If you’re worried about the airflow and thermals in your PC gaming rig you might be wondering if you can just ditch the one thing that’s preventing air from circulating fully and cooling it down — your PC’s case.
The quick answer to that question is: Yes, you can ditch your case, and it’s done more often than you might think. But there are a few things to consider if you do indeed plan on taking such an extreme step with your gaming rig.
The advantages of going PC caseless
The obvious benefit, as I touched on above, is the extra airflow your PC will get.
Since your PC is likely to receive a greater amount of air circulating over its parts, heat will dissipate more efficiently than if they were cloistered in a case. That in turn can help stave off thermal throttling when the PC’s CPU and GPU are under heavy load, so your PC is likely to perform better.
That’s the theory, anyway. It’s not guaranteed that you will get a big enough reduction in temperature for it to make any perceivable difference to performance, since some cases have excellent airflow. PC gamers using cases with poor airflow are likely to benefit the most.
Another benefit is you will have easier access to your PC’s component hardware. That means changing out parts like your RAM and storage will be a whole lot easier and quicker since you can dispense with screwing and unscrewing or opening and closing your case. That goes for performing maintenance and / or cleaning your PC too.
That’s the reason why we PC reviewers run caseless rigs all the time — for the sheer convenience of testing a lot of parts.
Looking at the prices of PC cases in 2025 and there’s also an argument (albeit a weak one) for saving money too. I say a weak argument, because PC cases with all the mod cons are actually quite affordable these days.
Most mid-tower cases on Amazon, for example, will fall in around the $85 to $100 mark, with some of the more expensive options reaching $140, but barely above that price. That seems reasonable considering the price you will have to pay for other components, like your video card and CPU.
Still, a saving is still a saving, and if $85 is the difference between you getting a better video card over one that offers worse performance, then going caseless for affordability reasons could be just the ticket.
Caseless PCs are more prone to physical damage and damage from dust and vibrations.
The disadvantages of going caseless
The cons of operating a caseless gaming rig are things you want to be mindful of and manage wherever possible if you do take the plunge.
The first and most obvious con is how ugly your caseless PC will look. Even if you’re nonplussed by its messy look, there may be no convincing some relatives and friends that the unsightly cables, bare metal bits, and circuit boards are easy on the eyes.
A common workaround for that is to build your caseless rig into a drawer or cabinet that can be pulled out when you need it and put away again when not in use — so, that problem can be solved easy enough.
A less easy problem to solve is how vulnerable your caseless PC will be to damage when it’s exposed in all its glory. Needless to say, a caseless PC is a sitting duck for mishaps like liquid spills, bumps, and objects being dropped on it, all of which can easily damage one or more of its delicate components and render it a piece of junk.
To mitigate that you’re going to want to put in place some hefty rules around what goes near it and why. If you can place it on a shelf away from harm’s way, all the better.
Then another thing — since your caseless PC won’t have a protective barrier holding all the components in place, they will be more susceptible to damage from vibrations. That could take a toll on your motherboard and RAM over time, but HDD drives will be especially susceptible because of their moving parts. So, switch to SSD storage wherever possible.
You’ll also want to consider dust. Dust is the enemy of every gaming PC cased or not. Without a case, though, dust will accumulate at a much faster rate since ambient dust can simply float on in.
Is a caseless PC right for you?
All these things said, you should weigh up the pros and cons to decide if going caseless is right for you.
One thing to ask yourself is whether you’re prepared for all the extra care and maintenance going caseless involves. If the answer is yes, and you either have thermal problems with a current case, or you see yourself needing to access your components a lot for testing or tinkering, then you have good reasons to go ahead.
On the other hand, if you’re not experiencing any kind of thermal problems and you’re a set-and-forget kind of gamer who doesn’t like to tinker about with your PC parts, then you should probably just stick with a good airy case with good cable routes. It’ll do just fine.
