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Help! Son's G4 downloads anime 24/7!

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8thMan

8thMan

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 17, 2006
163
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My son is an anime nut and uses his G4 Powermac DA to download Japanese animation 24 hours a day. I wouldn't mind so much but he has upgraded the CPU and video cards so that now it has four cooling fans running constantly, day and night, sounding like a refrigerator. I know that this is an old topic, but will this constant use ultimately damage the computer? Can it safely be left in this continuous download mode? Thanks.
 
Why would it damage anything? I'm practically downloading 24/7 on my PowerBook, along with watching movies, playing music, and many of the other million things computers are built for. Others may disagree, but I don't think you have anything to worry about.

If it helps you feel better, download Temperature Monitor and make sure the CPU isn't dangerously hot..
 
You're concerned about your computer, but not about your son downloading pirated anime 24-hours a day? Get your son to stop the illegal activity and your computer problem will be solved.
 
i leave my G5 on day and night. the only time it restarts is when there is a update that requires it to be restarted. if i don't turn it off i usually just put it to sleep. as for my laptop, i just close the lid when i dont use it, so its just sleeping too. but if it has 4 fans, keeping it cool, and its running all the time, the only thing you should worry about is your sanity slipping by the sound of your own personal jet in your house. i cant stand wind noise. it could be used as a interrogation technique on me :p.
 
Flowbee said:
You're concerned about your computer, but not about your son downloading pirated anime 24-hours a day? Get your son to stop the illegal activity and your computer problem will be solved.
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Not to be rude, but the OP asked a question about whether or not this behavior was bad for the computer. He wasn't asking for legal advice.

I hate when others feel it is their place to judge someone based on what they think is right. I repair PC's part time and 90% of the problems I see are spyware and virus issues, most of which were caused by downloading some form of pirated software from p2p clients. I make sure to inform them that this is where a lot of the problems are coming from, but it is not my place to judge them and tell them they need to stop, especially when most know it is illegal and just dont care.

Also, it isn't like he came here looking for help with pirating. This thread isn't called "Help! My son wants free anime and I don't know where to get it!"

Sorry, it just bothers me the way people act sometimes. I'm not condoning downloading copywritten material illegally, but then again I don't condone prostitution and you don't see me driving down Dort Hwy at 2 a.m. preaching to the hookers.
 
someguy said:
Not to be rude, but the OP asked a question about whether or not this behavior was bad for the computer. He wasn't asking for legal advice.

I hate when others feel it is their place to judge someone based on what they think is right. I repair PC's part time and 90% of the problems I see are spyware and virus issues, most of which were caused by downloading some form of pirated software from p2p clients. I make sure to inform them that this is where a lot of the problems are coming from, but it is not my place to judge them and tell them they need to stop, especially when most know it is illegal and just dont care.

Also, it isn't like he came here looking for help with pirating. This thread isn't called "Help! My son wants free anime and I don't know where to get it!"

Sorry, it just bothers me the way people act sometimes. I'm not condoning downloading copywritten material illegally, but then again I don't condone prostitution and you don't see me driving down Dort Hwy at 2 a.m. preaching to the hookers.
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Well then this thread should be deleted because it is against forum rules to discuss illegal activity.
 
skubish said:
Well then this thread should be deleted because it is against forum rules to discuss illegal activity.
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I wouldn't argue with that. Forum mods and admins are well within their right to enforce forum rules.
 
skubish said:
Well then this thread should be deleted because it is against forum rules to discuss illegal activity.
Click to expand...

Ugh, no it shouldn't. You guys bought it up. All he said was his son was downloading Anime. You guys made the assumption.

To anwser the OP's question, no it is not a problem for the machine to run all the time - I had machines at my last office that ran 24-7 for a couple of years easy. Does it shorten the life of the computer ultimately? Maybe.
 
Flowbee said:
You're concerned about your computer, but not about your son downloading pirated anime 24-hours a day? Get your son to stop the illegal activity and your computer problem will be solved.
Click to expand...

eh? I download anime a lot as well on my Powermac, is any of it Illegal here in the US? Nope it isn't because it isn't licensed in America.

So you may want to comment on the OPs question and not some stupid thing you don't apparently know much about.

Christ people get off your High Horses of Morality.

It will not cause any problem to the computer, however HDs can die quicker due to always writing.
 
can you replace the fans with quiter fans? my last desktop sounded like a turbo prop plane until i replaced all the fans with fans that had quieter ball bearings. didn't eliminate all noise, but got rid of some.
 
eva01 said:
eh? I download anime a lot as well on my Powermac, is any of it Illegal here in the US? Nope it isn't because it isn't licensed in America.
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Unless you have permission of the copyright holder it's still a violation.

Anyway back on topic: no running 24/7 won't damage anything, but it could perhaps cause items to fail faster than you expect. Computer components have a lifetime measured in MTF (mean time to failure). Obviously running 24/7 will eat into this time but this does not mean that any given component will die. And it should be considered normal wear and tear if anything does stop working.
 
eva01 said:
Depending on what the copyright states. Or if you buy the downloadable anime on CPMs site

http://www.centralparkmedia.com/ipod/
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This is going way off topic but anyway those are all paid for so you are buying a license from the copyright holder...

laidbackliam said:
can you replace the fans with quiter fans? my last desktop sounded like a turbo prop plane until i replaced all the fans with fans that had quieter ball bearings. didn't eliminate all noise, but got rid of some.
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You can buy more or less silent fans. My desktop (Windows) PC makes more or less no noise. The hard drive is the loudest component in the machine by an order of magnitude.

I use these fans as they still have good airflow and 14dB is quiet. They do fans that are quieter but you loose too much airflow for me...
 
Flowbee said:
You're concerned about your computer, but not about your son downloading pirated anime 24-hours a day? Get your son to stop the illegal activity and your computer problem will be solved.
Click to expand...

good grief...why does everybody on MR see "downloading" and automatically assume its pirated content?
 
robbieduncan said:
You can buy more or less silent fans. My desktop (Windows) PC makes more or less no noise. The hard drive is the loudest component in the machine by an order of magnitude.

I use these fans as they still have good airflow and 14dB is quiet. They do fans that are quieter but you loose too much airflow for me...
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whoa! thanks a bunch! these could come in handy for my home rcording studio!
 
Wait, your son's the anime nut and your handle is "8thMan"?

Anyway, it won't do the electric bill any good as mentioned, but the computer could care less whether it's on 24-7 or not... EXCEPT the hard drives. Presuming BitTorrent here, the constant "server like" access of this sort of downloads is pretty hard on hard drives. Not that they can't take it, but it will generally cause them to fail faster. Adequate cooling of course helps, as does allocating the entire file in advance to reduce fragmentation. The newer versions of Azureus, for example, have features to help with this--it does a lot of caching and preallocates the file to reduce the amount of seeking the drive does.

And a note on anime, for those unfamiliar with the industry: Assuming that we're talking about "legit" fansubs of as-yet-US-unlicensed anime here, and not pirated rips of US-release DVDs, then it is technically illegal, period. That said, a lot of Japanese companies tolerate it "under the table" because it frequently builds buzz for unlicensed series, and can, in some cases, increase the value of a property for US license because it's *already* popular, so you know it's going to sell well. If nothing else, it's a whole heck of a lot better than paying money for Hong Kong bootleg DVDs, which are inordinately easy to find on eBay and elsewhere.
 
Flowbee said:
Show me a site that allows unlimited, legal anime downloads.
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the man has a point. also, are there even enough legal anime videos to be downloading them 24/7?
also, if it's so loud and all it does is download, put it away from where you sleep/eat, etc....
 
someguy said:
I wouldn't argue with that. Forum mods and admins are well within their right to enforce forum rules.
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And I'm well within my right to comment on the original post. I just think it's ironic that the OP is more concerned about his computer than his son's behavior.

"Hi everyone, my son just stabbed our next door neighbor. I'm worried that I won't be able to get the blood stains out of his jacket. Is it safe to use bleach on suede?"
 
GimmeSlack12 said:
The only thing to be concerned about is the Electric Bill. Otherwise don't worry.
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I'm surprised Gary didn't bring this up (Annapolis is in the BGE Zone of Fury™, isn't it?). When I started reading the OP, this was my concern.

To the OP, I tie this in, by reminding your son that most of the country has summer rates for electricity. If the fans are running 24/7, not only is the machine using power, but you are likely running your AC more than you would have otherwise. It's adding up fast...
 
Hmm.... I wonder what happened to the OP. And about how bad it is for the G4, just look at it this way, maybe you'll get lucky enough that the parts will fail while they're under warranty. And not a few days or weeks afterwords. Like mine.

Now I guess I have to contribute to the off-topic discussion....

I look at illegal file sharing (not implying that the OP's son is) and voting as the same. Except for the legality part. In reality, me not paying $15 for a DVD isn't going to affect the distributor at all. It's a grain of sand on the world's beaches. In voting, my vote isn't going to break any ties. In fact, it doesn't matter at all. It's a grain of sand on the nation's beaches (unless your country is landlocked....). However, you can't broadcast this theory (as I am now), because then it could make a difference. You start taking away entire beaches, and people notice.

I'm pretty sure that was one of my worst metaphors, but it's the best I could come up with.
 
Flowbee said:
You're concerned about your computer, but not about your son downloading pirated anime 24-hours a day? Get your son to stop the illegal activity and your computer problem will be solved.
Click to expand...

Meanwhile on planet earth where normal people live....
 
Well, I got a bit more in this thread than I bargained for. Thanks for the computer info (my principle question) and also all the thoughtful commentary. This discussion seems to have taken on a life of its own.
 
Flowbee said:
And I'm well within my right to comment on the original post. I just think it's ironic that the OP is more concerned about his computer than his son's behavior.

"Hi everyone, my son just stabbed our next door neighbor. I'm worried that I won't be able to get the blood stains out of his jacket. Is it safe to use bleach on suede?"
Click to expand...


Wow... just, wow... That's the most rediculous comparison I've ever heard.
 
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