Leaving side panel off?

[DampCat]

This has been argued to death on every forum ever.

The basic answer is yes, it does, technically... but frankly the effect of 2x80mm fans creating a vacuum, in a case that is not airtight and riddled with holes is so incredibly small that it's really not worth even considering. Ever.

Although we can wait and watch the 100's of responses this is going to get trying to argue the contrary

Also, as the guy said above, The open side of the fan sucks in, the side of the fan with the arms and motor pushes out.

(with exception of course, of the CPU fan pictured above. Intel like to be different)

 

[Raikiri]

The fan guards at the back of the case are blocking about 70% of the air flow... I would remove them personally, minimum you would need is a pair of wire snips but they won't leave a very clean finish.

 

[DaveMac]

(with exception of course, of the CPU fan pictured above. Intel like to be different)

and this one :

 

[Mlingard]

Ever since i got my 8800GTS, the overall case temperature has gone up as you could imagine. I did a test today and found that with the side panel on im getting ~60C idle and with it off im getting ~52-53C idle.

The case im using is a generic, plain brand and i only have 1x80mm fan at the back. Now i know everyone else says not to leave your side panel off because of dust collection etc, but what if i just had it off when im on the pc and put it back on when im not? Or should i just get another case fan? Because i can see a grill at the front of the inside my case, but the whole front on the outside is completely solid so i cant really see where the air would come in.

Thanks for any help.

Looking at your sig you have a decent setup but the case is a letdown for sure and with something better (case wise) you should see a difference in temps for sure + it will be more pleasing on the eye there are plenty of good cases about for 70 - 80 pounds that is if you can afford to buy one .