Open case vs Closed Case

[Frodo Baggins]

I've seen two sides of the story, some people say that closing the case will add degrees, and some ppl say that opening it will screw up airflow.

Right now, I have my case off. Can someone conduct tests to see the difference between open case and closed case in a say a regular mid tower, cpu cooler, psu exhaust, 1 80mm exhaust and 1 80mm intake?

[Big Mike]

Open case is definately cooler on my system, dust is the only real problem ive seen, try it both ways, i suspect you'll find open case is significantly cooler, if you used a duct and left it closed cased you might get about the same temps though.

[asmodean]

For me, keeping my case open won't affect one way or the other, except noise-wise. Then again, I've a big case with good airflow patterns. I should organise the cables better, might get a bit lower case temp and a bit less noise.

It really depends on how the air goes inside the case when it's closed, mainly how big a mess the cables are there. Try putting them together with zip-ties and tuck them beside either one of the side panels.

As a sidenote, I'm using watercooling, so case temps aren't affected by CPU temps for me.

[RED Hot Machine]

I get lower temps with the sides of my case on. I've tapped all my cables and zip tied then out the way. I have one 120mm sucking air in and one blowing it out.

[scap]

It really depends on your airflow in the case. If you have a computer that you haven't modded and it is in the stock form then more then likely it isn't running as cool as it could with better airflow. However if you have a upper case or a well moded case it is all about the airflow. with proper airflow your case should be able to stay cooler put all together. Proper airflow means that the cool air comes in lower and normally in the from of the case then moves out the back on top. All I had to do to my case was add and 120 in the front and top and it dropped 5C. It still did well with the case side off but not as good due to improper airflow.

-scap

[ROH]

I get about a 1-2 degree benifit from having the case open when under full load, but once my system goes idle I actually get cooler temps with the case closed. Not to sure why.


Orion