PC Sleep vs Hibernate vs Shut off power consumption
Posted by GloriousStone@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 60 comments
Couldn't find a straightforward answer so I am posting myself for future reference.
Feel free to post any other helpful input in the comments, like whether you should hibernate or sleep and why.
Idle on desktop: \~86,5 Watts
Sleep: \~5,1 Watts
Hibernate: \~1,4 Watts
Shut off: \~1,2 Watts
Rig:
I9 10850k
RTX 4070 Ti Gaming Trio
4x8Gb 3600/16
Phanteks P500A DRGB
Z590 GAMING PLUS
Samsung 970 1 TB
P300 2 TB
Kraken Z73
RM850X
SeafoodDuder@reddit
I usually just shut down if I know it's going to be awhile. With all the SSDs out now, booting only takes about 5 seconds.
Tom1380@reddit
Wait, does boot time not count post? Or are you saying that your machine goes from completely off to showing your desktop in 5 seconds? Mine takes 30 and it's new and pretty high end, I must have screwed up something
green_krokodile@reddit
it's about opening again where you left off all the programs. my IDE reloads the project in 10 min, I would hate doing this every day.
Mixels@reddit
Hibernate is functionally the same and is a better option if you want to pick up where you left off and are otherwise going to shut down anyway.
thesupremeDIP@reddit
Hibernate just adds up system uptime and leads to funky behavior the same way leaving the system on would. Yeah these things can be resolved by a quick restart but I'd rather not have to restart in the first place, especially when these issues may crop up at an inopportune time. There's a reason I enforce a GPO to disable hibernate at work for all SSD-based PCs lol
Mixels@reddit
Leaving a system on doesn't lead to funky behavior unless you have an application running that has a memory leak, you have malware installed, or you have failing hardware. If you think this is not true, I'd be interested to hear a technical explanation for what these funky behaviors you describe occur. I work in the industry with low-level Windows integrations, and the idea that running the system indefinitely causes any kind of problem (besides power consumption and hardware wear) doesn't make sense in terms of how Windows manages system resources.
christurnbull@reddit
I work in the industry too, but at a high level. Issues are often solved by a real reboot yet every week I get a user saying "I've been shutting down". No you have been hiberbooting. Let me turn that off for you ...
Kind-Connection1284@reddit
There are lot of software bugs which are not memory leaks but still only show up after a while of running and only in certain situations (i.e a random state in the gazillion states of the application “state machine”)
E.g some variable is flipped during a random operation which breaks the software in another part of the code that uses the the same variable
Source: I write code for a living
FupaDeChao@reddit
Ditto what u said. Also write code for a living
SIDER250@reddit
Hibernate isn’t as great as you think. If you have a lot of programs open or a high memory usage before hibernating, it will take longer to write and read the data. Frequent hibernation can also lead to additional wear on SSDs because the entire contents of RAM are written to the drive. There is also a risk of power outage so there is also that. Shutting down is the safest option. It is also true that there is wear and tear when powering up your pc constantly, but at the same time, I dont see an actual reason why someone wouldn’t turn the pc off if its not in use (unless there is a reason not to).
isotope123@reddit
Not if you have shared drives. Hibernate screws with their connection. Not usually an issue for home though.
-UserRemoved-@reddit
Sleep stores your current state to the memory, which means you can restore upon bootup quickly and start off exactly where you were. Given memory is volatile, any loss in power will result in loss of current state. This is also why your RGB memory stays lit when using sleep, because it is still receiving power.
Hiberate stores your current state to your drive, which is non-volatile. As such, power loss doesn't mean you lose your current state, while you still are able to boot up relatively quickly.
Shut off does exactly what the name implies.
bobsim1@reddit
With quickboot in windows shut off does basically the same as hibernate iirc. it doesnt shut down all services and such.
christurnbull@reddit
Anyone who has worked with computers for over 10 years knows that hiberboot causes more trouble than it's worth since the kernel doesn't get unloaded.
I'm the age of SSDs, hiberboot's advantages are nearly zero.
bobsim1@reddit
Fastboot sure. But hibernate does keep apps open.
Independent-Hotel989@reddit
Not worth the issues it gives also the 64 gigs of storage it took up didn’t like that either
GloriousStone@reddit (OP)
Makes sense. Thank you, very helpful.
I usually just shut off, but I was thinking about turning my pc into a TV console, with Steam Big Picture and I was researching how viable would it be to run it in sleep mode, so I don't need to use a mouse.
Was expecting it to draw more power, honestly. Here in EU power is like 2-3x more expensive due to russia situation, so its more of a concern, hence the post.
I am guessing windows will start glitching after a while with no reboots, but is there any other downsides? Is ram being taxed noticeably more doing that constantly?
Also does that mean hibernate is just a faster reboot? Any reason not to use that instead? SSD wear and tear perhaps?
-UserRemoved-@reddit
In sleep, the difference is you are still powering the memory, that's why there's that difference of a few watts.
This isn't a concern
Faster than shutdown/reboot, but slower than sleep. It's a good middle ground if you aren't using the PC every day but want to keep your current state, or you don't like waiting for a normal boot up.
Also not a concern.
They all exist for a reason, there is no right or wrong here as it's just your personal preference that dictates what you use.
psimwork@reddit
In my experience, hibernate is more-or-less worthless on a desktop. So much that Windows has it disabled by default. Since it has to go through a standard startup/POST, the time savings are pretty limited. And you don't get the benefit of getting a "fresh" session of your OS and programs.
It's great for when your laptop is running out of battery, and that program that you forgot to save before leaving your machine is preserved. But for a desktop? Meh.
NecroJoe@reddit
Hibernate also keeps your laptop MUCH, cooler in a padded sleeve/ bag.
alexq136@reddit
in addition to this, on resuming from hibernation any application state not held in RAM or on disk is lost (e.g. active browser logins and network-related tasks/services' state might not carry over system hibernation)
TjrH@reddit
Thank you for that response. Very clear and helpful.
colajunkie@reddit
With an nvme, boot vs hibernate is barely any different and hibernate definitely not worth anything.
Illustrious-Limit160@reddit
The only reason you should ever power off your pc is to do an update, and pretty soon you won't even have to do that.
https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/microsoft-wants-to-update-your-windows-11-pc-without-forcing-you-to-reboot
christurnbull@reddit
Anyone who has worked with computers for over 10 years knows that hiberboot causes more trouble than it's worth since the kernel doesn't get unloaded.
I'm the age of SSDs, hiberboot's advantages are nearly zero.
Illustrious-Limit160@reddit
I'm not talking about hiberboot. Why are you?
christurnbull@reddit
Replied to the wrong comment sorry
You should shut down to let your kernel and drivers load from scratch instead of running with their accumulated junk.
bobsim1@reddit
RAM and SSD wear is negligeble. RAM writes massive amounts anyway. SSD is more taxed by pagefile.
alexq136@reddit
the pagefile's size can be configured (from zero to the now-recommended 2x full RAM capacity)
on hibernation the whole part of RAM that contains application and system data must be written to disk (excluding page caches), so the OS has to, e.g., copy all memory used by, say, windows and chrome and everything else that's running to disk inside the hibernation cache file (hiberfil.sys or something like that, iirc)
ItsMrForYou@reddit
Noteworthy to add is the difference between a shutdown and restart (at least on Windows). Especially more so when “fast boot” is turned on. Microsoft changed that behavior based on how users used either.
That difference explains most of all the windows glitches. Windows simply requires that reset very often. (And to my experience, that really opposes iOS -and Android… just a little bit-)
htoisanaung@reddit
Window will probably get glitchly but a quick restart should fix it.
Puzzleheaded-Fill205@reddit
Windows gets updates monthly, so it's unlikely to go for an extended period of time without rebooting.
Yellowtoblerone@reddit
God it took so much research to figure out how to shut off those RGB on ram and AIO after it went to sleep on my older PC. So I guess this was why
Kevin_Wolf@reddit
cries in Northern California
-UserRemoved-@reddit
lol, I have family in the Bay area, I dunno how anyone survives there.
However, if you run the numbers at 38¢ for electricity (https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/averageenergyprices_sanfrancisco.htm), it's still only $17 a year, or about 1 hour of minimum wage work.
Neraxis@reddit
I always shut off to prevent windows from bugging.
Ravonaar@reddit
Very much agree with this. Sleep and hibernate always breaks at least one program, if not the whole system, every time it’s used. Used to be great pre Win 10, unusable now.
vhk7896rty@reddit
That's pretty high on idle. Mine does 42W (RTX 4060, i5-12500, 3x M.2 SSD + 1 SATA SSD)
RepulsiveScientist44@reddit
Well, 4060 has significantly lower power consumption than 4070 ti. 12th gen i5 is also more power efficient both from the 2 generation difference and raw power capabilities
Adrifzn@reddit
I never thought idle can reach 86 watt to be honest
GloriousStone@reddit (OP)
I mean 50 watts is the average, and I have a lot of stuff plugged in (2 monitors, speakers, aio, rgb on everything) and likely more stuff running in the background, so its really not that crazy
Adrifzn@reddit
Ah now i know, ty for the explanation
0xrander@reddit
Motherboards doesn't really shut off and keep some components powered like USB. Search ErP in BIOS and disable it.
GloriousStone@reddit (OP)
They are off. Its phantom load
Anyusername7294@reddit
My PC uses less power when playing a game than your when sleeping
xpander3@reddit
specs?
Anyusername7294@reddit
AMD Custom APU, 16 GB LPDDRx 5, TDP set to 3 (Steam Deck)
christurnbull@reddit
I suggest you send command line: shutdown -p
And measure your draw again, see if it's lower. If you don't feel comfortable with commands, hold the shift key while clicking shutdown.
SwordsAndElectrons@reddit
Sleep - if you really want to. 🤷♂️ Just remember that losing power in sleep mode will lose the sleep context, so you still shouldn't leave a bunch of docs open and unsaved or similar silliness. Sometimes peripherals (or their drivers) don't handle waking well, but YMMV.
Hibernate - nah, turn this feature off altogether. Hiberfile.sys is taking up an amount of drive space equal to the amount of RAM you have installed. With a decent SSD the cold boot time is fast enough that I'd rather have the space back.
Shutdown - That's what I do.
New-Relationship963@reddit
If you can afford a 4070ti you can afford 3 bucks of electricity a month.
esw123@reddit
Thank you! No, really, just thank you for this data.
cowbutt6@reddit
I've always had problems with sound not working properly after waking from sleep or hibernate. I've used both a Creative Labs SoundBlaster Z and on-motherboard Realtek sound devices, and the drivers are up-to-date.
ssuper2k@reddit
Hibernation must use Exactly the same wattage as powered off
AlenciaQueen@reddit
Bro turn on s4+s5 epc settings it will draw only 0.2w something like that while your pc off, I can't remember exactly where was it check epc apc menus in bios it may called powe star idk
Imbecile_Jr@reddit
If doesn't matter because Windows will do whatever it wants
Autobahn97@reddit
I use a 5th option: power strip with physical rocker switch to cut power. This way my wall worts that charge some USB devices and also a power supply for a notebook are also not drawing power.
Healthy_BrAd6254@reddit
Yeah, vampire power is a thing. It's usually next to nothing though
Mopar_63@reddit
I actually do a full shutdown at night. With my SSD the boot from zero time is like 12 seconds, so the delays of old with a boot are no longer an issue. Plus a shut down means you start the day with a clean boot, none of the crap that might be in memory from the day before is there.
SnooPandas2964@reddit
Are you measuring from the wall? I would have have thought sleep would have used more, just because power supply efficiency drops both at the top and bottom. But maybe the effect isn't as significant as I thought.
9okm@reddit
Interesting! I have a similar system. Thanks for posting.
I remember testing my 10700k/3080 and idle on desktop was about 60W.