Tell us the longest amount of time you've left your PC turned on

I don't turn off my PC. I prefer to leave the machine running all the time so that I can just sit down at my desk and get started immediately. I hate the waiting game. I pretty much can't wait for anything—boot time being one of those things.

To me, having access and data on a moment's notice is important, so I do everything I can to make sure that my PC is ultra stable. This means no overclocking (seriously), excellent cooling, and uninterruptible power. Everything is connected to uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), and I use more than one. Being able to not lose power during a black-out is extremely helpful, especially when you're in the middle of a boss fight or writing that all important hardware review.

The longest I've had my PC running without shutting down is 416 days or so. I only shut down after that because of a massive hardware upgrade, but otherwise, it stays completely on. I also use several UPS units for my NAS units, which definitely need to stay alive.

Drop your story in the comments and next week we'll sift through them and wrangle up the best tales and share them with you.

Tuan Nguyen
Tuan is the Editor-in-Chief of Maximum PC, and loves all things tech. He's been building PCs and ruffling feathers in the industry for 20 years, and isn't afraid to call out bad products and services. In fact, it's very common to hear the words "this is shit" escape his lips. If you want to know if something is "Kick-Ass" or not, email or tweet him.
Latest in Hardware
MSI RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio OC Plus graphics card under a red light
This MSI Afterburner file unlocks 36 Gbps RTX 50-series memory overclocks for, y'know, the few people that actually own a card
A Steam Deck with SteamOS running in desktop mode.
A new and improved desktop experience just landed on Steam Deck and SteamOS is readying 'support for non-Steam Deck handhelds'
The Cherry Xtrfy K4V2 TKL gaming keyboard on top of a mouse pad depicting a nebula. The keyboard is grey with red accent keys, a grey braided wire, and the bright RGB lights switched on.
Cherry Xtrfy K4V2 TKL review
A "sensor-actuator–coupled gustatory interface chemically connecting virtual and real environments for remote tasting," or essentially a virtual reality tongue in an artificial mouth
Would you like to taste fish soup in VR? Me neither, but this electronic tongue does it anyway
Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro gaming mouse on a blue background
The DeathAdder V3 Pro is currently so cheap it's put the usually more affordable HyperSpeed version out of a job
MSI RTX 5090 Suprim SOC graphics card on a grey background with a gradient
MSI RTX 5090 Suprim SOC review
Latest in Features
Atelier Yumia screenshot
Help, I can't move forward in this chill crafting RPG because I'm too wrapped up in building bases and making sick tools
midnight murder club
Five new Steam games you probably missed (March 17, 2025)
Geralt, two swords on his back, in the wilderness
2011 was an amazing comeback year for PC gaming
Alligator skull with glowing eyes on human body and cords coming out sitting at piano with "The Norwood Etudes" ready to play
My new most anticipated RPG let me be a kleptomaniac gourmand set loose in a noir city on a quest to make 'the perfect sandwich'
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
Monster Hunter Wilds' new gyro controls are a fantastic option for disabled and able-bodied players alike
Manhunt 2
I played the notoriously ratings-board-ravaged Manhunt 2 and was quite glad for the censorship actually