Cable Management Pictures

Here's an old shot of my test rig. Kinda' blurry shot from an old webcab, but you get the idea....


This rig has dual IDE floppy drives, and both my HDD's are IDE, as well as the two optical drives. So it looks pretrty good for no SATA cables at all, I think.

pparks1 said:

I do keep my side panels on all of the time however, because removing them screws with the airflow and allows dust into my case that my intake filters cannot stop.

My rigs run a few degrees cooler with the sides off, so the airflow thing is a non-factor. Plus, I have a portable 120v 120psi compressor I use about once a week to blow them out. It's much more convenient for me to leave the sides off, for as much as I'm inside the cases. Plus, they run cooler. Can't beat that with a stick.

pparks1 said:

.

The key to building a clean box is
#1). The right case. You have to have a case with access holes to hide the cables behind stuff. My case, the Antec P182...has an inch or two behind the mobo before the other side panel. I can get a ton of cabling into that space.

#2). The right power supply. I went with a modular power supply on my newest build from Corsair and it's been great. Rather than a spaghetti mess of cables...you simply plug in exactly what you need and nothing else

#3). Take your time. It takes me roughly 2 or 3 hours usually to think my cabling through on my box. Then, I usually use velcro straps (no zip ties), electrical tape and such to keep everything bundled together.

Excellent advice, especially #3.

For those that want to tackle this sort of thing and don't have a modular PSU or a case with room behind the motherboard tray (or bottom mount for the PSU), an empty drive bay comes in handy for stuffing the excess PSU cables in; best is if in this sort of situation is to put your CD/DVD drive one or two slots from the top and stuff the extra in there.

Great advice guys...I need to sort the cabling out in my new build...its a little messy at the moment. I need to get a new DVD writer first as the one I got was from my old machine and has one of those horrible ribbon cables which just gets in the way. As soon as I get a new one its time for me to do some tidying up :)

burtie said:

I need to get a new DVD writer first as the one I got was from my old machine and has one of those horrible ribbon cables which just gets in the way.

You can go with the round IDE cables like I did. They are actually really easy to conceal in a newer case.

Thanks for all the tips. Looks like I'll be tied up all weekend. :)

wangster said:

Looks like I'll be tied up all weekend. :)

So will my girlfriend!

Sorry, I couldn't resist....LOL