How bad is it to keep a computer on carpet?

L

Ltor

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 7, 2010
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159
the title sums it up but feel free to read on for the inconsequential details...

I just ordered parts for my first build (which are still stuck in processing, pissing me off...but i digress). My case, (nxt Phantom) which i ordered separately, arrived today and besides making me more anxious for the rest of my parts, it made me realize I'm not sure where to stick this thing. The last tower computer I owned was a dell and when I opened that up after 5 years it looked like a squirrel built a nest / haunted house inside. Most of that computers life existed on carpet, so now I'm not sure where I should put this thing. It would look pretty ridiculous stuck on top of my desk. But it's got a big fan on the bottom and the mesh shield has pretty big holes. I don't want to stick a giant ugly plastic mat under my desk, but how bad would it to just let it sit on carpet?
 
I have mine on a wood board which is sitting on carpet. No issues at all. Maybe once every 6 months or 1 year I will dust my case out, even though there really isnt much dust.
 
Just block the holes on the bottom of the case that are sitting on the carpet so it doesn't suck in carpet/crap and you will be fine.
 
You can build your own platform for it, or shop around for something. What desk do you have?
Sage2k said:
I have mine on a wood board which is sitting on carpet. No issues at all. Maybe once every 6 months or 1 year I will dust my case out, even though there really isnt much dust.
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Same here, except I live near a freeway, so my house gets a lot of dust. :( My wood board is a shelf from an old bookcase, so it looks nice.

All my towers are on the floor except my mATX and miniITX systems. Just clean it out regularly and you should be fine. I clean mine every 4-6 months because I have a lot of dust. Back when I was in college, I cleaned mine once a year - basically whenever we had to move to a new place, lol.
 
Biggest problem is that it'll block airflow tot he bottom fan, restrciting case cooling and possibly burning out the fan. I'd try to set up on something hard instead of just right on the carpet (the bookcase shelf is a good idea - something like that).
 
I went looking for a bookshelf the right dimensions for where I'd put this thing but no luck. On top of that the spot on the floor, to the right of my desk, is the corner of my room and I'd be blocking the right side pretty bad as well. I have it sitting on the right side of my desk right now. It's still close to the wall (about 4.5inch) but on the floor it was at most an inch or so from the wall. Even if I got a wood plank I couldn't have it that close to the wall could I?
 
You can have the right side that close to a wall - unless you have some kind of unusual case that has a fan on the right side. Obviously the back couldn't be that close, because of the connectors.
 
yup, i have about 1 - 1.5" clearance on the right side of my CM Scout; the top has about 8"; about a foot in the back, and the shelf it sits on is 2" thick. My case has the PSU mounted on the bottom, and the PSU fan gets fed through the bottom of the case, so it would be impossible for me to leave it on the bare carpet without any type of suspension unless I want to kill my PSU. :p
 
Think it depends on how thick the carpet is. I got two computers that sit on carpet, cooling nor dust seem to be an issue. Have had one running basically 24/7 and folding a good bit of that time too. My carpet isn't very "thick" though. With both cases on the carpet, I can still see under them if I lay my head on the ground.

Both cases are CM 690. One the older version and another the newer advanced version.
 
I keep my file server on carpet under a couch with no airflow, it doesn't overheat and hdd temps are alright so I could care less. :p
 
I found out why my fans were on the right side...had my case sitting on its back...dunno how im gona correctly cable my components when It takes me a day to realize my drive bays shouldn't be on top. Yikes, I was wondering why it was so tall.
 
As long as the computer can breathe placement doesn't matter. If you want to place on carpet put a board under it.
 
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