Keeping the comp's side door off

[laijosh]

I was wondering if there was any problems with keeping the computer's side door off 24/7 just because the door doesn't have any window and I just put in some LEDs and wanted to keep the case open.

 

[Proximon]

That would depend on the case and your parts. Use HWmonitor or Speedfan to keep track of your temps.

There are youtube videos that show how to mod your case with a window.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpZoE-zj0-k

 

[masterjaw]

Keeping the side door off would interrupt the airflow inside the case thus poor cooling.

 

[laijosh]

wouldnt it let the heat have move out more?

 

[hunter315]

Measure your temps under load using HW monitor with the side of the case on and off, there may be a significant difference, there might not be if no one really designed the case with good cooling in mind.

Not necessarily, the way most cases are set up, air flows in the front, across all the components and gets sucked out the back, if you have the side of the case off you dont get air moving at any significant speed and will often just end up with it pulling air in through the side and shooting it out the back of the case without passing it over the components.

 

[belial2k]

I sometimes use that as a diagnostics tool for heat issues, but I will have a large fan blowing the cool air from outside the case toward the MB and hardware. This will generally lower temps from when the side is on. It can be really helpful if your video cards are running hot.

 

[chunkymonster]

Keeping the side door off would interrupt the airflow inside the case thus poor cooling.

Yes, it would interupt the internal air flow of the case but not at the cost of higher temps.

Not necessarily, the way most cases are set up, air flows in the front, across all the components and gets sucked out the back, if you have the side of the case off you dont get air moving at any significant speed and will often just end up with it pulling air in through the side and shooting it out the back of the case without passing it over the components.

If the fans on the cpu and gpu are pulling air in from the open sides of the case, that allows more outside cool air to blow over the components, herego providing better cooling. Just becasue the side panel is off does not dictate that the gpu and cpu fans blow air in a different direction let alone not passing that air over the components.

Back in the day with my dual AthlonMP 2400+ machine I would get constant overheating issues even with the addition of case fans and aftermarket cpu/gpu coolers. But all the problems went away as soon as I took the side panel off and allowed all the outside cool air goodness to flow freely.

 

[Proximon]

Chunkymonster, that is true sometimes and not true others. As I said, it depends on the case and parts. I have seen several cases where taking the side door off caused CPU temps to raise by as much as 5C

 

[laijosh]

My CPU temps look like they lowered actually, but a lot, 2-5 C

 

[Proximon]

That's great then. You might want to consider cutting that hole and installing some see through mesh.

A good case with lots of air flow will generally supply MORE air to the hot parts more quickly, because it's moving air in and taking it out.

For instance, the Silverstone TJ09 I'm using right now increases by 2C, both GPU and CPU, with the side off.

On the other hand, one of the best air cooled cases made comes loaded with mesh everywhere and still turns in fantastic numbers:
Cooler Master HAF