Case Door & Temps

[Austin4606]

So, recently i've been very stressed due to the fact that my graphics card has been having horrible temperatures lately when playing Skyrim (With graphical mods) and so i decided to open my case and take a look. It's dusty, not really dusty but moderate. So i dusted it a bit and decided to just test and see what my performance would be if i just kept the case door off.

 

Holy shit.

 

Originally i was getting over 70C (158F) and GPU usage of over 95%. Now? I'm still getting rather high graphical usage but my temperatures have stayed IN THE 60s. My temperatures have NEVER been this good under load. I played for 25 minutes before i finally hit 65C.

 

My question here is, is it safe to keep the door open? Airflow is obviously incredibly better without it and i keep my apartment fairly cool.

[You_are_a_cunt]

It's safe as long as you can guarantee not to hit anything while it's open. I've run alot of machines with a skeleton case.

The biggest problem you'll have will be dust, since it now has a HUGE hole to come in through

[Lord_Karango17]

It should be no problem to just leave it open when you are gaming, and close it up afterwards to reduce the dust intake...

[Austin4606]

It's safe as long as you can guarantee not to hit anything while it's open. I've run alot of machines with a skeleton case.

The biggest problem you'll have will be dust, since it now has a HUGE hole to come in through

 

How much dust we talkin'? Would it just build up over time?

[You_are_a_cunt]

How much dust we talkin'? Would it just build up over time?

depends how clean your room is. if it's pretty much spotless, you'll be fine.

 

It just builds up in time

[Austin4606]

depends how clean your room is. if it's pretty much spotless, you'll be fine.

 

It just builds up in time

 

I vacuumed my floor last week so i should be fine. 

 

But, if i needed to clean it, what would i use?

[You_are_a_cunt]

I vacuumed my floor last week so i should be fine. 

 

But, if i needed to clean it, what would i use?

 

 

basically this. They're cheap enough and efficient. Or at least this is what I use (well, not this specific brand, but any compressed air can is good)

[LogicalDrm]

So you have bad case airflow if removing sidepanel has so drastic effect. If you are worried over dust while having open sidepanel, get some mosquito net or similar material and tape that to side of PC.

[Crowes]

I concur with LoGiCalDrm. You need to do some serious cleaning, in my opinion.

 

My best advice would be to (if you feel confident enough) ripping the whole machine apart*, getting rid of every bit of dust out of the case**, and putting it back piece by piece, making sure no dust as such is on the components***. Also, use an can of air or hurricane****.

 

*Not literally ripping.

**As much as you can actually see and can get at. This should be pretty easy with a component-free case, and even easier if you take apart the case completely (as much as is safe and you feel you can put back together).

***Things like the CPU heatsink/cooler radiator, GPU heatsink, any fans - places dust collects.

****Use it so it blows but in short bursts so it doesn't consendate and leave residue everywhere. By the way, a Hurricane is an elecrical substitute for a can of air - much nosier, probably not as effective. I don't really know why I mentioned it.