Case fan or leave side open?

Bean · Post by **Bean** » Fri Jan 17, 2003 3:37 pm

Hi - thought I'd join you all cause it seemed like a nice community here and darn good subject matter!

I'd like your opinions. I have a DIY PC and it real basic (see specs below) but I never got a case fan so I just leave the side panel open. Do you think I'm doing any long term damage to any components by operating it this way?

The reason I ask is I've been having difficulty lately when watching more than one movie. Like the dvd player or hard drive is sluggish (although the disk isnt hot) or it could be on the software side.

my HTPC for dvd movies only:
CUSL2-c asus
p3 500e w/intel supplied fan and Heat sink
radeon LE - no fan
xgamer sound card
40gig 7200 maxtor
artec 16x dvd
codegen case came with 350w ps (its very quiet)

Post by **Rusty075** » Fri Jan 17, 2003 10:29 pm

You're not going to do any damage running with the side open, but you'll get cooler temps, and lower noise, if you put an undervolted fan in there and close 'er up.

Justin_R · Post by **Justin_R** » Fri Jan 17, 2003 11:10 pm

I don't quite get what you mean about watching two movies simultaneously, but:

1) Have you defragmented your hard drive lately? (Also make sure that you've enabled DMA for your hard drive and DVD player-- google for "DMA" and your OS to find instructions)
2) Did you install any new software recently? (things like video codecs, or new DVD playing software, or things that might get minimized and hide in the background)
3) Is your CPU usage at 100% when trying to play movies? Does the hard drive thrash?

And I second Rusty's advice about a case fan.

necrosaro · Post by **necrosaro** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 8:23 am

another reason to keep a case closed is dust, especially if you live with pets. I have a 5 volted intake fan with a filter in front and it does a good job of keeping my parts from getting encased in dust like my old, filthy Compaq.

Bean · Post by **Bean** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 9:28 am

Yah I hate dust in my computer. Nice to know that slow of a fan can pull air through the filter - what fan and filter are you using.

But now that everyone agrees I could get better cooling (lower noise is a bonus but presently my projector is noisier ) I should prob get this done ASAP. I thought an old school cooling trick was to open the side panel tho - has this been debunked?

Justin I'll try the defrag - easy to do. DMA yes. I'll put on a case fan and then look at the other items you listed next. Edit: oh yah i mean watching one move after another - in a row not at the same time.

seishino · Post by **seishino** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 7:11 pm

It could also be that the display program isn't freeing up RAM properly, and so does a lot of disk read / write / burps.

Opening up your computer might get you lowered temperatures, especially in windy rooms

. But that side panel is also sound-deadening, so on this site at least people are partial to their panels. My stock P3 800 shipped happily without any casefans, and made it through a LA summer before being attacked by 5volters.

If you want to test your temperature theory, put a desk fan next to the open case and watch some movies.

-C

juniorrank1 · Post by **juniorrank1** » Sat Jan 25, 2003 3:54 pm

Aside from sound, opening the case can sometimes be detrimental to cooling(if you have one or more case fans). Usually, opening the side intruduces a huge, low resistance intake/exhaust and allows heat to escape by radiation too, not just convection. But fans are usually set up to pull room air in the bottom front of the case and exhaust hot air at the top rear, usually at least through the power supply. The air flowing throught he case and over heatsinks etc does a great job of removing heat.
But sometimes when the case is open, the flow is disrupted and actually less air/time flows over components. That is, somtimes the path of least resistance for air is to go in the front then directly out the side, or have the power supply and rear case fans pulling air from outside the case, in the open side, and directly out the back. I hope you get what I'm trying to expain, anyway like I said its not always the case, just interesting because its a little counter-intuitive.

PS I know a guy who keeps a 3' box fan next to his case, the fan and his case are almost identical shape, the fan just blows air right in the side. Its actually rather quiet on the low switch setting, its gotta have a huge flow rate, but it takes up way too much space IMO.

Bean · Post by **Bean** » Sat Jan 25, 2003 5:12 pm

Thanks for the good explanation. I bought a fan at a computer show. Its a cooler master SAF-B82 and it has a speed sensor - dont know why thats important. It has a three tail connection for the motherboard or a regular (molex?) power connection.

anyway its pretty loud but puts out alot of air. I used 5v and now its quiet but the airflow is real low. I will monitor temps using a radio shack indoor outdoor thermometer. What is the limit on case temp?

Case fan or leave side open?

Case fan or leave side open?

Possibly