-
Civilization 7 has been announced. For more info please check the forum here .
Is it better to leave your computer on all night or to turn it off?
- Thread starter cubsfan6506
- Start date
averagejoe
Chieftain
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2008
- Messages
- 48
is that slow booting up?
I usually take a shower or eat breakfast while its booting up.
But i dont bother booting it up if im only gonna have 10 minutes before i have to go to work. Not unless i really need to check something.
I disagreed with your initial statement to Mulholland. I felt that the reason you gave would be implied to be more significant than I think it is. As you said, "ESR [does] not change strongly enough in temperature...."
I agree with you on the initial charge for the processor. Mulholland was correct about the lightbulbs (I've used them as CCSs), but not so relevant to a computer.
While we're on the subject of inrush current at startup, I think this is primarily be due to the charging of capacitances, either in the power supply sections or in the gates as you say when you mentioned CMOS. Drive motors are another source. Do you agree?
Agreed
These only come into play at startup (and capacitance at state change), but agreed.
Yes, with the power supply part being less interesting. AFAIK there is a lot of initial switching going on, in addition to the simple loading of all capacitors. Initialization macros and whatnot, I'm less familiar with the internal workings of logical units.
I've only played with them myself (outside of school, that is), but looking at them from a building block point of view I'm assuming that there are millions of gate capacitances and they are all discharged at rest.
The thing with these though is that they are the main cause of the speed limit in processors and are therefore a target for development. Reduced capacitance=faster switching=less power. Unless they make the processors more complex, but we know they will.
Perfection
The Great Head.
It's not that slow, I'm just lazy.
Maniacal
the green Napoleon
My computer is two feet from my head when I sleep so I find it better to turn it off, as the fan noises (while not that bad during the night, my old hard drive which is sitting on my shelf (hmm I need to send that in, it's still under warrenty 
) used to make random noises during the night too) can affect my sleep (I think).
I turn my comptuer off to save electricity and reduce noise. Although it can't be off compeltely as there is still a light coming out of the back. Although I do sometimes leave it on when downloading, but I always wake up and turn it off at like 3:30 AM or something to make it quieter (it's not very loud at all, but at that tiem of night there are NO sounds, except maybe the fridge which I don't hear anyways).
My comptuer only takes a minute (guesstimate) to start up (get to desktop, not including me having to click my icon on the log on screen), plus a couple of minutes to load several programs I have set to start upon startup.
) used to make random noises during the night too) can affect my sleep (I think).I turn my comptuer off to save electricity and reduce noise. Although it can't be off compeltely as there is still a light coming out of the back. Although I do sometimes leave it on when downloading, but I always wake up and turn it off at like 3:30 AM or something to make it quieter (it's not very loud at all, but at that tiem of night there are NO sounds, except maybe the fridge which I don't hear anyways).
My comptuer only takes a minute (guesstimate) to start up (get to desktop, not including me having to click my icon on the log on screen), plus a couple of minutes to load several programs I have set to start upon startup.
Comraddict
C.IV
sleep mode if works properly is good trade-off.
My PC draws about 200W in idle, it is nonsense to have equivalent of 10 neon lights always on.
My PC draws about 200W in idle, it is nonsense to have equivalent of 10 neon lights always on.
Maniacal
the green Napoleon
How do you measure how much energy your computer uses?
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
You can get a socket power meter, which measures the draw your PC is producing on the wall socket.
plarq
Crazy forever
Unless running a server or doing some serious calculation or heavy bit-torrenting, don't keep it on power.
Unplug it from power grid after you turn off. This saves 5 Watts if you're a fundamentalist greener.
And turn off your monitor.
Unplug it from power grid after you turn off. This saves 5 Watts if you're a fundamentalist greener.
And turn off your monitor.
Maniacal
the green Napoleon
5 watts? What is using that besides LED lights?
I always try and turn of my moniter, i rarly forget, although at my friends when i stayed over I counted 17 lights on, moniters, VHS, DVD, etc etc.
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
Most electronics still draw power, even when 'off'. If you really want them to be using 0 energy, unplug them.
plarq
Crazy forever
Dismantle the batteries to save more.
dido
Prince
For ease of use: Leave it on.
I had a Pentium 2 rig that ran 24/7 with minor maintence for about 10 years until it got killed by lightning coming through the ethernet cable from the DSL modem.
As the life expectencies of my computers are longer than I expect to be using them for, leaving them on for the most part is worth more to me than the added cost.
I didn't even think of that, but yeah, what if there's a lightning storm outside and it shorts everything out? You're screwed. Also, ease of use? You're going to randomly get up in the middle of the night and Google stuff?
Both my power and cable pass through a surge protector with a warranty far greater than the value of my computer.
Maybe.
And I leave stuff running at night, downloads, IRC chats, IM, VoIP, sometimes music.
Is it correct that a computer (or any electronic device) uses a lot of power when it's turned on, compared to how much it uses while running?
If yes, where is roughly the magic spot at which you should turn your computer off if you're not going to use it for a while? If you're not going to use it for 30 minutes, should you turn it off, and on again when you need it, or just leave it running for 30 minutes? What about if you're not going to use it for an hour, or two?
If yes, where is roughly the magic spot at which you should turn your computer off if you're not going to use it for a while? If you're not going to use it for 30 minutes, should you turn it off, and on again when you need it, or just leave it running for 30 minutes? What about if you're not going to use it for an hour, or two?
