Is it O.K. to leave case side off?

[squirmy]

Is it O.K. to simply leave the side panel of the midtower case off, open to the outside air ?

My midtower case stands on the back corner of a really big desk. The back and the open side face walls of the room. The tower is way back in the far corner of the desk, in a completely safe location away from everything. The tower is about 6 inches away from both the back & side wall surfaces, so there's plenty of room for air circulation. The open side facing the wall is totally protected, and you can't even see that the case side panel is off. There's no noise problem.

So, is it O.K. to leave the side of the case off for better cooling? Does that hurt anything? Does it help cooling?

[Fastfly]

Some cases help with keeping radio waves and stuff away....but no its fine to do that. Yup you will see temps drop.

[Force Flow]

Help, yes. Hurt? Not really. As long as you keep the soda away from it. :p

FYI, I run my system with the side off. ;)

[Bushtree]

i run 1 of my systems with the side off help keep it from overheating and crashing..

*thinking to myself* man that pc is a peace **

[DrZaius]

It might hurt cooling since it disrupts the air flow stream from the front of the case to the back.

[avx]

Well, I always keep my case off, since I started having some heat issues...

only problem I have is things get a little dustier a little faster...but the fact that both parent are chain smokers doesnt help at all...;)

[Wrnchhead76]

I ran mine with the side off for a while, but when i finally started running it with it on, i noticed a slight decrease in temps! Guess that means my fan setup is good to go!

[NSS]

Hehe...
This reminds me of my cousins old Gateway computer. After I installed a pci card for them I turned on the computer, and when I installed the side panel, it shut down. It was a week before the computer could run with the side panel on.

[esemte]

when i bought my new pc i left the side off, just to look at the new components, when i put it back on after a week the temps rose about 5-7 degrees. (celcius)

[Cricket]

Ideally, you should run the computer with the case sides on (protection from the environment, to control EMI, to control noise and to control air flow). If you have to run the computer with the sides off because of heat problems, you really gotta take a good look at your cooling set up.

Do you have enough air movement through the case? Is the heat being removed from the case faster than it is being generated? Is your wiring interfering with the air flows? Do you have any deadspots where heat can build up? Are the air vent holes big enough to allow air to pass through easily?

If your case cooling is addressed properly, there should be no reason to run the system with the sides open. And using high speed, high output fans isn't always the solution...correct fan placement and careful routing of the cables and wires is usually enough to get good airflow and good heat removal from the case.

:) Cricket

[Sam Havard]

i run mine with the side off but im always afraid of the dust getting in there

[RodneyMargis]

I run wiht the case side on because teh ari that should be curculing aorund my case to cool the case jsut flows outsidew the case. IF you ahve an exhaust fan then i would recommned leaving the case sides both on

[Fuze]

I ran mine with my side off with my old processor and it ran cooler that way. I had it like you, against a wall so not much could get in. However, my heatsink collected dust like it was its job.

[Joeberg]

Originally posted by force_flow2002
Help, yes. Hurt? Not really. As long as you keep the soda away from it. :p

FYI, I run my system with the side off. ;)

Why? If you need a new computer, soda would be the perfect excuse should it have "accidentally" gotten in there ;)

I keep my case sides on, basically for the reasons Cricket mentioned....

[tyoung]

Case, who needs a case. I have a system built on a sheet of plywood. Small desk fan blowing across it.
I used case parts to mount the components to the plywood.
So to answer you question: No the side isn't nescessary

[amdoverclocker123]

i run mine with side panel that is ported wit hundreds of holes