PC location and ventilation question

[Stephen]

I have a computer desk with an eclosed section for the pc to go. If I out my pc in it, there is an inch clearance on each side, an inch clearance on the top, and about 4 inches in the back of the enclosure - which is mostly open in the back, giving me another 3 or 4 inches to the wall. The front of the enclosure is open. My pc has two exhaust fans, one in the back and one in the top near the back.

 

Does this enclosure provide enough space for adequate ventilation?

[Eldmannen]

I am not sure.

 

I have my box on the computer desk. The disadvantage of this is that the noise of the box is probably heard more than if it would be placed on the ground.

 

If you have the box on the ground, the disadvantage is that it gets alot more dust into it.

[rridgely]

As long as its not directly up against anything then you should be good. Especially since from your description the back of the case is well ventilated.

[Eldmannen]

Well, keep an eye on the temperature just in case.

 

You can do this under "PC Health" in the BIOS or with some system monitoring software.

[Mike Rochip]

Here are a couple utilities that monitor hard drive temps and various other attributes:

 

Hdtune

 

Hddh.exe [Panterasoft]

 

Everest

 

The first two are utilities for the hard drive only. If I remember right both of them can be set to display the hard drive temperature in the system tray. Everest displays a wealth of information about the hardware installed on your computer including reporting the temperature of any hardware that has a temp sensor..