does your system run cooler with case side panels off?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

i ran my 2600k @ 4.2 with cm 212+ inside my lian li aluminum case with the sides off because i was constantly changing parts for the first week after the build.

temps were 30* idle, low 40's with some work being done.

after i determined the system to be stable, i put the sides on and now idle is 35* and i've seen it go high 40's and i believe low 50's under load.

not that this bothers me much or will change my preference to leave it on, but i was wondering if you guys with more aggressive oc's are running with the panels off, or even open air.

 

[sm625]

If you have proper airflow you should see lower temperatures with the side panel on. As long as you have a gpu with external exhaust port.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

If you have proper airflow you should see lower temperatures with the side panel on. As long as you have a gpu with external exhaust port.

this is my video card, that's an external exhaust right?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130568

 

[sm625]

lol I dont see a video card...

The easiest way to tell if your video card has an external exhaust port is to reach around the back and feel if there is air coming out.

 

[smakme7757]

I used to run with the side off when i had a cheap case and bad cooling, but i don't now. If i have to run with the side off i lower my overclock.

With that being said im on Watercooling and it was the best thing i have ever done. No temperature problems, no waiting for the next best thing in air coolers, it just works! Well worth the investment if you're overclocking!

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

lol I dont see a video card...

The easiest way to tell if your video card has an external exhaust port is to reach around the back and feel if there is air coming out.

sorry, forgot to paste the link.

it's a 2 slot card with one slot for the outputs, the other one is vents that allow hot air to escape.

i'm assuming that's what you mean by external exhaust. i thought all modern cards had this setup.

 

[nardz84]

With any half decent case/cable management you should get better airflow with the door on. The only time I've removed the case was to have a fan pointed straight at my desktop on some 90F+ days (no A/C in my house unfortunately).

 

[sm625]

sorry, forgot to paste the link.

it's a 2 slot card with one slot for the outputs, the other one is vents that allow hot air to escape.

i'm assuming that's what you mean by external exhaust. i thought all modern cards had this setup.

Yes that card has an external exhaust. Not all cards do. I think the best ones actually dont. In your case you might have a dead zone between the cpu and the gpu which is causing higher temps once you put the cover on. Make sure your pci slots are all covered. Cover the side vent holes. Cover everything except the front air intake and rear exhaust ports. Try to direct more air between the cpu and gpu.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

so all the case manufacturers have it wrong?
iirc, my last few cases all have vented pci slot covers (antec p180 mini, antec p182, current lian li).

 

[sm625]

so all the case manufacturers have it wrong?
iirc, my last few cases all have vented pci slot covers (antec p180 mini, antec p182, current lian li).

I dont know why they put holes all around the cases. Ideally you want every ounce of air that comes into your case to travel across your hot components. If you have holes all over your case, then air is going to come in from all over and it is going to get caught by the exhaust fan and get pulled straight out the back without ever actually cooling anything. Perhaps they do it because they do not know exactly where you are going to place all your hot stuff. But when you build your system, you know exactly where the heat is going to come from and you can customize your air flow paths for optimal cooling.

 

[Bman123]

I tried it once and it was hotter with the door off, you need to direct the airfliw in and out the case. I always buy cases with a hole by the pci slots. I put a good fan there for intake. I always do 2 intake fans, one in the front one on the side, then 2 exhaust fans, one in the back one on top.

I've always had good temps like this, you just gotta match the fans up good and you'll be fine. I'll never use a single slot card again. I did with a 8800 gt and a hd4850. Once I got a dual slot 9800gtx I was so happy wiyh temps because the video card really dumps some heat in your case if you use a single slot card

 

[notty22]

I get the same or better/lower temps with my antec 300, side on. Using a push-pull h50 on the rear, that is using case air and pushing out, and the top fan pushing out. I believe this all works well because there is a decent amount of fresh air constantly passing through the case.
Without any front fans, if I pass a light piece of paper towel near the front intake vents, it gets sucked up over the intake vent holes, with decent force proving the air flow.
This works well/despite the 2 gtx 460's that I use that are dumping their heat internally. I"m getting new cooler air pulled in to the case fast enough, that no hot air is getting static within the case.

edit: lower

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

My system runs hotter when I take the side panel off.

 

[ncalipari]

It greatly depends on the temps of your surrounding. In warmer climates, more often than not, a case will be much cooler with a side panel off.


Even though ventilation add a lot of thermal inertia to the system, which is fundamental for a prolonged use, a lot of heat is carried via radiation. With your panel on, your case will experience a greenhouse effect, with radiation bouncing inside the walls of the case, and thus being reabsorbed by the components. With the Panel off, your case becomes like a infrared dish, where heat radiation is projected outside the case.

 

[Idontcare]

My system runs hotter when I take the side panel off.

Yep, there is synergy to be leveraged in having all those other case fans working together in your favor.

Same idea with a belt-driven supercharger versus naturally aspirated engine.

If you are going to go to all the trouble of having 3 or 4 case fans in addition to your CPU HSF, then go to the trouble of making sure those 3-4 case fans are working for you in making the job of the HSF more effective.

Push/pull works in HSF arrangements for a reason. A well balanced case will be just as effective in being a push/pull environment that benefits everything inside the case, including the HSF.

If it doesn't, then, well, to be blunt, you are doing it wrong :|

 

[nyker96]

I agree w/ some of the previous poster, if u have a good case, the fan on the side panel should help ventilate NOT hurt ventilation. Like for instance, my Haf 932, w/ the side panel on the g-card is definitely running cooler.

If you need to have the panel off to get better temp, you need a better case. In fact, w/ a good case that allows you add more fans, you can get much better temp for HD/mb/CPU/gcard w/ good fans added compare to open air or open case temperatures.

so which case do you have right now?

 

[sangyup81]

My side panel is off because my case sux!

 

[aigomorla]

my system needs the sides on or im asking for it in dust...

 

[john3850]

Because my wife has 6 cats I have to clean the 2 pc every week.
The pc fans pull in the cat hair and chops it up even more inside the case.
My pc stays cleaner with 1 cover off cause it reduces the air flow but raises the temps.
I got masking on the inside over every hole or opening to keep out dirt and raise the air flow.
Cats and pc dont mix.

 

[sm625]

Cats and pc dont mix.

Turn all your fans to intake (except the psu), to create a higher air pressure zone inside the case. Cover each fan's intake with a filter. Then all you have to do is clean a couple filters every week. Get some snap-on slide-out filters and super glue them over the fan ports. Cleaning the filters will be a simple matter of sliding them out and shaking them.

 

[apoppin]

Because my wife has 6 cats I have to clean the 2 pc every week.
The pc fans pull in the cat hair and chops it up even more inside the case.
My pc stays cleaner with 1 cover off cause it reduces the air flow but raises the temps.
I got masking on the inside over every hole or opening to keep out dirt and raise the air flow.
Cats and pc dont mix.

i have a real dust issue in the SoCal high desert. i got a new Thermaltake tower - Chaser MK I (for evaluation).

www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1467&ID=2048

It has 3 MASSIVE fans and each one of them has a dust filter. The only thing it doesn't have is a side-case fan (but provisions for a 250cm fan and a dust filter is built in).

The surprise is that it doesn't need any side fan - not with an overclocked FX-8150 and HD-6970-X3 TriFire. And all of my *good* cases run cooler inside with the side panel ON.
:whiste:

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

The invisible case works the best!

 

[Ferzerp]

Case off + box fan, it would be cooler in all scenarios. Case off with ambient airflow, it would be warmer.

 

[sandorski]

There's a big Mesh insert on my Case side panel, so it probably doesn't matter.

 

[Meghan54]

Turn all your fans to intake (except the psu), to create a higher air pressure zone inside the case.

Given the fans typically used in cases, I seriously doubt anyone is going to create a higher air pressure zone inside any computer case.....the air is exhausting as fast as you put it in, hence the air pressure is the same as atmospheric.

Have yet to see a case that is truly air tight. If you had that, with the proper fans like the ultra high speed dual fan Delta fans, you might have a chance to raise the internal air pressure 0.1psi, but with the typical cases and fans in use, not going to happen.