Suspend to ram vs shutdown in regards to hardware lifespan. Should I prefer one over the other?

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Hello, I have recently discovered the level1 channels on youtube and I have been enjoying the content very much. They are filled with knowledge, and that’s why I decided to ask the question on my title here. I’ve tried searching for answers on the web but the little info I found seemed to me more like guesses. I hope I can get some more informed answers from the level1 community.

My understanding is that during a suspend the system state is saved to the ram. That must mean that the ram (and likely other system components as well [mobo?]) are constantly on while the system is suspended. Does that have a negative impact to the lifespan of these components? If so, is it significant enough that it should be taken into account?
(I know that a suspend consumes more power than shutdown but that’s another issue altogether)
Thank you!

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To really give any definitive answer on this we would have to test it.

We can hypothesize and guess about it given our expectations & experience but right now there isn’t any definitive answer due to lack of data.

My hypothesis however is that a shutdown would lead to less strain on the solid state hardware over its lifetime due to less power on time.

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Your hypothesis is very similar to what I originally had in my mind in regards to the subject and what led me to ask this question. I expected that there wouldn’t be a definitive answer to this question, but I wanted to hear the thoughts of people with more experience than me, even if based on anecdotal evidence.

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I think spinning up those old rust drives again and again isn’t a good thing, so having those going to suspend could be bad. Of course that changes when the drive is in a laptop, then you want the drive to stop before moving the system.

But the lifetime of components without moving parts is simply determined by power-on time.
Just my 2 cents, of course. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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