this is the usual position of a desktop[CPU] computer, placed vertically on a flat surface. question: what catastrophic events would happen if you place that kind of CPU in a horizontal position? would it affect the hardware?
Nah shouldn't do, my friend has his CPU like that in his stuffed up computer desk. Some CPUs are made to be sat horizontal.
just wondering because i have my CPU positioned in a horizontal way, and now the DVD and floppy drive ain't working. wonder why...
I had a horizontal one (desktop case as opposed to tower case) oriented vertically and it had no problems. The only thing I would say is make sure the side that comes off (most probably the left side when looking at it from the front) is on top, otherwise the components inside are suspended and they might not like that.
Not that way back really, the last PC I saw horizontally positioned was at my high school's Computer Lab back in 1995, so that's just 13 or so years ago.
So, to expand on this thread... From a computer expert's point of view loony, which is the most preferable set up? Horizontal orientation or vertical? I also have this inkling that gravity plays a role on a PC's inards' performance, does it?
the orientation makes no difference really, although the preferable position is the one it is designed for. Gravity does not affect performance (unless it falls off a table or something, in which case it may well take damage) you just do not want the motherboard suspended upside down in case the combined weight of the cooler and motherboard components causes it to break free of its fixings, in which case it could get damaged.
The computers at our school are horizontal, as the CPU is tiny (HP ones), since it's mostly just for networking and such.
Your towers position shouldn't matter much since your boards CPU should be mounted and held in place by both a mounting socket on the board and also by a heatsink. Depending upon the socket type, you'll either have a very strong bond to the CPU with a lever-style mount or a lesser but still as good pin-mounted heatsink. Your other components such as RAM, PCI/PCI-e/AGP should be held in place by either tightly fitting pins and either a screw (For cards) or two lever-pins (for RAM). Other components are connected by cables, and the Hard Drive isn't affected by gravity, so that could go at any angle. The only problem I would forsee is your Optical Drive. Most disc drives are designed to be horizontal. Once the disc is inside, however, it doesn't matter if it goes upside-down, on its side, etc., because the disc is actually held by two opposing pins that spin the disc while the laser reads. If you set your case on its side and your disc drives aren't working anymore, then chances are it can't properly lock the disc down. If you see no problems immediately, then no problems should creep up. Just make sure you don't block the air flow.
My shitty vista computer is supposed to be laying horizontally but I stand it on its side like a PS3. It was made to be skinnier to take up less space. It's about the only thing I like about the computer sadly.
