Is it bad to leave the controller plugged to PC all the time?

[Rontemon]

Like even when you are not playing any games that require a controller? Do you unplug and store it aside and only plug it in when you play?

Or do you leave it plugged in all the time and leave it on your desk? I mean it drains more power from your PSU when you have it plugged all the time right?

[🍋 Lemonfed 🍋]

doesn't make much of a difference for the computer , a gamepad doesn't draw much power.

[Crashed]

Are you talking about a wired controller or a wireless controller?
It should take no more than a small fraction of a watt to run. In fact excessive plugging and unplugging may wear out the port faster as the USB-A connector is only rated for 1,500 plug-unplug cycles.

If you have a wireless controller, the power draw should drop to this small baseline once the battery is fully charged.

[Rontemon]

Originally posted by __:

Are you talking about a wired controller or a wireless controller?
It should take no more than a small fraction of a watt to run. In fact excessive plugging and unplugging may wear out the port faster as the USB-A connector is only rated for 1,500 plug-unplug cycles.

If you have a wireless controller, the power draw should drop to this small baseline once the battery is fully charged.

Oh that is something new to me. Does this plug cycle apply to other ports as well? HDMI, headphones/microphone ports, etc.. ? So this mean I will need to change the entire USB connector board once they wear out? (Could be difficult to find one with matching size?)

I am using a wired gamepad and wireless mouse.

Is it also better to plug the gamebad to the back of the PC or the USB port in the front? I have 2.0 and 3.0 ports at the front.. (No idea about the ones at the back)

[Crashed]

Originally posted by Merciful:

Originally posted by __:

Are you talking about a wired controller or a wireless controller?
It should take no more than a small fraction of a watt to run. In fact excessive plugging and unplugging may wear out the port faster as the USB-A connector is only rated for 1,500 plug-unplug cycles.

If you have a wireless controller, the power draw should drop to this small baseline once the battery is fully charged.

Oh that is something new to me. Does this plug cycle apply to other ports as well? HDMI, headphones/microphone ports, etc.. ? So this mean I will need to change the entire USB connector board once they wear out? (Could be difficult to find one with matching size?)

I am using a wired gamepad and wireless mouse.

Is it also better to plug the gamebad to the back of the PC or the USB port in the front? I have 2.0 and 3.0 ports at the front.. (No idea about the ones at the back)

1,500 cycles is perhaps the "guaranteed" amount of cycles, after which you might start to find the port to be a bit loose, i.e. the plugs no longer snap into place.
HDMI ports are rated for 10,000 cycles, and the wear will primarily occur to the cable rather than the socket.
Various sources say between 2,000 and 5,000 cycles guaranteed for headphone jacks.
Micro-USB and USB-C connectors are rated for 10,000 cycles and the plug takes most of the wear.

Simply put, best time to unplug something is if it gets in the way.

Unless you happen to find lower latency from a USB 3.0 port, it is best to plug your controller into a USB 2.0 port to free up the faster ports for items like portable hard drives, etc.