Is it perfectly fine to have a PC without side panels?

[-)b(-]

Well, my question comes from this. I thought all ATX cases had similar internal sizes but with a recent purchase found that not to be the case. All the drive bays are used by my PSU wires, and the cpu heatsink is too big to put the side panel on. But does it matter anyway?

When I had a big case with side panels the inside was caked with dust, and now I've lost a panel with this new case I've noticed cooler temps for the cpu, graphics card and hard drive, and maybe it'll be easier to blow future dust out by wafting a book.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

If you have cooler temps with side panels off, then your overall internal cooling/airflow is terrible; not enough fans/airflow.

But overall yea it's not a big deal to have them off, but you will have even more dust this way.

As for dust, take the PC case out of the room and use a blower on it to get rid of the dust.

[_I_]

what case do you have?

any decent case will run cooler with the side panels on

[-)b(-]

Originally posted by _I_:

what case do you have?

any decent case will run cooler with the side panels on

I have a case called "Casecom CB-341"

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Get a wider case with bottom PSU mount and top mount fans.

The case you have just doesn't allow for good airflow, or good amount of case fans/fan placement.

What all do you have for:
- Motherboard
- CPU Cooler
- Power Supply
- GPU

Can help you find a better case on Ebuyer if that is where u prefer to buy.

[-)b(-]

gtx 980
i5 6600k cpu
cosair 750i psu
noctua NH-U12P heatsink
Z170-P D3 motherboard

[5caryHarry]

I used to run with a side off all the time. Sometimes the case will be cooler enclosed with propper airflow and cable management. An open case is just like a test bench, and that's why some of my case sides came off, and just stayed that way

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Originally posted by zBeanz:

gtx 980
i5 6600k cpu
casoair 750i psu
noctua NH-U12P heatsink
Z170-P D3 motherboard

Ok so nothing MicroATX then. What kind of budget for the case did u have in mind?

There are some decent ones on Ebuyer for under £30 range

And with that Corsair PSU, shouldn't be an issue mounting at bottom of most case and have the wiring be long enough, as the main motherboard power cables on that PSU are fairly long.

[-)b(-]

My budget is about £20 but hoping to spend under. I really don't want to spend much on a case, even though I did with the parts.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Then save up a bit; if you going to stuff all that hardware in a system that can run hot; then be willing to buy a decent case with at least a few case fans so you can have good airflow throughout the system. For now try it with side-panel off; if it's staying cool like that, then you should be fine for time being, but again after a few months it will probably suck in alot of dust compared to being closed up. But all depend on your room/home and how well u keep that clean overall as well.

[_I_]

spend £30-50 on a good case

look for
1. bottom mount power supply
2. top fans
3. usb 3.0 ports
4. ssd bays (optional but nice to have)

[Bad 💀 Motha]

and ample room between where the Motherboard edge would be and the HDD cage (if not removable) so as to allow ample room for lengthy GPUs.

Most decent cases have trays for the HDDs; usually allowing for both 2.5 & 3.5 inch drive sizes to be installed.