KPopOG

Molex and PWM? Ew... The motor is actually part of the anti-vibration brace though. You can't remount it on the other side of the box either.

Yeah... except their marketed as the "Pro" version by Arctic. I mean less vibration according to them, but I'd rather choose whether I want intake or exhaust fans. Thought I added a pic there, but here you go. There's no way to mount the motor to the other side of the box either, there are no holes to fit it.

To start, thanks for the mythbusting! Glad to know that about the vacuum 2nd, I think I've changed my mind a bit. I think I'd do better with a closed case, but some changes need to be made. The fans grills are VERY restrictive. I'd go as far as to say that I feel 10% of the airflow through the grills. Going to cut them out, and replace with simple, circular wire grills. The grill on the side of my PC case was removable, so I took it off and immediately started seeing temps around 20C cooler at idle! I think this is probably the best solution... But, I also made the mistake of buying fans that can only be mounted one way. It makes sense that my most powerful 80mm should be on the side panel, drawing air directly to the CPU, pushing it out to the 120mm on the back. But, it only works with intake!!! Unless I want to mount it on the outside of the case, which means the motor sticks out an inch or so. Don't know quite yet, but probably going with closed.

That's not a bad solution though! I'll consider it, thanks for the idea! Oh! I had no clue! Thanks for letting me know. I don't use any dust filters or anything, so I can't imagine the dust being significant enough to keep the case on. For now though, only 2 of my fans are PWM, and their both in 3-pin power fan slots. That's sufficient for now, but if I upgrade my CPU cooler to PWM, then I might try that! Thanks!

True... I mean I could, but why buy a new case when you can DIY it by just takeing off the side panels... I don't really care if other people use RGB stuff, but I just wish there was more selection for non-RGB stuff. You can't find a "gaming" mouse without RGB these days. The Logitech G203 strikes the perfect balance for a work/play mouse, I just don't think we need all those colors. Still, the simplicity and price make it my favorite mouse design. However, you get into some of the China copycat brands, and you see they've gone wayyy too far. I would've probably liked it a few years ago, but now it's just so much extra costly design, so you end up with $5 bucks on design and a $1 sensor... LENRUE Laser Gaming Mouse for example. Looks horrible, and they missed the big point of RGB, customization. The color is controlled by the DPI *facepalm*

Thanks for the input! True, but I'd like to get the lowest temps possible. OC'd pretty high. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. I don't think I really need an upgrade, but just wanted to cover all the quick fixes. Thanks! I'm really just going for the best balance of noise to temps for under $20 (not included CPU heatsink). Other fans are unmarked, but I have 2 of those in there. Bought the PC off Craigslist, so had to do some tune-ups. Motherboard is still using AC'97 as well, and I don't imagine any mainstream budget cases not using HD Audio. Even the 2004 NZXT case has HD Audio... Most of them are pretty quiet. It's just the fans... PSU was always really loud when starting PC, finally got around to lubing the bearing with Vaseline and it sounds fine now. Like I told @Pangea2017, I'm just looking for cheap/free ways to reduce cooling. Sitting at around 35F when web browsing and an Android emulator running in the background. But hey, cooler PCs are much cooler Here's component list: CPU: AMD FX-8120 8 core, base clock 3.1 GHz OC'd to 4.0 GHz GPU: EVGA 960 FTW RAM: 16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz, mix of PNY and offbrand SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 256 GB 2x HDD: Seagate 480 GB 7200 RPM Board: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 Case: Old NZXT, no model number. Spots for 3 80-92 mm, and a 120 mm fan. PSU: 650W EarthWatts OS: Win 10 Pro I wouldn't want the parts to get damaged. It still just sits under my desk like most others, but good to have some protection. Maybe... But if it's better, then it's better. Really don't care about aesthetics; I'm very anti-RGB/lighting in general, except single color in keyboards, so you can see late at night. Just drives up the prices and power consumption (barely, but it still does...) for something you won't glace at while you're using it. It's just wasting money for show IMO. I just keep my PC tucked away and have external USB 3.0, audio, and power buttons through cables that attach directly to the board, like case ports. Just mount the ports under my desk, and I'm all set.

Noise I think... If temps were significantly better, then I'd sacrifice the noise.

Hi there, I was pondering this question and was surprised when no big tech channels on YT have videos on this. Assuming there's a general consensus that closed is better, but does anyone have experience with keeping their side panel off 24/7? First thoughts on open: - No controlled airflow, will go where it wants - No pressure, might not be enough to push the dust off the fans. - Better circulation? - Better temps? - Probably more noise - LOTS more dust I really don't care if I have to vacuum my PC every week, I'd just like to see some better temps. My AMD FX-8100 is OC'd from 3.1 to 4 GHz, but I thought it might be worth checking. It's either keeping the side panel off, or cutting all my very small mesh grills and replacing with wire grills. Fans are pretty weak, but extremely silent. Arctic F8 and F12 PST Pro plus a couple other random ones, if anyone is familiar with these. Also, while we're talking about CPUs, tunnel-like heatsink vs standard, boxy, tower design? Will make a different post and link it on here, with images. Currently have a Zalman tunnel design, and there's a lot of heat when touching it after turning my PC off. Is that generally good or bad? Will actually bother checking PC temps with aida64 at some point, just looking for a quick answer there. Thanks!

Drop ends in 2 days, still looking for some more opinions. Bump

Thanks for the reply! While I do like the sample pack idea, I don't think it makes much sense to buy a $17 sample pack of just Kailhs, when the whole 120 piece set it $25. I'll do some looking for cheaper samples. Otherwise, good to know from someone who's used Kailhs before. Would still probably aim towards Gaterons for smoothness, but we'll see. Thanks again!

Switch preferences (preferably reply if you've used any of these)? Both listed on Massdrop (Kailh drop active now) for $25, and thinking of upgrading my $40 TKL with blue Outemus. Heard from a lot of people that Gaterons are a lot better, but the 1.1 mm travel distance on the Kailh is very attractive. If you think there's anything else that's worth upgrading (total budget preferably under 40 USD), then I'd be happy to hear it. Options as well as what I'm looking for listed below. Current Keyboard: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5F6W51/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_NYqIAb8B60P84 Gateron Switch Options (https://www.massdrop.com/buy/gateron-switches): Blacks Blues Browns Clears Greens Reds Yellows Kailh Speed Switch Options (https://www.massdrop.com/buy/kaihua-kailh-speed-switches): Copper Silver Bronze Gold What I'm looking for (little more typing than gaming, lots hate blues for gaming, but seem fine to me) (in order of importance): Near silent (Current Outemu blues extremely loud, maybe replace cheap metal top plate too?) Short travel distance (Current Outemu blues ~4 mm) Fast rebound times (Current Outemu blues seem to take forever to rebound, especially shift. (Swap stabilizers?)) Little wobble Sorry that I'm asking so much, but I really want the best I can get for my use. Thanks!