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#11
Hi,
Leaving a PC on 24/7 at 50 degrees Celcius will limit its useful life cycle to about 36 months for most commercial MBs.
Some manufacturers offer MB's (Industrial grade) that are designed to run 24/7 but these aren't exactly cheap.
Cheers,
Hi,
What I wrote is what the MB manufacturers state. If you keep it well below 50 degrees Celcius it will last way longer. Problem is often the caps drying out and subsequently forming a short.
As it happens I'm receiving an industrila grade board on Monday. It's a state of the art design that fits my bill perfectly.
Cheers,
Your reply is appreciated!
This is my motherboard here. It's rev 1.0: GA-P35-DS3R (rev. 1.0) | Motherboard - GIGABYTE
Hi,
You're welcome.
It seems your board is already using long life components in critical places so it should last longer than most even though it's already quiete old In computer speak), isn't it ?
The caps with the red stripe on top are long life, the ones with the clear blue one are standard grade (still Ultra Durable according to Gigabyte which is normal when solid caps are used, there's no electrolytic to dry up). Just for info.
Cheers,
It seems that some people are saying that leaving a PC on 24/7 shortens the lifespan of the hardware while others are saying it increases the lifespan of the hardware.
This is so confusing... :'(
Which one is correct?
Hi,
There are a number of factors that come into play: basically, most electronic components do not like powercycling typically but if that means that by leaving it running 24/7 at 50 degrees Celcius or more ambient temperature the odds may change quiete quickly unless the board is designed for this kind of service.
In other words, if you do not use it, I'd recommend switching it off. If you do use it 24/7 as a service, make sure it runs cool.I.e. at roughly 35 to 40 degrees C max.
Most electronic components hardly age by not using them nowadays.Good caps can sustain 85 degrees C ansd so on.
Cheers,
There are very few electrolytic capacitors left in use, those were most affected by heat but also by time running but also shelf life. Largest ones still in use are in the PSU, mostly large ones at the output module. Others may be of various quality but are all solid state.
Most damage done is by voltage surges and heat. Transistors, diodes and such do vear out but that's spread across very long time, 10s of years or longer. Other possible threat is heat but temperature raises just so much and will not get higher just because electronics are running for long time. Still cooling is very important and not only for longevity of components but also for their performance. Most components have built in safeties and when it reaches some predetermined value they would throttle down and lower voltages and so cool down.
Hi,
I'll add to my count's reply:
If anything's going to fail by running it 24/7 it's likely going to be the PSU.
Cheers,