High temps-- Case on or Case off?

[Geobronc]

Its been hot here lately and I am wondering if its best to have the side of my case open or closed in order to get the CPU temps down. My CPU under load has been between 48-54C.:eek:

[hooziewhatsit]

do you know how many cfm's are going through your case? sometimes it's better to leave the side on, because it helps the windtunnel effect.
other times it's better to take the side off and stick a big personal fan blowing into it.

I'd try both and see which gets you the better results.

also, are your cables tucked up not blocking any airflow?

also, another thing I did to my case, was make a cardboard side with a duct and a fan blowing directly onto the cpu. Lowered my temps by about 8C.

[Hoot]

Moved to Cooling. Lots of answers here on case cooling.

Hoot

[William]

if you have poor airflow, leave the side off, if you have good airflow leave it on. Its easy to try it both ways though.

[goblynn93]

Here in San Diego the outsidair temps are rising and so are my CPU temps... I've had better luck removing both sides of my full-tower InWin case... I get about 3 degrees better cooling that way. But its probably a matter of personal opinion and finding what works best for you... Personally I'd rather run it all closed up cause it cuts down a lot on those dead skin cells (dust) that like to build up in there no matter what you do.