[hockeyiz]

Is there a way to let apps still run while the comp is asleep? I put my away messages up and it goes to sleep and disconnects from adium. I don't want to put on Jiggler or make my screen never sleep cuz I don't want my computer on all the time cuz then... itll overheat or... something.

[cheerios]

if it's working correctly than no, it won't overheat. It will draw a bit more power, but that's about it.

as for sleep, it stops all running apps, I don't think you can get around that w/o not putting it to sleep.

[thesearcher]

Whether the best thing is to put it to sleep, turn it off, or leave it running most of the time, everybody seems to have a different opinion. Sometimes it seems to be a very touchy subject. I prefer to generally just leave it on if I need to run something, put it to sleep when I'm not going to be using it in the meantime, and shut it off only if neccessary, and not worry about it one way or another. Do whatever you feel most comfortable with.

No offense, and this is not directed at the OP in particular, but when somebody tells me they need to run something later on, but are not willing to do so if they need to leave the computer running, it leaves me non-plused. What's the point of buying a computer only to worry about breaking it if it is left running 'too much'? If the machine is just sitting there, *maybe* there is less chance of it breaking, but it's just serving as a paper weight like that. Whatever.

[TheBadgerHunter]

When the computer sleeps it disconnects. You can get the screen to sleep an be on the internet, or even logged out.

[hockeyiz]

Idk I'm really careful about my comp now since it's the first comp I bought myself. Dual 1.8 G5. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I just don't wanna take any chances just so I can have the away message "Doing...Something" come up when someone IMs me. Is there any reason you would have it sleep whenever ur away? Cuz I could just turn down the brightness and let it stay on.

[TETENAL]

If you are really worried about your computer buy AppleCare and you will get a 3 year full warranty.

I think it is a waste of energy to not let your computer sleep just because of an away message. But if you believe that is essential you need to let your computer run. It won't overheat. A PowerMac is designed to be able to run 24/7.

Just make sure the display is set to sleep in the Energy preferences. TFT backlights have a limited on-time.

[thesearcher]

Originally posted by TETENAL:
TFT backlights have a limited on-time.

Really? How long? Since multi-functions and LCD tvs are becoming more common, that sounds like something that the manufacturers should be improving.

[tooki]

Well, it's the backlight tubes (which are pencil-lead-thin fluorescent tubes) that burn out eventually. But they can be replaced, though the manufacturers will tell you otherwise, since they'd prefer to sell you a whole new LCD.

I'd like to see computer- and TV-size LCDs with LED backlighting. The iPod and pretty much all cellphones use LED backlights. LEDs don't just die suddenly, they have about 5 years of cumulative powered-on life, after which they begin to slowly lose brightness. They also use much less power than fluorescent tubes.

I don't know why they aren't used for this purpose already.

tooki

[hockeyiz]

Well I don't care about the comp cuz I no it won't overheat or anything but the monitor I'm worried about. When you go to energy saver and you change it to never, it says "Never letting your display sleep may shorten it's life." I think thats where all the paranoia started in the first place.

[tooki]

See my post above.

tooki

[ReggieX]

Originally posted by hockeyiz:
Is there a way to let apps still run while the comp is asleep?

No.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by hockeyiz:
Well I don't care about the comp cuz I no it won't overheat or anything but the monitor I'm worried about. When you go to energy saver and you change it to never, it says "Never letting your display sleep may shorten it's life." I think thats where all the paranoia started in the first place.

Yes, as mentioned above you can set your display to sleep, but you don't need to set your whole computer to sleep. I have my display shut off after 5 min of inactivity but my computer never goes to sleep (unless I close it to take it somewhere). I love the silence that comes with an iBook.

[Goldfinger]

Don't waste energy. You really need someone to IM you in the middle of the night ?

[hockeyiz]

Ohhhh I didnt even see the option to just turn off the display. Thanx. Now whats that thing that says Processor performance and u can make it lower or higher? Does that mean if i change it to higher the comp will go faster? random smileys

[Big Mac]

The G5 uses technology called bus slewing that reduces the speed of the CPU by a specific amount when there is a lower of amount of processing activity taking place:

From xlr8yourmac:
"The G5 systems are the first Apple desktop systems to incorporate 'Processor and Bus Slewing'. The user can control this slewing mode in the Energy Saver system preference, where the choices are Automatic, Highest and Reduced. In the default Automatic mode, the bus speed, processor speed and voltages continually adjust according to demand, with processor speed varying from 1.3 GHz up to the rated clock speed. The result is lower power consumption, less heat and fan noise."

Bus slewing comes at the cost of some performance, and as the article points out, particularly for applications that demand sudden or continuous amounts of high processing performance. Benchmarks such as Macworld's SpeedMark and Xbench show a noticeable performance differential. Even though it felt good psychology to run it at full speed, I was uncomfortable with the temperature increase I noted when I set my DP 2.0 to Highest. If you search the Power Mac forum you'll find a lot more on the subject.