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Your MAME computer: Clothed or Naked?
TheShanMan:
I keep mine in the case. Cooling is one reason (and I keep sides on to minimize fan noise). Leaving the original centipede board/wiring/components alone is another (I built a little shelf to put the computer on). Plus I took of the case's feet and bolted it down so it's secure.
Another reason: one day it will be re-purposed. It's actually my most powerful machine :o so one day it will become my desktop.
divemaster127:
I keep mine in the case, reason 1. the case is made for cooling. 2. If I need to work on the system I can just pull it out
dm
CheffoJeffo:
For those who cite cooling as a reason for keeping a computer cased, have you monitored the component temperatures in both the cased / decased scenarios ?
Honest question -- I did this once and found that decased ran cooler. But that was one machine with a small (crappy) case and no real high-heat components other than the main CPU.
hbm*rais:
I keep mine out of the case, mounted to the side of the cabinet. Mainly for "psychological" reasons.
Notice that keeping the PC in an opened case may be the worst option. The case creates pockets of hot air around the components that wouldn't exist if they were mounted to the side of the cabinet. Keeping the case opened hinds the programmed flux of air that would remove this pockets of hot air.
@CheffoJeffo: I have once monitored the temperature in my old case (nice sized but cheap full ATX case). It run cooler with the case closed. I also experimented with auxiliary fans and noticed that they are much more efficient when sucking hot air out of the case (positioned right under the PSU) than when blowing cold air (as "cold" as air gets in Rio anyway) into it (positioned low on the front, under the drive bay).
Fozzy The Bear:
--- Quote from: CheffoJeffo on February 16, 2008, 09:24:37 am ---For those who cite cooling as a reason for keeping a computer cased, have you monitored the component temperatures in both the cased / decased scenarios ?
Honest question -- I did this once and found that decased ran cooler. But that was one machine with a small (crappy) case and no real high-heat components other than the main CPU.
--- End quote ---
Indeed I have..... and as I said in my post above: A good case is actually better than no case at all. However, that said a cheap PC case is not always designed well enough to do that job properly. So it could be argued that no case is better than a cheap case, and a good case is actually the best solution.
Which it would seem is exactly what you found there.
Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)