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iMac on 24hrs a day?
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Dec 2006
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I was wondering if it is a problem if I leave my iMac C2D on 24hrs a day. I have my Energy Saving set to "Never Sleep". Is that ok? I am downloading a large torrent, if my mac sleeps the downloading times out.
Thanks
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iMac 20" Core 2 Duo 2.13ghz
Powerbook 15" G4 1.5ghz
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Belgium
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No problem. It won't kill your iMac. I'd set the energy saver setting for the LCD tough. Let the monitor sleep after 10min or so. That won't affect your download and it'll save your backlight.
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iMac 20" C2D 2.16 | Acer Aspire One | Flickr
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Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Canada... be nice, eh?
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I agree. I have had my intel imac running 24/7 with seti/boinc since I got it.
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I leave my Mini running all night sometimes, but this will shorten the life of the computer.
I wouldn't reccomend doing it for it's entire life.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Brantford, ON. Canada
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As someone stated above, set the LCD to turn off after a period of inactivity. #1 it'll save the backlight, #2 it will prevent the known image persistence issue.
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I have a 1.25Ghz PB and I dont really remember when i turned it of the last time. It is always on, day and night. Of-course i set the display to go to sleep. I have had the comp for 3,5 years almost and still no problems. I guess that if it works with a PB it shouldnt be a problem with the iMac or any other computer for that matter. Dont forget the screen though.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Smallish town in Ohio
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Originally Posted by larrinski
I agree. I have had my intel imac running 24/7 with seti/boinc since I got it.
Same here
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Baninated
Join Date: Dec 2006
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My old G3 iMac is now my webserver, and it'd been on STRAIGHT for over 60 days without a reboot or anything.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Hudson Valley of N.Y.
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Originally Posted by Cassifire
I leave my Mini running all night sometimes, but this will shorten the life of the computer.
I wouldn't reccomend doing it for it's entire life.
I don't believe it'll short the computer's life at all. My PPC Mini has been running 24/7 for nearly 2 years now. I only shut down the monitor.
I say don't sweat leaving it on....just my opinion!
Tom
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Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Monterrey, Mexico
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If you do not want to mess around with energy settings, just lower the brightness of the LCD monitor until its dark.
regards
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Brantford, ON. Canada
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Originally Posted by polendo
If you do not want to mess around with energy settings, just lower the brightness of the LCD monitor until its dark.
regards
The LCD is still using the backlight. It's best to let the monitor sleep.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Rochester, NY
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Originally Posted by Cassifire
I leave my Mini running all night sometimes, but this will shorten the life of the computer.
I wouldn't reccomend doing it for it's entire life.
Are you kidding me? I have had a G4 800 MHz tower on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (not sleep, but on) since I purchased it brand new probably 5+ years ago.
OK, granted I shut it down for RAM and other hardware upgrades but none the less...
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Actually it is supposed to be good to keep your system ON all the time. The more number of power on and power off cycles, the lesser the life of the processor and the logic board.
A regular CPU is supposed to run for 10 years continuously, without the system being shut off.
So ON is good, as long as you have good battery backup and surge protectors or spike busters installed too.
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Vikram
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Dont worry that today is the last day of the world, its already tomorrow in Australia....
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Wisconsin
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Originally Posted by CheesePuff
Are you kidding me? I have had a G4 800 MHz tower on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (not sleep, but on) since I purchased it brand new probably 5+ years ago.
OK, granted I shut it down for RAM and other hardware upgrades but none the less...
Of course it'll shorten its life. All computer components have a failure rate based on the amount of time it is used. That's why power supplies have a MTBF (Mean-Time Between Failure). Leaving it on all the time shouldn't give you any issues but he IS right that it will shorten the life but it should still last longer than you'll need it. I know, a minute detail, but gotta be correct.
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iMac Core 2 Duo 17" - 2Ghz - 2GB Ram - 160GB HD - 250GB Ext - Bluetooth Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - MAudio Fast Track
Antec Nine Hundred Case - Gigabyte 965S3 - 1.86Ghz Core 2 Duo -1GB Corsair XMS Ram - 400GB 3.0Gbps Seagate HD - 160GB Ext - X1900GT PCI 16x - Audigy 2 ZS
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
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Originally Posted by iMacYouMac
Of course it'll shorten its life. All computer components have a failure rate based on the amount of time it is used. That's why power supplies have a MTBF (Mean-Time Between Failure). Leaving it on all the time shouldn't give you any issues but he IS right that it will shorten the life but it should still last longer than you'll need it. I know, a minute detail, but gotta be correct.
If you read the fine print on the MTBF for power supplies they also have the frequency that the power is cycled during that test. Classically machines that are left on run (on average) far longer than machines that power up and down regularly as the inrush current while turning on is decently rough on electronic components. Yes, they are designed to take it, but it is still a large contributer. The best example I can think of to bring this into the realm of most peoples experience is to compare the PSU to a light bulb. Everyone can agree that while lights do fail when left on, they usually fail while being turned on.
- Hunter
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Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Feb 2006
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The worst thang you can do to a power supply unit is turn it off, let it sit, and power on again. The worst thing you can do for chips is let them come up to heat, then switch them off and cool everything again. Simple expands when hot, shrinks when cold physics.
The hard-drive, if active, is the only item likely to have issues as is common with all moving parts (fans too you could argue, but the complexity of a hard drive vs. a fan are rather extreme.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Los Angeles
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Originally Posted by votoms888
I was wondering if it is a problem if I leave my iMac C2D on 24hrs a day. I have my Energy Saving set to "Never Sleep". Is that ok? I am downloading a large torrent, if my mac sleeps the downloading times out.
Thanks
Prior to deep sleep, I used to run my Macs on essentially all the time. It's not harmful to do so, but as others have said I would definitely set a display sleep time to save the LCD. You definitely want to try to maximize the life of your iMac's display, since replacing it would be a costly endeavor. One final note: torrents don't timeout (unless the client you're using sucks), they just resume downloading when the connection is reestablished.
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"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
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Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2003
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It's actually better to leave the computer running all the time. Like others said just set the monitor to shut off soon so no image is burned onto the screen. Why is it good to leave it on all the time? Because OSX is designed to manage the memory and unnesessary cached files. This process is generally done by the computer automatically during the middle of the night. The memory that's been used up will return to available state and cached files are cleared to make room for needed programs. This is why programs like Cocktail and Cache cleaner stay in business.
This process hardly ever gets done by the computer because most of us have a tendancy to put the Mac to sleep which prevents this needed operation. It's almost never if you have a laptop.
Corporations keep server computers running 24/7 so components are designed to last. I have never had a computer component die from over use.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jan 2007
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You definitely want to sleep the LCD to save the back lights, especially on the iMac since replacing the bulbs is probably a pain in the butt.
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I could eat a peach for hours.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jun 2003
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I leave my 17" iMac G5 Rev A on all the time. I have to...if it goes to sleep it shuts down. Then it won't power back up...not at least for a few hours.
There is something wrong with my power supply. If I have a firewire device plugged in the iMac will never, ever turn on. If I unplug everything except the keyboard and mouse, it sometimes turns back on, but more often than not all I hear is a soft-clicking sound coming from the iMac.
Been this way since May 06. My solution...never let the iMac sleep. I do let the screen dim to save the backlight, but I've been running this way since May 06.
I've tried calling Applecare, but all they ever offered were software solutions to a definite hardware problem. Enough was enough. Today, I convinced Applecare to replace my power supply.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Truckee, CA
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Originally Posted by iMacYouMac
Of course it'll shorten its life....
Untrue. There are pros and cons to both approaches, but reality is that in general leaving a properly set up Mac (screens and hard drives spinning down) on 24/7/365 does not shorten its life. The many Macs I manage have all always been run 24/7. The only mobos I have ever lost have been on laptops that were not run 24/7.
-Allen Wicks
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
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Originally Posted by Cassifire
I leave my Mini running all night sometimes, but this will shorten the life of the computer.
I wouldn't reccomend doing it for it's entire life.
Actually, I think it has been proven that the heating/cooling cycle of shutting down a computer nightly has negative effects on the microscopic transistors of the main processor, shortening the life of the computer as a whole. Fans run out of life, as do hard drives, but the CPU chip is expensive and sometimes an impossible thing to replace.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Switzerland
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I have a Macbook Pro with 56+ days uptime, with it up for 22+ hours a day, the other 2 hours in clamshell mode. No issues so far. I also run an Intel iMac 2.0 that I have not shut down since I bought it in February...
I'll be honest and say I am more wary of doing this with the Intel ones than the PowerPC Macs, but no adverse effects so far.
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Santa Barbara CA
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Originally Posted by gregarios
Actually, I think it has been proven that the heating/cooling cycle of shutting down a computer nightly has negative effects on the microscopic transistors of the main processor, shortening the life of the computer as a whole. Fans run out of life, as do hard drives, but the CPU chip is expensive and sometimes an impossible thing to replace.
Of course, just not turning the computer off doesn't totally fix this problem. It also heats up and cools down if you change the load on the processor. The solution? Run a distributed computing project like folding at home or one of the BOINC projects and keep that chip at the same temperature all of the time. Just make sure the monitor goes to sleep.
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