Computer case: on the floor or on top of the desk?

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:19 am

Hello,

I don't really know where to place this question but here it goes:
Is having your computer case on the floor really that much quieter than having it on your desk? When it's already pretty quiet I mean.

Having it on the floor = too much dust

sjoukew · Post by **sjoukew** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:50 am

rpsgc wrote:Hello,
Having it on the floor = too much dust

Dust filters

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:30 am

In the days of windows and CCFLs I had my case on the desk, I'm ashamed to admit.

Now, being a man and not a boy, the case is on the floor where it should be.

But it really depends on the type of case. My P182 is on the floor, but I doubt I would put a Mac mini there.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:39 am

sjoukew wrote:
rpsgc wrote:Hello,
Having it on the floor = too much dust
Dust filters

I can't put dust filters on every vent and opening... nonetheless dust has superpowers, it always wins :/

Wibla · Post by **Wibla** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:23 am

If you make an effort to vacuum often, dust isnt a big problem.. and even with just basic fan filters (like on the p182) it helps.. alot.

Cleaning out a computer every few months is a normal routine for me, or atleast it was before I moved out from my parents house (smoking, cats, and not alot of vacuuming around the pcs).

porkchop · Post by **porkchop** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:18 pm

hiding your case under the desk is a cheap way to make a quiet pc effectively silent, i know i probably couldn't live with mine if it sat on my desk.
also, i've got a very low airflow thing going -i've managed to not clean it for months with very little dust build up.
my case is actually sitting on a cut off floor panel, this was to make it easy to move on the carpet- but perhaps this helps a little?

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:30 pm

I don't see how on the floor means more dust. Maybe if you have no rug or carpet and it's just completely out in the open . . . In my experience desktop gets more dust.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 12:51 am

jessekopelman wrote:I don't see how on the floor means more dust. Maybe if you have no rug or carpet and it's just completely out in the open . . . In my experience desktop gets more dust.

I have a dog

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:56 am

I have several pets. The floor is definitely more prone to dust and debris. My solution is to use a simple stand to elevate my computers off the floor a bit.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 5:31 am

I tried placing it on the floor atop the keyboard tray from my old desk. Don't know if it'll make any difference

Damn... I'm really starting to feel that my HX-520 is noisy(ier).

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 5:36 am

Build a stand for it. That's what I did - the case is about 20cm off the floor, and I can fit my UPS beneath it

potsy · Post by **potsy** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 7:03 pm

In my last set up I hung the computer under the desk. Keeps it way off the floor and made a big difference noise wise. Also it's harder to see and doesn't get in the way of your feet under the desk.

Obviously there are a billion ways to do it, but what I did was hang a tray under the desk for the puter to sit on. Get a piece of wood a bit bigger than the puter, put a loop of rope in each corner and screw four hooks into the bottom of the desk. That way you can just unhook it when you want to get inside.

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:36 am

jessekopelman wrote:I don't see how on the floor means more dust. Maybe if you have no rug or carpet and it's just completely out in the open . . . In my experience desktop gets more dust.

It's the biggest horizontal surface in the room and the one that gets the most activity (more dust being kicked up). You don't see the dust particles in your carpet because they are ground into the fibers an only visible when becoming motes in the air.

Try steam-cleaning your clean (dirt-free) carpet and let me know what you find!

Desktop is just more visible and the surface we do most of "our work" on, therefore it becomes more noticeable.

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:39 pm

jhhoffma wrote:
jessekopelman wrote:I don't see how on the floor means more dust. Maybe if you have no rug or carpet and it's just completely out in the open . . . In my experience desktop gets more dust.
It's the biggest horizontal surface in the room and the one that gets the most activity (more dust being kicked up). You don't see the dust particles in your carpet because they are ground into the fibers an only visible when becoming motes in the air.

Try steam-cleaning your clean (dirt-free) carpet and let me know what you find!

Desktop is just more visible and the surface we do most of "our work" on, therefore it becomes more noticeable.

No what I mean is that I've had/dealt with computers kept on desks and computers kept on floors and I have found the desktop ones to be dustier! Plenty of pet gunk found in desktop units . . . Maybe my perspective is skewed by my own units not being desktop for several generations and getting opened every so oftenand the dirty desktops belonging to other people who had never opened them. Still, my current system is resting right on the carpet and I've notice no undue buildup and there is a dog in the apartment . . . Maybe I'll change my tune as time progresses with the current setup.

kittle · Post by **kittle** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:18 am

My case also sits on the floor nexto my desk. (its too big for the desktop)

Over time I havent noticed any excessive dust buildup. I tend to open the thing every few months to tinker, and then once a year for an upgrade.

I have a cat in the house with me (read: walking hair factory), but with reasonably regular vacuuming, the dust content of my case stays to a minimum.

I also have an older server that sits in the same place. it seldom gets opened, and when I do i find much more dust inside -- usually collected at the bottom of the case - not in the fans or heat sinks.

canthearyou · Post by **canthearyou** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:02 pm

I've had my case on the floor and on the desk over the years. I estimate that it collects two to three times as much dust from the floor as on the desk. I now place my case on top of an old InWin A-500 pc case. We have wood floors, not a rug. In winter, there is a lot of air movement across the floor from heating and in summer from fans. Our apartment does not have the most logical arrangement for hvac. My opinion is that a pc on the floor collects more dust.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 12:35 pm

I don't want to start a new topic so I'll just ask it here.

I have a new desk, it has one of those "cubicles" for my computer case. Do I need to drill a hole for my exhaust fan? There's around 10/15cm of space behind the case but still... wouldn't just the hot air go around to the front intake fan? So it's advisable to have a hole for the fan right?

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 1:59 pm

rpsgc wrote:I don't want to start a new topic so I'll just ask it here.

I have a new desk, it has one of those "cubicles" for my computer case. Do I need to drill a hole for my exhaust fan? There's around 10/15cm of space behind the case but still... wouldn't just the hot air go around to the front intake fan? So it's advisable to have a hole for the fan right?

My TV stand has glass doors on the front and cardboard/pressboard on the back. I cut a really big hole in the back because my DVD player + DVR going at the same time in there gets it plenty warm and this is no small space. I'm talking a several feet wide by several feet deep.

Unless you plan to put a fan on the back of the furniture to make sure there is airflow out that hole you better make it as big of a hole you can get away with so that natural convection can take place...

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 3:42 am

That big? Wouldn't a hole as big as the fan (120mm) be enough?

But on the other hand, would my computer be that much hotter without a hole on the desk behind it?

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 5:39 am

rpsgc wrote:That big? Wouldn't a hole as big as the fan (120mm) be enough?

But on the other hand, would my computer be that much hotter without a hole on the desk behind it?

In the case of my TV stand the DVD player and DVR are as far front as I could leave them thus there is a significant distance between the rear of the components and the rear of the furniture.

The whole center chamber of the TV stand gets heated up by the two devices. Neither one has a strong exhaust fan nor are either device near the hole I made. Before I modified the back of the stand It was hot enough in there for the DVR to have recording errors if I left the front door closed (I didn't measure the temp but the outside of the DVR case was hot to the touch, the air was hot, the whole situation was very hot) and even with the front door open it was borderline.

Now with the rear opened up it is just better than borderline if the front door is closed and plenty cool if I crack the front door to allow pass through airflow.

If you have a hole in the furniture that is close enough to an exhaust fan you don't need the hole to be overly large. If your PC will be running speedfan or you'll have access to the BIOS you can monitor temps and make a decision.

In my case the DVR and DVD player don't give me an easy way to monitor temps.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 6:18 am

Just to clarify, I don't know if you assumed so or not, there isn't a front door to where I'll place my computer.

It's kind of like this:
http://www.cornercomputerdesks.co.uk/Co ... -Table.jpg

Only Wider and much Deeper (about 31,5" and the Solo is 18,5" deep).

If all else fails I'll just unscrew the panel at the back.

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 9:50 am

rpsgc wrote:If all else fails I'll just unscrew the panel at the back.

That's what I'd do. Also be wary of the PC becoming mechaically coupled to the desk and causing vibrations that turn into low freq noise. You may want to sit the PC atop some damping material. I always use a piece of close cell foam, the kind Antec (and others) often uses as end-caps for cases in the shipping boxes.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 10:09 am

Thanks for the replies.

MikeC wrote:That's what I'd do. Also be wary of the PC becoming mechaically coupled to the desk and causing vibrations that turn into low freq noise.

Mechanically coupled? It will be placed on top of wood only touching the desk at the bottom. There won't be a problem that way right?

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 10:26 am

rpsgc wrote:Thanks for the replies.

MikeC wrote:That's what I'd do. Also be wary of the PC becoming mechaically coupled to the desk and causing vibrations that turn into low freq noise.
Mechanically coupled? It will be placed on top of wood only touching the desk at the bottom. There won't be a problem that way right?

There certainly could be. It depends on how much vibrations are in the case. Try it and you'll soon find out.

Also, even with the back and front open, that spce is a kind of cavity, with its own internal air resonance. The PC will fill a lot of it, which is good, but not all -- you say it's 31" deep -- and this means there's also the possibility of some low freq boost due to cavity resonance.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 10:37 am

I have it on top of a piece of wood right now, A-OK! Again, if all fails I can also place it on top of the desk

Might be noisier but better that than the alternative.

Computer case: on the floor or on top of the desk?

Computer case: on the floor or on top of the desk?

Re: Computer case: on the floor or on top of the desk?

Re: Computer case: on the floor or on top of the desk?