A question of cooling and airflow


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Hi,

As a PC user of many years I have always removed the shims from unused slots on the back to provide airflow across the various cards I have installed.

I usualy make sure there are, if possible, space above and below each.

Recently I was put through A+ training and was told that replacing the shims is vital to proper case ventilation.

Any thoughts, opinions and maybe stories?

Thanks,

~dev

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I am not a big airflow expert, but I think if you leave some spaces open you will interfere with the normal airflow of the case. The idea is that the power supply pulls the warm air from the top of the case wich in turn makes the fresh air in the bottom rise. If you leave a space open somewhere in the middle the power suplly migth start to pull fresh air from outside , thus interfering with the correct airflow.

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you want the case to be air tight so you know that new air is going in and hot is going out. With holes and such, you could be recirculating warm air and loosing the slight pressure required for good airflow

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i agree partially with "username"

It may be good to remove the shims from the back of the pc if you don't have ANY casefans.

this is so the air gradually gets ventilated from the pc

it's even wiser to remove the side off the pc to even imporove airflow

BUT

if you have casefans, then you want to avoid any kind of holes or openigns in your case. This is so that the casefans create a sorta wind-tunnel effect in your pc and therefore the air is constantly circulated. If there is a hole, then it creates a "leakage" or it creates a vacum and there is no longer any wind tunnel effect!

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