On the other hand, if the computer is powered on, there’s wear and tear on the moving parts (mostly just fans now), and components like capacitors have a limited lifespan. These tend to be the first components that fail anyway, and I’ve always thought it odd to further reduce the lifespan of these components with the hope to extend the lifespan of what’s already the most reliable parts of the computer.
Now, with modern computers that sip power at idle but can consume hundreds of watts under load, the difference in temperature at idle and load is much greater than room temperature (off) and idle, so even if I was worried about thermal cycling I’d still be inclined to turn the computer off when it’s not needed because when it’s off there will be no big temperature swings. Granted, with Linux when my PC isn’t being used it pretty much just sits at a constant and steady idle… but Windows on the other hand…
Combined with the added electricity cost of not running the computer when it’s not needed, not leaving the machine running all the time is the obvious choice.
Thermal cycling
On the other hand, if the computer is powered on, there’s wear and tear on the moving parts (mostly just fans now), and components like capacitors have a limited lifespan. These tend to be the first components that fail anyway, and I’ve always thought it odd to further reduce the lifespan of these components with the hope to extend the lifespan of what’s already the most reliable parts of the computer.
Now, with modern computers that sip power at idle but can consume hundreds of watts under load, the difference in temperature at idle and load is much greater than room temperature (off) and idle, so even if I was worried about thermal cycling I’d still be inclined to turn the computer off when it’s not needed because when it’s off there will be no big temperature swings. Granted, with Linux when my PC isn’t being used it pretty much just sits at a constant and steady idle… but Windows on the other hand…
Combined with the added electricity cost of not running the computer when it’s not needed, not leaving the machine running all the time is the obvious choice.
TIL, tyvm!