Side Panels on or Off

[13oots2]

Was wondering if most people measured CPU temps with panels on or off. I get about 5 C difference 39.5 C off, 43-44 C panels on, Seti running.

[[Oc]acaridans]

I hardly ever put my side panel on...so all my temp readings are open case.

[William]

with good case cooling you ruin your airflow with an open case and probably hurt your temps. But with bad cooling or just no airflow you should see an improvement with an open case. Really just depends though.

[Zuck Gou :)]

I run my computer outta the mobo box :D

[Cowtown]

I leave mine on. Partly for the noise reduction and partly because I have read time and time again that the case should be closed for the most efficient airflow. I know in my old case I would get better temps by about 1 - 2 degrees if I closed the case. With my new Lian Li, it is about the same.

Shawn

[Pitspawn]

I leave mine off for several reasons. Firstly I only have a small window in my panal and like seeing the components inside my pc. Secondly because my case runs 5-6ºC w/o the panel on.

Basically I'd say...

If you have very good case ventilation then leave the panel on.
If your case ventilation is poor then taking the panel off would definately improve temperatures. But beware, dust really builds up in a case w/ no side panel. You will have to clean your case out regularly, like once a month at least.

[cjtune]

What about dust, bugs, pets, children, and the clumsy foot? For the fear of these and others I can never leave my case open...otherwise I'll just get a 16" table fan to do all the cooling and wouldn't have to get all those droning 80mm fans. But I feel that with good case ventilation it doesn't really matter whether your side panel is off or on.

[13oots2]

cjtune (Jul 01, 2001 04:13 a.m.):
What about dust, bugs, pets, children, and the clumsy foot? For the fear of these and others I can never leave my case open...otherwise I'll just get a 16" table fan to do all the cooling and wouldn't have to get all those droning 80mm fans. But I feel that with good case ventilation it doesn't really matter whether your side panel is off or on.

Ah! An Arthur C Clarke fan.
I suppose this could have been put in General Discussion. I was puzzled as to how people with similar setups to me got lower temperature results. I have a pet problem, a cat that seems curious about the "whizzy" bits. it makes it too risky having the case off. A moggie stuck in a 7200 Delta fan, the mind boggles.