Does the CPU get power in Standby

[Maudy]

I have water cooled my system recently and so would like to ask some serious topic related to this. My question is whether the CPU gets power when my Windows XP system is in standby mode? I am raising this question because my water cooler is arranged so that it doesn't turn off automatically. So if the CPU is getting the power in standby mode then I can decide whether I have to leave my water cooler on or off. If the CPU isn't getting the power then I can save electricity by putting off this cooler. What do you say in this matter?

[Sebastian.j]

In standby mode, almost all of the devices are set in their low-power state, the CPU is slowed down or stopped, and the system state is saved. Thus it depends on system to system whether the processor work is suspended or stopped completely. This is decided by your motherboard manufacturer what they want to do when system is preparing for the standby mode. The computer state can be returned to its previous position quickly if you press any key on the keyboard move your mouse.

[AmdUser]

Standby mode is often referred to as suspend mode. In this mode, all the activities are suspended and stored in your RAM. The computer puts itself in a low power mode while hard disk and processor completely shuts down. This is helpful if you want to save power when you are on move with-in say office area for certain minutes like when you are on your lunch break. Thus virtually there is no activity going on in cpu when held in Standby mode. Hence you can easily turn off your water cooler, if you want, to save power.

[Russell]

Is it a new motherboard ? Does your computer enter into S3 stand by? If your motherboard doesn't have a fully functional ACPI then it won't enter S3. You will only find S1 on it. In this case the CPU and GPU remains at full power even in stand by. You can make sure if this is correct or not by placing a thermocouple at the very below of your heat sink to note down the temperature. If it rises a lot then the result is in front of you. You certainly cannot turn off your water cooler. If this isn't raised then you can shut it down for saving power. Be careful while performing this operation, otherwise you may loose some of your important components due to excess hear.

[PeterAGASSI]

I agree about the concept of S1 and S3. If your motherboard is in S1 then there is no processor activity noted, however you can still find its fan remaining on. Thus you can easily conclude that your processor will not die since it is still cooled down. Moreover, the monitor and hard disk also shuts down safely in this S1 state. So I don't think you should be worried about your system component. However, S3 saves a lot of electricity.