Wire Management

  • Thread starter Thread starter Si
  • Start date Start date
S

Si

I'm about to transfer my PCs components to a new case and was wondering if
anyone had any tips on how to manage the multitude of wires that are in
there. I did buy a big pack of yellow zip ties but am having second thoughts
about using them. This is one side of the building your own PC lark that
I've never been any good at so any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers.

Si

PS Just in case you need to know, I have 4 hard drives.
 
I'm about to transfer my PCs components to a new case and was wondering if
anyone had any tips on how to manage the multitude of wires that are in
there. I did buy a big pack of yellow zip ties but am having second thoughts
about using them. This is one side of the building your own PC lark that
I've never been any good at so any advice would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Folding flat ribbon cables is an art but the results are worthwhile.
Zip ties are the way to go though.
 
Zip ties are the best really, but if you are into muti Drives like myself
(3HDDs and 3Optical drives) with IDE Raid, then you can buy special "Round"
IDE cables which they are much better to control, they are wrapped with
rubber tubes, easier for the cooling wind to pass. Comes indifferent
lengths, but some are 3-4 times more expensive cos each has its own extra
grounding wires. Then you wound have a "cleaner" interior!
 
You can't find much advice in this area because it comes
down to personal creativity. Each case presents new
challenges. Often I can hide all of the flat cables by
folding them back behind the drive cage. You'll have
to plan on how this will work and it can take some
time to get it just right. With the advent of serial ATA,
all you'll really need in the future are those zip ties or
the self-adhering plastic cable routing clips.

Dave
 
I like the zip ties but don't cinch them down too tight. All you want to do
is keep the cables tidy, not crimp them. Those cables look simple, but they
are highly engineered and probably aren't meant to be bent tightly. The new
SATA interface has some really sick speed ratings, like 150 MB/sec I think.
They wont meet that rating with tight folds in the cable back and forth-use
rounded loops or really rounded folds, not creased joints. Believe it or
not that kind of stuff makes a difference in high speed serial wiring. I am
pretty sure the SATA specs would list the bend radius of the cables.

--Dan
 
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