when is a computer case not a case at all?
July 23rd, 2008 comments (10) stumble it! digg it! by: technabob
Looking for a way to keep your souped-up PC from overheating? This series of bold acrylic cases out of Japan does away with convention by doing away with the exterior case walls, thus eliminating much of the heat which might otherwise be trapped by a traditional enclosure.
Digital Cowboy’s Acrylic Cowboy computer cases sort of remind me of those old “visible man” anatomical models, spilling the guts of your PC all over the exterior for everyone to see.
Cases are available in several different styles, ranging from the beautiful, minimal orange platform design of the ACPC3 and the hot pink ACPCD, to the dramatic smoke grey/black ACPC4 which places your motherboard at an extra special 25 degree angle.
All models can house an ATX or Micro ATX logic board, and provide open bays underneath for mounting hard drives and optical storage devices with ease. As an added bonus, the open air designs make adding and removing cards, memory and storage about as easy as it gets too. Also, thanks to a pure acrylic motherboard shelf, it’s much less likely that you’ll ever short out the solder on the bottom of the board.
Acrylic Cowboy cases are now available from Hanwha Japan, with prices ranging from ¥3,980 (Appx. $37 USD) to ¥10,800 (Appx. $101 USD). And of course, there’s that small problem of trying to get one here from Japan.
filed under: computing hacks + mods
July 23rd, 2008 comments (10): stumble it! digg it! by: technabob
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Actually keeping a PC housed thusly will cause it to run hotter. While it would seem logical for an open case to keep it cooler by not trapping heat in a confined space, it isn’t.
A case actually regulates airflow so that fresh (and cool) air is constantly directed over the most important parts, thus keeping it much cooler.
This case is likely designed for those using it as a test bed PC where they are inserting and removing parts on a regular basis. Putting your souped up gaming rig in this would be a quick way to destroy it.
I guess I didn’t think about it that way. Unless you happen to live in a walk-in freezer, having no case at all would greatly affect airflow….
And the words “Test Ber” – I assume they meant “Bed” on the angled one all but confirms your test bed theory.
Umm err how about the issues with static? big old sheets of plexi are notorious for building up a charge.
Yeah, what nathan said. I was just on the verge of fabricating one of these when I also thought about the static possibilities. It would be OK if it were my own mobo I trashed because of static, but if it were a customers $300+ mobo it wouldn’t be too long before I was out of business. Maybe the PSU would discharge the static if it were plugged in before the mobo was mounted.
static… how about if they rimmed the mobo shelf with metal… like a trimmed edge on a composite countertop…? Kinda getting pricey on the manufacture side… but… if they did that… then used metal legs as they do… and tied this al lto a metal back plate instead of plex where the power supply attaches… that would tie the grounding in together,,,
does anyone know if the metal rim would be effective at drawing static off the plex mobo platform?
Damn, I shoulda patented this comment…
Maybe Digital Cowboy would like to hire me…? I am quite the savvy inventor!
kc
Technically everything on the internet is copy written, even this sentence, unless the publisher says you can use it for whatever.
By the way, you can use this post for whatever.
umm, your idiots, you can get no static plexi, you think yourselves so smart and everyone else doens’t hink anythign through. Also most pc cases dont’ have any particular airflow patters, so the open case would be better than most, a really good case DOES have an airflow, so that would be better than open.
You are correct most cheap $30 cases don’t have airflow patterns but if you get a nice gaming case they are configured for better airflow. Also the open case has no movement at all, a case with even one fan would preform better because it is at least circulating the air to some degree. This design would be great for a computer that you want to test components on or for a water cooling system or even a phase change cooled computer but not for just air cooling.
I’ve gotten better cooling for overclocking when i take off the case side on a cheap case, with jsut a cpu fan and gpu card fan, a case isn’t really needed to keep airflow, but a good one can improve cooling. but your computer will get really dusty if you keep it open so i dont’ recommend it.
Also this whole thing could be fixed by merely mounting a large-ish fan almost anywhere on it to pull the air off of the mobo and CPU.
Besides all of that I wouldn’t want one because like most people my computer is right next to my desk where I eat and drink. That case will offer no protection to Coke and chex mix. Or children or pets for that matter.
Cool idea, not very practical unless you are testing components or something.