My PC is built in a fishtank-style case, namely the Lian Li O11 Vision.

A picture of a black PC case with three sides having glass panels

The Lian Li O11 Vision. What a nice case!

Despite being built as a collab with the PC Masterrace subreddit (aka PCMR), this case and others with the same fishtank style are widely derided by many Redditors. While glass panels give you a great view of your internal components and RGB lighting, not everybody likes RGB, and having the top and front made of glass limits the effective airflow of the case, leaving your PC susceptible to running hotter. However, I think I have identified the biggest advantage that fishtank cases have over more traditional cases.

It is easy to forget to occasionally clean out your PC; when you do finally open the case, the results can be horrifying.

With a fishtank case, this will not happen. As you use the PC, you will always have a front-row seat to the internals. In order to keep your PC presentable, you will of necessity need to clean the thing out every now and again. Despite having my PC for just three months, I’ve already popped the side panels off to dust the glass once.

If you still hate fishtank cases but want to make sure you see any dust or just prevent dust outright, might I suggest trying an open frame case or an immersion cooling case?