Looks of a PC

[Whyleonhart]

I honestly believe I can put my computer in a cardboard box and it wouldn’t matter as long as the box has holes in it for air flow.

[Dedayog]

16 minutes ago, Whyleonhart said:

I honestly believe I can put my computer in a cardboard box and it wouldn’t matter as long as the box has holes in it for air flow.

Or you can put your PC under your desk, if you don't want to look at it.

 

By "doesn't have to look good" I also allude that I do not have to look at it.  If I have to look at it, it won't be ugly.

 

 

[NineEyeRon]

Mine is a black boxy thing behind my desk, I can’t even see it.

[LogicalDrm]

Depends. If its on top of your table, it follows the TV logic. The biggest thing becomes centerpiece of your room and defines you. If its hidden, doesn't matter what it looks like.

[WaggishOhio383]

I prefer to keep my PC up on my desk because I have the space for it, and it gets better airflow. So I definitely care what it looks like when I'm going to see it all the time.

[da na]

I don't think that looks absolutely matter, like, I don't go out of my way or compromise performance to make my computer look good. But I still try to keep it clean and in good condition.

[Tristerin]

My stages of giving a F about how my PC looks:

 

Step 1: Care about look of PC while putting it together

Step 2: It gets dirty, but Im to lazy to clean it, so I no longer care what it looks like

 

 

[Gamer Schnitzel]

For my next build I am just buying whatever box has a mesh front and fans. I'm not bothered. I also plan on upgrading again when the 40 series comes out. It's pointless to obsess with looks of a PC if you are going to upgrade again anyway in a couple of year(s)

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08BQBJ4SB

[Moonzy]

Spoiler

 

Maybe, as long as it's not dangerous

 

[Mitko_DSV]

I kinda care how the case of the PC looks, but the inside I don't see, so I don't particularly care. My PCs sit on the ground, no space for them on desks.

[DoctorNick]

Always, function over form

[sub68]

umm I am known for extreme jank.

DVD was reading only so

Spoiler

 

"the tower of power" I was having problems with my old PC so this happened

Spoiler

Spoiler

Lastly one of my setups

 

[X-System]

I voted 'yes' but for certain conditions. It can make a nice decoration for your room

 

Even some supercomputers do a good look, CRAY Titan for example

 

 

Or mainframes IBM zSeries :

 

 

So for PC home, why not?

[WhitetailAni]

My PC is under my desk as I use my desk for more than just gaming, and I can really only see the front of the thing, and sometimes the left side panel (but the panel is off right now because I'm modding it)

I try to make it look niceish (I want to have a black Zip drive instead of a beige one), but I'm 99% function over form. The inside of my computer is not designed to look nice at all - cables going every which way, red, blue, orange, black SATA cables, no cable management, fan hanging from some side panel mounting, etc.

[Vishera]

When i bought the parts for my PC the most important thing to me was cooling performance.

My case is E-ATX with mesh front panel,can mount x2 360mm + x1 120mm all at the same time if i want.

Overkill cooling solution for the CPU (with overclock) - I get 70C after 1 hour of Prime95,which is an extreme and unusual load.

When i game the temps of the CPU are at 40C~45C.

On idle the temperature is the room temperature.

 

And my GPU has  an overkill cooling as well,even though it's a GTX 1660.

With overclock at full load the GPU is at 68C after a few hours of gaming.

 

So "function over form" is superior.

The airflow in my system is the best case scenario. (when it comes to cases).

 

I don't care how my PC looks,I care about how it performs.

[Vishera]

33 minutes ago, FakeKGB said:

nice at all - cables going every which way, red, blue, orange, black SATA cables, no cable management, fan hanging from some side panel mounting, etc.

That can harm the airflow.

[WhitetailAni]

Just now, Vishera said:

That can harm the airflow.

Airflow does not come from the front of the case. It goes in the side (via my open side panel or 190mm fan on the side) and then goes out the back with my blower cooler GPUs.

All the cables are bunched up near my HDDs or in the void between my LG WH16NS40 and my HDD drive cage.

I can draw up a diagram if you'd like.

[Vishera]

3 minutes ago, FakeKGB said:

I can draw up a diagram if you'd like.

Yes please!,I would like that

I am an enthusiast of aero dynamics after all :)

 

[Guest]

Even if I go for function, it still has to look good.

 

 

In a pure function build, I go out of my way to manage it and make it look nice. That part is a creative outlet for me.

 

 

This was one of my older builds. RGB wasn't popular yet, neither were custom cables. But I still made sure it was tidy.

 

 

My function builds still have an aesthetic goal in mind even with though they'll be covered.

 

 

 

This was definitely an aesthetic build, though there was plenty of function.

[akio123008]

8 minutes ago, Vishera said:

That can harm the airflow.

I don't think it matters much. 

 

I thought it mattered, until I saw the LTT video in which Luke literally stuffs a PC full of all sorts of crap and it doesn't make a difference:

 

Ever since then I've stopped doing cable management in my PC. The wires are all over the place and I couldn't care less. Never had any problems with it.

[Vishera]

4 minutes ago, akio123008 said:

I don't think it matters much. 

 

I thought it mattered, until I saw the LTT video in which Luke literally stuffs a PC full of all sorts of crap and it doesn't make a difference:

It depends on the case and the configuration.

In a NZXT case for example it won't matter.

[akio123008]

Just now, Vishera said:

It depends on the case and the configuration.

In a NZXT case for example it won't matter.

At least I know it won't matter in my case. 

[Avocado Diaboli]

You posed the question as "Is it necessary for a computer to look good?" so I went with no. Because it absolutely isn't necessary for it to look any specific way. I think my PC does look nice overall, but that was more an outcome of circumstances. I didn't go out of my way to have it fit a specific theme. Since black PCBs are fairly common nowadays, the mostly black look of my machine came together naturally. But honestly, I care about what my PC can do, I picked parts within my budget that do what I need them to do and didn't spend any money on aesthetics whatsoever. 

[Whyleonhart]

On 5/26/2021 at 10:00 AM, sub68 said:

umm I am known for extreme jank.

DVD was reading only so

  Reveal hidden contents

 

"the tower of power" I was having problems with my old PC so this happened

  Hide contents

  Reveal hidden contents

Lastly one of my setups

 

Let’s be honest, there is a way to synchronize all of those into an at-home supercomputer that can compete with modern hardware. This is a joke btw I don’t mean to make a topic of discussion. Unless...

[lboolaka_33]

I don't care all that much tbh... my dream case is something with good airflow, DVD drive bays, and hot-swap HDD bays, plus a ton of internal space for more HDDs. 

I do a good amount of DVD/CD ripping (nothing with illegal intent, it's just so I can access my collection anywhere within my house) and it's a PITA with only an external DVD drive available. 

It would be nice if I could get a case that meets my parameters while still looking good, but I'm not a fan of throwing out function in the name of looks.