Case On or Off for best temps?

[drakek]

Hello

Generally is it better to leave your case cover on or off to get temps cooler in your PC? I leave mine off cause if I put it on my Cel2 566@937Mhz seems to freeze up prob because of high temperatures. If I leave it off it is rock stable and I can run Win2k Pro for weeks on end without rebooting. The only downsides is the dust build up and my FOP32 is kinda loud.

I hear everone say that it is better to let your case do its job and circulate the air but this seems like kinda BS to me rather than just leaving it exposed and letting the outside airdissipate the heat.
So what I really want to know is if the general overclocker(no peltier or water) is gonna see better temps with the case on or off.

 

[hungrypete]

case off for best temps unless you have EXCELLENT air flow in the case. That or start cutting holes. Both my cpu and case temp go up by at least 8C when i put the side back on, and it's got plenty of holes and fans. But my case is full, so a bare gaming box wouldnt be as bad. I've got some older parts that were just horribly coated with dust and still ran fine, though it is possible for dust to be conductive. You can spray it off with air duster, but keep the dust out of sockets and such when you blow it out.

 

[sd]

not worth the risk of dust galore