PC Case standing or laying on side

[a44arana]

Motherboard - Asus Z87-Pro (v-edition)
PSU - Thermaltake 850W EVO_BLUE 2.0
CPU - i7 4770K (not overclocked)
CPU Cooler - Corsair Hydro Series H100i
RAM - Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10B 16GB (2x8gb)
Storage - Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD (windows 7 Ultimate - SP 1)
Optical - ASUS 24X DVD Burner (Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS)
Graphics Card - ASUS GTX780-DC2OC-3GD5 Graphics card - 3 GB - GDDR5 SDRAM
Wireless adaptor - TP-LINK TL-WDN4800
Case - NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Full Tower with 4 fans (200mx1 intake, 120mmx2 intake, 120mmx1 outtake)

i have a new pc case and was wondering if it was ok to lay the case on its side. i plan to add a 1TB hdd for storage. its my first build, and i dont know if its ok to lay my hdd/sdd, and cpu cooler sideways.

also theres one screened opening on the side that will lay down, is this gonna mess up my ventilation or will the fans i have on the other side make up for that?

i want to turn my case sideways cause the graphics card seems heavy and i think it would sit easier if the case were sideways, or is it not a good idea?

any help is appreciated.

 

[neon neophyte]

my biggest concern with putting a computer on its side would be having the hard drives and dvd rom oriented the wrong way. mechanical moving parts etc etc

 

[clutchc]

You can lay the case any way you want. The HDD/SSD won't matter what position they are in. Although it is best if you don't install everything and THEN turn it over. That might change the HDD heads' orientation enough to mis-read/write.

But if the only reason you are turning the case on its side is to relieve strain on the gfx card... dont. If the card is mounted by its expansion cover end plate with both screws, and the card is firmly in its slot with any slot lock close that may or may not be provided, there is no good reason to turn the case over.
If your 6/8 pin cables are putting a strain on the end of the card due to poor cable management, that is another issue easily remedied.