Prolonging Lifetime of Hardware

Perhaps irrelevant, but i'm about to buy a Dell Vostro 1700.

What I would like to know, is the best way to prolong hardware lifetime in terms of the chipset and the hard drive. I've come across a few theories but no real idea to their truth.

Firstly, is it more hardware friendly to:
a) Turn off the laptop at night
b) Keep the laptop turned on all the time
c) Suspend the laptop to disk

A theory i've come across that supports option B is that the temperature fluctuates much less if kept on the whole time. Each different component within a CPU has a different expansion coefficient and fluctuations in temperature can cause reduction in lifetime.

Another theory that supports option B and perhaps option C, is that hard drives can only endure a certain number of cycles before degrading. Turning on the laptop at night would therefore require the hard drive to be mounted and unmounted everyday, which requires cycles and therefore degrade the hard drive quicker.

A final theory that negates the difference between any of the options is that effective cooling and regular maintenance (e.g. dust removal) is the key. I think what i'll be doing anyway is underclocking the CPU or using Arctic Silver, but I want this laptop to last at least 5 years.

Any thoughts? (and many thanks)

 

Like you said, they're all theories. None of them are really superior to another, but there are good arguments for each of them. Take care of your laptop, treat it like normal, and it will last. Luck and chance have as much to do with failure as religious care.

 

The first and most important thing, is to install I8KFANGUI. I recommend that you keep all of the temperatures under 140F. I have had many Dell laptops last over 7 years, and I believe that proper cooling makes all of the differerce.

You can undervolt the cpu with RMCLOCK Rightmark Clock Management
Make sure you clean your fan vents every 3 months or so with an air compressor or compressed air can.
Have temperature monitoring software, like rivatuner, hdtune, core temp and I8KFANGUI sit in the windows bar, so you can continually see the temps.

It is best for your harddrive and your laptop if you restart and turn it on and off rather than just leave it running 24/7.
DOnt worry about harddrive degradation.
Most harddrives can do over 600,000 on and off strokes, which will outlive you.
The most common cause of harddrive failure, is moving around/walking with your laptop, as the harddrive feels all of the vibrations.

K-TRON

 

Hi, nice suggestions K-TRON, I have 1 question. (sorry for the brief high-jack) Do you know any programs that can display the cpu/gpu/hdd temperatures on vista's windows sidebar? Or the google sidebar? I ask because I use everest, but it minimizes itself and I have to keep opening the window and I'd like for it to be constantly visible.

 

Thanks Lithus and K-Tron for the input.

Unfortunately your (K-Tron) suggestions for software will be more helpful for people like Gravitator, as I am using Linux. Having said that, i'm looking into similar programs that run in linux at the moment.

Surely undervolting/clocking can be done using the BIOS?

 

Go to DeviantArt.com, there are lots of sidebar gadgets there.

 

1. keep your computer dust free
2. keep your computer within safe operating temps

that's it

 

have fun replacing your hard drive next week... and the week after... and the week after

 

After looking at everest pro a little more closely, it actually does have a sidebar gadget which can show you both temperatures, cpu/memmory usage, and cpu voltage or any combination thereof. In case anyone except me was looking for such a gadget.

 

Fortunately, Ubuntu is a 'type' of linux. Linux and Ubuntu are not interchangable terms. I am actually using Arch Linux.

And in case anyone was wondering, after doing a little research, there are plenty of brilliant gadgets and commands in linux that allow system monitoring. I think what I will be doing is making sure the CPU never goes above 60C or maybe 65C. Either CPU scaling, underclocking, or Arctic Silver are options i'm considering.

From where this thread is heading, i'm assuming the theories I mentioned at the start are inconclusive, and any negative effects are negligable compared to ineffective cooling.

Thanks all.