Mounting PC in cabinet without PC case.

[Ghoward]

Mounting PC in cabinet without PC case.

Hi,

Does anyone have any examples of mounting the pc out of its case? I was wondering about doing this myself to keep down on the heat factor.

Gary

[2slk]

Gary,

 This is a somewhat disputed subject. Some people claim that having the PC in a case allows for better airflow across the CPU and motherboard due to fan placement. I have always maintained that regardless of airflow across the various components, the airflow in and out of the cabinet should be of greater concern. Even with a good fan and proper placement, there's no sense blowing hot air around inside the cabinet and across your MB.  

 The amount of circulation you will need depends on several things. PC monitors usually run pretty hot, as do AMD's XP processors. Setup, component selection and ambient temperature (i.e. do you have A/C in the summer months?) are a few factors that you will have to consider. Different solutions work for different people. Some cabinets I have seen do fine with only an exhaust hole cut fairly high at the back or top of the cabinet. Others I have seen incorporate various configurations of 80mm PC case fans mounted in the back panel of the cabinet itself. There are yet others that use 120v Radio Shack fans.

 As a general rule, I would say that you could start of with the minimum that you think is necessary. Say, an exhaust hole or one fan. Run good system monitoring software on the PC and see how it does temperature-wise. If it runs too hot, you could add a fan or two to increase circulation in and out of the cabinet or to direct air directly across the MB.

 Another item of concern to some is that having the PC inside the cabinet with no case offers no RF shielding. I have never encountered a problem with this so I cannot comment. Good luck!

[Ghoward]

Ok, maybe I should also tell you that my cab has 4 120V fans running with speed controls on them. All blowing cool air into the cab.

In this case what is better in case or out?

Gary

[jakejake28]

man, with 4 of teh fans, you aughta have NO problems with or without the case. i prefer in the case due to teh fragility of the pc, but it shouldnt really matter with 4 fans

[mahuti]

I"m not worried about the fragility. I'd do without the case, but only cause it looks more like an original arcade cabinet. Really, though... It's rediculous to think that encasing a hot box inside another hot box would make something cooler. Prime example... the processor inside a computer does not have its own case. Keep the whole cabinet cool, the case isn't going to help anything.

I have my PC screwed onto the side of the cabinet, and any componenets are screwed onto the cab as well. If I want to lay the thing down in my van, NO  problem.

[Pyronious]

I did mine without a case and it's great.  My JAMMA cab has a shelf that slides out, so I have the PC mounted to that shelf.  I can slide the whole thing out and replace it with a JAMMA board or Dreamcast board easily.  Here are some pics:

The motherboard and JPAC mounted securely in place.

Installed inside of cabinet

One more inside the cabinet

Good luck!