WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.400 Other than your refrigerator, the only thing in your house that you might never bother turning 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:09.120 off is probably your computer, especially if it's a desktop. But if you're one of those folks that 00:00:09.120 --> 00:00:15.280 leaves your PC on 24-7, are you shortening its lifespan prematurely, or are you actually doing 00:00:15.280 --> 00:00:21.200 it a favor? Let's first look at which components in your PC are most likely to wear out from prolonged 00:00:21.200 --> 00:00:26.480 use, starting with the capacitors. You know, those things that look like little water towers in 00:00:26.560 --> 00:00:30.800 store electricity, you'll mostly find them on your motherboard and inside your power supply, 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:35.920 as well as on your graphics card and other expansion cards. Low-quality capacitors used to be more 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:40.960 common, but after the infamous capacitor plague that saw lots of computers die prematurely in 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:46.160 the early to mid-2000s, we're talking less than a year in some cases, component manufacturers have 00:00:46.160 --> 00:00:51.760 started taking capacitor sourcing much more seriously. For instance, even lower to mid-range 00:00:51.760 --> 00:00:56.880 motherboards these days mostly use solid capacitors, which typically have a rated lifespan 00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:03.440 of over 22 years of continuous use at 65 degrees Celsius, which is quite a bit warmer than motherboards 00:01:03.440 --> 00:01:10.240 usually get. At lower temperatures, capacitor life is even longer, a lot longer. Now, cheaper, 00:01:10.240 --> 00:01:15.600 liquid electrolytic capacitors don't have life spans quite that long, and it turns out that these 00:01:15.600 --> 00:01:21.440 are commonly used in even high-end power supplies. But the good news is that not only do power supplies 00:01:21.440 --> 00:01:27.280 usually run at moderate temperatures, but those chunky primary capacitors can still last for 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:32.240 upwards of 15 years, even though they aren't solid caps. And this stands even for cheaper units, 00:01:32.240 --> 00:01:37.760 so long as you didn't get a no-name model from the bargain bin. Okay, so unless we're talking 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:43.440 extreme heat, your capacitors are probably fine. But what about the rest of your parts? Well, 00:01:43.440 --> 00:01:49.120 computer fans can have a fairly limited lifespan. Specifically, cheap sleeve-bearing fans, often 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:55.120 found in lower-end builds, can die after about four years of continuous use. Nicer ball-bearing 00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:00.160 fans can last about twice as long, but regardless of what kind of fans you have, the good news is 00:02:00.160 --> 00:02:06.560 that if they do die, they aren't typically expensive to replace and also shouldn't result in your 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:12.320 components immediately overheating unless you've got some serious ventilation issues from dust. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:17.760 Clean your computer. Okay, the other major component to watch out for if you've got your PC 00:02:17.760 --> 00:02:23.120 powered on constantly is the venerable hard drive. Although SSDs have become a lot more common, 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:29.040 hard drives are still used for cheap mass storage and are often still included in low-end pre-built 00:02:29.040 --> 00:02:34.000 machines. Because hard drives have moving parts, it's usually a good idea to replace them after 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:40.320 about five years of power on time. And fortunately, you can keep an eye on your drive's built-in 00:02:40.320 --> 00:02:46.160 smart data to check if a hardware failure might be in your future and move your data accordingly. 00:02:46.160 --> 00:02:51.040 Your computer's other components such as the CPU and the RAM are actually more likely to simply 00:02:51.040 --> 00:02:58.480 become outdated or off-sleep before they actually die, even if you leave your PC on 24-7. But beyond 00:02:58.480 --> 00:03:05.200 simply not doing much harm, leaving your computer on can have advantages. For example, assuming you 00:03:05.200 --> 00:03:09.920 have the correct settings enabled, leaving it on can allow the PC to perform updates while you're 00:03:09.920 --> 00:03:15.760 away. So when you come back, you can do whatever it is you typically do without being interrupted. 00:03:15.760 --> 00:03:21.280 Having it powered on is also necessary for remote access, for using it as a server or a router, 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:26.080 or for background activities like crypto mining. But at the same time, we are not telling you to 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:31.600 just leave your machine on all the time without a good reason. Turning a modern PC off and on 00:03:31.600 --> 00:03:36.080 several times a day is not going to wear out the components, and running a computer will accumulate 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:41.200 more dust and, of course, draw more power than one that's turned off. That's something we should 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:46.480 all be thinking about seriously. Finally, you can have a sticky situation on your hands if something 00:03:46.480 --> 00:03:52.560 vital like a CPU or a GPU cooler dies while you're away from your PC, not paying attention. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:57.120 But the bottom line here is that nothing bad is likely to happen just from leaving your PC on 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:02.480 all the time. But make sure that you do turn off the monitor while you're away, as those can die 00:04:02.480 --> 00:04:07.280 before your PC does. But maybe that's a topic for another video. Thanks for watching guys, 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:11.440 if you liked this video, why don't you give us a like, give us a subscribe, and hit us up in the 00:04:11.440 --> 00:04:15.680 comments section with your suggestions for topics we should cover in the future.