Computer wear and tear - Suspend/Hibernate vs On 24/7

[kendrak24]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know, or have ideas, on whether it's better (wear-and-tear wise) to let the computer sleep/hibernate between recording/viewing sessions, versus keeping the computer on constantly?

I have a vague memory of reading/learning that the switching between (relative) cold and heat which happens when you turn a computer on will cause more wear and tear than keeping the computer on, if you do it often.

Let's say the computer wakes up 4-8 times per day for watching, doing recordings and update the epg. Is there any significant difference in "lifespan" of the computer with either of the two options?

What do you think?

[pBS]

well, moving parts are pretty much the only things in a system that 'wear n tear' will affect [meaning fans and drives] with solid-state devices[chips] it's more about age..
so leaving it on will leave fans/drives running, creating actual wear...[bearing wear, dust accumilation] which is way worse than the miniscule amount of extra 'wear' that startup produces...[unless you're restarting more than 20 times/day]
at least in my experience, a system left on all year is in much worse shape than one that slept when not needed.. [and more susceptible to hackers/infection, being on]
and then there's the cost of electricity while it's on, and it adds up to alot over a year...
but there will be times where sleep lets you down, and it has to be fully rebooted, as sleep isn't 100% perfect anywhere...
tho your machine will thank you for it.. [with longer life]

[OTAjunkie]

The arguement for leaving a PC powered on (and/or sleeping) is that going from a cold board to powered up causes the wear and tear. It's seen as a question of the number cold to hot cycles and then back to cold is a strain on the circuitry compared to a more constant temp. Which may be true but chances are something will go at sometime anyhow.
I'm on 24/7 and willing to accept the consequences of my reckless actions.

[stustunz]

Electronics doesn't like moisture either so having it going all the time stops this.

[pcostanza]

I use sleep often and haven't had any problems. One system uses the MC Standby tool.

[martint123]

My HP Microserver is on 24/7 consuming around 35W. Normal PC's are switched on/off on demand (using standby). PVR's are on powersaving most of the time with 10 minutes to standby - except in the evening between 1700 and 2200 when they get an hour to standby.

[Elmo Putney]

Except for a weekly reboot My NPVR server has been running for 5 or 6 years now continuously, it's never given any issues. The hifi world believe in "always on" both for sound quality and longevity. It's the thermal expansion and contraction from power off to on that apparently eventually causes fatigue failures of solder joints and caps.

[odin]

my WHS2011-based HP Microserver which has the npvr server/usb tuners/twonky media server is on 24/7 too.