What is downside to sleep mode?

[TeamanFL]

I am considering using sleep mode on my laptop and even on my desktop. I understand that the CPU and RAM as well as some control circuits are still "on".
I am concerned that my CPU and RAM will fail sooner if I do this. Running 24 hours a day has to have some bad effects.
What is the downside of using the sleep mode on either a desktop or a laptop?
Thanks in advance, TeamanFL

 

[rive0108]

It just puts it into a low power state writes session to memory. The power light will blink constantly. Loss of power means loss of data.

Hybrid sleep is another new power-saving feature designed primarily for desktop computers. Hybrid sleep saves any open documents and programs to memory and to your hard disk, and then puts your computer into a low-power state

Hibernation mode actually writes session to disk and powers off the computer.

 

[fieseler]

just using sleep instead of turning off probably isnt a good idea as your wasting power as the ram remains switched on.

What i tend to do is use sleep when i go get food or something, then if im not back within 75 mins, the pc will go into hibernate & switch itself off. Resuming from hibernate is quicker than doing a full boot so it still saves time!

I dont use hybrid sleep since the amount of times i use sleep would result in my hdd dying when it writes all 8gb of my ram to it.

 

[TeamanFL]

just using sleep instead of turning off probably isnt a good idea as your wasting power as the ram remains switched on.

What i tend to do is use sleep when i go get food or something, then if im not back within 75 mins, the pc will go into hibernate & switch itself off. Resuming from hibernate is quicker than doing a full boot so it still saves time!

I dont use hybrid sleep since the amount of times i use sleep would result in my hdd dying when it writes all 8gb of my ram to it.

Wasting power is not a problem. I can afford the few dollars it will cost me.
I can not find a hibernate function on my VISTA. I can find sleep and I can find when to turn off the "display/put the computer to sleep", but not hibernate. By the way, these are set to never.

 

[rive0108]

just using sleep instead of turning off probably isnt a good idea as your wasting power as the ram remains switched on.

What i tend to do is use sleep when i go get food or something, then if im not back within 75 mins, the pc will go into hibernate & switch itself off. Resuming from hibernate is quicker than doing a full boot so it still saves time!

I dont use hybrid sleep since the amount of times i use sleep would result in my hdd dying when it writes all 8gb of my ram to it.

Wasting power is not a problem. I can afford the few dollars it will cost me.
I can not find a hibernate function on my VISTA. I can find sleep and I can find when to turn off the "display/put the computer to sleep", but not hibernate. By the way, these are set to never.

Activate hibernate option
1. Press the WINDOWS key and type cmd into the Start Search box but *don't* press ENTER

2. Right-click on cmd in the Programs list and select Run As Administrator

3. Click Continue when the UAC prompt appears

4. Type powercfg -h ON and press ENTER


As for the ram/cpu failing faster it has been debated both ways, and in the end the system life saved is insignificant- either way you will get approx 5 years of life; at that point in time itll only be good for internet use anyways. Heat is the real issue this will kill a computer really quick. Get a cooler pad for the notebooks- this will greatly extend its life. Check to see where your intake vent is (bottom or side, and discharge vent is. If it pulls air from bottom do not get a cooler that sucks air down.

 

[TeamanFL]

just using sleep instead of turning off probably isnt a good idea as your wasting power as the ram remains switched on.

What i tend to do is use sleep when i go get food or something, then if im not back within 75 mins, the pc will go into hibernate & switch itself off. Resuming from hibernate is quicker than doing a full boot so it still saves time!

I dont use hybrid sleep since the amount of times i use sleep would result in my hdd dying when it writes all 8gb of my ram to it.

Wasting power is not a problem. I can afford the few dollars it will cost me.
I can not find a hibernate function on my VISTA. I can find sleep and I can find when to turn off the "display/put the computer to sleep", but not hibernate. By the way, these are set to never.

Activate hibernate option
1. Press the WINDOWS key and type cmd into the Start Search box but *don't* press ENTER

2. Right-click on cmd in the Programs list and select Run As Administrator

3. Click Continue when the UAC prompt appears

4. Type powercfg -h ON and press ENTER


As for the ram/cpu failing faster it has been debated both ways, and in the end the system life saved is insignificant- either way you will get approx 5 years of life; at that point in time itll only be good for internet use anyways. Heat is the real issue this will kill a computer really quick. Get a cooler pad for the notebooks- this will greatly extend its life. Check to see where your intake vent is (bottom or side, and discharge vent is. If it pulls air from bottom do not get a cooler that sucks air down.

Thanks for the advice.

I used powercfg -change -hibernate-timeout-dc 30
I assume that sets the timeout to 30 minutes for hibernate while I am on DC.

The cooler does make since. All of the ones I saw so far via google use the USB port for power. If I am in sleep or hibernate, is the USB port active? If I am on battery power, will it drain the battery fast? Maybe you mean to use the cooler when I am not in sleep or hibernate or maybe only when I am on AC.

ALso, I have read some posts here where people have had problems with hibernate. Am I at risk for such problems?

Thanks in advance, TeamanFL