I have two Questions?

Is it okay to leave the side case off your Desktop? My friend told me it helps the ventilation a lot better? I'm sure as long it's in a safe place where nothing can poke it or spill or anything like so. And my second question is how many times a year is it good to clean your Computer with a can or air or electronic air or air duster? I always wanted a desktop and i finally got one! :cool so excused my "Noob" questions if they are. rolleyes

 

You can leave the side off but I would not unless you are having heat/temperature related problems with your computer. A gaming computer or high end work station would have more likelihood for having high temps from normal usage than a plain jane desktop just surfing and emailing.
Just make sure you do not block the vents so air can circulate freely in the case.
As to cleaning, check it after three months or so and you will be able to judge how often you need to clean it out.
Factors that would cause more frequent cleaning - smoking, pets, placement of desktop on floor, dusty environment, etc.

 

1. Yes you can leave it open. Not a good Idea. If you're having overheating problems it's better to install fans (there are usually extra slots for them) than to leave it open and exposed.

2. I clean mine every time the intake for the fan gets covered in dust. Other people do it more or less. But also, if it gets too dusty it can also have heating problems.

3. Tell your buddy to come to MG so we can give him better advice too.

Hey, if you know what you have, your system, people here can point you in the direction of what kind of fans to get, if you need extra fans at all, etc. etc. And that should go live in the "Hardware" Forum. (http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=22)

Just title the thread "cooling advice" and post down all of your computer specs, then ask what kind of fanz/cooling options people would recommend.

Good luck!

 

I love having a filter on the main intake of my computer. With Maxwell, my filter gets cleaned every couple of weeks. Probably every 3 months or so I try to take it outside and hit it with a can of air, or take it to work and use the compressed air there, they have a decent filter in the air, so no water issues.

Leaving the sides off is not a big deal, but I usually keep them on so you can somewhat control the airflow in your case. If you have an air filter and you take the sides off the case, it won't be doing much filtering.

Congrats on the new desktop!! :cool

 

Or - you can invest in a case that has one side almost completely a fan, like the Thermaltake version I have, amongst others.



Basically, if the case is big enough, then you don't have to worry as much about cooling, since most come with decent fan sets these days. Cases vary in design and build quality from literal hot-boxes to very well designed.

 

Never been a big fan of the case windows. Some of the case mods are nice, but I don't really want to look at the inside of my PC. Big fan of the filters. They ain't perfect, but are easy to clean.

 

Nice case, Phantom. I concur that the bigger the case, the less worry about cooling.

I like cases with windows, especially if you are going to have some internal effects lights and such. A lot of higher grade components are designed with this in mind, and if you have such, flaunt it! But side windows are good also if you want to add extra fans . . . makes modding the case much, much easier.

I have a Cooler Master HAF 912 case and I love it. It does have a side window also. To be honest, I wouldn't have bought it because I generally try to save money on cases and reuse an old case I have laying around. I mod the heck out of cases (old Emachine, HP, Dell . . . you name it) for extra fans and such. My son's bought the case for me since they knew I'd put the fancy motherboard they bought me in some old case, and they were right :-D Now, I'm spoiled. When it comes to building a new computer, I'll probably have to break down and buy a fancy case. My Dremel tools will become covered with dust, I fear . . .

 

I have an old emachines case and motherboard with 4 sata and 2 ide ports. While I was using it I had about a dozen ide drives about 40gb. All had stuff i wanted on them. I left the side off over a period of time and swapped the drives out when I had time to retrieve my stuff. Never noticed any ill effects of it being opened. I would leave the side leaned against it at a angle to keep our little critters out of it. Also swapped ram sticks I came across in and out to test them. Just made for easy access.

What is your desktop and are you liking it?