Benefits of having a caseless computer

Not enclosing your components in a case isn’t exactly popular. To many, it would be considered irresponsible, but I believe that’s going to change. My next build will not include a casing, and here are the reasons why:

A caseless computer makes the whole thing smaller

If having a smaller-sized setup is vital to you, there’s nothing anywhere as large as the case. Small form factor cases exist but unless you fit your components in such a manner that every inch is utilized up with something, cases make your computer excessively bulky. “Space” in a case is essentially wasted space, the assumption that air requires room to move is folly — the less air there is in your case, the faster your extractor fan can replace the full volume of air accessible. The more room, the longer the warm air stays.

In for example a micro ITX construction, all important components are packed onto a tiny 17cm by 17cm motherboard, then commonly housed in a 20cm x 30cm x 40cm box. Insanity.

As of now, caseless computers look good

This is certainly subjective. But most users prefer to at least have part of their computer exposed, thus all the windowed examples you see. The trouble with having a caseless computer previously was that it wasn’t so beautiful. All those cables… and what’s appealing about a PSU, a 3.5″ HDD, or the underside of a DVD drive?

Nothing, all those things are nasty.

But today, none of those things need to exist any longer. When you’re designing a power-efficient machine, you may pick a PicoPSU, which is small. Unless you have an exceptional reason for one, a DVD drive is totally superfluous aside from the initial OS installation. SSDs are compact and the majority are appealing. And lastly, with construction this simple, you now have eliminated the problem of the large tangle of cords you’d ordinarily have to put up with.

I believe a computer with a PicoPSU, 1 SSD, 1 GPU, and a great-looking CPU cooler – fully caseless, would look a lot more fascinating than a metal box.

Caseless computer Fewer compatibility issues

When you’re picking components for a compact form factor construction, ensuring everything fit can be a real ball pain. With a caseless construction, you still need to ensure various components aren’t in each other’s way, but with no case, it makes things a hell of a lot simpler. The only probable problematic component with a compact form factor construction I can think of is the CPU fan, it has to clear the memory and allow room for the GPU. With the case? You still have the same problem, but you also need to verify your GPU fits and that there’s even room for a reasonable-sized CPU cooler. Watercooling is typically a nightmare.

Nice looking cases are expensive

Cases, in general, are cheap, but desired cases are not and aren’t because 0.4mm thick metal is costly, it’s because consumers will pay more for a not ugly casing. The reason I say not unattractive is that most cases are horrible and all it takes is for a company like Corsair or Silverstone to develop something that’s pretty basic and plain looking and that’s the next “must-have” case — people would gladly spend $200 for a little metal box.

Not having a case also saves you from purchasing case fans, not only that but you won’t have to have any additional guff they may have included with it to explain the high price, things you’ll never use. Bad case stock fans you will have to change anyhow, card readers, and LEDs you’d like weren’t there.

To conclude. Cases suck. They all suffer from a design by a committee and nothing can be done about it.

It’s not the manufacturer’s fault, either. They need to hold an indefinitely enormous conceivable combination of components, have high cooling capabilities, be user-pleasant, soundproof and most improbably, they have to look great. Whatever case you have, you’ll be forced to make concessions and it’s come to the point where it’s making more sense to simply not have one.