Mac Pro Inside Desk Cabinet

[reese.reimers]

I am building a desk system using Kitchen Base Cabinets and Kitchen Countertops. I am going to use 18" wide cabinets and I am wondering if it would be safe to put the Mac Pro inside of the cabinet. I will have one hole on the top of the left side of the cabinet and I will take the wooden insert out of the door frame on the front and replace it with speaker grill mesh. The mesh will essentially be like having the entire front door open. Would I need to take the back off of the cabinet or do you think the machine will have plenty of air. I belive there will be about 3-4 inches on each side. I tried searching and found another thread on the same issue but it didn't say if it would be okay to have it enclosed with the door open.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

I am building a desk system using Kitchen Base Cabinets and Kitchen Countertops. I am going to use 18" wide cabinets and I am wondering if it would be safe to put the Mac Pro inside of the cabinet. I will have one hole on the top of the left side of the cabinet and I will take the wooden insert out of the door frame on the front and replace it with speaker grill mesh. The mesh will essentially be like having the entire front door open. Would I need to take the back off of the cabinet or do you think the machine will have plenty of air. I belive there will be about 3-4 inches on each side. I tried searching and found another thread on the same issue but it didn't say if it would be okay to have it enclosed with the door open.

I'd advise you to take the back off the cabinet or at least cut a hole in it so as to get some better airflow through. This really doesn't sound like much of a problem since your meshed front will basically make it no different than being under a regular desk. Maybe give it a try without cutting out the back and if you see temperatures in your machine getting high then see how you can improve things.

 

[grue]

I am building a desk system using Kitchen Base Cabinets and Kitchen Countertops. I am going to use 18" wide cabinets and I am wondering if it would be safe to put the Mac Pro inside of the cabinet. I will have one hole on the top of the left side of the cabinet and I will take the wooden insert out of the door frame on the front and replace it with speaker grill mesh. The mesh will essentially be like having the entire front door open. Would I need to take the back off of the cabinet or do you think the machine will have plenty of air. I belive there will be about 3-4 inches on each side. I tried searching and found another thread on the same issue but it didn't say if it would be okay to have it enclosed with the door open.

YOu'd probably want more ventilation, or an exhaust fan.

I have my Mac Pro installed in my desk, but it looks like this from the "top":

As you can see, there's airflow through the back of the area so that the warm exhaust can be cleared out. My temperatures are stable and well within the expected range.

 

[Tesselator]

I am building a desk system using Kitchen Base Cabinets and Kitchen Countertops. I am going to use 18" wide cabinets and I am wondering if it would be safe to put the Mac Pro inside of the cabinet. I will have one hole on the top of the left side of the cabinet and I will take the wooden insert out of the door frame on the front and replace it with speaker grill mesh. The mesh will essentially be like having the entire front door open. Would I need to take the back off of the cabinet or do you think the machine will have plenty of air. I belive there will be about 3-4 inches on each side. I tried searching and found another thread on the same issue but it didn't say if it would be okay to have it enclosed with the door open.

The mac Pro needs 0 clearance on the sides, top or bottom. It flows air from front to back only. If all you have is a hole in the back of your cabinet you're asking for big trouble. On the other hand if you mount a fan at the exhaust port at the back of your cabinet with the same approximate air-flow (volume) as your Mac Pro is exhausting then you're tits! Err, good to go.