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Age: 23
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    Howto: cable management

    Author: nano
    Used time: 1-2h
    Cost: 8 zipties 6 anchors
    Categories: Single case mods | Cooling

    Since I see proper casemods loose their coolness by having bad cable management; I've decided to show you some techniques I use. Not only does it look cool, it also helps airflow.

    First of all you will need some zipties. If you don't have any you can buy them at your local hardware store. Also In this project I will be using ziptie anchors, these aren't a must, but using them will make things a lot easier.

    Once you have everything required you need to know what cables you are going to use and where will they roughly be going. Once you've figured out the cables you can start thinking about dremeling a few holes to the case. alt
    For example on this antec sonata III you could cut away some of the mobo tray to get some of the cables fitting underneath it. This would enable hiding most of the frontpanel and sata connectors.

    Now once all necessary mods have been done you can start gathering all the wires you're going to need with the computer. The rest can be put aside.
    alt
    Some cables can be routed under the motherboard such as the +12v 4pin motherboard connector, but since on the motherboard I'll be using will have the 24pin connector on the left side, I will attach the 4 pin connector to it.
    alt
    The ziptie on the left has an anchor attached to it and will hold the cable in place behind the powersupply.
    Once this cable is in place I need to install the motherboard to the case so I know where to mount the rest of the cables.


    First I will go through the frontpanel and sata connections.alt
    By using one anchor I can group all the cables to be just the right length and tidyly in the corner. Also, if I wouldn't of had any anchors I could of attached the cables with a ziptie to the hdd cage. I added another one for my frontpanel hd audio after cutting off it's ac'97 part.
    alt

    Now to the hdd cage.
    alt
    Though it might not seem necessary, it does quite a difference to tidy up that area also. Just try to get all the cables to match as one long cable. Start from the mobo side and start working your way up.

    Now for the mother of all; The powersupply leftovers bunch.
    alt
    First grab all the cables and grab between the first and second nearest connector to the psu. Between these two connectors bunch up all the connectors into a neat little bunch. Then wrap the rest of the cables into your hand as you go closer to the psu. Now connect all accessories like fans and such. If you have something in the 5.25" bay, grab some ends for them also. Slide a ziptie down your palm under the cables and up your middle finger, this might take some practise. Now add an anchor to the end of the ziptie and close the ziptie. Reveal the adehsive and stick it to the case.

    At this point I attached the cpu and it's cooler. Don't leave the cpu coolers cables around the cooler. Not only it looks lazy, but there is a risk of the wires getting caught in the fan.
    alt
    On my motherboard the cpu fans connector was near the 24 pin psu connector, so I decided to go as much as possible along the psu cable. The whole bunch was ziptied to the cooling fan. I did something similar with the 6 pin connector for the gpu.If your cpu fan connector is not close to any other cables you can save a ziptie by twisting the cable around until it starts to tangle on itself.

    alt
    Yey! Here we have a case with tidy cables. I doubt that anyone will complain if your wires look like this.
    zipties used: 8
    anchors used: 6

    If you have any tips of your own, leave them in the comments :)


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    02.03.2010 10:04 BigfunkNice!
    19.02.2010 13:21 nanowires don't have to be hidden to be neat, it just makes it a bit easier.
    18.02.2010 22:14 IlendarenI tried to do something like this on my new mATX case, but there's simply too much of those wires to get them looking THIS neat :P
    29.01.2010 17:14 nanoI think I got my ones from kuisma.
    28.01.2010 23:57 IlendarenWhere do you get those 'anchors'? Bauhaus? K-Rauta?
    12.12.2009 15:59 BenaHI don't know if it's any good, but I have too long GPU to fit the front fan so I have an 80mm fan in 45 degree angle at the front of the HDD-cage, which sucks the air below the HDD to GPU. (HDD temps dropped from 38-39 to 34-36 and the GPU idles from 56-58 to 52-54)
    29.11.2009 21:19 verrui did some cleaning today, maybe i will get some zipties tomorrow and clean a bit more :)
    22.11.2009 17:12 JipaVery good work there! Really goes to show you don't have to be a superhuman or willing to cut half the case away to get those cables nicely :)
    22.11.2009 15:33 BenaHI love it. I have tried to make this kind of airflow improvement, but I have too long GPU, so I cannot get that front fan installed. :/
    22.11.2009 02:00 laurilrYou could put the rest of the cables to 5,25" rack. It would look clearer.
    22.11.2009 00:58 nanothanks for the correction
    22.11.2009 00:26 NearCryManagment -> management? "Then wrap the rest of the cables into your as"??
    21.11.2009 23:05 MartyyI should try this, but if you want to hear the truth; I just dont have energy to do that. :(
    21.11.2009 21:14 JapalaNicely done! :)
    21.11.2009 20:06 CaineVery nice tutorial, I might try this out myself.
    21.11.2009 14:27 s0lidGood tutorial :)
    21.11.2009 14:20 verruso clean, good project. I should try this today : )