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Going commando

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morinfen

Registered
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
can anyone tell me the pros and cons of having no computer case? i was going to put my computer in a case but then i thought that it's another expense. it's not that i could not afford it or anything. i think it does well on top of the computer cabinet now. a bit unsighty but i think it gets cooled better. here are the things that i can think of as pros and cons.

------Pros------
less noise
better? cooling
cheaper

-----Cons-----
unsighty
insecure cards(mine's held down by the clip on the slot and its and the dvi cord's weight)

btw, mine's sitting on the table with a 80mm fan blowing downward and two 50mm fans blowing sideways(towards the back end of the mobo where the keyboard ports are)
 
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Unsightly and the lack of being able to move it around as easily comes to mind.

Also maybe vibration, or random things bumping into your cabinet. My comp would be done in a few days in that setup; my dog has a big tail :)
 
Better cooling.
More/less noise depending on how you use it. You will have direct view of the fans, which will make it seem louder, but you will have less fans.
Cheaper.
You can't move it easily.
Vastly increased dust intake -- the case isn't there to filter it out.
Easy to tamper with, especially if you have small children/pets.
Easy to bump and cause a crash.
 
I personally love using my benching station instead of a case. Everything stays pretty quiet and dust is not really an issue because there is no real place for it to get caught. I also like to be able to access the 'inside' of the computer at any time so it is convenient for that
 
Your case is out in the open and unprotected but I am sure everybody has run their rig out side their case to test components before you install them into a new case.
 
As some one who is moving back to a benching station...

I agree with all the above statements.
Also, and as it seems for me, I live in a somewhat dusty environment, and with a case, dust build up seems worse than when it was open air. Thats with positive case pressure, and high RPM fans, left running 24/7 like to build up dust, and lower rpm, fans done seem to as quick. At least in my case. I used less canned air on the open bench, than I have on my case.



With the proper bench station, you can move the system around just as easy if it was in a regular case.
 
If you've got four cats, you definitely don't leave anything with little switches and wires out in the open.

"Better" cooling is arguable. The case makes sure that air flows over the whole board. Outside a case, you've got to have some way to have some fans around the sides, which is what a case is supposed to be for.
 
having a case would mean air will have to pass in and out through small holes, that should mean more noise. it still gets lots of airflow from the 80mm i installed. i'm guessing it's the same amount of air to collect X dust in Y months.
 
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