Leaving off side of case. Good or bad?

[hapkiman]

Sorry if this has already been addressed, but what is the general
consensus about leaving the side of the case off? I have a i7 3770
rig with an Asetek closed loop liquid cooler, and it works great - usually
idling around 30c, and hitting mid to upper 40s under load.

I recently had to move my rig (temporarily) from a nice cool
Basement to an upstairs office. Prob for rest of summer. Ambient
temp in office is around 75F or 78F.

I asked this question because I had the side of the case off
messing with some new Ram and I noticed my idle temps had dropped and were
in the 20s (25 avg) in the warmer office. I did have a small table fan blowing into the case but I was surprised my temps dropped a good 5c from when my rig
was closed up in the cool basement. Its always around 65F -68F in the
basement.
I like these cooler temps - so can't I just leave the side of the
case off with this little table fan blowing in it?
What problem besides dust is there- because I will keep it blowed
out with compressed air regularly.

 

[dma0991]

I would imagine that you have your radiator fan blowing outwards instead of inwards to get that kind of improvement in temps. If you invert your fan to blow in cool outside air, through the radiator and expel hot air into your case, it doesn't really matter whether you have your side case on or off.

I'd say keep the side panel on and save yourself the trouble from accidental mishaps.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Usually taking side panel off will lower temps. Exception is if you have an intake fan on the side panel that is forcing more air in.

But like dma0991 said, intake fan on the side with panel on is a better plan than panel off. Things randomly falling into your computer is just no fun.

 

[Fallen Kell]

A properly designed airflow in a closed case will give better overall cooling than opening the side panel. The reason for this is static air does not transfer heat as well as moving air. In a closed case, with the proper cooling layout, all components which generate heat will have air moving over them. With the side panel off, there is no pressure to push the air around and through the case anymore, which means only items with a fan directly on it will receive air flow.

 

[Red Squirrel]

A properly designed airflow in a closed case will give better overall cooling than opening the side panel. The reason for this is static air does not transfer heat as well as moving air. In a closed case, with the proper cooling layout, all components which generate heat will have air moving over them. With the side panel off, there is no pressure to push the air around and through the case anymore, which means only items with a fan directly on it will receive air flow.

This. It's best to optimize the PC to have good air flow with the case cover being on. One of it's purpose is to protect the inside from potential foreign objects such as a cat's curious paws or your foot.

This is seen especially in servers. They have very well optimized air flow but as soon as you take the cover off this air flow becomes compromised.

 

[hapkiman]

Well, it seems my cooler fan is indeed set up correctly, and the cooler and case fans seem to be working fine. But I am definitely noticing much cooler temps with the case panel off (it is 78F in the office right now and my idle temps are 26/25/27/25). This small fan I am using has one of those heavy clamps on it, and clamps right onto the side of the desk and it is blowing right over all the main components-right into the open side of the case.

So I put the panel back on and left it completely idle for 1 hour and the temps were 30/31/32/30 (I'm using CoreTemp). I know this is still fine for an i7 3770, but I like the other temps better.

I think I will try it for a while leaving the panel off, recording the temps over about the next two weeks, and then replacing it and recording the temps for the same time period-just to double check it.

It seems that Fallen Kell's statement is the general consensus the more I research it. So I don't know why its doing this. He said "A properly designed airflow in a closed case will give better overall cooling than opening the side panel. The reason for this is static air does not transfer heat as well as moving air. In a closed case, with the proper cooling layout, all components which generate heat will have air moving over them. With the side panel off, there is no pressure to push the air around and through the case anymore, which means only items with a fan directly on it will receive air flow." So I may not have such a great overall cooling set-up, even though everything is working properly. Although again, my temps with the panel on aren't "bad."

I don't have any pets or critters at all here to worry about, and the tower is setting inside of a work desk in an enclosure with a complete open back area and large open side area (which is where the fan is clamped to and blowing into) and I never have my hands or feet around the tower. No one comes into this office except my wife and myself. No kids, no pets.

So there really is no chance of anything falling or being knocked inside the case. So that leaves only dust build-up as the only possible problem. And as I previously stated, I will stay on top of that blowing it out regularly.

Anyway thanks for the input. If anyone out there knows any other reason why the panel shouldn't be left off for extended periods please let me know.

 

[mac_attack]

Dust. Everywhere.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Dust. Everywhere.

this

 

[WoodButcher]

Dust. Everywhere.

Not necessarily, that depends on the case. It could well be an open air case, all mesh. You never said, what case Hap?

 

[ElFenix]

standard cases aren't optimized for airflow (and can't be very well fixed to do it). that's why intel tried to go to BTX and why apple uses a completely proprietary format.

*note: putting a huge fan in the side isn't optimizing for airflow, it's just moving a massive amount of air

 

[WoodButcher]

*note: putting a huge fan in the side isn't optimizing for airflow, it's just moving a massive amount of air

Ain't that the truth,,,,

What about the guy who puts 25 fans in his case because there are holes for it?

 

[Binky]

I can achieve lower temps at lower noise levels with an open case. However, my environment is perfect for this, with no pets or kids.

If there's any chance of something sticking their paw/finger/teddy bear into your case, just keep is sealed up.