Bad to leave PC on 24/7?

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Sharks445

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Mar 10, 2014
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I have a desktop PC which I leave on all the time, so is that bad? Does the hardware wear out more quickly?
The higher electricity usage is not a concern.
I need to keep it on because I run a server on it for a website. It is a private site and I need it for school for cloud storage and web proxy.
Is it better to turn it off in the night and turn it back on in the morning, or just leave it on? Will the on/off cycles shorten the lifespan?
 
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nukemaster
Another user here with a 24/7 system without issues. 5 years and going.

My last run was almost 123 days, but I recommend restarting whenever you get Windows updates. Remember to set Windows not to auto restart for updates or it will do it at like 1 in the morning when you least expect it.

Also remember to check for software updates from time to time as well since some of it only checks on startup so if startups are 120 days apart you may have software security bugs not getting patched as fast. Avast can warn you about these things even in the free version(a great feature).

I have been though more than one hard drive(and one 120mm fan, but for a sleeve mounted horizontally it held up very well.), but I think it was just a bad batch of...
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uthvag

uthvag

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Oct 5, 2014
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nope, not at all. i do it for my laptop and desktop.

but just check your temps and see if it is too high after a while, because sometime while running heavy apps for a long time , cpus genrally produce more heat which mostly wont damage your computer , but is unnecessary

anyway even if the temps are too high there will be an auto shutdown before any damage happens

about the wear and tear - it is bound to happen , but not dramatically unless your temps are borderline insane.
i have 2 rigs running almost 24x7 , one for 4yrs another for 7 yrs (well i do leave occasional breaks), but they are still working nice


if TLDR- No, if the temps are fine no
 
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hp79

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Feb 6, 2006
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On/off cycles could shorten the life of the HDD which is probably the only moving component in your computer besides the fans for your CPU and power supply.

It's generally okay to keep it on 24/7 as others stated already.

The only real concern would be to make sure the fans and components don't get clogged with too much dust. Depending on how clean your environment is, clean out the dust every couple months.
 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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Nov 23, 2004
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Another user here with a 24/7 system without issues. 5 years and going.

My last run was almost 123 days, but I recommend restarting whenever you get Windows updates. Remember to set Windows not to auto restart for updates or it will do it at like 1 in the morning when you least expect it.

Also remember to check for software updates from time to time as well since some of it only checks on startup so if startups are 120 days apart you may have software security bugs not getting patched as fast. Avast can warn you about these things even in the free version(a great feature).

I have been though more than one hard drive(and one 120mm fan, but for a sleeve mounted horizontally it held up very well.), but I think it was just a bad batch of Seagates.
 
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