PC cooling help

[Hudson Trading Company]

This may not be the best advice for everyone, so take it with a grain of salt.

Since around 2002 whenever I get a new case/pc the very first thing I do is take off the side panel and just never put it back on. I've never had a serious issue with dust since I started that. Sure, dust goes in, but it goes out just as easily. With the case closed up, dust goes in and then stays in till you clean it.

Also super convenient for making hardware changes.

A big downside is it's easier to accidentally spill something liquidy inside the case and that's bad.

When I did my lastest rebuild, I just took a piece of plywood, maybe 24" x 30" or so and attached the motherboard and whatnot right to it and it's just sitting on a shelf. Been that way close to a year now.

Although, I will probably build a legit wooden box with hinges and a handle or handles soon to make it more portable.

Something reminiscent of this ->
https://img0.etsystatic.com/025/0/737843...0_j4d0.jpg

I was going to mention just replacing the stock coolers but that's been covered pretty well.