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.

  • bonn2@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    4 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.

      • jalkasieni@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        4 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.

  • Godnroc@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    4 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
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      4 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.

        • DarkSirrush@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          4 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
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          4 months ago

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