The differences between an open front and a closed front PC tower

If you look at your PC, you may not know if your tower has the concept of “open front” or “closed front”, and especially if it is the most optimal for your hardware. The two concepts are totally different and imply a series of benefits and disadvantages that must be assessed according to our needs, so if you do not know how to distinguish them, we are going to show you everything you need to know about them, because what is the difference between one front or another? on a PC tower?

Let’s start with a brief overview of the PC tower concept. And it is that PC cases are one of the components that have evolved the most in the last decade, very much in the style of SSDs. The main task of any PC tower is to house the components, isolate them when necessary and keep them as clean and ventilated as possible. That is why the two concepts that we are dealing with today are the past, the present and curiously, they do not seem to be the future.

differences between an open front and a closed front PC tower

How are PC towers going to evolve?

We are seeing it live and we may not be aware of it, but the future goes through panoramic towers, which end with the two concepts that we are going to learn about below and, explained, you will understand why.

PC tower with closed front

It is the typical tower that uses the same material throughout the chassis and front. This can be made of aluminum, steel or plastic , even some alloy or different material, but the important thing is that the front of it is solid, without cooling openings, as the concept is well defined, it is closed.

Torre-PC-frontal-cerrado

This type of PC tower continues to sell and not a little, because there are users who prefer sobriety or silence. Its advantages are really few: cleaner and more homogeneous aesthetics, less perceptible noise from the fans, less dirt inside the tower. On the other hand, its disadvantages are precisely the advantages of the open front that we are going to see next.

open front

It is the current market trend where the chassis fronts are perforated or simply open and covered by a tempered glass pane and an anti-dust filter. The concept leaves ” to the air ” if not all, part of said front allowing the entry or exit of air with fans installed on it, which has clear advantages.

One of them is undoubtedly the fact of having better ventilation and due to this better temperatures inside our tower, which will result in a drop in the temperature of the key components. The second advantage is the better aesthetics if you like tempered glass or RGB, but that said, it also has its clear disadvantages.

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The first is the sound, since no matter how much you try to filter it with mesh panels or glass, it will be there. The second is the internal dirt, that although there are complete panels with high-quality anti-dust filters, the smallest particles will enter and over the hours and months the PC will need cleaning to a greater or lesser extent.

The last is the price . As a general rule, having to drill the panel or directly put a glass, the price of manufacturing and materials goes up, which results in higher costs that are transferred to the PC tower.

Likewise, this trend will end up being left aside to gradually opt for designs where ventilation and cooling will go to the rear panel of the same, achieving a chassis with the so-called ” aquarium effect “, much more panoramic and visually clear.