Up For Debate – Do you ever turn your gaming PC off?

When it comes to just about any device, we probably turn them off when we’re done with them. I don’t keep the oven on forever just in case I need to pop in an emergency pie. You probably don’t keep your telly on 24/7 either, bathing your front room in a static glow for eternity. PCs are a little bit different though. They’ve morphed into the hub through which we can do practically anything.

We all use our PCs for gaming, of course, and they’re great as an entertainment hub for just about anything, whether that’s to watch movies, listen to music, browse the web, learn dangerous cult-like lessons from misinformed YouTubers, mess around with Ableton, or whatever the heck you want to do. Then there’s all the work and practical uses. We can use them to keep in touch with everyone we know, do our work,  or print out essential memes.

PCs are the hub around which a huge part of our lives revolves these days. And, when you accomplish just about anything on one, we obviously want to be able to use them at the drop of the hat. It’s why many of us never turn our gaming PCs off at all. They whirr on continuously, ready for that moment when we might need them. 

But, obviously, keeping your PC on permanently comes with its own downsides. For one, you’re going to be using more electricity. It might not be much while idle but it’ll gradually be sipping juice and that adds up over the course of a year. For those who have their PCs in their bedrooms as well, seeing their PC lit up like an RGB nightmare probably isn’t conducive to the best night’s sleep either. 

There’s also the conflicting arguments over whether turning your PC off might even be bad for its health. Leave it on and you’ll be putting the components through more wear and tear, turn it off and the boot process could deteriorate the components. At this point, I don’t even know what’s best anymore. 

So what’s your tactic with your gaming rig? Are you ardent turn-offer, or do you leave it blinking away forever? Do you take advantage of sleep mode or is it all or nothing? Let us know what you do and why below!