Is PC idling OK?

Zeebedy · 15 Dec 2019 at 18:42

Hey guys,

I tent to be at my computer a lot. a lot, a lot.

When im doing something or watching TV for an hour or so I leave my pc at the desktop idling, and if for a long time or going out I shut it down.

This doesnt bother me though as it takes no time at all to shut down / start up!

My question is though, is idling for a short period of time acceptable, or bad for the computer? Im suspecting not, as back in the day it used to be gaming all the time, then always on overnight DLing when it was "dial-up" internet etc.

Cheers.

Zefan · 15 Dec 2019 at 19:19

Aside from the wear on fans, there should be no problem idling, however why not just sleep it every time? It drops the power usage to almost zero while being only 5 seconds to wake.

Zeebedy · 15 Dec 2019 at 20:40

Zefan said:
Aside from the wear on fans, there should be no problem idling, however why not just sleep it every time? It drops the power usage to almost zero while being only 5 seconds to wake.

Thanks @Zefan the only issue on my PC is that it wakes up straight away once I try and sleep it

Hence why wondering if its ok to idle..if anyone has any tips or guides I can try to enable sleep, that would be appreciated.

Quartz · 15 Dec 2019 at 20:45

Yes, leaving the PC idling is not a problem at all. I leave mine on 24/7. It doesn't go to sleep.

andy_mk3 · 15 Dec 2019 at 20:55

No problems doing it really. You just have fan wear and dust build up as the main concerns. I always shut mine down these days. Got servers on 24/7 though.

Zeebedy · 15 Dec 2019 at 20:57

Awesome, cheers for all the input guys. I usually leave it on when im not at it for a little bit, not hours and hours..the rest of the time it is shut down.

champion1642 · 18 Dec 2019 at 15:09

I've sometimes left my PC on for weeks no problem.

When you're playing games and what not, that wears your PC more than it just idling.