Open vs Closed Case

[You_are_a_cunt]

Slowly starting to build the new enclosures for my rigs.

The bulk of the cost will be represented by the acrylic panels (I estimate the skeleton to be somewhere around $25 to build, including mounting and structural support) which will be the last step in the build(s).

Since I want to spread the cost in as long of a timeframe as possible, I was considering leaving out the acrylic until the very end of the project (since the acrylic is simply there for aesthetics and doesn't really influence the housing). I'm looking at about $80 worth of acrylic per housing and I don't really want to take the financial hit of buying everything in one go (The entire project is funded via money I'd normally use for lunch at work, coffee machine and various daily non-essentials. My budgeting is fairly strict and would rather set aside money and once enough of it is available go ahead and buy the acrylic).

Now to the actual question(s):

Aside from the extra dust what other problems would I be facing when running an open air frame 24/7? Sticking fingers into fans doesn't count.

What would the thermal impact be? For the NAS, the CPU is passively cooled, mostly relying on the case airflow. Am I looking at ghetto rigging a fan to blow on the heatsink (35W TDP CPU, gets to a toasty 55C in the case with case fans on push-pull duty)?

[Mi26]

Noise might be an issue 

[You_are_a_cunt]

Just now, Mi26 said:

Noise might be an issue 

Unlikely and doesn't really matter as much as you'd think.

The case I'm using aren't too good at sound dampening and I have a strong suspicion they're actually amplifying the noise from the fans

[iiNNeX]

Other than dust there isn't another downside. Maaaybe a little bit more noise, but as you said your case is not exactly quiet.

 

As for thermals, open is better for cooling as far as I know, especially if you run higher RPM fans.

[Marshnt]

On 8/23/2017 at 4:05 AM, revsilverspine said:

Slowly starting to build the new enclosures for my rigs.

The bulk of the cost will be represented by the acrylic panels (I estimate the skeleton to be somewhere around $25 to build, including mounting and structural support) which will be the last step in the build(s).

Since I want to spread the cost in as long of a timeframe as possible, I was considering leaving out the acrylic until the very end of the project (since the acrylic is simply there for aesthetics and doesn't really influence the housing). I'm looking at about $80 worth of acrylic per housing and I don't really want to take the financial hit of buying everything in one go (The entire project is funded via money I'd normally use for lunch at work, coffee machine and various daily non-essentials. My budgeting is fairly strict and would rather set aside money and once enough of it is available go ahead and buy the acrylic).

Now to the actual question(s):

Aside from the extra dust what other problems would I be facing when running an open air frame 24/7? Sticking fingers into fans doesn't count.

What would the thermal impact be? For the NAS, the CPU is passively cooled, mostly relying on the case airflow. Am I looking at ghetto rigging a fan to blow on the heatsink (35W TDP CPU, gets to a toasty 55C in the case with case fans on push-pull duty)?

Easy rigidity.

[You_are_a_cunt]

43 minutes ago, Marshnt said:

Easy rigidity.

Rigidity is provided by the aluminium frame, support "beams" and mounting frames. It's essentially a 1-2U 500x500 box

[Marshnt]

4 minutes ago, revsilverspine said:

Rigidity is provided by the aluminium frame, support "beams" and mounting frames. It's essentially a 1-2U 500x500 box

Yes, but a frame isnt the same as a case. A frame isnt a box, its just the bare bones, it might support the structure it not as ridged.

[You_are_a_cunt]

1 minute ago, Marshnt said:

Yes, but a frame isnt the same as a case. A frame isnt a box, its just the bare bones, it might support the structure it not as ridged.

That's why you build tension rods into the design

[Marshnt]

1 minute ago, revsilverspine said:

That's why you build tension rods into the design

Thats called over complication and I look forward to seeing your build.Please show Pics...

[You_are_a_cunt]

Just now, Marshnt said:

Thats called over complication and I look forward to seeing your build.Please show Pics...

A tl'dr version is available here:

More details and fairly frequent updates on my blog (link to site on my profile)