# The great debate: Caseless, or Cased?



## Aastii

I'd have thought the majority here are running with a case, but which do you prefer and why?

This will just about certainly turn into a debate/discussion (see post your caseless setup thread -.-), let's try to keep it as that and not  flame war/trolling session


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## awildgoose

Yes, my computer is in a case. I prefer it, because you can modify it to your own liking (like paint it and such), you can make fans look good and there is good airflow. It also (for me at least) takes up less space (surface area) and gives me a good footrest. Plus it is easy for transportation.


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## Shane

I prefer a case,Its easier to keep the dust out and stops you getting electric shock 

Id actualy love to have one of these beautys again.....Old sytle Full tower server case and watercooling of course.












I currently have a Coolermaster 690 modded,and although these cases are a little bit bigger than your standard ATX case....its still very cramped in there with just a single 4890 graphics card.


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## awildgoose

Nevakonaza said:


> I prefer a case,Its easier to keep the dust out and stops you getting electric shock
> 
> Id actualy love to have one of these beautys again.....Old sytle Full tower server case and watercooling of course.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I currently have a Coolermaster 690 modded,and although these cases are a little bit bigger than your standard ATX case....its still very cramped in there with just a single 4890 graphics card.



Would love to mod the hell out of that beast, look at it. That has some serious airflow potential if you had the right tools.
But on topic, to me as I said, cases are just easier. I really do not get the whole caseless thing, to me it seems like a safety hazard and such.


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## Geoff

Mine is in a case, I've had caseless setups but I don't see how anyone prefers it.  Caseless takes up much more space as everything can't be stacked, if you have pets that's just waiting for trouble, they also collect more dust when off, don't look as good, and aren't as good at proper cooling.


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## Aastii

Nevakonaza said:


> I prefer a case,Its easier to keep the dust out and stops you getting electric shock
> 
> Id actualy love to have one of these beautys again.....Old sytle Full tower server case and watercooling of course.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I currently have a Coolermaster 690 modded,and although these cases are a little bit bigger than your standard ATX case....its still very cramped in there with just a single 4890 graphics card.



I want that case


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## Geoff

Beige cases are so 1990.

This is the case I want:


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## Shane

[-0MEGA-];1408430 said:
			
		

> Beige cases are so 1990.



They are,But i mean look at it...i think it would be great re-sprayed.

Id actualy go for a High gloss white finish on that case,theres too many people with Black cases these days and i like things diffrent. 

Id also put some castor wheels on the bottom and remove the feet.


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## Aastii

[-0MEGA-];1408430 said:
			
		

> Beige cases are so 1990.
> 
> This is the case I want:



that is what paint is for 

And I love that case, but I would never mod it because of the price I payed for it  It does look so so nice though



Nevakonaza said:


> They are,But i mean look at it...i think it would be great re-sprayed.
> 
> Id actualy go for a High gloss white finish on that case,theres too many people with Black cases these days and i like things diffrent.
> 
> Id also put some castor wheels on the bottom and remove the feet.



Gun Metal Grey, not white  The day I find gun metal grey spray paint is the day my paint stops being blue


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## ScottALot

Not so much of a great debate...


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## Gooberman

i use a case because i have a POS computer and don't wanna look at it!!!!!!!!! >:[


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## mac550

Both my main computer and my server are in cases


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## diduknowthat

Every computer I've built are in cases because:

a) Cases look sleek, they add sophistication to a computer
b) They allow my computer to be transported. I live in college and need to move my computer between my house and my dorm a few times a year
c) My case protects the internals of my computer from random drunk people
d) My computer cools better in my case as the fans move air in a wind tunnel fashion, thus eliminating hot spots.


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## TFT

In a case, would you buy a Ferrari and drive around with all the body parts removed and sitting on the chassis, of course not you want your pride and joy to look sleek and beautiful. (Unless you're a cheapskate like me and have a POS in a box)


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## Laquer Head

My main PC is in a case...cause its a laptop...


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## viper110110

My main PC is in a case because its the one I built in grade 8 that I have just kept upgrading. I have built an open case out of wood, which was pretty fun. I also like the look of caseless setups. As my mom said, the motherboard "Looks like a city. See, there's where Dad works, and there's all the apartment buildings that people live in."

I would personally never run my main computer out of a case, but I would like to just have random computer parts laying on my desk that magically work and confuse people.


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## Aastii

viper110110 said:


> My main PC is in a case because its the one I built in grade 8 that I have just kept upgrading. I have built an open case out of wood, which was pretty fun. I also like the look of caseless setups. As my mom said, the motherboard "*Looks like a city*. See, there's where Dad works, and there's all the apartment buildings that people live in."
> 
> I would personally never run my main computer out of a case, but I would like to just have random computer parts laying on my desk that magically work and confuse people.



lmao, my family say the exact same thing when I have parts out


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## G25r8cer

Modded case is the only way to go

Sleek, simple, and effective

Keeps dust away and protects parts from the elements


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## lubo4444

My pc is in case too.


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## jasonwow

ive got a case also


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## Machin3

[-0MEGA-];1408430 said:
			
		

> Beige cases are so 1990.
> 
> This is the case I want:



+1, I also want that case but then I would have to go with liquid cooling and as of right now I'm a little short on the cash.  Maybe someday.


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## just a noob

nope:


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## Aastii

lol, I didn't think I would ever say this about a caseless setup, but it needs cable management


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## meticadpa

Aastii said:


> lol, I didn't think I would ever say this about a caseless setup, but it needs cable management








Better?


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## Aastii

meticadpa said:


> Better?



much 

Is that 2 fans bolted together on your CPU, or is it just one rather large fan?


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## meticadpa

Aastii said:


> much
> 
> Is that 2 fans bolted together on your CPU, or is it just one rather large fan?



Fan + fan shroud. 

That's what the screws are for. 

The fan shroud is basically an air tight seal between the fan and the heatsink, which allows for air to pass across all areas of the heatsink, instead of their being a dead spot of - hot - air generated by the fan's hub. 

It was good for a 3C temperature drop, and it made my fan quieter. 

I just made it from an old 25mm thick fan that I didn't use, and it's pretty awesome. Obviously the bigger the shroud the better. (I think that 50mm is the biggest you should go, anything other than that diminishes performance.)

I was thinking about making a bigger one with another old fan, to be honest, but I'm not sure it's worth my time.

Sorry for the rather long post. >.<


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## Stoic Sentinel

Aastii said:


> lmao, my family say the exact same thing when I have parts out



Same, my sister always pointed out that the capacitors looked like industry (smoke stacks)


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## Aastii

meticadpa said:


> Fan + fan shroud.
> 
> That's what the screws are for.
> 
> The fan shroud is basically an air tight seal between the fan and the heatsink, which allows for air to pass across all areas of the heatsink, instead of their being a dead spot of - hot - air generated by the fan's hub.
> 
> It was good for a 3C temperature drop, and it made my fan quieter.
> 
> I just made it from an old 25mm thick fan that I didn't use, and it's pretty awesome. Obviously the bigger the shroud the better. (I think that 50mm is the biggest you should go, anything other than that diminishes performance.)
> 
> I was thinking about making a bigger one with another old fan, to be honest, but I'm not sure it's worth my time.
> 
> Sorry for the rather long post. >.<



Yea it was the screws that threw me off 

I'm not sure if it was over at OCN or OcUK, but tehre was a guy with I think 3 x 80mm 4500RPM fans, 2 on heatsink in push/pull, one on top for exhaust (was the best way because of how the HSF had to sit) and when he fired it up it sounded like a damn airplane taking off


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## meticadpa

Aastii said:


> Yea it was the screws that threw me off
> 
> I'm not sure if it was over at OCN or OcUK, but tehre was a guy with I think 3 x 80mm 4500RPM fans, 2 on heatsink in push/pull, one on top for exhaust (was the best way because of how the HSF had to sit) and when he fired it up it sounded like a damn airplane taking off



That would probably be like 70 dBA. :O

If a 3000 RPM 120mm fan is like 45 dBa, I'm willing to bet that they'd be close to 70.

Edit: I'll be sad to see that motherboard go soon, though. I'm getting a Foxconn BlackOps and some OCZ Gold DDR3 RAM (2 x 1GB for benching with Dry Ice!) and I'm looking for my 4GB 24/7 kit currently... I think I'm going to get it from the US.


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## Aastii

meticadpa said:


> That would probably be like 70 dBA. :O
> 
> If a 3000 RPM 120mm fan is like 45 dBa, I'm willing to bet that they'd be close to 70.
> 
> Edit: I'll be sad to see that motherboard go soon, though. I'm getting a Foxconn BlackOps and some OCZ Gold DDR3 RAM (2 x 1GB for benching with Dry Ice!) and I'm looking for my 4GB 24/7 kit currently... I think I'm going to get it from the US.



I thought it was just the recording at first, then I read what was in it and realised why it sounded like it did  he managed to hit the fan by accident too while it was at full speed and too half his nail off.

And if I had the money, I would most certainly get shot of my AM3 board and get a Foxconn BlackOps, I love them, they look amazing and perform so well.

To contribute a bit more to the actual thread, I am considering buying a cheap power supply, by which I mean a quality, low wattage PSU, and getting my mums old celeron D, mATX system set up to put a server up and run it caseless. I would stick my old e6750 in it though and either a couple sticks of Samsung memory I have or I might put my 2x2GB OCZ kit in there, but it would be somewhat of a waste. That would run caseless, to save on cost and because I would sit it in my room, because it is always freezeing and because I only go in there to sleep and the cats don't go in for some reason, probably temperature, so no risk of it being hit. Stick a few quiet fans on and it could stay there 24/7 quite happily


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## meticadpa

I'm actually making money from moving to the BlackOps. 

I rarely need to spend money on parts... I just really buy things when they're cheap, sell them when I can get a better price for it, but stuff when it's cheap, sell it...

The cycle goes on.

For example, I got my Q6600 for £100 ages ago, sold it for £100 D), then bought an E6750 for £40 that did 4GHz, then got my E8500 for £40 + the E6750, so I technically made £20 coming from the Q6600.

Kinda lucky, in my opinion.


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## Aastii

meticadpa said:


> I'm actually making money from moving to the BlackOps.
> 
> I rarely need to spend money on parts... I just really buy things when they're cheap, sell them when I can get a better price for it, but stuff when it's cheap, sell it...
> 
> The cycle goes on.
> 
> For example, I got my Q6600 for £100 ages ago, sold it for £100 D), then bought an E6750 for £40 that did 4GHz, then got my E8500 for £40 + the E6750, so I technically made £20 coming from the Q6600.
> 
> Kinda lucky, in my opinion.



I did the same on my system now, years back I got 2x8600gt for dirt cheap, £30 I think new, £60 for both and 4x2GB OCZ Gold series for £70. Then, when my mobo went a month back or so, sold my memory for £120, one of the 860GT's for £15 to Mac, still got another to flog. Got my system now (in sig), for effectively £180 or so


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## Ethan3.14159

Hmm, would I rather leave my case out in the open and be cheap bastard, or protect everything and have an awesome looking case?

Tough choice.


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## meticadpa

Ethan3.14159 said:


> Hmm, would I rather leave my case out in the open and be cheap bastard, or protect everything and have an awesome looking case?
> 
> Tough choice.



Leave everything out in the open, but do it fairly stylishly and have better hardware?

If I had bothered to buy a case, I probably wouldn't have a HD5850, or a CPU Pot.


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## jasonwow

meticadpa said:


> Leave everything out in the open, but do it fairly stylishly and have better hardware?
> 
> If I had bothered to buy a case, I probably wouldn't have a HD5850, or a CPU Pot.



what does a case have to do with owing a 5850?


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## ganzey

jasonwow said:


> what does a case have to do with owing a 5850?



size of a 5850, and cost of a case


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## jasonwow

its looks like it fits fine on his motherboard tray


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## ganzey

jasonwow said:


> its looks like it fits fine on his motherboard tray



idk, his words not mine. wait for him to answer


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## Ethan3.14159

ganzey said:


> size of a 5850, and cost of a case


$70 for a CM 690. Fits a 5970 with room to spare. Most ATX cases these days can fit a 5850.

Also, I would like to see if someone stands over an open air computer, and accidentally sneezes. 

EDIT: My flatmate is running one of these with an i5 750, CM V8, 5870 and it has plenty of room.


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## Orbitron

Ethan3.14159 said:


> $70 for a CM 690. Fits a 5970 with room to spare. Most ATX cases these days can fit a 5850.


Bullshit. 5970 is like 2mm away from the HDD bays in a CM690. Lucky the power connector is on the side.....


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## G25r8cer

My $45 antec 300 will fit a 5850 and a CM v8


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## G25r8cer

Orbitron said:


> Bullshit. 5970 is like 2mm away from the HDD bays in a CM690. Lucky the power connector is on the side.....



2mm clearance IS clearance none the less


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## ganzey

ScottALot said:


> Not so much of a great debate...



its heating up


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## Stoic Sentinel

ganzey said:


> its heating up



Lol, "Wait for it... wait for it... now! No... now! Hmm..."


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## zombine210

i set up all my computers initially out of a case, to diagnose and test for problems. once i'm sure all the parts work, then i stuff it in a case so the kids don't stick their fingers in a fan or pull a wire out or spill horchata on it, oh wait that was me,


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## G25r8cer

zombine210 said:


> horchata



Whats that?


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## Stoic Sentinel

G25r8cer said:


> Whats that?



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horchata



> Horchata or orxata is the name for several kinds of traditional beverages, made of ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley, or tigernuts (chufas).


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## zombine210

G25r8cer said:


> Whats that?



rice juice 

no but srsly, it's a drink from rice, some vanilla, and other goodies typical of where it's made. in mexico they add some cinnamon.

i usually eat at my desk, so i have to be very careful with drinks.


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## G25r8cer

^^ Yum sounds tasty

Recently quit drinking soda all together so im lookin for something that taste good. Been drinking alot of sobe lifewater.

I eat and drink at my desk also but, my desk is fairly large


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## ganzey

G25r8cer said:


> ^^ Yum sounds tasty
> 
> Recently quit drinking soda all together so im lookin for something that taste good. Been drinking alot of sobe lifewater.
> 
> I eat and drink at my desk also but, my desk is fairly large



i buy the gatorade powder. its olny a couple bucks and it makes like 2 gallons, and i just put 2 scoops in a water bottle and it tastes good and is a hell of a lot cheaper than buyin gatorade by the bottle


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## starlitjoker

you can control airflow better in a case than in open air, thats my story and if you water cooling you might aswell go with a case because it looks better lol


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## Ethan3.14159

Orbitron said:


> Bullshit. 5970 is like 2mm away from the HDD bays in a CM690. Lucky the power connector is on the side.....


Guess what? That's room. $70 case that protects everything and fits just about anything. 

Anyway, I'm off to sneeze on everyone's computer without a case.


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## Orbitron

Ethan3.14159 said:


> Guess what? That's room. $70 case that protects everything and fits just about anything.
> 
> Anyway, I'm off to sneeze on everyone's computer without a case.


Not exactly a lot of room, they'd run fairly hot. Don't get me wrong, CM690 is an AWESOME case. I have a Pure Black one.


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## Ethan3.14159

Orbitron said:


> Not exactly a lot of room, they'd run fairly hot. Don't get me wrong, CM690 is an AWESOME case. I have a Pure Black one.


I have the Pure Black as well. And with 5 120mm case fans, nothing gets above 40* C. And the 5870 is just a warm card, regardless of case cooling.


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## spynoodle

Aastii said:


> lmao, my family say the exact same thing when I have parts out


+1 I've gotten the city remark more than once.


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## meticadpa

jasonwow said:


> what does a case have to do with owing a 5850?



If I had spent money on a case, I wouldn't be able to have afforded the HD5850.


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## MacBook

Mine has been in a case, and always will be.


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## Stoic Sentinel

MacBook said:


> Mine has been in a case, and always will be.



Me too, I just took it out to paint my case


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## Ethan3.14159

meticadpa said:


> If I had spent money on a case, I wouldn't be able to have afforded the HD5850.


And you could have bought a dodgy PSU instead of a good one, and had a 5870.


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## Aastii

Ethan3.14159 said:


> And you could have bought a dodgy PSU instead of a good one, and had a 5870.



A decent PSU is essential though, a case isn't


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## Ethan3.14159

Aastii said:


> A decent PSU is essential though, a case isn't


Well, not really. The computer will run on a poor PSU, but then most likely die in a ball of fire later. Like if there was no case protecting everything.


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## Aastii

Ethan3.14159 said:


> Well, not really. The computer will run on a poor PSU, but then most likely die in a ball of fire later. Like if there was no case protecting everything.



lol, I think you still really don't NEED a case, but a decent PSU is really needed


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## ganzey

Aastii said:


> lol, I think you still really don't NEED a case, but a decent PSU is really needed



i guess i fail. i DO have a case now(but it is a peice of crap, no side cover, and plates that cover open drive slots are gone, but hey-it was free) and i have a crappy psu(but its still going strong!!!)


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## GigaByteUD2H

I have mine in a case.  That first tower is huge!


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## funkysnair

i dont like the open air mobo on the table kinda setups with messy cables etc etc (sorry just a noob) but i do like the other benchtable stuff

let me think

my case






Microcool Banchetto 101





i would go with the Microcool Banchetto 101 but the other table top stuff looks like bum fudge


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## meticadpa

Ethan3.14159 said:


> And you could have bought a dodgy PSU instead of a good one, and had a 5870.



That's the worst comparison ever...

And no, I actually couldn't.

A HD5870 would be £120 more than I paid for my card, and my PSU was £77...

Unless I bought a -£43 PSU...


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## just a noob

meh, not shooting for a case for a bit, mainly being a cheap bastard


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## Ethan3.14159

meticadpa said:


> That's the worst comparison ever...
> 
> And no, I actually couldn't.
> 
> A HD5870 would be £120 more than I paid for my card, and my PSU was £77...
> 
> Unless I bought a -£43 PSU...


It's a pretty fair comparison. Going cheap on something instead of waiting and saving for both.


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