Original post at http://tinyurl.com/2auzb7

Here is update on my desktop:

I think I mentioned about the two case fans whose wire were cut - my
guess was that my nephew got annoyed with the noise (this was his PC)
and cut it instead of pulling the electrical connection. I tried to
fix the connect but my razor cut through the wire and so I left it
alone.

Then, I stopped by at Fry's yesterday and talked with one of the guys
who worked in the area where people bring their PC and get it checked.
(I know him well as over the past 1-1 1/2 year; he is the best there.)
He didn't think I should replace the thermal. So I asked him whether
he could check it if I bring in and he was cool about it and there was
no customer either - lucky me. Since I live really close to Fry's, I
took it there and this is what he did:

He did the memory test but he replaced the heatsink fan first cus the
fan's bearings were lose. I did notice the noise when it started
happening a while back and in fact posted about it in a ng. People
acted like no big deal and so I just ear plug most of the time. He
also reconnected the wires that were cut for the 2 case fans. He's
got the right tool to saw off the case of the wire.

I have had the desktop on since this morning around 9 am, I think.
First I left the case open but then closed it around 12. It's 7:22 PM
and no problem so far.

He did say if it shuts down, motherboard could be going bad.

I hope this desktop lasts another year or so cus I put some money for
the memory last year buying it at Fry's paying expensive price. I
wanted to be able to return easily and hence didn't buy it online.

I have always left my desktop on in the past; Should I leave the
desktop off at night when going to bed except on the night that I have
anti-virus check scheduled? How much energy does it consume?