Caseless VS Cased PC?

[wonder44]

Hi.

Im a gamer and i have PC which i want to overclock. However i have a Thermalright Ultra 120 passive heatsink (I think as i bought pc second hand). So will i benefit from a caseless PC? In cooling terms. Dust is not an issue as i will maintain that with high expectations. I currently have a Antec Dark Fleet 10 case. If i go caseless, i will have mutiple fans blowing air past the mobo. Including my big 40cm fan which will blow cold air right through the heatsink. So mainly the question here is, will caseless be a better option? If so what is safe to place the motherboard on? ex: wood, Plastic ect... I am aware of the messy cables ect...

Thanks for your help.

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

I would personally use a case. It is quieter and if you get the right one then it will be cooler than it will be caseless.

 

[whooleo]

Coming with personal experiance (my hackintosh I'm using right now is caseless), not having a case is a bit better as far as air flow is concerned especially if you have a ceiling fan. But it's up to personal preference.

 

[wonder44]

Well iv decided to leave motherboard inside case however laid it sideways with the side off. I dot know who to give best answer to. So who ever gets this right gets best answer. Who came up with the idea of CUDA technology from Nvidia. Probly easy one but yea lol

 

[geofelt]

I think the Thermalright Ultra 120 can have a fan mount, and it should if you want to oc your cpu.
A passive heat sink still does depend on some airflow to work.

The key to good cooling is airflow. In an open testbed without fans, you do not get great airflow.

Your case is a good one, I would keep your parts in the case.

But why not do some experimenting and measuring? Try it different ways, and see if it makes any difference.

 

[androidman]

Do be wary of dust. Caseless is fantastic but you may find the entire computer is quickly cased in a layer of dust!

 

[wonder44]

Best answer selected by wonder44.