Best case for house with cat

[MAXBattle]

What's the best case for a household with a cat that sheds a lot of hair?  I imagine easily-cleaned intake filters are a must. Luckily, the box is only for modest gaming with no OC or other heat issues. Likely a floor-standing mid-tower.

 

Anyone have experience with good or bad PC cases for pet owners?

[tkitch]

don't leave it on the floor and it won't be that much of a concern.

[BoomerDutch]

Grab plastic step trap or smol table to put on ground then case on top of it. Would be ideal.

[MAXBattle]

53 minutes ago, tkitch said:

don't leave it on the floor and it won't be that much of a concern.

Does elevating it really make that much of a difference?  I didn't know that.

[thrasher_565]

19 minutes ago, MAXBattle said:

Does elevating it really make that much of a difference?  I didn't know that.

if there dust and dirt on the floor it can be sucked in to the pc well on top it just suck w/e in the air. so long you keep the table clean... but a good case with eazy filters would work fine thow i dont keep track of filters on case these days but alot of them sould be fine.

Edited April 15 by thrasher_565

[tkitch]

1 hour ago, MAXBattle said:

Does elevating it really make that much of a difference?  I didn't know that.

it really does.

 

on a table will get a fraction of the dust as on the floor.

[scruffballz_86]

shut it down before sweeping around it !!! and no matter what clean it out every 3 months of dust and hair !!! re-thermal paste every 6-9 months !!!

[tkitch]

15 minutes ago, scruffballz_86 said:

shut it down before sweeping around it !!! and no matter what clean it out every 3 months of dust and hair !!! re-thermal paste every 6-9 months !!!

TF?
No.  None of that makes any sense.

 

You absolutely do not need to do this stupidity.

[MAXBattle]

On 4/15/2024 at 3:37 PM, thrasher_565 said:

if there dust and dirt on the floor it can be sucked in to the pc well on top it just suck w/e in the air. so long you keep the table clean... but a good case with eazy filters would work fine thow i dont keep track of filters on case these days but alot of them sould be fine.

You guys are making me think about old school desktop / HTPC cases...     I'm making this as a gift for a family member from mainly my own spare parts (Ryzen 5 3600, ASUS x570-Plus, RX590 8GB Fatboy, Crucial RAM and NVMe SSD... nothing OC).  It looks like I'd have to spend $200 on an HTPC case.  Unless there are better desktop options?

 

UPDATE... never mind...  desktop won't work where the recipient has PC space.

[MAXBattle]

23 hours ago, tkitch said:

it really does.

 

on a table will get a fraction of the dust as on the floor.

I've looked at all of the options for the places it could go (in a small apartment) and it looks like we'll have to find a small stand or table to get it up 6-12 inches off of the ground.  Unless... Do I hide it in a closet and use a long video cable and long USB cable and hub for the keyboard and mouse???  DisplayPort can go 50 feet... and nothing will be overclocked.

 

In any case, I think the solution will be something like a bequiet Pure Base 600, which I've built with in the past and for which I've got some extra parts, if needed.

 

I really appreciate everyone's input and assistance.  Thank you!

[thrasher_565]

1 hour ago, MAXBattle said:

I've looked at all of the options for the places it could go (in a small apartment) and it looks like we'll have to find a small stand or table to get it up 6-12 inches off of the ground.  Unless... Do I hide it in a closet and use a long video cable and long USB cable and hub for the keyboard and mouse???  DisplayPort can go 50 feet... and nothing will be overclocked.

 

In any case, I think the solution will be something like a bequiet Pure Base 600, which I've built with in the past and for which I've got some extra parts, if needed.

 

I really appreciate everyone's input and assistance.  Thank you!

you dont have to put it on a table just you were asking about dust and its best if its not on the ground. it will be fine on the ground anyway.

if its on carpet you can just add something solid under it.

Edited April 17 by thrasher_565

[freeagent]

I have my computer sitting on an end table, so its maybe 36 inches off the floor. My cat loves to lay on my Torrent, and I dont really mind that much as long as I have a screw holding the top panel on

[MAXBattle]

21 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

you dont have to put it on a table just you were asking about dust and its best if its not on the ground. it will be fine on the ground anyway.

if its on carpet you can just add something solid under it.

OK... one more thought...  What if I set it up to suck air from the TOP of the case (with a nice mesh filter) with a couple of 140's and then blow it out the back (and maybe even a bit from the front, so an upside-down Y airflow)?  Maybe I'd leave the front passive and just have an exhaust fan at the back and a pair of input fans on top.  Wouldn't the outbound air at the front keep crap from getting in from the floor?  As I mentioned, I'm looking at bequiet cases, like the 500 and 600 and I can do a solid front panel with air inlets down the sides of the front.

[thrasher_565]

2 hours ago, MAXBattle said:

OK... one more thought...  What if I set it up to suck air from the TOP of the case (with a nice mesh filter) with a couple of 140's and then blow it out the back (and maybe even a bit from the front, so an upside-down Y airflow)?  Maybe I'd leave the front passive and just have an exhaust fan at the back and a pair of input fans on top.  Wouldn't the outbound air at the front keep crap from getting in from the floor?  As I mentioned, I'm looking at bequiet cases, like the 500 and 600 and I can do a solid front panel with air inlets down the sides of the front.

your way over thinning is dont worry about dust it can be cleaned. cats like to sit on top of case. unless you add something to the top that they dont like what i dont no...

scarf icing cooling for dust is stupid.

[wONKEyeYEs]

On 4/15/2024 at 6:18 PM, MAXBattle said:

Does elevating it really make that much of a difference?  I didn't know that.

I have a shelving unit with a PC on the shelf 18" off the floor and one at 5' off the floor.

The top one gets much less dust.

[CDR_Xavier]

Cleaning your filters every 3 month or so should be good enough, if you have actual filters.

Those "mesh" dont really count, my space heater have those as filter and after 3 month its still incredibly dusty.

I use what's effectively these, Frost King Air Conditioner Filter, and they prove to be highly effective. 3 months, the filter has turned mostly white (but not fully clogged), but the inside is basically spotless.

They are decently restrictive, and may need modification to your case (or filter mount) to work, but they do work really well. They are also really cheap.

One of my cases is a Dell sff (Optiplex 70xx), the other is an old workstation (3D Boxx). They are all simple front-backs.
I shoved a piece behind the bezel on the dell, and the 3D Boxx come with a filter plate.

Keeping positive pressure definitely helps control dust, as you can control where air enters your case.

 

Both the Dell and the Boxx are set up as workstation/servers and have very long uptimes (maybe average 16 hours a day). So not too dissimilar to the space heater runtime.

 

There is no way I am putting my 3D Boxx on my table (it's a giant eatx full tower), but the result is somewhat mixed.

 

On the ground, there seem to be more of the "black dust" type, whereas on the table it seems to be more of the "white dust" type.

I would imagine you would get slightly more dust, but much heavier dust, when on the ground, but the amount isnt too different. For me, at least.

I live in a fairly small room.