Managing the cables

BlueMak

inside the PC. I have a couple of questions.

1) Almost anything can be used to tie them together? Plastic, electric wire, threads, other cable, scotch tape etc, or not?

2) Is any combination of internal cables not a good idea? Meaning, if for example I tie together SATA cable with power cable, am I asking for trouble?

3)Any other hints, suggestions, warnings?

Zelig

1) I don't tie knots in cables, as it can cause problems, or use tape, as it gets icky. Usually I just use the plastic ties that tighten when you pull on the end, then I cut the end off.

2) If it matters, you've got problems with your cables.

3) When I got my current powersupply to replace my modular OCZ, I gave up my nice cable system and just stuffed everything into a couple empty drive bays. It doesn't look great, but my case isn't windowed, and temps aren't affected.

ChaosMinionX

Zipties are your best friends..... Indispensable PC modding/management tool haha.

No real warnings when doing cable management its pretty straightforward.

I tend to avoid tapes as it leaves the adhesive residue on the cables and eventually comes undone over time...best to just get lots of nice zipties, the ones that fit snug to themselves, not the normal shipping zipties that have the big square lock on them you thread through...those stick out and look bad IMO if you dont hide them properly.

Judas

I try my best to avoid zipties, twist ties (i highly recommend you don't use twist ties! ), elastic bands, tape is generally a no no (they really create a sticky mess, and usually when things get warm, they slide and come loose anyways)

I usually sort through them, figure out which string of cables i absalutely need, then wrap them up so that they don't extend any further then they need to. The rest i wrap up just about the same way they came out of the box, OCZ usually ships a velcro strap, i use that most of the time, but for other PSUS, i usually use one of the power cables, specifically the Floppy power cable, to wrap around the heap once then tuck it in and under to secure it quite well, then proceed to stuff that waud away in the Drive bay area out of the way.

I've only used zip ties to secure cables that don't seem to want to be managed at all, and could possibly touch/get into a fan or block critical airflow. I've only had to do this 3 times.

The reason i try and go without any zipties or anything, is that it's alot easier to remanage cables and do something quick without having to cut the ties and rezip them.

Grace

Technically, you can use anything as long as it is not sharp enough to cut/damage the insulation of the cables.

Practically, zip ties are not very useful because you have to cut them if you need to release a cable and tape creates a mess.

Cable wraps (velcro tapes or twists) are usually the best choices, if you have some laying around that is.




You can group any cables you want together, as long as the connectors are secure and you are not placing any pressure on them.

niceguyrichy

first thing to do is to spend a good bit of time routing cables as neatly as you can as you completely rebuild your comp.
then, imo, best thing to use is electrical insulating tape. it won't ever burn at whatever temps the case components reach even if things go to shit; it doesn't leave a horrible sticky residue; and it comes in all kinds of pretty colours

BlueMak

Problem is finding cable wraps. I am not kidding.

Do you know if this would help?
http://www.plaisio.gr/product.aspx?c...product=859478

Grace

That's for thick external cables only. It won't be of use at all inside your case.


For the cable wraps, try the electronics and not computer stores.

Dyre Straits

I'm not sure what the problem is with using twist ties. That's what the companies use to secure the cables to begin with.

However, what I do is use the longer ones and connect them with an initial twist through a slot/hole in the case framework somewhere. Then, whichever cable/s I want to keep secured, I just anchor it/them to that twist tie enough to keep it/them where I want.

Like Grace said, as long as you use something that doesn't cut through the insulation of the cable, there's no reason not to use it. Personally, I can't see spending money on something when the twist ties are included for free.

BlueMak

I always throw away them when I get cables or something. So I only have two right now, one short black one and one from the charger of the xbox360 controller. I need to do something about the cables inside the case because it is a mess and like a jungle, problem is the case is smaller than I thought (Thermaltake tsunami) while I have many cables in it.
Quick count out of my head, 1 or 2 to the soundcard, 2 or 3 to the fan control bay, a couple for the soundcard bay, pair of cables for dvd recorder, 2 hard drives each, 1 for the graphics card, about 3 for the fans...
Let's just say that when I lay the case on my desk I cannot see the mainboard because of the cables. I should have bought a huge case instead of this midi one.
The temps in there for the mb is in the mid to high 50s or is it 60s. CPU remains in the 30s somehow.

I think next time I buy a new PC I will buy a ready made one with watercooling instead of building one myself.

ChaosMinionX

whats the fun in that?

Lowfat

I use a screwdriver to unscrew the PSU, then a pair of wire cutters and a soldering iron to remove the cables i dont use Now that is real cable management. I laugh in the face of warranty AHAHAHAHA!.

BlueMak

My PSU doesn't have this kind of issue, all cables can be removed from it anyway.