Open Air Case

[Bojangles139]

So, has anybody ever just left the side panel off for cooling? if you don't mind the extra noise, i would think this would be a great way to keep a system cool since the heat can't build up in the case.

brandon

 

[mechBgon]

How about one of these? A real open-air/clear case

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
How about one of these? A real open-air/clear case

That's actually pretty cool

Edited for sp.

 

[Bojangles139]

that is tight............hmm.........maybe, just maybe.

brandon

 

[Confused]

Like these??




Confused

 

[BSEagle1]

Back when I still had my Celeron 400, I just kept the entire case slid off of the chassis. When I got my Athlon 1.4 (Man was THAT a change) I kept both sides of the case off. However, although it does help with cooling some, I personally prefer to keep it closed up with a lot of fans unless working on it. Pet hair/dust used to accumulate on my equipment like crazy, which counters the effects of leaving the side panels off by holding the heat in. So, I find it to be rather counter productive. But that's just me...if you feel like blowing things off more than usual then go ahead and do it.

I've seen those tech racks before...the only real use I could see for them is if you are a pc tech and need to have things easily accessible, or if you're setting up a new system you could mount it on it before putting it in a real case.
I could just see my bird with that open rack though..she'd land on the motherboard and chew parts off of it :Q

 

[farmercal]

I tried leaving my side panel off and my case temps went up 2 degrees. Go figure?

 

[CubicZirconia]

Originally posted by: farmercal
I tried leaving my side panel off and my case temps went up 2 degrees. Go figure?

You destroyed the cooling system in your case. What was present was obviously good enough already.

 

[EeyoreX]

I'd be concerned with dust and the disruption of airflow. The fans would almost be pointless I think, since the dynamic of push/pulling the air would be disrupted except maybe the ones blowing directly on the hard drive(s) and of course the HSF.

\Dan

 

[Noid]

I bet you could build a shelf system from Home Depot stuff.
Maybe even less than the $40 they want for that test shelf system.

 

[KF]

>So, has anybody ever just left the side panel off for cooling?

This was very popular in years past. Then you might direct an ordinary fan, like for cooling yourself off in summer, into the case to disloged the stagnant air. This blows far more air far quieter than any case fan.

Even if you have a motherboard sitting bare on a piece of cardboard, the hot air doesn't drift off all that fast, so putting a fan to blow the hot air away helps.

 

[kadajawi]

You mean like... uh... this?

(ok, usually the system is in the case...)

 

[syberscott]

I like the clutter free workspace.

 

[kadajawi]

the uh... what?
clutter free...