Is it safe for me to completely shut down and unplug my pc after every use?

Constant unplugging and plugging the power cable will wear out the plug and outlet. Why not just flip the switch on the PSU, is that the same thing as what you are trying to achieve?

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MyLifeInPixels0@reddit

That PSU myth is old. Modern ones handle it no problem. Just shut down properly first

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HotPersonality8126@reddit

Your surge protector wouldn’t really protect you from a power surge anyway, and voltage surges on mains residential power are basically unheard of

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NavySeal2k@reddit

So you don’t have lightning in your area?

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HotPersonality8126@reddit

Plenty of lightning, it just doesn’t cause power surges

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NavySeal2k@reddit

Source of this claim is your anecdotal evidence? Because if lightning hits my house, despite a lighting rod, I think I would get a little spike, no?

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HotPersonality8126@reddit

If lightning hits your house, why do you think that would impact your power at all?

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Where do you think your lightning rod goes? Right in the ground where the grounding loop is. So the massive influx of electrons have to spread out evenly because electrons don’t like each other, so it flows everywhere but mostly through conductive things like the grounding everywhere in your house. So a lot of electrons in a wire moving quickly what do they do? They generate a rapid forming magnetic field. What does a rapid forming electric field do to other wires parallel to the first wire? Exactly, it is a current introduces in those lines proportional to the magnetic field and the speed it builds up. Do I have to continue or is it ok from here and you can see how it could be bad for your home and the electronics in it.

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More_Outside7127@reddit

Question for people that actually know stuff, is it ok to just turn the power supply off or do you need to fully unplug to avoid possible surge issues?

Also the rest of your PC should be fine if your PSU has the right protections

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OnlyCommentWhenTipsy@reddit

I leave my pc on 24/7, but shutting down is better than suspending/sleep imo. Also get a surge protector instead of unplugging. Most connectors/plugs have a limited cycle count before they wear out and start getting loose.

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Either-Razzmatazz848@reddit

u should be fine, but for the love of got try to get a grounded outlet installed. how are you even plugging it in arent most PSUS 3 prong?

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PartsJAX328i@reddit

You can easily enough add a ground wire from the outlet to an earth ground rod outside and make your surge protector....protect.

Pound copper ground rod into the ground. Run copper wire from ground rod to outlet. Attach copper wire from ground terminal of outlet to copper wire from ground rod and you're done...

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SoggyBagelBite@reddit

Where do you live? Having 3 prong outlets without actual grounds to them is against code basically everywhere.

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Prudent-Spread7739@reddit (OP)

USA, Delaware. House was built in the 1850's, when electrical was added fully I'm unsure of it, so the houses condition was likely grandfathered in. Outlets in the kitchen are grounded though, thats what caused me to assume everywhere else was the same along with the fact they're 3 prong.

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SoggyBagelBite@reddit

It's more likely that before you lived there someone replaced the outlets themselves. They don't grandfather in major safety hazards like that lol.

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BornCuriousOnce@reddit

Against code doesn’t always actually equate to action taken. Our housing market is awful here and I’ve had 4 rentals with this problem, none of which informed me proactively and none of which were willing to fix them. Hell, one dude took rent from us every month and didn’t even pay the mortgage with it. We kept getting default notices pinned to the door and I had to turn the breaker to the garage off to get his kid to quit partying out there.

Unfortunately tenant rights and legalities don’t always hold the water they should.

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beedunc@reddit

Storms? Not a bad idea, with today’s hardware prices. Or, Get a good sinewave UPS.

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ronniearnold@reddit

You need a BIG one for a large build. The gaming pc must run all off the battery or it won’t function.

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beedunc@reddit

Pretty sure this would suffice unless 5090?

https://www.costco.com/.product.4000091462.html

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Plazmatic@reddit

Yeah... but what do you do if you do have a 5090 though? I see all these 900W UPS but what do you do when your power supply is 1000w?

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Triedfindingname@reddit

Exactly what i use. Never had a problem and I've noticed those dips in power or small power interruption.

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beedunc@reddit

Good to know, thank you.

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Diligent_Pie_5191@reddit

Yes. Also if you update bios you won’t ever have a chance of losing power during that critical time

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Diligent_Pie_5191@reddit

Well, if you aren’t gaming then even a 5090 might be ok. Why would you game if the power went out? At that point just start up a generator.

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Prudent-Spread7739@reddit (OP)

Sick, appreciate the recommendation

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SandyBunker@reddit

Definitely consider a UPS it will protect you from surges and minimal power outages. Giving you time to properly shutdown.

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Prudent-Spread7739@reddit (OP)

Thanks! I'll have to look more into that. I sort of figured having a ups without a ground would also just make that ineffective

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streakermaximus@reddit

It does.

A UPS still needs to be grounded to protect from surges.

It'll keep things running during an outage, but it's still susceptible to surges.

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wafflesareforever@reddit

FedEx is more expensive and totally not the same thing at all

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Dekaaard@reddit

Is this a riff on USPS?

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chateau86@reddit

That's a different thing.

USPS is the one with the Grumman LLV still running like 50 years in. UPS is the one that had the engine fell off one of their planes.

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Psyko_sissy23@reddit

Do the engines normally fall off the planes?

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GAW67COD07@reddit

Not ideally

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goodnames679@reddit

it's a riff on UPS, the delivery service

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MWink64@reddit

No, it doesn't. Lacking a ground line will make it less effective but not ineffective. Without a ground, the MOVs protecting L-N will still work.

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Moonbeam_Dreams@reddit

This is what my husband and I have done. UPS units with a three-year battery replacement schedules and separate riders on our insurance for each PC.

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BornCuriousOnce@reddit

This.

I had ups when I moved into a new house. Found out the circuit wasn’t grounded because the ups would alarm and throw an error code as soon as it cycled up but worked normally in other areas of the house. UPS is a great option for grounded circuits but not for this.

On a related note- put it in writing to the landlord that the electrical is ungrounded (email, letter, whatever) and insure your computer. Ungrounded electrical is a fire hazard and many renters insurance policies specifically exclude this kind of electronics in the fine print unless you get an additional note on the policy. If the insurance finds out you knew but didn’t alert the landlord it becomes your fault and they pay nothing. If the landlords insurance finds out they knew and didn’t fix it then the same happens to them but you can take them to court personally to recover what insurance doesn’t. Ideally, they just fix it.

If you aren’t used to living ungrounded do the same with any chest freezers or other expensive appliances. Many policies cover the freezer itself but the contents are way more costly to replace and get excluded from the policy.

Also, get extra smoke alarms and fire extinguishers.

-sincerely someone who lost their rig in a house fire this year caused by ungrounded electrical in the ceiling

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Careful-Sell-9877@reddit

Highly recommend goldenmate ups. They are really high quality and super reasonably priced. Particularly when on sale

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Diligent_Pie_5191@reddit

I love APC UPS’s.

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Moonbeam_Dreams@reddit

APC, Powervar, and Tripp Lite

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danted002@reddit

Or get a 200+ USD power supply (PSU) because they have a built-in fuse and Japanese capacitors which will protect you against anything except lightning hitting your PC 🤣

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MWink64@reddit

It is a common misconception that you need to have a grounded outlet for surge protection to work. It will be less effective on an ungrounded outlet, but it'll still provide some protection.

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BlckEagle89@reddit

How do I know which UPS to get? Should I get a UPS with as many Watts as my power supply? Or should I have anything else in mind?

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blaqrain23@reddit

A USPS might be a bit more affordable.

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se777enx3@reddit

A decent UPS is expensive and unless you live in a flat/house with electricity issues there’s really no need for it. Even if I had these issues I would focus my attention to actually fix my electricity (if I’m the owner of course) before worrying about the pc.

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Moonbeam_Dreams@reddit

Renters don't have that option, and gaming PCs are easily much, much more expensive than a solid UPS. I can't even replace the RAM in my PC for what my UPS cost.

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PrisonerV@reddit

Forget a ups. Get a power station. More power and longer battery life. I got a little Pecron for $150

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Maple_Bunny@reddit

If its not converting the current into sine wave. It could damage components over time as most PC components are not designed to run on DC power.

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PrisonerV@reddit

Yes, only hundreds of millions of PCs are run off of regular power every day without damage. But other than that, you're completely correct. Also most UPS do not convert to sine wave.

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luaps@reddit

hundreds of millions of PCs running on DC? I dont know a single country where the Mains is not AC

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PrisonerV@reddit

That's what I get for quickly viewing my phone. I stand by my comment though. A power station is functionally a regular UPS and nobody uses sine wave, although looking it up, my Pecron outputs sine wave on DC so there's that.

Power stations are the way to go, not UPSes, which generally use outdated technology.

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PanthalassaRo@reddit

Is connecting the ethernet cable advisable from my PC to it's UPS when the modem is already hooked to another UPS already (only the power source of the modem is connected)?

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RAJ_rios@reddit

Naw, that's redundant

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PanthalassaRo@reddit

Ty!

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RAJ_rios@reddit

My pleasure, stranger!

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MWink64@reddit

Yes, especially if it's a cable or DSL modem. Surges can easily come over coax or phone lines.

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PanthalassaRo@reddit

Ty!

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Pooleh@reddit

Sounds like a good way to introduce a lot of latency to your network connection.

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RandomRageNet@reddit

Most UPSes are gonna insist on being grounded and will probably throw up an error if they don't detect a ground

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streakermaximus@reddit

A UPS still needs to be grounded to protect from surges.

It'll keep things running during an outage, but it's still susceptible to surges.

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MainOk8335@reddit

I personally shut my PC off when I go to bed. Mainly because it doesnt take long to turn on now with a good m.2 so why not avoid weird issues of it being on for 2 weeks. No harm in turning it off

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GamingKink@reddit

Just shut down for night, but dont unplug.

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Uhmattbravo@reddit

I unplug mine every day before I go to work.

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Reyway@reddit

I heard that it's bad for the cmos battery.

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Negromancer18@reddit

CMOS battery keeps the system clock going when power is out. Unplugging just means it has to do its job.

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gmoneygangster3@reddit

…..Which is bad for it because it makes it discharge faster

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Westerdutch@reddit

Using a battery is not 'bad' regardless of you using it a lot or very little. Using them is their intended purpose, it a wear part that is cheap and easy to replace for good reason.

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buttersyndicate@reddit

I had that little itch I get knowing a part of my computer won't be used, in this case because everything electric is so safe and foreseeably stable here in the EU... then came last year's 13 hour shutdown that took the entirety of Spain aaand the itch is gone.

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DarkThunder312@reddit

Oh no instead of lasting 10 years without power it only lasts 9

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gmoneygangster3@reddit

Knocks about half of the life of not just a year

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gazpitchy@reddit

That's not bad, that's literally what the battery is designed for.

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Key-Regular674@reddit

And custom bios settings

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pythonic_dude@reddit

Modern mobos tend to have power-independent storage you can write settings into.

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gazpitchy@reddit

I've had computers that weren't powered for 5 years be totally fine.

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NavySeal2k@reddit

They were still plugged into the wall still probably?

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roadfoolmc@reddit

Oh no a cmos battery!

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Complex_Run_6699@reddit

Wat

That's like saying pushing the buttons on your tv remote is bad for the AA/AAA batteries lol

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younggregg@reddit

Good thing a 4 pack on amazon is $5

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skylinestar1986@reddit

I used to do that. Surprisingly CMOS battery drained faster.

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Uhmattbravo@reddit

It's not all that surprising. Isn't that what it's for anyway? Still sucks having to change them, but IIRC it was about $6 for a pack of 4 last I needed a new one, but within the 5 years it lasted before mine needed to be replaced, there was a big storm that took out both my mom's computer (which she replaced with a brand new system) and the motherboard on my father in law's jukebox (which ended up using off the shelf parts), all while mine was fine at home because it wasn't plugged in. 37 and a half cents a year is definitely worth it as insurance for my 3000 something dollar system.

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Earcollector@reddit

Why don’t you just unplug it when storms are expected, instead of every day? I suppose you can make it EASY to unplug, and making it a habit has its own benefits… but it still seems like another thing to worry/think about each day.

All the more to you, I’ve just literally never heard of someone doing that.

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Westerdutch@reddit

Sudden storms when you are away from home can happen so unless you are able to predict the weather with 100% accuracy then you will be better off making a habit of unplugging. Also, other things than storms can cause surges, If you live near heavy industry for example then that can be problematic just the same.

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Earcollector@reddit

Yeah, it must be strongly dependent on where you live. I live somewhere with a thunderstorm once every 4-5 years, if that. Just a foreign concept to me, thinking about thunderstorms and power surges.

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Moonbeam_Dreams@reddit

Damn. I live in Tornado Alley, the kind of place where people go straight to the front porch when the sirens go off to get a look at it.

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Westerdutch@reddit

Oh absolutely same. Thunderstorms are more common than that where i live but they never pose a threat. I have been running servers at my last 4 homes 24/7 since the late 90s, all central europe, and the total downtime from power net issues is in the single digit hours, hardware damage from power spikes is simply not a thing. But I have also worked enough in developing countries with proper 3rd world levels of power infrastructure (including many places in the us) to know that not everybody has this luxury.

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survivalScythe@reddit

Do you also wear a helmet 100% of the time? Yall are paranoid man.

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chr0n0phage@reddit

Why? Computing for nearly 30 years, that just isn’t a thing sane people do!

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Westerdutch@reddit

If you happen to live in a country with good infrastructure then there is indeed no need. There are however very very many countries without that and people there will still want to use computers.

If you think this has anything to do with 'sane' people then you really need to get out more, go travel and broaden your horizon, see that there are different ways to live than how you have been doing it 'for nearly 30 years'.

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Uhmattbravo@reddit

It's not sane to eliminate a potential and needless risk to something that cost alot of money?

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Puzzled_Rip_7496@reddit

Lots of facetious comments, yet not one response about the real problem. The PC should be a concern, sure. Get a UPS w/ adequate joules & battery to protect from spikes and outage. That's that. Now for the real issue. Why, in 2026, do you not have a grounded outlet??? Ungrounded outlets are like so...last century. I'd be far more concerned about burning down the house than the PC. You might want to be also. If you own, you need to get some romex pulled and bring your electric up to code. If you rent, the landlord is playing a dangerous game at your potential expense. They need to fix that asap. Cheers

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BornCuriousOnce@reddit

Agreed. Can’t stress this enough. Lost my house in October due to ungrounded electricity we’d been fighting to get fixed for more than a year (couldn’t afford to move) and spent 6 weeks homeless trying to find a place to rebuild.

Losing the computer sucks but I promise it’s just one in a very long list of crappy changes that come with a major house fire. We got out in literally nothing but our underwear at 1am. Had to share a pair of shoes to use a construction site port-a-potty while we waited for Red Cross and 6 months later we’re still trying to find some kind of ‘normal’ again. Trust me- it’s not worth it. Grounded electricity isn’t just an amenity, it’s a legal requirement for a reason.

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Prudent-Spread7739@reddit (OP)

Damn, losing your house to a fire is awful, deeply sorry you had to go through that.

This post was more of a temporary solution while I tried to sort out this situation since I've recently gotten myself into a sticky situation finance wise, its a pretty big house and walls are hard as concrete so I'm sure its gonna cost more for them if they have to get into the wall.

I know the ones in the kitchen are, so I assumed it would've been the same everywhere else. Been living here 20 years and never knew the outlets in my room weren't grounded, crazy stuff.

Still gonna get an actual tester like another comment said just to be sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if they really aren't.

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ReverendDizzle@reddit

What you found isn’t unusual for the age of your house.

The kitchen, almost guaranteed, has been remodeled multiple times in the last 100+ years your home has existed. But the bedrooms? Unless someone went out of their way to modernize the electrical infrastructure it’s potentially completely unchanged.

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porkusdorkus@reddit

Just had all mine fixed, it wasn’t cheap.

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Prudent-Spread7739@reddit (OP)

Honestly, until recently I always thought they were grounded.

Our house was built in the 1850's but obviously since then upgrades had to have been made to the house, but still that would've likely been before the 1962 mandatory requirement.

I only recently found out they weren't grounded when I got this new surge protector a friend had gotten me and it has a light that is supposed to appear if it is in a grounded outlet, but it does not. It might not be a reliable test, but thats what raised the alarm bells.

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WulfTheSaxon@reddit

You can get a purpose-made outlet/GFCI tester for like $10 on Amazon and it’ll let you know if it’s ungrounded or wired backwards. If it is, it really needs to be fixed. Running things that are meant to be grounded without a ground isn’t safe.

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MinisterofHeresy@reddit

Agreed.

OP, if you're sockets aren't grounded defo get a sparky in to get that sorted or the computer could be the least of your worries.

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Puzzled_Rip_7496@reddit

Understood. Mine is 1902. Pulling cable through (real) wood that's harder to drill through than concrete and dealing w/ horsehair plaster is no fun. But ya gotta do what you gotta do. Again, it's 2026. Fix that shiat...

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SandyBunker@reddit

Yes and make sure you unplug during thunderstorms as well.

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tibbon@reddit

I got a whole house surge suppressor and no longer think about it

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onionSID@reddit

Why do light bulbs always burn out when you turn them back on?

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w3213y@reddit

Well the psu are tested to be plug and unplug from the socket so your fine but i recommend to get an electrician to wire your socket to ground and only unplugging during storms.

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Impossible-Move-2096@reddit

Unplugging daily won’t hurt the PSU they’re built for thousands of cycles. The real issue is surge risk since your outlets aren’t grounded. A UPS or proper grounding fixes that better than pulling the plug every night. If surges are rare, leaving it plugged into a decent protector is fine.

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Muted_Price9933@reddit

Why do you unplug it when it’s already shutdown? After you shut the the pc down from psu it’s not like the pc will turn on anyway

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Unable-School6717@reddit

60 YEAR OLD electronics tech and lifelong pc user/builder/modifier who has designed and built high amperage low voltage PSUs supplying rock solid 12,5,and 3.3 volts to PCs. SOMEone has misinformed you. Aside from power cycling your computer every five minutes all day long, it does no harm to turn off and unplug your pc. This is in fact the safest thing to do when a storm arrives, even if you have a perfectly grounded home. This relies on you unplugging any wires that bring internet to a wired network such as phone or cable tv and these should not apply in north america because 99.999% of computers use a wireless router to connect; thus the power cord is the only path by which a surge can enter your pc. The bottom line is your approach contained in your question (power down and unplug) is 100% the best thing to do to protect it, and whoever told you "this is bad" should stop giving advice about things they dont understand, AND you will save a few dollars on your electric bill because PCs actually draw significant current sitting idle but powered 'on' every day all day long. There is nothing harmful about capacitors holding charge, this is the nonsense that caused someone to misinform you. I hold certifications after taking industry standard tests mainly so clients of my employers can trust my advice, and you should ignore everyone on reddit and place a call to the folks who manufactured your motherboard (not the locals that assembled the tower) to assure yourself that you cause no harm powering down and unplugging. Ive never heard so many urban myths as this subreddit seems to offer in place of truth, and the actual manufacturers of the parts will gladly advise you properly.

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5zalot@reddit

The ground wire has nothing to do with power surges. The ground wire protects YOU from getting shocked if a) your PC has a short in it in which the case becomes energized and b) you touch it.

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irishshogun@reddit

Buy a good powerboard from belkin etc to plug into which has surge protection etc

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4K4llDay@reddit

It's probably fine but it's annoying because RAM has to re-train each time I'm pretty sure

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arrozpato@reddit

I mean you gonna be limited by rate of the psu button. I guess

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Alex-Cortes816@reddit

Sure. I do this every night cause of all my damn RGBs lol

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NavySeal2k@reddit

Can’t you turn them off in Bios?

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se777enx3@reddit

Only my ram rgb stays on when in sleep and I don’t think you change it unless you completely turn off the rgb. It’s not a problem for me as I rarely put my pc to sleep, I just turn it off, why would I need it if I sleep lol it’s ram and mobo dependent because my previous rig didn’t do it.

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NavySeal2k@reddit

Ahh yeah, RAM is the one that stays on at sleep too. I bite the bullet some times if I have too much tabs open but don’t want to sort it out because it’s already 3am I let him sleep, or I crash crime so it restores everything after reboot

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senorjc@reddit

For power outages, a ups will be nice for safe shutdowns, but the surge protection will be limited without it also being connected to a ground.

I'd replace the ungrounded outlets with some GFCI ones to make them safer until you can update your home's wiring. I'd schedule an electrician for a quote/inspection. The solution might be simpler than you think, all depends on the home.

Otherwise, it's totally fine to keep unplugging the pc.

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Prudent-Spread7739@reddit (OP)

Definitely looking into main solutions for the ungrounded outlets, makes me nervous just in general. This post was more of a temporary solution for my pc hence why posted here, was mainly just questioning the fact of if it wasn't detrimental to the psu to unplug every day, probably should've made that more clear in my description. I totally appreciate the concern from commenters though, electrical issues is nothing to play lightly with.

Didn't think of a GFCI though, so I appreciate that recommendation, might look into that.

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OscarF2P@reddit

Watch a youtube video on how to do a pigtail in an outlet.

Do that and throw out your current outlet add a GFCI outlet.

Label the GFCI, "No Equipment Ground".

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Agitated_Cry_8793@reddit

As long as the computer is fully powered down, it is safe to turn off the PSU and unplug it frequently, although it might slightly lower the lifespan of it if its low end.

An uninterruptable power supply might be good if youre worried about power outages, its like a giant battery that will give you a few minutes to shut off the computer when power goes off.

...However, on that note, damage from power surges (and power surges in general) are relatively rare, even when the power goes off. Theres tons of people who have had damage from it, but at the same time theres plenty of people who havent. Modern tech is pretty good at defending itself from these? And i believe your power supply should have its own safeguard against power surges, most modern ones do at least.

So... tldr.. as long as your psu isnt 20 years old or absolute bare minimum budget, you'll probably be fine. But get a UPS just in case, if youre worried.

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Ok-Environment8730@reddit

you can, but you should not have to do an annyoing think because of a problem

solve the root of the problem instead of living with workarounds

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scotte416@reddit

Lmao and here my PC has been on for something like 97 days straight when I look in task manager.

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HumanPea1140@reddit

I haven't gone that long, but I leave my PC on literally all the time. The only time I shut it down is when I'm going to be gone for extended periods of time (like a vacation), and... that's about it. I restart occasionally for whatever reason, but that's about it.

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UpChortle@reddit

Exactly, 30 years leaving computers on, never had a problem

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Korlego0@reddit

I did it. I didn't unplug it but I turned it off with the switch behind my pc. At some point the switch started to make bad connection. It was giving little sparks. I had to buy a new power supply.

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Big_Understanding348@reddit

I do it every night and have never had an issue.

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twilighttwister@reddit

I think your bigger issue is that none of your sockets are grounded.

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BizzlePig@reddit

Am I the only one here old enough to remember "It is now safe to turn off your computer"?

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Diligent_Pie_5191@reddit

I leave mine running 24x7. It goes to sleep which is fine. No need to unplug it unless you are afraid of a power surge.

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ronniearnold@reddit

This is the answer. Shutting it down is what I down during lightning storms.

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Diligent_Pie_5191@reddit

Sure. I am just saying that if you aren’t near your computer when lightning strikes just have an ups. They add a lot of protection. They are in between the wall and your computer unlike a surge suppressor.

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MWink64@reddit

A UPS uses the same method of surge suppression (MOVs) as most other types of surge protectors.

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Diligent_Pie_5191@reddit

Except it provides a buffer of power. It also does not allow anything to surge once power is lost and then restored. You have to typically turn on the UPS because it shut off after the power was off for that length of time it remained running before battery shut it off.

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MWink64@reddit

It is true that the battery powered outlets may provide some additional protection from a surge that occurs immediately when power is restored (which isn't uncommon).

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Diligent_Pie_5191@reddit

That is why I have trusted UPS’s for decades.

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MrCreamsicle@reddit

> They are in between the wall and your computer unlike a surge suppressor

Typo?

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Diligent_Pie_5191@reddit

What I meant to say was that there is a separate power source between the wall and your computer. The battery is powering your computer and the electricity is charging the battery.

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gazpitchy@reddit

Did you read the post?

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Viking2151@reddit

I use to leave mine on all the time, until my sickly aunt had to move in and she's always cold so we got to suffer and sit in a 78f house while she's comfortable and don't pay any bills, so I shut mine off at night so it's easier to sleep, cooler.

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Diligent_Pie_5191@reddit

Oh ok. Mine is in my basement so nobody hears it.

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Viking2151@reddit

Yeah I wish I had a basement, it's always cool. My pc does heat up a room pretty good lol

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Diligent_Pie_5191@reddit

I bet. I would not want to have my computer in an enclosed room. It only runs cool because it is a full basement .

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Hakaisha89@reddit

Sure, as long as you shut it down correctly, there is no issues to be had.

Alternatives is buying a surge protector, to protect against just that, surges, and an cheap ups to keep it powered for the few minutes power is gone.

Ofc, either is fine, but surge protectors are good to have anyway at a minimum, but you can just keep on shutting it down, and disconnecting it as well.

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Party-Replacement949@reddit

Depends, if you were just checking email or browsing sure, if you just stopped playing a game that was making your cpu and GPU fans go wild and you turn that off before it all cools down is going to cause damage gradually.

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EliRocks@reddit

I might get flak for this...

I built a nice PC in 2012. Used it for ten years. It was on constantly unless I went on vacation or had to move it. It went to sleep of course, but was plugged in and able to wake up in a few seconds. Oh, I unplugged it once when this crazy micro burst hit, just in case.

I only had a pricey surge protector, and actually had the power go out once while I was gaming. I just restarted the PC when it came back on.

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Niiphox@reddit

Shouldn't be an issue. The order that I've been taught to fully turn off a pc is a as follows:

Turn off via windows.

Flip the PSU switch to 0/off.

Press the power button a couple of times, to draw out any leftover energy.

Unplug PSU cable.

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Solar-Warden@reddit

Yeah it’s not going to hurt it.

PC Off -> PSU Switch Off -> Unplug PSU/PC

Plug In PSU/PC -> PSU Switch On -> PC On

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MWink64@reddit

I also press the power button a few times after flipping the PSU Switch to Off, just to clear capacitors. Not sure if this is bro science or not lol

Don't do that unless you have a specific reason to discharge the caps, like if you're planning to work on the machine. This is not something you'd want to do in the OP's circumstances.

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NavySeal2k@reddit

So, in AT times that worked because you powered on the PSU with the power switch. With ATX all you do is tell the motherboard to connect 2 pins on the 24 pin plug. That in turn powers on the PSU. All you do by pressing the power button without 5V standby voltage is telling an unpowered Motherboard to do something. Not gonna do anything, it’s like telling a sleeping person to do something 😋

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JGreeneThumb901@reddit

Safe, yes. Unnecessary, yes. Unless it's not plugged into a surge protector then I don't have an answer for that one, still seems a little excessive to me tho lol.

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NavySeal2k@reddit

So you didn’t read the post but still answered?

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JGreeneThumb901@reddit

I now just read to the post, sorry I'm autistic.

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NavySeal2k@reddit

All good, sometimes I get exited and finish too soon too.

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JGreeneThumb901@reddit

I'm definitely a fucking goober for that one, prematurely responded before reading through it.

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According_Mind7030@reddit

The power went out while my PC was in sleep mode last year. Still works perfectly fine.

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NavySeal2k@reddit

When will people get that anecdotal evidence is not evidence.

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Current-Ad2181@reddit

actually its really bad for your pc for you to do that everytime you go to shut off, ur pc has capacitors in it that hold electricity and everytime you turn ur pc on your giving those capactiors a fresh refil but since ur unplugging ur pc they are just holding whats known as dead power and that can ruin ur mobo in the future

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PsyOmega@reddit

Inrush current (that little spark you get when you plug an AC cable into the wall) can accumulate damage over time

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ronniearnold@reddit

This is completely unnecessary. Just put it into standby.

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NavySeal2k@reddit

And then? It’s still gonna fry if lightning hits.

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reiichiroh@reddit

This sounds obsessive compulsive.

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Bliv_au@reddit

get yourself a power board that has individual switches on each socket, then you can just isolate some devices individually

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SoundSwitch@reddit

Sounds like a neuroses to me..

Just get a surge protector and chill out

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infamouskeel@reddit

It's a bit cumbersome but wouldn't hurt anything

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Longjumping_Trash571@reddit

Once it's shut down it should be fine, people mention the CMOS battery but that shouldn't really be a problem if you're only leaving it unplugged for hours/days at a time. I really highly doubt your PSU will wear and tear from NOT receiving any power

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Asmallbitofanxiety@reddit

Unplugging it is the ONLY way to protect from lightning strikes and major power surges

UPS will protect from little stuff but nothing will work against lightning.

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Lanky-Carpenter-7991@reddit

Don't you think that's a real hassle? I've heard that some people just turn off their monitors but never shut down their computers.🤔

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-CJF-@reddit

I don't think it will hurt anything, but it's massively overkill to unplug it. The most I'd even consider doing is turning it off when I'm not going to be using it for awhile, but I don't even do that. I haven't turned my PC off since when I built it in 2014 other than power outages and system updates. I just leave it running 24/7 as I often have it doing tasks in the background and it's too much work to start it up every time I want to use it.

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Prudent-Spread7739@reddit (OP)

I too used to have my pc running 24/7, nothing ever happened, but after I found out my outlet wasn't grounded thats the whole reason I thought to maybe take this extra precaution just to save myself from the astronomical prices these days.

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Mobile-Debt9763@reddit

Just so you know, even if you did have grounded outlets you can still get fried by a power surge.

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Educational_Emu_3466@reddit

if you want to check or ask PC FAQ like improving your PC health the price to a dedicated UK tech network, definitely have a look at Apex Rigs apexrigs.co.uk. It’s completely free to list parts on during their launch month so you get to keep 100% of whatever it sells for. They've got a custom peripheral giveaway running for early beta signups too.

apex rigs

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montrealjoker@reddit

Have you considered a good UPS?

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Derpykins666@reddit

If you have a UPS or a decent Surge Protected Power Strip you should be good to leave it on. I leave my computer running basically 24/7 unless I need to update it or clean it out, and the power here frequently goes off randomly. It's spooky, but nothing has ever happened. But understandable with the prices on PCs these days. Gotta protect these babies. I've looked into UPS before, they are expensive but if you're really scared they are 100% the way to go. Gives you a some time to get to your computer and manually shut it down.

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helius_aim@reddit

It is a good practice to unplug your pc from the power source especially during storm, but if your pc is already equipped with a good (gold or above) psu paired with ups i don't think you have honestly

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sa547ph@reddit

Is it safe for me to completely shut down and unplug my pc after every use?

Only in extreme cases such as dropping everything because of an incoming thunderstorm. For your case you'll want a UPS.

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chr0n0phage@reddit

TIL there are weirdos who unplug/remove power from the PCs daily. Who teaches them these things??

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nokei@reddit

Unplugging it would drain the cmos battery faster which wouldn't be a problem since you could always replace it if it died eventually.

I would just get a UPS and if the power goes out shutdown the pc while it's on the battery backup.

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Toastburrito@reddit

I would honestly never plug a computer into that outlet until an electrician has properly grounded it. I might do it myself but I cannot recommend that anyone else do that unless they have the proper training. I can't even recommend that I do it myself because I don't really know how. I just have it in my head that it would be fairly easy.

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steelbeamsdankmemes@reddit

You should replace the outlet with a GFCI outlet if you're not renting. It'll get it up to code for an ungrounded outlet.

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cHowziLLa@reddit

surge protector should be used

if you use the computer every day for hours on end, then you should keep it on

turning it on and off constantly is like jolting your parts constantly which contributes to wear and tear

if you use it sparingly, yeah having it off is good

to save on energy, your monitor should be shut off

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oOFrostByteOo@reddit

No it will explode if ever unplugged.

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no6969el@reddit

You will use your cmos battery more if you are unplugged.

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diavel65@reddit

Buy a UPS

https://eshop.se.com/in/blog/post/how-a-ups-protects-devices-from-power-surges.html

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AgreedToAPoint@reddit

Yes

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Worried-Scarcity-410@reddit

I shutdown my pc daily. I leave the monitors on. They go to sleep automatically after pc is shutdown.

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Level-Engineering-11@reddit

Y?

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No-Flight5639@reddit

If you do, your pc will love you

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disaffectedlawyer@reddit

When I was very young, my father worked for a company that relied on mainframes (those of you younger than me might need to look that up). I would sometimes go to his office with him on a Saturday. That particular multinational company’s office in a major city left ALL of their computer equipment powered on 24 hours a day. It seems that in the early 80’s, the longevity of certain components used by IBM and Wang were sensitive to being turned on and off.

These days, especially with home computers, power cycling doesn’t seem to be a problem. Even entry level consumer power supplies these days seem to be much more robust than the commercial ones back in the 1900s.

[FWIW, I love the name of the former computer manufacturer Wang almost as much as I love the tech term “dongle.”]

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slade357@reddit

99% of the time it'll be fine. You buy a surge protector for that 1%

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Apprehensive-Ad4063@reddit

I’d get a ups or plug it into a surge protector instead of unplugging.

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Prudent-Spread7739@reddit (OP)

A ups is definitely on my radar now. I have a surge protector, but the only reason i was considering just unplugging constantly was because my outlets aren't grounded, making the surge protector basically ineffective from what im aware

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PresdentShinra@reddit

Only issue I've had, so far, leaving the rig unplugged is having to replace the little battery on the MoBo. Like the little coin type battery.

Got scared because it wouldn't keep time and would boot me into bios every startup. Just needed a battery replacement. Easy fix.

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PrinceRoxasReddit@reddit

Cmos battery if anyone needs to know lol

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PresdentShinra@reddit

Yeah, that one! Derp, I'll edit.

LOL, thanks.

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Tinney3@reddit

@ title - You don't really need to do it but if it'll give you peace of mind, might as well.

rare occasions of about once every few months the power will cut off for a minute or two and then come back on

This is really what you prepare for. Get a decent Online/Pure Sinewave UPS as this can definitely damage your PC if you get unlucky.

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arrgobon32@reddit

You’re fine