How to Organize Your PC Cables - martindanythe

I am non a neat somebody. You need only to see my desk to realize that. However, when IT comes to my PC case, I keep the cables organized.

On that point are much good reasons to do that–and they have nothing to do with tidiness. If you buy a new computer, especially an expensive human dynamo PC built for gaming or heavy editing, ace matter you notice is how neatly the interior is organized. Often, Personal computer builders carefully route the cables along the case edges in airtight bundles, devising them near invisible.

When you're tinkering with a PC, organizing the cables is a good use to get into, for plenty of practical reasons.

You're ensuring that stray wires OR cables don't touch the fans, which would produce dentition-clenching noise and increase the ignite around critical components. (Fans bathroom also burn out this way.)
You can improve flow of air throughout the case, so that the total system remains cool and stable.
Good cable system brass allows you to find the conducting wire or cable you need when you take to relax them to change stunned a component.

So here are some guidelines for organizing the cable clutter inside your PC. Sort o than give abstract rules of thumb, I'll walk through an lesson, and offer ideas and suggestions along the path.

Taking Stock-taking of Your Components

For this cable-routing externalize, I'll pop with a fairly modern PC case. This is the Fractal Designs Define R3, a midsize-tower chassis designed to house a quiet last-performance PC.

The Fractal Designs Define R3 offers modern amenities, but it isn't particularly wide or deep.

Although this case offers nonclassical comforts such as a cutout behind the motherboard CPU socket to get mounting exotic coolers easier, it isn't excessively wide or unfathomed. I'm going to build in a towering-end graphics card, but with a sheath like this I can't burst one of those foot-long Radeon HD 6990 cards. The interior space is only when a bit roomier than that of the exemplary midsize-tower case, which affords me the opportunity to show you how to declutter cables inside an average display case.

Near new performance-PC cases, such A this one, allow the routing of cables behind the motherboard tray. That's your nam to cable length-clutter felicity, and you should take full moon reward of it. On the other hand, the R3 doesn't have the extra width of something like the Coolermaster HAF 932 or Corsair 600T, so you can't scarce move bulky cable sets butt your motherboard indiscriminately–you'd never flummox the caseful side back happening.

Of course, building a PC requires collecting a set of Personal computer components. I'm going to transplant an extant system supported an Intel DX58SO2 motherboard and a Core i7-970 central processing unit. Just so no more one accuses me of cheating, I won't use a modular power supply. The Corsair TX850w unit has all its cables for good connected, including two untouched runs of SATA power and tetrad PCI Express index cables. As you can see, everything makes for quite an pile of parts.

That's quite a mess. I sure hope I can organize this.

The Central processing unit cooler is a Corsair H70, which is a closed liquid cooler with two 120mm fans. While it moves clutter departed from the Mainframe socket, it adds clutter to the hinder of the case, which creates challenges of its personal.

Now that I've defined the picture, let's go over some rules of thumb.

Check Your Connectors

Before installing components, spend some time doing a connective stock-take. That agency, you'll have a better idea of how many cables and wires need to make up routed. My exceptional system has the following pieces.

One nonmodular big businessman supply (with individual excess exponent connectors)
I high-end graphics add-in, requiring two PCI Give tongue to magnate connectors
Three hard drives, for a total of three SATA mightiness connectors and three SATA information cables
The motherboard, with associated power, reset, power LED, audio, eSATA, and USB connections; besides needs a important power connection from the power supply A well as the eight-pin ATX12V auxiliary power connection
One optical drive, with a SATA data cable and power connector
The sealed off liquidness cooler, which needs two fan connections on the motherboard for power
Extraordinary social movement case devotee, which likewise requires a motherboard subject devotee connector

At this target, you should take stock and figure out what you need to establis inaugural. Typically you'll want to install the power supply, storage devices, and motherboard right away. Later on that, it's time to stop adding components and route power cables to the motherboard. That advice specially holds for the eight-pin ATX12V connector I'm using; if you make the slip of installment the liquid tank radiator first, it will be impossible to install the ATX12V connection.

Now that I understand what inevitably to be routed, IT's meter to string along some cables. Merely wait–since I'm going to organize the cables, I need some gizmos to tie the cables backward. Thankfully, plenty of upright options are disposable for tying down cables.

I refuse to utilization zip ties. Period.

Personally, I role everything from gumshoe bands to twist ties to Velcro straps to nylon buckle ties. But I do not use zip ties–ever. A few geezerhood ago, I unpacked a scheme in which the builder had obsessively dressed the interior cables with zip ties, every 3 or 4 inches. Trace any individual cable surgery telegram obligatory half an minute of carefully cutting zip ties to avoid slicing de facto power or data cable. As dilatory as I was nerve-wracking to be, I accidentally cut a wire connected to a quaternity-pin Molex power plug.

Luckily, the power supply had a few spares. But it was still annoying, and that's wherefore I commend you obviate zip ties for organizing your cables. In any system of rules where you might change components out at will, exploitation something as permanent and lignified to remove as zip ties is simply non practical. You can find a host of other, more ergonomic and user-friendly affiliation-down methods. Later on all, you're non handcuffing your PC for transport to jail–you're on the job inside the machine.

Next page: Find Your Route, and Truss Your Cables

Find Your Route

After installing the motherboard, problematic drives, power supply, and optical drive, I distinct to look at the back side of the Define.

Billet the various wires that the case needs, including those for the power switch, the power LED, then on. I'll progress to those in a bit. Right now I'll run the two power cables behind the motherboard, like so.

The case has some convenient cutouts, sanctioning cost-efficient routing.

Not all cases have neat cutouts for routing cables, only it would birth been almost as promiscuous to run the cables along the broadside of the motherboard tray and so across to where they're needed. If I'd had to do that, I might own needed an extension cable for the ATX12V connexion.

Now that the power is abutting, I can set u the CPU cooler. Afterward doing that, I run the two sets of wires around the edge of the buff, and affix them to one of the fan screws with a twist tie.

Next up are the internal case connectors. I route these around the back of the case and done appropriate cutouts. Note that sound cables typically accompany two connectors–and you'll need only one. I recommend tying the unnecessary connector soured, like thus.

Tie down the excess breast-venire audio connector so that you don't need to worry about it getting in the path of something else.

The wires for front-panel connections are very long. I commend taking a nylon buckle whip with an adhesive aggrandise and tying behind the excess front-panel cable length. This arrangement makes the vitrine side easier to last, and keeps the miniature wires from getting in the fashio.

Future up are the SATA power cables. One time that's done, I dress the excess length of the power connections. Information technology's worthwhile to count over the uninjured affair at this point.

The power cables, now routed and attired.

Okay, at once it's time to connect the SATA data cables. Note that I route the data cables to derogate the potential of blocking airflow, but I assume't tie them down. I bump that SATA cables are the ones I'm most frequently detaching and reattaching, sol I like keeping them slow to access.

No, it isn't keen. But the cables are out of the way.

Bank bill that I've also routed the PCI Express power cables behind the motherboard so that they emerge at the back end of the graphics card. The only time I've ever had a graphics card fry on me is when a PCI Express power cable obstructed the fan completely. I detected no dissonance, and the GPU died from overheating before I knew what was happening.

That area under the motherboard may offend some neatniks. Simply you never really see IT. Instead, below is what you look, once the system is fully assembled.

Erstwhile the panel is in situ, all the cables are hidden.

Now that I've routed all the power connections, a number of extra power cables are left. I use a Velcro strap to draw bump off the excess in as small and compact a clum as I can create.

With the cables routed, bundled, and tied toss off, I need to assess whether I've met the important goals of cable organization: maximizing airflow and minimizing the run a risk that a stray wire rear end price a fan or past component. Let's tally the inside of the system of rules.

That looks pretty clean.

It looks like the system has patent airflow, and nobelium stray wires are floating around, just waiting to make up problems. The undersurface of the motherboard may not look all that neat; simply despite the relatively tight quarters, I was able to attach the side board with no problems or unsightly bulges.

Of course, if you are obsessed with neatness, you send away do even more, by employing a few telegraph extenders and some more-judicious tie-downs. If you opt a real unused routing of wires and cables, accept information technology. Just remember: Don't use zip ties! When you upgrade or rebuild your system, you'll be overmuch happier.

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