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Leaving DS Lumos computer on for extended periods?

Post Date: 2021-12-28
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Scambush View Drop Down
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Posts: 39 		  Quote Scambush Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Leaving DS Lumos computer on for extended periods?
    Posted: 28 Dec 2021 at 2:41pm
I know that modern computers can be left on indefinitely without risk to any sort of damage but does this also apply to high-end gaming computers like Digital Storm's Lumos line? Mine is currently left on while I am digitally nomad-ing because I plan to remote into it for extra computer power based on what I am doing but I'm trying to decide if I need to shut it down if in fact I am taking a risk leaving it on (or if I will be charged a hefty electricity bill even though it's not currently running anything intense).
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Posts: 392 		  Quote MrCheetah Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Dec 2021 at 4:19pm
Originally posted by Scambush

I'm trying to decide if I need to shut it down if in fact I am taking a risk leaving it on

Components -- majority of models from most reputable name brands at least -- include fairly reliable/durable safeguards (e.g., overheat protection). Nonetheless, power spikes or outages are the biggest risks. If your residence does not or rarely experiences these events, your PC should be fine. A UPS almost entirely eliminates such problems by conditioning the power flow (even more so than a common surge protector) plus can properly shut down your PC in the case of a blackout/brownout.

You can estimate your PC's power consumption using:

OuterVision's Power Supply Calculator

How To Select The Right Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) For Your Computer | Puget Systems

Originally posted by Scambush

or if I will be charged a hefty electricity bill even though it's not currently running anything intense

Energy cost calculator

Based on the values I have seen in HWMonitor, the "Desktop Computer" 100W idle power estimate seems acceptably accurate.

Edited by MrCheetah - 28 Dec 2021 at 7:37pm
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Posts: 1608 		  Quote HockeyBuck Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Dec 2021 at 5:00pm
I have always left all of my DS rigs on 24/7 for best performance. That includes a 2yr old Lumos. You can always shut down the monitors if you like.    
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Posts: 7330 		  Quote Cretae Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 29 Dec 2021 at 4:10am
Same. My first DS ran 24/7 for almost 8 years except when I was out of town. My current one has survived 4 years the same way. I do turn off my monitor when I'll be away awhile and overnight. In each case , I've lost one case fan.   
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Posts: 39 		  Quote Scambush Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 10 Jan 2022 at 4:14am
Yeah my monitor is turned off (not gonna get any screen burn-in!)

But one concern is when I had an office computer I left on constantly for months/years and one day we had to move it to another room and therefore it was turned off. After the computer was moved it froze on the boot process and never started again. I think Windows had to be completely reinstalled or something.
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Posts: 39 		  Quote Scambush Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 10 Jan 2022 at 4:15am
Originally posted by HockeyBuck

I have always left all of my DS rigs on 24/7 for best performance. That includes a 2yr old Lumos. You can always shut down the monitors if you like.    


I've found that more demanding applications such as Microsoft Flight Simulator have been much more prone to crashing (CTD) unless the computer had recently been restarted.
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Posts: 7962 		  Quote hoserator Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 12:00am
I  find that leaving electronics on all the time hurts little except the fans need more cleaning. All hardware reaches a steady temp. state and lives happy! I disable hibernate/sleep mode even on monitors. I turn them off manually, if at all. Have had them for years and no issues.

MS FS suggests 32GB as the ideal RAM already.
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Posts: 1608 		  Quote HockeyBuck Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 9:38pm
Originally posted by Scambush

Originally posted by HockeyBuck

I have always left all of my DS rigs on 24/7 for best performance. That includes a 2yr old Lumos. You can always shut down the monitors if you like.    


I've found that more demanding applications such as Microsoft Flight Simulator have been much more prone to crashing (CTD) unless the computer had recently been restarted.



Flight Sim is one of the most demanding programs, but I think you may find that crash issue more a software thing, not a hardware issue. When your DS rig is left on and stable, important stuff like Windows Updates and other software auto updates or auto downloads can happen on time as designed.
In my 10 years experience operating 4 DS over clocked gaming rigs, I have always found those rigs tend not to like lots of unnecessary extra boots.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
You will, over time, figure out best practice for your particular situation.

Edited by HockeyBuck - 11 Jan 2022 at 9:39pm
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Posts: 39 		  Quote Scambush Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 12 Jan 2022 at 1:11am
Originally posted by HockeyBuck

Originally posted by Scambush

Originally posted by HockeyBuck

I have always left all of my DS rigs on 24/7 for best performance. That includes a 2yr old Lumos. You can always shut down the monitors if you like.    


I've found that more demanding applications such as Microsoft Flight Simulator have been much more prone to crashing (CTD) unless the computer had recently been restarted.



Flight Sim is one of the most demanding programs, but I think you may find that crash issue more a software thing, not a hardware issue. When your DS rig is left on and stable, important stuff like Windows Updates and other software auto updates or auto downloads can happen on time as designed.
In my 10 years experience operating 4 DS over clocked gaming rigs, I have always found those rigs tend not to like lots of unnecessary extra boots.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
You will, over time, figure out best practice for your particular situation.


It most definitely is software-related and everyone who plays MSFS suffers crashes to desktop at one point or another. And I'm sure no DS rig (or any rig for that matter) has ever run either the current Flight Sim or even FS X at the highest settings with a consistent framerate. I just happened to notice that the game runs more stable for me after a fresh restart.

And I would keep mine on indefinitely though not sure about what DS rig you have but at least the Lumos line, those rigs are loud (at least compared to a 'normal' computer that's not under heavy load), not sure how you would sleep with it on near you.

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Posts: 716 		  Quote Nomad1970 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 12 Jan 2022 at 6:23am
I can hardly hear my Lumos. I leave it and both monitors on 24/7.
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Posts: 624 		  Quote JamesAstro Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 12 Jan 2022 at 2:45pm
During the last 30 years I had a few experiences that encouraged me to start shutting off my computer when not in use:

• One computer had an exhaust fan fail. When I came back to the computer in the morning, the top of the case was so hot that I couldn't touch it!

• Another computer developed a short on the power wire for the liquid cooling pump. The machine was smoking, and the liquid cooling turned off. The computer shut down automatically when the CPU exceeded its thermal limit.

• Another computer had a leak in the liquid cooling system, and it made a permanent red stain on my carpet. I think it would have been much worse if I hadn't been present.

Edited by JamesAstro - 12 Jan 2022 at 2:46pm
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Posts: 624 		  Quote JamesAstro Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 12 Jan 2022 at 2:50pm
Also, if you'd like to measure your electricity use, you can get one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-VP-Electricity-Measures/dp/B01MR6YK0C
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Posts: 2961 		  Quote Onkel_Ken Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 12 Jan 2022 at 3:45pm
I tend to turn my beast off when not excelling at the latest AAA Games. I used to have a dog that is now sadly among the Dearly Departed. Dogs create a lot of dust and I tried to avoid any extra chance for dust. That is not now an issue. With my new system and its 5/3 warranty I guess I ought to just leave it on 24/7. That is what we did at work. When we switched them on & off a lot they failed just when you needed them the most.

But I don't like serious electric electrons screaming fast chasing around creating heat or a possible fire when I am not around.

So as long as I have the nice warranty I will flip it on & off at will. But after the warranty is over I will minimize on/off just like I did at work!

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Posts: 1608 		  Quote HockeyBuck Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 12 Jan 2022 at 9:22pm
Originally posted by Scambush

Originally posted by HockeyBuck

Originally posted by Scambush

Originally posted by HockeyBuck

I have always left all of my DS rigs on 24/7 for best performance. That includes a 2yr old Lumos. You can always shut down the monitors if you like.    


I've found that more demanding applications such as Microsoft Flight Simulator have been much more prone to crashing (CTD) unless the computer had recently been restarted.



Flight Sim is one of the most demanding programs, but I think you may find that crash issue more a software thing, not a hardware issue. When your DS rig is left on and stable, important stuff like Windows Updates and other software auto updates or auto downloads can happen on time as designed.
In my 10 years experience operating 4 DS over clocked gaming rigs, I have always found those rigs tend not to like lots of unnecessary extra boots.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
You will, over time, figure out best practice for your particular situation.


It most definitely is software-related and everyone who plays MSFS suffers crashes to desktop at one point or another. And I'm sure no DS rig (or any rig for that matter) has ever run either the current Flight Sim or even FS X at the highest settings with a consistent framerate. I just happened to notice that the game runs more stable for me after a fresh restart.

And I would keep mine on indefinitely though not sure about what DS rig you have but at least the Lumos line, those rigs are loud (at least compared to a 'normal' computer that's not under heavy load), not sure how you would sleep with it on near you.



You will eventually appreciate & get used to the sounds of a proper DS performance rig. My adult son Ben has had an overclocked DS gaming rig on 24/7 in his bedroom since 2011, and had the Lumos rig from 2020-2021. (Wifey got the nice Lumos when I upgraded him to fully liquid cooled Velox X rig this Xmas.) Fan speeds are always up to you to set sir, and he always turns his monitors off when he sleeps.   He sleeps very well...lol.
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Posts: 7962 		  Quote hoserator Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Jan 2022 at 1:22am
The sound of fans working is akin to white noise and some people use white noise generators to be able to sleep!
Smile

@HockeyBuck: your son is very lucky, that is a very nice system. Strong
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Posts: 7330 		  Quote Cretae Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Jan 2022 at 3:01am
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Posts: 1608 		  Quote HockeyBuck Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Jan 2022 at 3:59pm
Originally posted by hoserator

The sound of fans working is akin to white noise and some people use white noise generators to be able to sleep!
Smile
@HockeyBuck: your son is very lucky, that is a very nice system. Strong


TY Hose…lol. A well proven Z590 Hero board with a RX 3080 LC…a nice improvement over his Lumos with 2080.   His Res coolant temps were at 26 C this morning!    I’m hoping to be next in line, maybe Xmas ‘22…
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Posts: 7962 		  Quote hoserator Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Jan 2022 at 10:11pm

Awesome

Smile
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Posts: 39 		  Quote Scambush Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 15 Jan 2022 at 8:44am
Also not sure if you are going to be away from your home (where your DS rig is) for an extended period of time if you have to worry about dust build-up. That said the CPU % is running pretty low the whole time since I'm not exactly there doing anything with it other than occasionally remoting into it.
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Posts: 7330 		  Quote Cretae Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 17 Jan 2022 at 3:55am
If you're going to be away with your computer running for more than about 4-6 months, you might worry a bit about dust.
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