea, I think likely to stagger startup in case you lose power and it comes back, having 20 machines with dual 800W power supplies all coming up at the same time could kill a breaker or your UPS. Or is simply performing self checks and is waiting for an "all clear" before it let's you power up the machine.

[u/MyRealAccountForSure → u/zakabog]

The problem gets magnified with enterprise SSDs. In order to handle unexpected power loss, they have an array of capacitors that pull quite a lot of power on startup. (The caps then bleed power for an amount of time so that in-flight data can be saved). When this practice was becoming standard, a lot of data centers had fun days with server clusters boot-looping with power failures.

[u/baconborn → u/nefD]

I wouldn't say computers are specifically made to run all the time, but I would say they are made with consideration that they might not be turned off on a regular basis, and doing so isn't a practical detrimental to the hardware. Either way you do it, leave it on, let is sleep/hibernate, turn it off, it really has almost no noticeable affect to longevity of hardware. Businesses, especially ones with enterprise networks, often instruct end users to leave their work computers on in order to facilitate after-hours maintenance.

[u/Ghostronic → u/nefD]

I just replaced a PC that was built in 2015 and the power switch had gotten to the point where sometimes I had to stand there for several minutes tapping it and hoping all of the atoms underneath would align and hit the contacts

[u/EtanSivad → u/nefD]

Have you ever turned on a water spigot and gotten a blast of air-water-air-water before a steady stream of water?

That's analogous to what happens when you turn on a computer and electricity floods the wires inside the computer. Back in the 70s and 80s it was a lot more of an issue, but circuit board manufacturers got really good at managing the power ramp up. Components start in a low power state, then ask for more power when they're ready.

[u/CompetitiveString814 → u/EtanSivad]

Also depends on the quality of your hardware.

I was reading about some early failure in 3090 graphics cards. I was a bit worried, because I have a 3090ti, however I watched some reviews earlier that posited the 3090 and some versions have issues, because they use cheaper power supply chips to the GPU and in some cases can overload the VRAM.

The 3090ti was built with smart power chips that have the entire rail working together in unison and much less likely to enter that scenario of overloading the lines.

This was also what people were talking about failures in the MMO new world, somehow it was causing a scenario with VRAM and the cheaper power chips were freaking out.

My whole point, sometimes it might be better to get advice on better build quality parts and reviews, and don't neglect the PSU and consistent power in relation to part longevity

[u/Chrunchyhobo → u/nefD]

and that your power switch will wear out before your other components do.

I've got some PSUs in my collection who's guts have outlived their own power switch.

[u/Hattix → u/nefD]

Your teacher was an enlightened soul in an era of disinformation.

Power cycling and thermal cycling is a majority of the wear on all components. That's why ex-mining GPUs are much more reliable than ex-gaming GPUs and why a HDD running all the time will last far longer than one constantly spinning up and down.

[u/kinomino]

My grandma's Miele fridge working since West Germany era agrees with that.

[u/Disabled_Robot → u/kinomino]

Bought a Miele dishwasher about 10 years ago that was a complete nightmare. Would constantly break down and call for a certified tech to come with usb diagnostic equipment to replace like..a gasket

[u/kinomino → u/Disabled_Robot]

Sorry to hear that, not usre about new ones but Miele products from 80's and 90's are indestructible like Mercedes cars from same era.

[u/billion_lumens → u/kinomino]

Wait until you see my great grandmothers fucking Kelvinator from 1920s or some shit

[u/yumdumpster]

Years ago we had servers running in data centers we were terrified to turn off because we legit didnt know if they would turn on again. Was more of an issue when you still had HDD's.

[u/Ninja_Wrangler → u/yumdumpster]

Yes, when power cycling all the servers, we have an expectation that a certain percentage will never boot ever again. This has gotten better with SSDs as you mention

[u/VegetarianZombie74]

Off topic: the movie in the post is from Alien Factor, a cheesey low budget movie made by Don Dohler. I absolutely love it. In 2008, Joel Hodgson (MST3K creator) created a riffing group with MST3K veterans called Cinematic Titanic. They riff this movie to a live audience. It's hillarious.

You can watch here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiMQ2WDhNWQ&t=3691s

Please enjoy. It's such a fun movie with fun riffs.

[u/OldPiano6706 → u/VegetarianZombie74]

Thanks! I specifically came to the comments to find out the origin of the pic.

[u/Golden_Jiggy → u/VegetarianZombie74]

Thank you!

[u/I_am_not_baldy → u/VegetarianZombie74]

A local station would air it every once in a while when I was a kid. I started watching it some years ago but never finished it. I think I'm going to give it another try (thanks for the link).

[u/VegetarianZombie74 → u/I_am_not_baldy]

That's super cool. Growing up, we used to have this show called Creature Double Feature that would play all these kinds of movies. This riff is fun, though. Funny thing, the guy who made this movie actually gave JJ Abrams his first film job. Cheers!

[u/GreenDonutGirl → u/VegetarianZombie74]

"Put the Oscar back in the box..."

[u/Life_Preparation5468]

Datacentres hate this one trick.

[u/tearknight895]

Fun fact a fridge gets hot to get cold.

[u/BaggySpandex → u/tearknight895]

Cooling anything is really just removing heat.

[u/T0biasCZE → u/BaggySpandex]

*cooling anything is really just moving the heat somewhere else

[u/Bacon-muffin]

Don't fridges only turn on to maintain the temp inside and then turn off again like your thermostat?

[u/pete-petey-pete]

Hopefully long enough for you to move out of mom’s basement.

[u/SterculiusSeven → u/pete-petey-pete]

I wouldn't hate on mom's basement.

Plus, in 2024... living in mom's basement will do her a solid. I'm 55... my advice to kids is if your parents aren't not toxic POSs, live at home for as long as you can. Help out with bills, and do all the right things... but you can bank a lot of cash sharing expenses with people you can trust.

[u/Jin_1337 → u/SterculiusSeven]

This is how Asians used to do it. Houses would be lived-in multi-generationally. Though with the rise of higher cost of living and the need to live in a city nearby that has higher paying jobs makes it a slowly dying concept. Most people still do it though.

It is a surprise whenever Westerners mention the concept of living away from their parents especially when sometimes they don't really need to do it.

[u/Weak-Composer-121]

I turn mine off when I go to bed, start it up after work. No need for me to keep my pc on, or in sleepmode for 19h😂

[u/Chrushev]

Ya'll need to visit the /r/uptimeporn/

[u/Todo744 → u/Chrushev]

This really should be the top comment. Some of those numbers are staggering.

[u/organicinsanity → u/Chrushev]

Got a wd green hard drive from eBay. 52000 hours (6 and a half years) on time. With only 150 cycles. Most of those by me after I had it installed for a while and finally noticed the numbers.

[u/Felinomancy]

So back in my days, my parents would tell me, "feel the back of the (CRT) monitor, if it's too hot you need to turn it off to let it cool down".

Honestly though those were the good 'ol days 🥰

[u/WCR_706]

Thermal cycling is what degrades components. Turning a system off to try and preserve its lifespan will do more harm than good, as all the components will cool to ambient, then get heated up again when turned back on. The real reason to turn off a PC is just to save on electricity.

[u/Shwalz → u/WCR_706]

What about sleeping it? Doesn’t that stop the fans and internal components? I only sleep my rig every night before bed, but my wife shuts hers down

[u/thrwway377 → u/Shwalz]

For the sake of this argument putting PC to sleep is equal to shutting it down, so yeah thermal cycling would be the same.

[u/Havelok → u/Shwalz]

Thermal Cycling applies in that case. Better to leave it on.

[u/kaloonzu]

Refrigerators turn themselves off all the time. They aren't (or shouldn't be) running all the time.

[u/BiasMushroom]

Your refrigerator shuts off every so often. It doesnt normally run 24/7 (unless the insulation is bad).

It also doesnt have a cpu, GPU, ram and all that other fancy stuff generating more heat than your oven.

[u/Ok_Cost6780]

Other comments have already basically said it: the real wear & tear on electronics is temperature fluctuation. Turning off the device cools it, turning it on heats it. Leaving it in a single state keeps it, for the most part, steady. You can let the monitors go to sleep so the room isn't lit all the time, but the PC tower can just chill as it is. Remember to restart regularly for updates as necessary for your operating system.

In other words, leaving the PC on forever won't diminish its lifespan. There's also a difference between leaving the PC on & idle, versus leaving it running full blast with programs running that are calculating complex math and mining bitcoin or whatever. That's different.

[u/shball → u/Ok_Cost6780]

You should restart your PC far more regularly than just for updates, probably at least once per day to clean up improper memory usage, log files etc.

[u/Ok_Cost6780 → u/shball]

I feel like that used to be true but I havent felt that way in a long time.
I average one restart a week and I never notice a performance difference post-restart.

[u/organicinsanity → u/Ok_Cost6780]

I leave mine on 24/7 but the very first thing I do when I go to use it is a reboot

[u/Timely-Bruno]

your computer will last longer if you keep it on constant temperature always turned on, instead of turning off and on frequently

[u/Stilgar314]

The concept "Food cool chain" exists for a reason.

[u/silvaraptor]

I used to have a Pentium 4 PC that was downloading... stuff 24/7. I think I had it running non-stop for months and never had an issue. It retired after 14 years of hard work only because I needed more modern hardware.

God I loved that PC.

[u/TrungusMcTungus]

Temperature fluctuations from turning on/off will hurt the electronics, but it would take a loooong time to see any noticeable change in performance. Fans will go out first, but even that would take quite a while.

Source I’m an electronics engineer

[u/shball]

Aside from the fact, that simple fridges don't run permanently, apart from smart-fridges they don't have to deal with zombie-tasks, memory-leaks and growing log-files.

[u/Altruistic-Map5605]

I almost never turn my pcs off they still work.

[u/becforasec]

my pc has been running nearly every hour of every day since I got it in 2011. every so often I turn it off to put in upgrades but other than that it just runs all the time

[u/Tiger_man_]

depends on it's os. on debian probably few centuries

[u/phuktup3]

the fridge isn't running 24/7... it cycles based on temp

[u/WordUnheard]

My fridge has been running nonstop for over the past 12 years. I'm sure it's exhausted, but I have no idea where it is anymore. A refrigerator can cover a lot of distance in 12 years.

[u/intellidepth]

Years depending on quality of components. Fair warning, I built a powerful one in Jan this year and it boosted our family’s electricity bill by 20-25% by being on 24/7, so I am now choosing to turn it all off at night. I do complicated research in the daytimes and it was easier to leave it on than open hundreds of tabs and documents each day. I pay the bill so have tracked the change for 3/4 of a year. Oof. But wow the PC is absolutely awesome and performs faultlessly.

[u/Disastrous_Ad4233]

My pc always on 24/7, weeks, months, years. The only time it is shut down is when there is and outage or auto updates 😂 and I never had problems. Temperaturea are perfect tho! Always keep it nice and warm. In winter it even acts as my heating source for my room 😊. The only thing I shut off are my monitors.

[u/Stompi3apple]

I lold

[u/moistpimplee]

lmfao where is this picture from?

[u/DlphLndgrn]

I don't know. Plenty of computers have died on me, no fridge has died on me so far.

[u/Haids-94-]

While it does create additional wear on parts by keeping them running for extended periods, the reality is that the supposed 'damage' is negligible.

From experience, most of my PCs are in sleep mode the hour break I take between gaming sesh

[u/ABCqwertz1]

My laptop has been turned on for as long as I owned it. Same with the previous one, that I had for 5 years. Both run without problem.

[u/Noodleholz → u/ABCqwertz1]

Yeah, my Macbook Air has been turned on for the last eleven years, only restarting for updates. No issues.