Open or Shut Case??

[aigomorla]

Yes this becomes a very big problem with open cases..

System off, unplugged, vacuum with one of those PC cleaner attachments and a can of cmpressed air. Once a month works for me. I do this even with a closed case.

That's actually kinda dangerous because vacuum cleaners can cause static.

Personally id use compressed air cans and just blow them out.
The case is open anyhow.

 

[jvroig]

How can vacuum cleaners with PC cleaner attachment cause static? Is it because of the brush-tip?

And how often do you clean your open case PC? It doesn't look as bad as a closed case (mine) after 1 year of not cleaning it. But my place seems to be dustier than yours; I'm almost sure that you either clean more often, or my place really is dustier and I'd have far more dust and crap in my PC if I used an open case.

Thanks.

 

[snyderrich]

]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Version EVEREST v5.02.1750
Benchmark Module 2.4.258.0
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Report Wizard
Computer SX64PC
Generator Administrator
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition 5.2.3790 (Win2003 Retail)
Date 2009-11-19
Time 20:24


--------[ Sensor ]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sensor Properties:
Sensor Type ITE IT8720F (ISA 228h)
GPU Sensor Type Diode (ATI-Diode)
Motherboard Name Gigabyte MA770 / MA790FX / MA790GP / MA790X Series
Chassis Intrusion Detected Yes

Temperatures:
Motherboard 40 °C (104 °F)
CPU 52 °C (126 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #1 39 °C (102 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #2 39 °C (102 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #3 39 °C (102 °F)
GPU Diode (DispIO) 44 °C (111 °F)
GPU Diode (MemIO) 43 °C (109 °F)
GPU Diode (Shader) 46 °C (115 °F)
WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 45 °C (113 °F)
WDC WD5001AALS-00L3B2 35 °C (95 °F)

Cooling Fans:
CPU 2860 RPM
Chassis #2 1713 RPM
Power Supply 1709 RPM
GPU 1889 RPM

Voltage Values:
CPU Core 1.33 V
+3.3 V 3.39 V
+12 V 12.72 V
VBAT Battery 3.33 V
DIMM 1.97 V
Debug Info F 00EC FFFF 018A 0000 018B
Debug Info T 40 52 49
Debug Info V 53 7B D4 C0 C0 9F FF (7F)

sorry so late been busy.......CLOSED CASE...

 

[Red Squirrel]

i thought it was the obnoxiously long bootup time required for enterprise boards.
You wanted to throw it outside the window.

Not many people know the pain in restarting an enterprise board.
Gah especially one with a dedicated SAS card and multi drives.

LOL yeah. Whenever I have to reboot an enterprise server at work I always forget how long it takes. My home server takes about 30 seconds to a minute to boot up and all services are set to auto restart and it's basically "power on and forget" and it's fully operational within the same minute. Not so much with work servers.


Oh and speaking of cleaning PCs, this is how I roll:

 

[Ksyder]

Just to add, keeping the case closed is part of the ATX specification which is designed so that cool air comes through the front bottom intake vent, and flows up and through the cpu fan and out the back exhaust fan. Keeping the case open would render this airflow pattern impossible.

Luckily we are in the age of efficient architectures and lower power chips, relatively speaking. When Prescott chips were in their heyday, it was recommended to get a "thermally advantaged chassis" where there was a shroud from the side panel that would cup over the cpu fan assembly to provide cool air to pass through the cpu heatsink fins.

 

[Gillbot]

Just to add, keeping the case closed is part of the ATX specification which is designed so that cool air comes through the front bottom intake vent, and flows up and through the cpu fan and out the back exhaust fan. Keeping the case open would render this airflow pattern impossible.

Luckily we are in the age of efficient architectures and lower power chips, relatively speaking. When Prescott chips were in their heyday, it was recommended to get a "thermally advantaged chassis" where there was a shroud from the side panel that would cup over the cpu fan assembly to provide cool air to pass through the cpu heatsink fins.

I think this would apply to most OEM systems, not an enthusiast system IMHO. Most aftermarket cases have WAY too many fans for that particular airflow pattern to be established.

 

[Cattykit]

For decades, I used to be a open case guy. In fact, I used to be a no-case guy back in Pentium 2 days. All that changed when I assembled my friend's PC with Antec 300.

What can I tell you based on my decades of experience?

Closed case is better for cooling as long as you have more than 0 cases fans. The problem with open case is that your HDD builds up heat pool that increases overall temp. quite bad. Though I don't activily cool HDDs (3 total,) it's at least 10c cooler compare to open case situation. CPU and power supply temp. is a lot lower due to airflow.

 

[Red Squirrel]

For decades, I used to be a open case guy. In fact, I used to be a no-case guy back in Pentium 2 days. All that changed when I assembled my friend's PC with Antec 300.

What can I tell you based on my decades of experience?

Closed case is better for cooling as long as you have more than 0 cases fans. The problem with open case is that your HDD builds up heat pool that increases overall temp. quite bad. Though I don't activily cool HDDs (3 total,) it's at least 10c cooler compare to open case situation. CPU and power supply temp. is a lot lower due to airflow.

I've actually heard overcooling HDDs can make them fail faster, but yeah it's still good to make sure that whatever heat they produce can be removed fast enough. I always make sure I have an intake blowing against the drive(s). For servers I usually use hot swap bays that have fans (they usually are crap mind you) and I make sure I have negative air pressure so it pulls most of it's air from the drive bays. Bad for dust though, have to vacuum the front out every now and then. When I build a custom case I want to add some kind of filter system.

 

[KamiXkaze]

Closed due to dust and or small pet's

kXk

 

[MrK6]

Closed case or no case at all. A closed case is quieter, safer, and cooler.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Closed due to dust and or small pet's

kXk

lol yeah pets seem to like trying to go inside PCs. My cat tries to go inside but wont fit, when I open the case.

 

[Gillbot]

lol yeah pets seem to like trying to go inside PCs. My cat tries to go inside but wont fit, when I open the case.

I have the HSPC tech station which is as open as you can get and my cats never even mess with it. I guess they are used to it and it doesn't get their attention any more.