can i just leave my side panel of my case open???

[dunn]

I only have two exhaust fans in the rear of the case and i was wondering, can i just leave the side panel open?

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Sure just will let more dust get in.

 

[junthin]

Yup, you sure can. Just make sure you don't have any pets that are too curious.

 

[damocles]

As odd as it sounds, i leave my sides off 24/7 and get virtually no dust build up

 

[frizzlefry]

I second the notion that there's very little dust build up in my system from the panels being off. I put them on at night to keep out the noise.

 

[CarpetMan]

My cpu and system temp both drop two degrees C when I take off the side panel.

 

[shOOter9]

My side panels have been off for one and a half years and I dont get too much dust build up...so its fine dude

 

[cherrytwist]

I leave mine off for long intervals. Unfortunately, I DO get alot of dust so I think I'm gonna resort to blow holes/fans eventually.

 

[Mem]

<< I only have two exhaust fans in the rear of the case and i was wondering, can i just leave the side panel open? >>



Yep! or do what I did, my case is crap so I made the air vents on the side cover bigger with a drill(about 50 of them) then added two YS-tech 60mm 26CFM exhaust fans in the back, I got one of those 80mm Sunon fans with a plastic mount and put it in above the PCI cards so is blowing air onto the cards which is then going up and out the back,works well.

 

[Quad]

i have my sides off right now. only because the weather is getting more humid. in the winter, i leave the sides on.

as for dust, i get a lot of dust build up, from my one exhaust fan.
however, the amount of dust depends on what your room is like. my room is pretty dusty, but yours may not be

 

[THutchcraft]

You can leave your panels off but you should beware of RFI or EMI, depending on your location and what types of electronic devices you have in the immediate area.

 

[Zach]

<< You can leave your panels off but you should beware of RFI or EMI, depending on your location and what types of electronic devices you have in the immediate area. >>



In my experince, this makes no difference. Being paranoid about things you can't see never is a good thing anyway, be it demons or EMI.

 

[BlackWob]

Won't airflow suck? I heard that running with no sides defeats the purpose of front intakes and rear exhausts...

 

[Zach]

You don't need them that much, since so much more air can freely move in/out.