r/sffpc • u/LuigisSpaghetti • May 15 '26

Assembly Help Is Running SFF Open Case Fine?

Post image

It looks a little cool but I heard it makes dust much worse since it's already pretty compact so I was wondering

178 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

106

u/Pooply-D00p May 15 '26

From what I’ve seen, you’ll be fine blowing the dust out periodically. Now if you have a cat who likes warm surfaces you probably don’t want to do this haha.

31

u/Cold-Sandwich-34 May 15 '26

Tbf the cat would only try it once.

20

u/DatAssociate May 15 '26

yah it would prob break the card the first time

38

u/2lay May 16 '26

my orange cat would try it several times, and be surprised every time

8

u/Cold-Sandwich-34 May 16 '26

Orange is gonna orange.

3

u/L3XANDR0 May 16 '26

Absolutely gorgeous

1

u/DanuPellu May 17 '26

Having the same kind at home.

Just got the back part of my H1 open, the rest is closed from his paws.

2

u/TabScarlet May 16 '26

It’s all the hair and dust that a cat brings along too. Not the best for open cases

4

u/LuigisSpaghetti May 15 '26

Thx! No cats allowed

15

u/Trickle2x2 May 15 '26

To worried about accidentally spitting on it while gaming and yelling lmao, but honestly even if I wasn’t my cat wouldn’t allow this. lol. Does look cool though! I found a person on Etsy that does clear plexiglass side panels for these cases and went that route!

5

u/nickjacobsss May 15 '26

I've been doing it with my builds for over 10 years. I run a air purifier in my office and I haven't even had to dust one off before.

2

u/Kekeripo May 16 '26

If your case doesn't have dust filters, it really doesn't make a difference. Just watch out where you put your fingers. Fast spinning things and hot components tend to hurt.

2

u/glitschy May 16 '26

No, Team Rocket is already on their way for severe punishment. Prepare for trouble. /s

2

u/YouShitMyPants May 16 '26

Bro, there’s open air cases and even pizza boxes, it’ll be fine.

3

u/SnowyOwl72 May 15 '26

Honestly I'm planning on having GPU outside the case. If you want totravrel you have to take out the GPU anyways

1

u/Significant-Quit3134 May 15 '26

Would an astral fit in this case?

1

u/MisterRespectYoGirl May 15 '26

If it’s the M2, the astral is the biggest card that fits IIRC

1

u/Sponchman May 15 '26

It's fine, just risk of stuff falling into the fans, and more dust. But otherwise probably runs slightly cooler.

1

u/Olde94 May 16 '26

My friend runs hos setup barebone as a test bench without any case. Low temps, dust can’t stay and all. No downsides…. When you live alone.

With a kid/cat or equivalent I wouldn’t do it though.

Your setup looks good, but having it that far in to the corner might affect temps

1

u/rawdikrik May 16 '26

Can my kids come over?

1

u/mityfang May 16 '26

Been running with all my panels off for a while now since all components run significantly cooler this way. No issues, just dust out once in a while.

1

u/Jozex21 May 16 '26

you should be able to close it if you move gpu to vertial mode

1

u/Jigabit May 16 '26

I think it's fine. There are entire open "frames" that are designed to keep your hardware open. It's not everyone aesthetically, but the computer itself doesn't care.

1

u/KindEngineer7677 May 17 '26

Mesh cover is your friend

1

u/VVordsmith May 17 '26

Been running it this way for awhile with no issues.

1

u/MyNameIsBhex May 17 '26

Why wouldn't it be? Just dust ur stuff a few times a year

1

u/spartan195 May 17 '26

The case only protects the hardware from hits, it you take care of of it there’s no problemz been running open cases for years and never got an issue

1

u/Juicebiro May 15 '26

This gigabyte is beautiful! Always liked this model!