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Buz, think about it. Most computer components have a life expectancy. Anytime the computer is running reduces its life expectancy. Now if you have a fast processor and a premium videocard, the heat that they create for hours and hours even at idle speeds HURTS YOUR MACHINE. This isn't theory but fact. Running a computer in general hurts the machine to some extent, but that cannot be avoided. What can and should be avoided is leaving your machine on all the time to make money on a game. Trust me, I have been working in the computer industry for many years and building gaming pcs for a long time too and I can assure you that the better machine you have the more heat and the more risk of causing permanent damage to vital components. Servers are made to run all the time, PCs are not. As for leaving computers up so you can Windows Update is ridiculous. Have them run in when the log on. How hard is that? ANd I was never talking about internet security. Running your basic low end Dell overnight is no big deal since it will be outdated in 18 months anyway, although it still isn't good for it. But when you drop a couple grand into a nice gaming computer leaving it on all night long for a game is idiotic. There are plenty of games to play that don't require that. So yeah it certainly does hurt your machine.
It has been proven that turning off or leaving your PC on for extended periods of time cause about the same "damage"--both negligible. By the time either function would cause any "damage" most of us will be replacing the machine (3-5 years).
As for the high end gaming machines, I have one, and have built quite a few. I have worked with PCs that their video card alone costs more than most of our "high-end" gaming machines. However, I guess I am an idiot since I leave mine on all the time except when patching or getting rid of the memory leak from a certain game... As long as the case is designed correctly and it is not in a hot room, there is not a problem. There is one benefit from turning your machine off, the performance boost that you have for about 5 minutes until your CPU and GPU heat up to core temp. As everyone knows, the colder the better.
As for servers being designed to run longer...they are just PCs that cost more. They are not made out of anything different than a PC. They have more expensive components, such as RAID Cards, and error correcting RAM (if you want to pay for that), and some pretty bells and whistles. The motherboards, RAM, cables and such are made the exact same way.
Updating when logging in: you try to explain why a developer has a slow machine for 5 - 10 minutes so that an "update" can happen. Does not fly....checking his Fantasy Football scores are important. Not to mention, trying to tell a CEO why his PC takes longer to login is not fun. It is easier on the business and a person's sanity to do it at night.
Also, if a "low end" machine can handle the heat and your "high machine" cannot, then I would re-evaluate your designs. A case should be designed to remove as much heat as possible and keep it at the processors core temp. To do this, you use fans. As you know, A fan is not cooling off a machine in that they are not "lowering" the temp. They are designed to remove heat so that it stays at a semi consistent temp...usually the temp that a chip is made to operate at. To remove more heat, you need to move more air over the chips--usually by putting in fans like sound like a 747 taking off. However, even moving more air is only going to lower the tempurature a little as there is only so much surface area to work with (unless you want to put cooling fins on everything, that gives you more surface area. In some cases, replacing the existing fins with more conductive metals and better designs). Then again, you can use water cooling if you choose. This will lower pretty nicely and hold it there.
But, what do I know, I don't know anything about hardware.
As for selling, you are correct, I don't know what is happening on your server. For me on Kithicor, I have no issues other than Tier 3 going for less for about 2 days. Now I price my stuff as I was and it still sells.