30 hours too much for PSU?

Computer Hardware
#1

well my new pc came with a brandless PSU, i never leave it on for more than a day, usually around 10 hours max i would turn it off, but i need to download something important and i need to leave it on for possibily long periods of time, something like 30 hours, so my question is:

-with the bad psu on my pc, will leaving it on for 30 hours be a bad idea?

luckily my pc isn’t boiling…yet, and i already left it on for 12 hours, however i still need 30 more hours before i can turn it off, and i really don’t want to turn it off unless i have no choice, so please, give me some advice, thanks.

psu250w
asus md
p4
80gb
1gb
2 burners
tv card
gf6600

#2

Well it should be OK till you start seeing smoke or flames from the back of the PSU then it might be a good idea to turn it of! My ones been on full time for over 3 years!

#3

You are actually better off leaving it running, the one thing that takes a toll on electronics are thermal cycles. I bought a “no name” 480W PSU for $30.00 a year ago from a local dealer just because I had to have it that day and it hasn’t had a problem yet. If you are concerned about it, look in the BIOS occasionally to make sure the voltage on the different rails is holding up to spec.

#4

well i have asus pc probe, what pramamter should i be looking at?

i still have to wait for another 20 hours before i can turn everything off, i got to work tomorrow and i was thinking weather or not i should turn my pc off before leaving my house, of couse i prefer not to, but i don’t want a exploding pc or a spark to…you know…boom.

it’s just not worth it…

#5

Regardless of your PSU brand you should be able to leave your computer on days and night without being worry about it if you notice it computer in big offices (big corporation, government) are being leave on for the months even years.

#6

Check the 12V, 5V, and the 3.3V rails, if they drop below those figures then you could be looking at instability issues.

Usually when a PSU fails there’s nothing dramatic about it, and usually no danger if it’s unattended, ie…it won’t burn your house down.

#7

just keep in mind very few mobos will report voltages accurately, your best bet for reading voltages is to get a cheap multimeter, usually $5-$10 at a hardware store

also as has been mentioned 95% of the wear and tear on electronic equipment occurs from powering on and off and the associated thermal cycles…and computers only explode into a shower of sparks in the movies :wink:

#8

in feb my pc almost fried due to power instability, it turned on and off then on and off rapidly without stopping, my pc offically died for 10 minutes as it gives me beeps which is a sign that something has fried, however it cam back to life shortly after, which was a miracle, here’s a pic of the aftermath of the incident. hope this info helps.

#9

I just noticed that your PSU is only 250W, that’s kind of pushing its’ limits, and if that 12V reading is accurate you may want to consider getting a new PSU. I definitely would be interested to see what that meters out at. You can read the 12V rail at one of your four pin molex connectors, the yellow is 12V+, and the black is the negative.