PC Peripherals Which Dust-free Cabinet to Get?

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Aman27deep

Aman27deep

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Guys im'a getting some new parts, please help me select a new cabby, it NEEDS to be kinda dust free or something like that (even semi-dust free might do) as i live next to the national highway and theres a LOT of dust.

It'll need to fit

Intel E7500
Gigabyte G31M-S2l
Corsair VX 550
Palit GTX 460 1 GB DDR 5 Sonic Edition
3 Hard Discs (buying one more)

and some brand new 120mm fans.

I need two things :

I'll insist on it being semi-dust free or something,

and

A low resting PSU case

My maximum budget is 4k, but the least the better for me, i'm short on cash.
 
There's no such thing as a dust-free or a semi-dust free enclosure. If you have fans, dust is bound to be sucked in. Akin to the yin and yang theory. :P

Dust filter can help but will also limit the flow rate of the air sucked inside. Ventilation might take a small hit if anything.

You have several options - CM Elite 430, CM 590, Antec 300, Lian Li Lancool K56 etc. The CM Gamma is also pretty good and has almost every feature found in the mid-end enclosures at a very reasonable price. It doesn't have a transparent side panel though.
 
Hardly possible that you can have a cabinet with ventilation and keep it dust free. Maximum you could do, is have zero intake fans (cause they pull in most of the dust) and keep 2x or even more high RPM exhaust fans. These will create an outward tunnel, again which will suck in dust, but less than intakes. Doing this you might get a rise in temperatures. Give it a try. If you have high temperatures and/or dust is still persistent then migrate to the vanilla intake+exhaust setup.

Flip-side, keep the system in a strict A/C environment, and cover the chassis when room cleaning/dusting is done.
 
I guess liquid cooled cooling can eliminate some fans.I was trying to keep my apc smart ups dust free since the fans in it run 24/7 ,so i tried foam that you get in packaging it does keep majority of the dust out but the airflow dropped like 60%

Btw i to am in the same boat ,looking for a silent and dust free case.i think the lancool K5x and K6x have dust filters in many places.
 
asingh said:
Hardly possible that you can have a cabinet with ventilation and keep it dust free. Maximum you could do, is have zero intake fans (cause they pull in most of the dust) and keep 2x or even more high RPM exhaust fans. These will create an outward tunnel, again which will suck in dust, but less than intakes. Doing this you might get a rise in temperatures. Give it a try. If you have high temperatures and/or dust is still persistent then migrate to the vanilla intake+exhaust setup.

Flip-side, keep the system in a strict A/C environment, and cover the chassis when room cleaning/dusting is done.
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That's the exact opposite way you are suggesting to have it dust free! :P

A net positive pressure inside any closed system (be it a enclosure or even a room) maintains better ventilation and prevents dust as well. In order to do so, you should have more intake fans than the exhaust ones. A negative net pressure build up results in dust build up and bad ventilation. :)
 
Hmm yeah i know if air comes in, so will the dust, but i find it very lazy to clean my components regularly lol.

I'm think of CM 590 and the NZXT Gamma, Anubis recommended the CM 590 to me, and i'll put in 2 fans (it is bundled with one, so 3 120mm fans in Total), BTW i don't have an AC in my room, its only in my parent's bedroom and i'm not welcome there to keep my Rig there.

Anyways thanks guys, i think i'll go for a CM 590 cuse i dont think NZXT Gamma is available locally here, does someone wanna change my mind or is that case ok?
 
Desecrator said:
That's the exact opposite way you are suggesting to have it dust free! :P

A net positive pressure inside any closed system (be it a enclosure or even a room) maintains better ventilation and prevents dust as well. In order to do so, you should have more intake fans than the exhaust ones. A negative net pressure build up results in dust build up and bad ventilation. :)
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Ok, makes sense. Never accounted for the pressure. But again, are not the inward fans actually 'pulling' in the dust particles.?
 
The most dust-free case I found is the Antec Solo. It has extremely controlled flow, and a nice filter in the front with 2 92mm fans (which should not ideally be omitted). No other fans so no other airflow possibilities...

Temperatures all around are about 4 degrees higher than a CM Elite 334 IIRC, but the case is so quiet that I don't mind the added temperature. The rig has been running 24x7 for the last 18 months and no problems so far in terms of heat, so it does not mind the heat either.

There is some dust collection on the front of the case and around the fan filter, but that is easy to access and clean without powering the rig down. In the old CMs I had to clean the motherboard every 3 months, but in the last year I had to power down only once. Asus mobos are a little finicky about dust getting into the RAM slots.

@asingh: You can filter air intakes. You can't filter the entire case, which has plenty of cracks and crevices. Filters can be cleaned. Ever tried to take a case apart and clean it? Hell would be easier to deal with.
 
^^

When did I say about applying filters to the whole case..? Well, I have opened my systems(s) many times to clean it out. Including the individual parts. Yes, hell is much better any day...! Though when you asked taking case apart, you meant removing all the individual metal bays, covers, and panels..?
 
@asingh - the point about positive pressure is that the airflow into the cabinet is through known points (fan intakes) whereas with negative pressure it seeps in through the area under the feet, drive bay covers, PCI slot covers, and even in the stamped seams on which the IO and control panels mount. Basically, in a negative pressure case, dust finds its way inside from every possible crevice that has some direct (or indirect) path from outside air. So the only way to control dust with negative case pressure is to put a filter on your whole case. With positive pressure, dust gravitates to the intakes and only the intakes. If you keep them filtered and the filters clean, the ingress is minimal in other areas (though not zero) and the case inside is less dusty as a result.

I used negative pressure for a long time as it generally keeps temperatures lower than a positive pressure case, but the dust was simply not worth it and it was wreaking havoc on my hardware. Cleaning it was a day-long affair, involving lots of air, a vac, a shower and a solvent bath. Not nice or safe.
 
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