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submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by rolofox@lemmy.zip to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

What are the rubber circles for on the back of my pc case? Should I just leave them like that if don't have a need for them? Or are they likely to let I'm dust into the motherboard?

Edit: thanks for all the replies, so just for water cooling I have no need for.

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[-] Godnroc@lemmy.world 164 points 2 months ago

They are external ports for water cooling. They allow you to run the pipes to an exterior location, and I have never seen anyone use them ever. I would leave the rubber grommet as it generally looks nicer than the hole.

[-] fhqwgads@possumpat.io 29 points 2 months ago

This is the correct answer - I know because I was there 10000 years ago and had to decide between this and buying a special case from koolance. Amusingly they still sell one for the outside.

They can also be handy if you have to do anything weird like route display cables from the GPU to the motherboard like for a thunderbolt display.

[-] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 months ago

Is water cooling for PC gaming still a thing? It's been 10+ years since I followed any trends.

[-] DarkSirrush@lemmy.ca 14 points 2 months ago

Air cooling and closed loop coolers have gotten better, and honestly no one can afford to spend $3000 to get 3° lower temps any more.

[-] Sheldan@mander.xyz 7 points 2 months ago

I built a PC recently, and when researching it still seemed a large chunk went with water cooling still. AIO in particular.

[-] skulblaka@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago

Only sort of, it still exists but it's a lot more compact now. And not super common as far as I know, like the other poster said here air cooling has come a long way. I've got a water cooled GTX 1080 Ti in my rig right now, but it's basically just a couple rubber tubes coming off the GPU leading to a little square radiator that I have a fan bolted to. It all sits inside the case (or, well, it's intended to... My case isn't quite large enough for everything I've got in it so I've got the radiator and fan a little bit jury-rigged to the front of my case right now. No biggie.)

[-] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 25 points 2 months ago

Probably for external radiotors. Outside of the case you can make them bigger and thus more silent.

[-] Bye@lemmy.world 18 points 2 months ago

Radiators? Nah, open loop. One end to the faucet, other end to the drain. If you’re on well water it goes right back down to where it came from.

[-] DaPorkchop_@lemmy.ml 22 points 2 months ago

I've always wanted to have to clean hardened calc/lime out of my CPU cooler!

[-] DudeDudenson@lemmings.world 9 points 2 months ago

They're also useful if you are doing weird stuff with your PC and you need to run a connector into or out of your pc

[-] macgyver@federation.red 9 points 2 months ago

Built a computer for a guy years ago. Dual titan X, 3 radiators in a little fucking HAF tower. He bought two exterior radiator mounts

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[-] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

Ive used mine before because the rad was too big to fit internally.

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Years ago, I saw someone run a copper loop through this newly poured basement foundation just to use to cool his pc silently.

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[-] A_Very_Big_Fan@lemmy.world 104 points 2 months ago
[-] VinesNFluff@pawb.social 26 points 2 months ago
[-] Tronn4@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago

A fellow man of intelligence

[-] froh42@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

Do we already have c/dontputyourdickinthat?

[-] deezbutts@lemm.ee 6 points 2 months ago
[-] bonn2@lemm.ee 96 points 2 months ago

It is probably an old case design. In the early water cooling days, there would be separate watercooling units that sat outside the case. The grommets were so you could pass your tubing through.

I wouldn't really worry about the dust tbh, you will wind up having to clean it regardless.

[-] snowsuit2654 21 points 2 months ago

This is it! Old water coolers

[-] jalkasieni@sopuli.xyz 9 points 2 months ago

Specifically, these are for being able to pass in the tubing when your computer overheats playing Counter-Strike 1.5 so you pull apart your 50cc moped so you can bolt the moped radiator to the side of the case since it doesn’t fit inside. At least that’s the only use I’ve actually seen in practice.

[-] const_void@lemmy.ml 16 points 2 months ago

Not just for water cooling. It's for cables that pass in or out too.

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[-] StoneGender 77 points 2 months ago
[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 24 points 2 months ago

Forbidden butthole

[-] thorbot@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

I showed pepnis pls show bobs

[-] kerf@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

It's OK, you can write Pepsis on the internet

[-] butsbutts@lemmy.ml 26 points 2 months ago
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[-] sanpo@sopuli.xyz 25 points 2 months ago

Just leave them be. I think their point was to route tubing for custom water cooling loops.

[-] pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.de 23 points 2 months ago

FYI this community is meant for open-ended questions.

[-] FaceDeer@fedia.io 56 points 2 months ago

Those holes look open to me.

[-] HEXN3T 7 points 2 months ago
[-] treadful@lemmy.zip 19 points 2 months ago
[-] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 7 points 2 months ago

There is only way to get an answer.

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[-] Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago

Well, you got the answers you were looking for, here is a different answer. To your other implied question, how to not worry about dust getting in other holes.

Main thing is to develop positive air pressure. You want more powered intake than powered exhaust.

Use fans for all your filtered air intakes, ignore powered air exhaust, run it at lower fan speeds if you can. Air will get out fine. If you force the air in where you want it to go in, dust will only go into the easily removable filters, it won't be on your components. Any extra hole in the case will just be exhausting the already filtered air. Then just remember to actually check and clean your filters. That's the hard part. But if you clean them when they need to be cleaned, you will never have to actually clean the inside or the fans or components or anything else, just the filters.

[-] KeepFlying@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

Dust will get in pretty much no matter what you do. I wouldn't worry about it. If you live in an already really dusty environment then get some sections of filter and attach them inside of these holes but honestly I wouldn't worry.

It's for water cooling loops if you want to mount the rad or pump or something outside of the case. I think it was more common in the early days of water cooling when things were less standardized.

[-] OsaErisXero@kbin.run 6 points 2 months ago

Not less standardized so much as when the only cooling loops were custom ones and not AIO

[-] hyacin@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 months ago

We have the same case! Twinsies!!

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[-] Wahots@pawb.social 9 points 2 months ago

Watercooling holes. That said, I've never seen anyone use them. Mounting external rads is a bitch. They take up space. Most people just buy a watercooling compatible case.

[-] Taleya@aussie.zone 9 points 2 months ago

Those are for your watering system

[-] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 8 points 2 months ago

They're like buttholes for your computer

[-] lungdart@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 months ago

Those are rubber grommets. They'll protect cables from wearing on metal that pass through the case.

Likely for things with hard wired controllers, like fan controllers or led lighting. You can hang the controller outside of the case in the back where nobody will see it.

[-] kamen@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Besides the water cooling that's already mentioned, those could be used for example for routing an internal device out and into the I/O of the motherboard. An example would be some fan/RGB controllers that are meant to be somewhere inside the case, but are terminated with a standard USB A plug (and very few motherboards have that as an internal connector). Another example is a mini display that you could put inside the case that would need to interface with the GPU (so you'd need to route a DP or HDMI cable out of the case and into the back of the GPU).

[-] taiyang@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Is that an NZXT? It looks almost exactly like my old case I just repurposed. (And yes, it's for water cooling but those cases have exceptional air cooling so it was never that important.)

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[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Those look like optional expansion ports cut into the case that were filled with plugs because the configuration didn't need them. The shape I'd really odd though since the only thing that comes to mind is that they were intended for additional power cables - the shape is weird.

Edit: Downvotes for attempting to answer the question... awesome.

[-] FaceDeer@fedia.io 15 points 2 months ago

Downvotes for not getting it right, I presume.

Which makes me concerned that the "Hole for Pepnis" answer has so many upvotes.

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[-] Wahots@pawb.social 4 points 2 months ago

They are for watercooling, but you are right that people don't need them. OEMs just add some holes or a random reservoir mount and then bill a case as Watercooling Ready™️, even if it has like, space for one 120x15mm rad, lol.

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this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2024
209 points (100.0% liked)

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