Best Computer Case Material
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Posted by zumm on August 20, 2008, 6:40 pm
Please log in for more thread options Hi there, I'm just wondering witch material would be the best for a computer, considering: Existing commercial materials: Steel Aluminum Acrylic Plastic Other materials available for DIY projects, like Wood. First, what should we look for: Heat dissipation or thermal isolation? Then, what do we want from it: In general I think sound isolation and low components temperature, some people would like a "lightweight" case. I think Aluminum would give best heat dissipation, but Acrylic would give better sound isolation. | |||||||||||||
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Posted by kony on August 20, 2008, 8:14 pm
Please log in for more thread options On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:40:05 -0700 (PDT), zumm >Steel
Strongest per thickness, usually cheapest. May rust eventually. >Aluminum
Lighter weight, needs to be thicker than steel for same rigidity else more folds and bends or braces to make the case stronger and quieter. >Acrylic
No EMI prevention, more fiddly to use longer screws if it isn't designed for short standard drive screws. If it's transparent it looks uglier after dust builds up so a positive pressurized design with a filtered intake is a good attempt at combatting that. More susceptible to cracking if it's moved. More variability between different cases than with steel. More expensive if decent quality thicker acrylic, but a little quieter than metal. >Plastic
Not a good choice, who makes all plastic cases? >
>Other materials available for DIY projects, like Wood. Looks good if you start with good wood and a good design. Quieter than metal. Not much else going for it unless you wanted a hobby building a case and had some nice wood lying around or just found wood easier to work with to make a custom shaped case you can't find already made out of other materials. In general, steel cases are the most popular because they are the most suited to a typical system. >
>First, what should we look for: >Heat dissipation or thermal isolation? Forget about heat dissipation, it is entirely due to the intake and exhaust design which doesn't need to be done any differently with any of the above materials. Thermal isolation from what? There is no intent to thermally isolate a case or it's contents, except maybe adding a duct to channel airflow but even this isn't really necessary unless the cooling design depends on a rear case fan to pull air through a heatsink instead of having a fan on that heatsink, or on the intake to flow air over a forward situated CPU like on some BTW or server boards. >
>Then, what do we want from it: >In general I think sound isolation and low components temperature, >some people would like a "lightweight" case. Lightweight seems the least important unless you're regularly attending lan parties. Sound isolation can be important, but the general design of any of the above materials can inclue ample intake and exhaust area such that very low RPM fans are used, as well as quiet northbridge and video card fans (if so equipped). IOW the best sound isolation strategy is for the sound to be less in the first place, then not have a front case fan because that noise is immediately escaping the case towards the user's ears instead of being reflected off the back wall or rest of the room away from the ears before it returns, with some of the noise absorbed or scattered in different directions before reflected back. Very rigid thin materials without folds or creases tend to act like a drum from vibrations in the system, meaning a metal case tends to be louder, especially the cheap ones but this can be minimized through choice of a good design and fans as mentioned above. Key is deciding just how quiet it needs to be, it is not hard to build an average system in a metal case that is quiet, but with a lot of hotter running parts the wood then acrylic would be quieter if all else were equal. >
>I think Aluminum would give best heat dissipation, but Acrylic would >give better sound isolation. Aluminum has no advantage in heat dissipation because parts aren't heatsunk to the case to any significant extent and the case air temperature is too similar to the room air temperature for this to matter. Air just doesn't stay in the case long enough if it has proper ventilation. Buy the case with the looks you like and good intake and exhaust designs. Use the right fans or switch fans if necessary. These things matter far more than the material used. | |||||||||||||
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Posted by ~misfit~ on August 22, 2008, 3:41 am
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Somewhere on teh intarweb "kony" typed: > On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:40:05 -0700 (PDT), zumm
> >> Hi there,
>> I'm just wondering witch material would be the best for a computer, >> considering: >> >> Existing commercial materials: >
>> Steel
>
> Strongest per thickness, usually cheapest. May rust > eventually. > >> Aluminum
>
> Lighter weight, needs to be thicker than steel for same > rigidity else more folds and bends or braces to make the > case stronger and quieter. I've seen a lot of aluminium cases with stripped threads. Steel screws going into soft aluminium with 'users' operating the screwdriver is a recipe for stripped threads. Cheers, -- Shaun. DISCLAIMER: If you find a posting or message from me offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it. If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate... ;-) | |||||||||||||
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>I'm just wondering witch material would be the best for a computer,
>considering:
>
>Existing commercial materials: