Hey Gang,

I have been cruzin the threads and I haven't seen any about keeping the inside of the case tidy, so I thought I would start one so I can see what all of you do.

I have a SuperMicro full tower case. Here is what it looks like,

http://www.supermicro.com/PRODUCT/Chassis/sc750.htm

This case is great. It affords me to install 10 extra fans (yes it is noisy depending on how many fans I have). I also like this case because all my drive devices are located above the mother board area, with the exception of the hard drives which mount on a removable tray.

Here is what I want to know from you all.

I use both tie wraps (zip ties) to tie back my cables (and with all the fans I have many) and I use spiral wrap to wrap my power cables up nice and tidy.

I fold or tie my ribbon cables too.

All this affords me better case cooling and airflow.

So what I would like to know is how all of you keep the inside of your case neat and clean. What do you use or do inside.

Here is a post in the old forum (yeah the old forum that I keep going on about.... ) showing a PC that Didou2 (now Didou) built for a relative. He used the nice rounded IDE cables and tied everything up.


Myself I don't have much in my midi case since its just a gaming rig. I do tuck the ide cables out of the way as much as possible and also the power cables that aren't in use.

Thanks Arris,

That is exactally what I am after. I like to get some ideas from the people who do some of this. thats why I started using Arctic Silver.

Please Keep them comming all.

As soon as I get a digital camera, Ill post mine too.

Rounded cables is one thing on my list I have to get

Mine looks just like Arris's pic (Didou's) except I have a 120mm fan blowing on my GF3. I basically have the same rig. I try to keep as much cables away from the main board to improve air flow. I have rounded cables as well and they definately help out.

i too have a 120 mm fan pointed at my GF 2 (on my radiator will post a pic soon)and i sat and wound all my cables with electical tape so there are nice little bundles and if you twist the IDE cable and tap[e them it is most exelent could have great circulation if i could close my case (radiator hanging off the side)

I considered taping my cables but opted instead for that spiral wrap stuff....the stuff you loop around cables and wires, usually found in cars or airplanes. It gave all my power cables (ide) a rounded look and I could use it on either 2 wires or 12 wires, it didnt matter if I varied the size of the bundle, it will streach to fit.

Another little tip for cooling I found works well is to trim the plastic around the shrouds on the case fans. My case came with several fan holders with a checkerboard pattern blocking the airflow from the fan. Alittle work from my exacto knife and it opened up airflow nicely.

Good topic to bring up.
Since we just switched to a faster server & Vb software; there's tons of stuff on the old forum.

I take pride in making the inside of my cases as neatly as possible. I don't have a digital camera so I can't show you, else I would. I folded and tucked all of my erroneous cables into a spare 5 1/4 bay, and tucked my big system board - power supply cable in the niche between my 5 1/4 bays and my case siding. Very neat.

Here's the case I'm using now ->



It's a very cool case with 4 fan slots. I'll try to get some pictures of the inside very soon.

Thanks uncleel,

I have been trying to start threads of subjects that all of us could use info on, and case neatness is one..its so simple to do, even if you dont go overboard....just 5 minutes of works will help with the cooling.

Didou,

I have the same case as a spare. I havent built a rig with it yet. I just use the SuperMicro, but it is killing me to have that case sitting in my closet in the box with no rig in it yet.

Also IDE wires can be slit evernly and taped together to limit the space they take up!

Hey Tweakster,

I had thought of that too. "Rounding" my IDE cables but, with the advent of the "factory" made rounded ones, I don't want to spend any time doing my own when I can buy some fancy, colored ones.....but thanks for adding that. I wanted to get or hear as much on this as I can. Everyone has added some great idea's !!

pffft, do i need to get the picture of MY rounded ide cables and neatly arranged computer?? haha

I like the case, but the fans that would cool the 5.25' slots would get in the way, especially when trying to arrange the computer, or work inside.

Rounded cables are great .... but they are hard to "hide"
I prefer the good old-fashioned ribbons, that I can "Origami"
and hide almost completely. When you look into my case
you can hardly see any wires at all - nothing to disrupt the
air flow. I run my IDE cables up the far side of the case, between
the drive cage and right side cover. Pretty easy to do with a few
90-degree folds - being careful to keep everything as flat as you can.

So, I am new to this, but I have an issue. I have an asus A8n Sli motherboard and an x-blade case, I am not new to building computers, but there are wires everwhere andI have no places to put them. If you could recommend some things that would be great.
Thanks
BROWNING

I think my case is pretty bad *** and i kept it pretty neat inside as well. THe case i have is a ThermalTake Tsunami dream with two 120 fans intake and exhaust and a 90 mm side case fan. It is all aluminum, to keep it neat inside i have all rounded ide cables and for the power supply i got the new ultra 500 W modular power supply which lets you use the cables you want and they are all rounded as well. The excess cables i stuck in the empty spaces between drives. The Ultra power supply cables are UV so they look nice with UV lights and really reduce clutter inside the case. :wave:

Ummm, maybe I didn't make my point, but I am really screwed, if you have seen this mobo, then you would understand.... This thing has wires coming out the ying yang, and I have rounded cables etc. but ran out of places to tuck them away, whether it be behind drive bays, or opticals, or random placing of wires on dimm locks nealty placed, maybe I need some sort of enclosure for the bottom og the case, since that is where they seem to be in a great abundance... help? ideas? rounded cables and a modular power supply are the basics of clean up jobs, what I need is a professional maid service, perhaps a girlfriend.....

I second what Mudshark said. I hide all the wires in the lower-right front using old-fashioned tie-up's. My friend had to shell out 50 bones for high-cfm fans to get about the same temps as mine. His wires are dangling all over the places in the case.

Cable management should be part of a good DIY PC.

I've got an Aspire X-Alien aluminum case (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-144-018&depa=1) and I've got some issues with the wiring. You can see them here:
http://morgrim.bravehost.com/images/100_0035.JPG

If anyone has any ideas as to how to clean up that mess, it would be greatly appreciated. It's got 15 power connections being used: 1 floppy for the floppy, 1 floppy for the cpu cooler, 1 4-pin each for the 6 case fans, 1 4-pin each for the WD SATA drives, 1 SATA for the Maxtor SATA drive, 1 4-pin for the DVD-ROM, 1 4-pin for the mobo to help power the PCI-E bus and 1 4-pin each going to each of the video cards. I love the case and I'm really lovin the system I built but that power cabling just looks like a nightmare and I want it to look clean, especially if I go to any LAN parties.

me case mate

yeh g'day,

i just use plain old cable ties for the cables, to keep them all bundled together, so they dont get in the way of pci and agp slots and anything, and so i can clearly see my kewl led lights.. gotta decorate the case wit led's.. go hl2, and cs: source!!!