Pc case side open or shut?

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xiamyou-pcs

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Feb 8, 2013
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Hey, ever since I opened up my pc I have always perfered the side if the case to be off as I think it's more interesting and better looking, but none of my mates agree. I was wondering what over people though about this.
 
Open = loud and dusty. And I look at my monitor, not case. Cat would find it more interesting though.
 
Closed. I also prefer to look at my displays instead of my case (under the desk and out of sight).
 
When your case is left open the airflow engineered into the components is actually made worse.

If your system didn't have good airflow to start, however - you might get better cooling with the side panel off...

I'd suggest downloading something like RealTemp for CPU/GPU temps.

http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

Test with door on and then off.

HTH!
 
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In general,any decent newer case will have better temps with the proper fan configuration, than with the side of the case off.

If you like to look inside, get a window..
 
jmilcher said:
In general,any decent newer case will have better temps with the proper fan configuration, than with the side of the case off.

If you like to look inside, get a window..
Click to expand...


i disagree with this statement. in my silvestone ft02. my vid cards stay about 4c cooler with the side panel off.
 
Filter said:
i disagree with this statement. in my silvestone ft02. my vid cards stay about 4c cooler with the side panel off.
Click to expand...

Well, he did say in general - but your FT02 has the heat stacker design that accelerates hot air's natural tendency to rise to the top - so yes, it should work fine with the door off. The 90deg rotation of your video card(s) keeps them from heating up as much.

A typical standard motherboard configuration needs the door on to allow the front to rear/top airflow to continue with some pressure. No side panel = no pressure, front air intake tends to dissipate out the open side of the case.

In short, your case was deliberately designed to use airflow in a completely different way than a "typical" modern PC case design. It's one of my favorite cases, I just wish they added an 8th expansion slot - I'd be getting one for sure!

:D
 
stratosrally said:
Well, he did say in general - your FT02 has the heat stacker design that accelerates hot air's natural tendency to rise to the top - so yes, it should work fine with the door off. The 90deg rotation of your video card(s) keeps them from heating up as much.

A typical standard motherboard configuration needs the door on to allow the front to rear/top airflow to continue with some pressure. No side panel = no pressure, front air tends to dissipate out the open side of the case.

In short, your case was deliberately designed to use airflow in a completely different way than a "typical" modern PC case design. It is one of my favorite cases, I just wish they added an 8th expansion slot - I'd be getting one for sure!

:D
Click to expand...

Thanks :D
 
Side panel on.

If I can't properly cool the case with the panel on, the case will be sold immediately i.e. Silverstoen RV01.
 
If you leave the case open and it cools better then closed your doing it wrong or the components you installed were not made for that type of case. Either you don't have the right/enough fans or they aren't in the right spot. Don't put a high performance video card that doesn't exhaust the hot air out in a micro atx case and expect good temperatures.
 
OP didn't say it was for cooling, he prefers the way it looks.
 
Use a test bench. I got tired of cleaning and replacing fans, so I got rid of the case and the fans. I use the DataVac to blow off the dust every now and then.
 
stratosrally said:
Well, he did say in general - but your FT02 has the heat stacker design that accelerates hot air's natural tendency to rise to the top - so yes, it should work fine with the door off. The 90deg rotation of your video card(s) keeps them from heating up as much.

A typical standard motherboard configuration needs the door on to allow the front to rear/top airflow to continue with some pressure. No side panel = no pressure, front air intake tends to dissipate out the open side of the case.

In short, your case was deliberately designed to use airflow in a completely different way than a "typical" modern PC case design. It's one of my favorite cases, I just wish they added an 8th expansion slot - I'd be getting one for sure!

:D
Click to expand...


cards run about 5-7c cooler with the panel off on my 600t.

antec 900 was about the same. see i would say the ft03 as well but that was a micro atx case with sli. my fractal case same thing. (fans were gentle typhoon ap15)

Cant even remeber half the cases i have owned last year alone. Cases to me are like shoes to women i go through a ton of them.

i have not found one case where it ran cooler by having the side panel on.

there's a difference between adequate cooling and running cooler in my observations. im not saying any of these cases are bad at cooling. All im saying is my gpu's have ran cooler with the side panels off.
 
haha, didn't expect this much of a response. i can see its a big discussion point, i would think it runs better with side panel but with out real test over various case i guess its up to the user. I think half the beauty of a pc is looking at it working not what is just happening on the monitor.
thanks for all the reply's :)
 
Although it hasn't been mentioned because it wasn't a point you made in the O.P., I keep mine on mainly for noise reduction - and also for the protection of the expensive components inside...

There is -1deg Celsius on 2 of my 4 physical cores and no difference on my SLI GTX 580 setup with the door off.

My Scout has a custom-etched solid window (original had side fan mounts/vents) - so my airflow seems to be working quite well.

One of my EVGA GTX 580 SC cards is a rear exhaust and the other is the DS model that is not - long story, suffice it to say that I got it like new for $250 and couldn't pass it up.

My i7-920 has a Corsair H60 with push/pull fans and I have an extra 140mm fan in my 5.25" bays giving me 2 x 140mm in front. I wedged yet another 120mm in the HDD cage angled towards the front of my video cards - it's ziptied in place This may account for why I don't see a real temp drop by taking the door off.

It is noticeably quieter with the door on and I have a window - so if I want to look at my parts I still can.

Your results may vary - but I'm leaving it on... 1 deg is not enough difference to bother - and it looks better on, IMHO.

I plan on moving to a larger case as this one is very cramped - and instead of adding fans in odd places to help out I will make sure the ones in place are of better quality than stock Cooler Master 140mm fans. The bottom PCIe slot is 8x, so I will also move the 2nd GPU to that slot as soon as I get a 8+ expansion slot case - and a 120mm SLI bridge to span all that space. I should have noticeably lower GPU temps with that setup.

The Fractal Design Define XL R2 looks promising - I'll move the rear 1400mm exhaust to the bottom location as an intake and have the 2 x 140mm front intakes as well. I'll stay with the push/pull 120mm fans on the rad in the rear exhaust of the case but change the fans to better ones. I may make a custom side window if they don't release one as an option.

IMG_0612rs4.jpg
IMG_0637rs.jpg
 
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