Cable Management

[Masherbrum]

When I built this PC on 4th of July weekend, I intended on spending A LOT of time with this.   I couldn't and regret not taking the time then, but I have just cleaned up the case as best as this "Pain in the arse Case" will allow.   

Case is a "very difficult to clean up" Aspire (now Apevia) X-Cruiser.   The bar in the rear is the reason for the bundle of cables in the back (out of the way of airflow).   I got tired of looking at the Gawdy Yellow dual device round IDE Cable and ordered an 18" Black single device one. 

In just 30 minutes tonight I went from this:





I use adhesive backed zip tie bases to secure wires.   These are an absolute must for any Case.   I have a ton of these on hand and put them in other people's cases when working on them.   

To this (I'll post more pics tomorrow when I get home from work):



I rerouted everything on the bottom of the case and tucked the wires farther back under the sound card.   I also re-ran the Blue (why Blue and not black WD?) Raptor cable.   I wish they made a 4" version of this very cable.

I'll post more pics tomorrow while it's brighter outside, helping see things better.    Not a single cable is "in the way of any fan".   

[Fulmar]

I should probably go back through an redo the cables in my case again.  I'm not a fan of my hard drive cage in my NZXT Lexa case as has the drives going width-wise in the case instead of length wise.  This is close to what my case looks like on the inside except I have zip tied most of the stuff istead of the pictures twisty ties.  Also there is now a third hard drive and a PCI slot fan under my video card.

[1701E]

You people have cases that look like nightmares and dreams at the same time.  Much larger than mine, but in ratio the same amount of wires (same amount of case space taken by those annoying things).  Looking in my case...do I actually have RAM in there somewhere?

Due to having such bad airflow I actually made a make-shift side for my case.  Cardboard cut-out that has room for a 120mm intake and an 80mm out take.  Quick question:  2 80mm out and 1 120mm in there a good airflow or should I something change?  Yep Micro-ATX PC here.

[TilDeath]

A Dremel goes a long wayyyyyy.

[Masherbrum]

New pic:

[AirFlyer]

Well not quite as nice as the rest of you guys, but heres my attempt at cable management. Not bad besides the giant knot of wires at the bottom IMO but thats because my PSU isn't modular or whatever it's called.

[TilDeath]

You people have cases that look like nightmares and dreams at the same time.  Much larger than mine, but in ratio the same amount of wires (same amount of case space taken by those annoying things).  Looking in my case...do I actually have RAM in there somewhere?

Due to having such bad airflow I actually made a make-shift side for my case.  Cardboard cut-out that has room for a 120mm intake and an 80mm out take.  Quick question:  2 80mm out and 1 120mm in there a good airflow or should I something change?  Yep Micro-ATX PC here.

Get out the Kodak there Kojak... But my first thoughts are NO not enough air flow.  I would have to see.  I am a huge fan of SATA drives and cable sleaving (hate IDE cables).  Sleaving is a cheep way to increase Air flow and decrease heat.

[VonMessa]

Karaya has revealed his secret, didn't anyone see that flux capacitor in there?

I installed one in my Wrangler, but I just can't get the damn thing to go 88 mph 

[1701E]

Get out the Kodak there Kojak... But my first thoughts are NO not enough air flow.  I would have to see.  I am a huge fan of SATA drives and cable sleaving (hate IDE cables).  Sleaving is a cheep way to increase Air flow and decrease heat.

Well, not easy to get good pics, but here goes:

Closed (poor siding, but it was the only piece of cardboard laying around):



Opened (one wire is not connected, the on from case fan to 120mm fan):

[TilDeath]

Here is a System I built last night.  Striker Extreme, Q6600, Asus 8800GTX, 4gb OCZ Platnium, Tagan 900 watt, 500gb WD, NZXT Tempest case, 6 Fans.  The real machine is in the works... parts due in today 

[TilDeath]

Well, not easy to get good pics, but here goes:

Closed (poor siding, but it was the only piece of cardboard laying around):

(Image removed from quote.)

Opened (one wire is not connected, the on from case fan to 120mm fan):
(Image removed from quote.)

Is the lower front of your case vented?  If so under your HD cage you should be able to place a 120 fan there.  The one in the back looks a lil weak.  What are you basing your temps on that your now using cardboard? (I have seen worse, plastic wrap).  Are you using Real Temp? Get it here http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/  If it is not running hot put the case back on if it is, heck let it be with no side.

[VonMessa]

I usually run all of my machines at home without the side cover.  There are 2 smokers in my house, and the machines seem to collect less dust (in the hidden spots) that way.

[Reschke]

Looks good. I will have to take some pics of mine.

[Fulmar]

I usually run all of my machines at home without the side cover.  There are 2 smokers in my house, and the machines seem to collect less dust (in the hidden spots) that way.

Dust filters work great.  I ran my case for about 12 months or so with dust filters that came with it.  I virtually never cleaned it and my house has two cats.  There was barely any dust in it.  Recently, after I did some upgrades (adding parts) and OCing, I needed to generate more airflow in a case that was quickly becoming too warm for my liking.  After about 3 months of not running filters on both my side intake and front intake fans, there were some dust bunnies in some corners and dust layers on most of the parts (especially my HSF).  Without the filters, my case runs at least 5C cooler and my video card (right next to the side intake) up to 10C cooler on a load.

So if you case temps are pretty good, dust filters really make a difference.  However, they can cut your airflow from the fan down quite a bit.

[VonMessa]

I used those Pl*%ge Grab-Its, taped over the intakes, but it just gets too damn hot.

Now I just blow it out every week.  Dry air can on one side, vacuum out the other.

Keeps the dust from flying all over the room.