Desktop Tower Ideas

[stubbyhs]

Hello all,

A more relaxed post for this section I think.

I am currently at uni studying Computer Aided Mechanical Engineering, and have a project to do over the next semester involving design, construction and selling of a product that we have to do ourselves.

So I got my gray matter a-thinking, and have thought of trying to make a desktop tower that cuts down on cables as much as possible. Any time I have taken repaired or built desktops that has been quite an annoying part of it, I find they get in the way a lot!

Just to clarify, I don't mean wireless, I mean the power and SATA cables would run along the wall of the tower, possibly integrated into it somehow, as hidden as possible.

Now I realise that the back fan would need a cable that cannot be removed, as well as some video cards, but I am really thinking of mainstream consumers, rather than the monsters you guys have probably all built.

I was also thinking of the easiest method of inserting an removing drives, instead of them being screwed in.

Has all of this been done before? Could it work? Am I a crazy person?

Any ideas welcome, as well as constructive criticism.

Thanks,
Stubbyhs

 

[stubbyhs]

Does noone have anything to contribute?

 

[dustywoodworker]

Actually, NO. I was waiting to read what others think about this idea. I agree that the cables create many of the problems encountered during routine access into any desktop computer. Not having to deal with them, beyond connecting and disconnecting them, would be great. If it has been done, it certainly is not wide spread.

As imprortant to your design success, however, may be cooling. You need to make certain that you have the proper air flow.

 

[stubbyhs]

Thanks a lot!

I will make sure the colling is sufficient, I will try and design it best I can and post it on the board

Good to hear some contribution!

 

[lhorwinkle]

I'm wondering what is the problem you're trying to solve?
If cabling is annoying then ...
- Would better cabling cut the cost of assembly?
- Would better cabling cut the cost of maintenance?
If the answer to either of these is YES, then the industry would already have worked on these problems.
Have they?

 

[richnrockville]

FWIW: My take on the idea of having the cabling built into the case would make it easy to install and replace components.

But, My guess is that it would be too expensive and limit the flexibility of the thousands of different tower configurations that people want. The boxes that Dell and others build are built as cheaply as possible to maximize their profits. Cables in many cases are cheaper than building the connections into the motherboard.

Flexibilty is the key to selling lots of desktop cases. With lots of different motherboard manufacturers looking for your dollar (or yen, or euro) competition is keen..

Rich

 

[linnemeyerhere]

If cost was no object to some extent how cool would it be if all or most the headers for power and communications where located/standardized to plug into the case. So all the headers/connectors would be facing towards the standoffs and then all the internal cables cleanly preinstalled behind the mobo. Oh I can dream but as mentioned the idea is doable but costly.

 

[Lordbob75]

Having the cables built into the case would be a major pain.
The better idea would be to just have cable routing and space behind the motherboard for cabling to go. That has already been implemented in nicer cases, though it isn't common in cheap ones (my case has almost an inch between the back of the motherboard plate and the side panel for cables.

Another interesting idea would be to build cables into the case and have ports to connect to. So basically you would put a sata cable into the wall/floor of the case running from next to the motherboard to next to the harddrive, and use 2 short cables to connect from the ports to the motherboard and harddrive. I feel like that would be way more trouble than it was worth though.

~Lordbob

 

[Jaime74656]

sounds like it could be interestingly crazy, but i sense this will be more troubles then its worth honestly...

 

[Layback Bear]

Well I think Corsair has already taken care of cable routing. Check out the 600T and the 800D by Corsair.

 

[Darkelk]

I was also thinking of the easiest method of inserting an removing drives, instead of them being screwed in.

Has all of this been done before? Could it work? Am I a crazy person?
.

Thanks,
Stubbyhs

I know for a fact Thermaltake and a few other brands make cases which have Drive bays which are in a 'tooless design' so it's easy to remove/add drives.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

And of course we've all seen hot swap bays which are very cool. I have 3 hsb's in the front of my desktop and I love them just wish I'd opted for 3.5" and not the (2) 2.5".