shut down or not?

[big j]

Now that I've built my 1st, (Athlon 700, Asus K7M mobo, 128MB PC100 RAM)and it's working like a dream, I wonder about the heat.
The CPU heatsink/fan are working fine, and I've put in an additional case fan in. But, the CPU seems to run itself with a lot of heat and power.
Is it wise to keep this machine on all the time like I did with my old MMX 166? Or am I running the risk of damage to the CPU, mobo or both?
What's the general wisdom on shutting down daily versus running constantly?
Thanks

[HAL9000]

I guess it depends just how hot it is running to begin with. I leave mine on all the time, but then again, I don't overclock and Intel CPU's are generally pretty robust to survive a fan failure. (I actually forgot to plug my Celeron fan in for a week without any ill effects). Loss of a fan on a Cyrix can kill it in no time. I know that AMD runs hotter than Intel, but not as hot as Cyrix, so I'm not too sure where it would fit in.

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If it ain't broke, you're not pushing hard enough!

[glc]

Seems to me *constant* temperatures are most conducive to long life vice heating and cooling cycles - I vote for keeping it on.

[Lord Prism]

If you use the pc daily, leave it on. I set the the power settings on mine so that the pc goes to standby (or low power or sleep mode) when I'm sleeping.
If you won't be using the pc for a number of days, then I'd shut it down.
That's just my 2 cents...
:-p

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"Energy & persistence conquer all things."
- Benjamin Franklin

[Toaster]

Hey folks,
I`ll explain a few things and give a general warning to those that may not "know" what APM actually does in its simplest form.
First off, about shutting down vs. letting her run:
System failures often occur during the "warming up period" that is, the time the system comes to normal operating temps.
The stress of a system going from room temps to greater then 130 (f) degrees is quite high. If you use the system on and off through out the day, leave it on unless system temps run exceedingly high.
Balance what electric service costs against replacement parts and you`ll find they are one and the same.
APM or "Advanced Power Management" can be a double edged sword and should be investigated prior to use. In general, when overclocking is concearned, APM *can* cause more grief then saving of money. The reason is, is that often the CPU fans are idled during it`s "sleep" time. Some power options can be controlled via BIOS, many cannot.
Should you be running a hot running CPU and be using APM *MAKE SURE* the CPU and other fans are NOT idled during "power save".
Normal system temps are in the 100-130 (f) for the CPU and 15 degrees above ambient for the system board and internals. The higher the internals temps are, the higher the stress upon start-up.
It`s best to leave the system running if the system will be used on and off. If the system will be unused for 4 hours or more, the system might best be shut down.
Make provisions for ample airflow so the system comes to its "operating temps" rather slowly rather then zoom to 130 degrees in 30-60 minutes. Remember, your case cover(s) should be on to aid in airflow. With the cover(s) off, something somewhere is going to be deprived of adaquate cooling.

[This message has been edited by Toaster (edited 06-09-2000).]

[glc]

FWIW, I have a 1250 watt UPS and I leave my machine on 24/7 with *no* power management - just a blank screen saver. It only gets shut off when I go out of town.

[Phil B]

The only feature of APM that I use is the option to turn off the monitor after a period of time (30 minutes) most likely is not good for the monitor but does help to cut A/C cost, as I have three machines running in the same room. This could be a good safety precaution as well, since I have heard of unattended monitors catching fire, though I don't think it is a common occurance. Much more likely for that overclocked pentium with the dirty fan to let the smoke out http://www.pcmech.com/ubb/smile.gif

[glc]

I used to use APM to shut the monitor down after 30 minutes when I was running Win 95, but now I am running NT which has *no* power management....so I can't do that any more.