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Sleep or Always On? Whats Your Settings?

J

Johnf1285

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 25, 2010
965
62
Hey everyone. I am going to ask the age old question:

Leave the Mac Pro on 24/7?

or

Sleep when not in use (idle)?
Such as while I'm at work for 8+ hours or overnight while I'm sleeping (typically 8 hours)?

Granted on days off or days I am working on it, I leave it on most of the day/time as I am using it, but I am primarily concerned with what I should do with the machine while its idle for an extended period of time. I manually sleep my Display with a hotcorner or let it sleep after 15minutes. Recently I have been leaving the Mac Pro on 24/7, but I am thinking I should start utilizing sleep as its just running idle.

I want to get the longest life out of the hardware as possible and fear a logicboard or powersupply failure. But I am thinking way into the future, because I know Applecare has me covered until 2014! I just read horror stories about bad luck with hardware and how expensive a logicboard or psu is. This Mac Pro is a month old. However, with my old custom built pc, I slept it when not in use... For whatever reason I didn't fear failure with pc parts because the cost per part was low and parts are readily available.


So thats my 2 cents.
So how do you guys and gals set your Mac Pro and Displays?
 
Johnf1285 said:
Hey everyone. I am going to ask the age old question:

Leave the Mac Pro on 24/7?

or

Sleep when not in use (idle)?
Such as while I'm at work for 8+ hours or overnight while I'm sleeping (typically 8 hours)?

Granted on days off or days I am working on it, I leave it on most of the day/time as I am using it, but I am primarily concerned with what I should do with the machine while its idle for an extended period of time. I manually sleep my Display with a hotcorner or let it sleep after 15minutes. Recently I have been leaving the Mac Pro on 24/7, but I am thinking I should start utilizing sleep as its just running idle.

I want to get the longest life out of the hardware as possible and fear a logicboard or powersupply failure. But I am thinking way into the future, because I know Applecare has me covered until 2014! I just read horror stories about bad luck with hardware and how expensive a logicboard or psu is. This Mac Pro is a month old. However, with my old custom built pc, I slept it when not in use... For whatever reason I didn't fear failure with pc parts because the cost per part was low and parts are readily available.


So thats my 2 cents.
So how do you guys and gals set your Mac Pro and Displays?
Click to expand...

Mine is either asleep or rendering when Im not using it. Display being a 27" Cinema goes with the machine... (My plan is that mine, a 2010 model covered until Late 2013 should be in service until Late 2014 before a new Mac Pro will move it to being a Server, and then itll get another 6 years of use as that) - An example is that my G4 400 (MPs predecessor) spends its life asleep or serving, and has been used like this since purchase a decade ago.
 
24/7 usage is no problem. It's a workstation therefore bought for heavy usage.

However, when I get off the computer for more than 10 minutes, I sleep it.
No reason to waste money for electricity when the machine is usable again after one second.
200W in idle for my machine + another 250W for the displays can save quite a dime if not in use.
 
Mine is set to sleep - I even use PleaseSleep to control sleep patterns and ensure it goes to sleep, as energy preferences not always do the trick and fail to enter sleep mode. I also turn it off completely 2-3 nights a week, or when I leave town.

BTW - it seems too many people have similar issues with sleep, and there's no clear method to pinpoint what's keeping the mac. But most puzzling is the fact that it seems that for no specific reason, a mac can suddenly acquire insomnia... and then return to normal sleep patterns a few weeks or reboots later.

It would be a great if someone could develop an app to diagnose, plan and repair all sleep related processes - instead of one having to use such sleep remedies as PleaseSleep, which although they work ok, they still lack a bit of flexibility.
 
Yes. I hope to have this mac in service for quite sometime, even after its replacement takes its place as my main workstation. The idea of media server sounds great. I hear of these g4's that are still ticking away, I hope for this mac pro to reach that type of status!

And also, I do shut it down when I am not going to use it for over a day or two, primarily when I am out of town. At that point I unplug the (gasp) "surge protector" when it is to be off for a few days.

I know, it is a Monster Cable one, but its still nothing more than a powerstrip with minor surge supressing cabailities. I owe it to myself to buy a proper UPS, thats the next item!
 
Mine is usually rendering something when it isn't in use. Even when it is sitting idle, it leads a double life as a server, so it does not sleep. For those of you interested in longevity of the hardware, UPS is a good idea. Also constantly turning your computer on and off is worse for it than leaving it on all the time.
 
I too would like to know, I've heard mixed opinions on either.

Obviously computers have a finite lifespan. However, some seem to last way longer than others...
 
I shut down when not in use. Why waste the electricity and warm the planet when you do not need to.
 
put it to sleep, leaving it on is just a waste of electricity. either way, running it 24/7 can only be worse for the components...why would not using a component be easier on it than using it?
 
scottsjack said:
How so? Technical info please. . .
Click to expand...

Computers do not have any moving parts, per se (fans and platter drives, yes... but we'll ignore those for now). Therefore the only mechanical shock you get is thermal.

Two factors to consider: temp delta and rate of change. Assume ambient temp of 25C, idle temp of 40C, and load temp of 80C.

The computer will thermal shock itself between 40C and 80C all the time (going from idle to pegged out render, for example). It is however, not as bad to go from off to idle as that temp increase is much more gradual. It is still a temperature change though, and if you truly want to keep the machine active for as long as possible you would keep those temperature changes as minimal and sparse as possible.

At the end of the day this is almost academic. Computer builders have a lot of data on how to manufacture hardware. After the first 48-96 hours of use, if a chipset has not failed it probably will not for its useful lifetime (bar an overheat or something).

Similar general principal as to why it is better to drive your car forever rather than keep starting and stopping it, and why it is better to not let it idle when it is cold out. Mechanical components like to be kept in operating range.
 
I'd like to put mine to sleep, but every time I wake it from sleep the computer freezes :(

So when I have a lot of programs and windows open, I make sure it doesn't go to sleep, because I don't want too loose all my work.

I haven't been able to find a fix for it, but it seems like a lot of people are having the same problem.

Anyone know what may be wrong or how I can prevent it from freezing?
 
Automatic sleep with wake on LAN.

Otherwise my power bills would be crazier, and my study would be a lot warmer.
 
The best way to make sure your computer lasts is to keep it away from extra heat. This will bring out the imperfections in the circuits and leads to premature failure.

Running a machine 24/7 at a comfortable temp is not as hard on the components as letting it idle or sleep in a very high temp environment like an attic or garage.

Keep it within thermal parameters and you can run it constantly. That is one of the benefits of the Mac Pro is that it won't overheat itself under constant processor load as long as you keep it in a temperature controlled environment.

My MacBook Pro will fry itself under constant load.
 
I'd sleep it, as running it can give you some fun power bills. Plus the components really aren't super hot in a Pro unless you're rendering with it, so there isn't a lot of heating and cooling going on. If sleeping it hurt the machine, they wouldn't make it an option.
 
I guess I always thought the Mac Pro was server grade components, and meant to be running for long periods of time. Normally I leave mine on overnight.
 
Thanks for all the input. I slept it last night before bed and didnt wake it until I got home from work today...
 
My 2008 Mac Pro has been on, no sleeping, for almost 37 months. Works fine.

You should expect hard drives to die, though. I tend to take critical drives out of service every 24 months or so before they die. Even so, I had two drive failures in the last two months.
 
Bwa said:
You should expect hard drives to die, though. I tend to take critical drives out of service every 24 months or so before they die. Even so, I had two drive failures in the last two months.
Click to expand...

The numerous reasons for having several backup HDs, each a clone of the first (I have 4 of each of my drives - 2 direct clones and a Time Machine + the original) is the simplest, safest solution. (1 of these copies of my drives lives at a relatives house 300 miles away, and is swapped on a monthly basis).
 
Sleep after 1hr of inactivity (unless rendering/batch processing)

Sleeps during the night and when im not in.

Only turned off if im away for a few days or more.
 
but what do you guys do with the external hdds?

i would like to sleep my mac pro, but my ext hdds would still be powered.
should i sleep the mac pro, then turn off the ext hdds? would that hurt?

thanks!!
 
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