How to deal with high amounts of pet hair and dust.

[merctruq]

So I am a big time gamer who happens to have two Siberian Husky dogs. Needless to say, the hair at my place piles up, even if you sweep every other day. That said, I am planning on buying a new case. I was wondering if anyone could help with the following:

• 
  ■What type of case to buy? (the number of fans to set on intake vs exhaust to create negative pressure)
  ■Part placement within the case. (Does it matter if my power supply is at the bottom or top within my case? Will it have a negative/positive effect with the high amount of pet hair)
  ■Any tips on keeping hair and dust out of the case. (Whether it is just jury-rigging my fans with panty hose or if anyone knows of something better.)

Thanks for helping/reading. Any other non-related tips are welcome.

 

[NoL1c]

Make sure you look for cases with mesh-type dust filters at [mostly] every fan intake. I have a Corsair 650D, and the main intake at the front has a [removable] dust filter inside.

Check out the Corsiar Obsidian series cases, as they have great filtration and cooling methods. http://www.corsair.com/us/pc-cases/obsidian-series-pc-case.html

Also, go to www.antec.com and look at the Antec P180 Performance series case. It has 2 plastic snap in filters on the front of the case and all you have to do is run it under water and shake it out. Just like the Corsiar cases.

As for the placement of the PSU, it doesn't really matter. Most commonly, it is located at the bottom because airflow is best when going in from the front, up through and out the back and/or the top of the case.

 

[saucy]

I would suggest getting a case with external dust filters over the fans. You could buy some mesh from the store to fit onto any fans that don't have dust filters on them by default (some people even use dryer sheets). The PC should definitely be raised off the floor; on top of a desk would be ideal. Keeping a small, handheld, rechargeable vacuum around the area would be a good idea as well. I'd say the room that the PC is in should be cleaned more often too. As far as the power supply mount goes, it all depends on whether the fan on it is facing up or down. I have this case and it's nearly dust proof. A good thing about this case is that you can change the direction of the front fans so you can point them away from where the abundance of dust/hair is. If you don't like the white, they come in black but I believe they are harder to find.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119260

 

[J4ynik]

I would recommend to buy a closed case, that is good coolable and has good dust filters. I don't know, where you will place the Computer, but I think it would be very usefull to let the Air come in from behind and exhaust in the front. And you should place it on a table and not the ground.
Further on, I would recommend (Ifnot to Expensive) a Watercooled System. There are even relly cheap CPU-only Watercooling solutions (For Example the Antec H2O 620). Usually you can#t choose, where to place the PSU. I you can, it depends on where you will place your Computer. Ifyou will place it on a table, you should mount it on the bottom part of the Case, that delivers an improvement in cooling and since there probably won't be any or really rare doghairs on the table the PSU won't pull them in. However, if the Computer will stand on the Floor, I would recommend to place the PSU on the Bottom, so it won't pull all the doghairs from the floor into the PC. I would also say, that you should tryto somehow clos the bottom rear part of he Case, if you will place it on the ground.
And you should maybe clean it every to all three month. Depends on how dirty it is.
I hope, I helped you with this long-ass text!
Greetings from Germany
J4ynik

 

[merctruq]

Make sure you look for cases with mesh-type dust filters at [mostly] every fan intake. I have a Corsair 650D, and the main intake at the front has a [removable] dust filter inside.

Check out the Corsiar Obsidian series cases, as they have great filtration and cooling methods. http://www.corsair.com/us/pc-cases/obsidian-series-pc-case.html

Also, go to www.antec.com and look at the Antec P180 Performance series case. It has 2 plastic snap in filters on the front of the case and all you have to do is run it under water and shake it out. Just like the Corsiar cases.

As for the placement of the PSU, it doesn't really matter. Most commonly, it is located at the bottom because airflow is best when going in from the front, up through and out the back and/or the top of the case.

I would suggest getting a case with external dust filters over the fans. You could buy some mesh from the store to fit onto any fans that don't have dust filters on them by default (some people even use dryer sheets). The PC should definitely be raised off the floor; on top of a desk would be ideal. Keeping a small, handheld, rechargeable vacuum around the area would be a good idea as well. I'd say the room that the PC is in should be cleaned more often too. As far as the power supply mount goes, it all depends on whether the fan on it is facing up or down. I have this case and it's nearly dust proof. A good thing about this case is that you can change the direction of the front fans so you can point them away from where the abundance of dust/hair is. If you don't like the white, they come in black but I believe they are harder to find.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119260

Do the filters on those cases snap on/off easily and quickly? Or will I have to open up the case and take them out. I plan on cleaning out my case with compressed air and a small vacuum at least twice a month, but I would imagine that those filters would need to be cleaned weekly or it will restrict airflow from all the caught hair/dust. And opening up my case every week just sounds like a pain in the butt.

 

[J4ynik]

I don't think you should use compressed air! It might destroy certain Parts of your PC.

 

[saucy]

The filters on the Storm Stryker slide out and on very easily without opening the case at all. The filter over the power supply fan is double layered as well for more dust collection and extra protection. Check out this overview video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx4HAkNdu5w

 

[NoL1c]

On the Corsair 650D, the front filter is just a click-in click-out removable filter. The filter on the bottom slides in and out.

I wish I knew how to post video's from my phone here, but until then I'll have to find a YouTube vid...

NeweggTV: http://youtu.be/ETQ2KgqcfWY

LinusTechTips: http://youtu.be/iQADafqEjvE

 

[Calculatron]

I have Corsair 300R, and am the owner of two rabbits, with an additional foster rabbit. My two are just a standard Mini-Lop, and a Rex-mix that has very dense hair. The foster rabbit is an English Angora which is like a puff-ball of hairy doom. All of them shed every three months, on their own schedules.

The Corsair 300R is nothing fancy. I don't have the windowed side case, and I have a total of five case fans: the stock rear and stock front, with an addition front 140mm, and two top 120mm. I have a lot of airflow, with a leaning towards negative pressure. I have my PSU on the bottom, intake utilizing the bottom filter, and the front two fan intakes definitely are using the standard filter. It definitely makes a difference. It doesn't completely eliminate the problem, but, it helps. I don't get the massive "dust bunnies" I used to get whenever I cleaned my case out. (Har har.)

 

[NoL1c]

I am an owner of two cats, and the little shits shed all year round . One of them has a bed right next to my computer (because it's warm). With the dust filters and everything, every time I open the case, I can't find any cat hair. This leads me to believe that most every single case these days is build with pet hair (as well as dust, of course) in mind.

So In summary to your overall question, any case you buy will have filters to keep particles out; try to make a negative pressure inside your case so that the little stuff doesn't find it's way in; and most cases have the PSU set to the bottom, with a dust filter where the fan is.

The placement of a PSU will not have a positive or negative effect on the amount of pet hair.

Hope this helped