Looking for a good Wire Management Tutorial

[gutkin]

I've built my own systems for well over 15 years, but I always sucked at cleaning up the wires, with my recent built I used a NZXT Lexa case and a nice looking PS from Ultra, I would like this system to be a show piece at LAN parties, so I would like to make the wires look good. Can anyone point me to a good wire management tutorial or site. The PS is madular and is already well sleeved, so I at least do not have to worry about that.

 

[bored-sarcasm]

wire management is more of an art form than a procedure. you have to make do with what you have to work with. behind the mobo tray, in empty drive trays and at the top of the case are my favorite hiding spots for wires.

 

[gutkin]

wire management is more of an art form than a procedure. you have to make do with what you have to work with. behind the mobo tray, in empty drive trays and at the top of the case are my favorite hiding spots for wires.

Yeah, I'm afraid I've never been much of an artist Thanks for the advise

 

[g33zy]

Unfortunatly wire management varies a lot from case to case and also depending on the mobo and how many things you have attatched to the mobo.


Best advice, take a pic and post it. There are some cool guys in the rate my cables thread that will help you out. But first of all there are some things that you have to sort out first.


The first thing they are gonna tell you in there is to mount your hard drive with the plugs side hidden, basically reverse the way you mount it.


My advice too, be honest with yourself on what you "really" use. If you don't use many usb items, there is no need to plug in front usb connections because they just add to clutter. The rear usb connections are imo the worst thing you can have. They usually only have like 2 pots and the wires are thick and make a mess (usually the first thing you can get rid of to make it look better). You don't need to cut the unused wires, but just make sure you put them somewhere hidden and put a zip/twist tie around them to keep them in order.



The fan exhaust fan at the rear of the case can almost always be run under the mobo (and yes there is usually enough space under the mobo to fit molex plugs when they are flat)


On that "under the mobo" note, pretty much try to run as much as you can under there, its gonna depend on waht case you have but unused psu wires and that kinda stuff. There are some people who cut off unused wires but im not comfortable doing that so i just hide them.


Flat IDE cables are your friend too, they work very well because you can literally fold them right under the edge of the mobo and run them to where they need to go. Yeah the round ones are good for airflow, but thats only when they are exposed . The round ones don't usually fit very nicely under motherboards and don't fold as easy as flat ones. A good idea would be to get some black IDE cables (most likely from ASUS).


Spend some time looking around at your case and try different things then take pics and take advice from these guys here. We all @ the [H] been thru a lot of cases and helped a lot of people and believe me, we all had to start somewhere.


First case I ever wired up in my life was in about in Feb this year. Was it ever a piece of crap. Looked horrible, but as time passed and I tried different things (and different cases) it got better.


I also practiced a lot on other people's machines. Not many people have thier case wired very well so ask them to let you re-wire it for practice.


Heh, I even re-wired my work pc for the hell of it.


wow, that was long =) anyways, post some pics and i'll take a look at it....here are some pics of my progress.


Started out with a generic case that was a total nightmare (no pics of that one ) Then I got the superlanboy:

I didn't post many of the detail shots of how I wired up the lanboy, but here's what I did when I got my P160

Here is the "rate my cables" shot from when I just got the P160 (notice the tape holding the PowerSupply wires)
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And absolutely zero wires visible to the HDD
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This is how they were routed, folded under the mobo and through a hole the tray, then taped along the rail so you won't see it from the other side. Where the arrow starts is where the hole is and where they come out.
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The unused USB cables and the temp probes sit up here, they look pretty comfy and at least they have friends to keep them company
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The power and reset switches run from ALL the way up top behind the cages and like the IDE are taped along, behind a rail so you won't see them from the other side and they come out right under where they are to be plugged in.
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Then I put in some sound dampening, got my x-fi sound card and a 36GB raptor and this is what she looks like now...

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[el rolio]

oh geez you are the boss. ha! now come help me with my wire management.


my one tip in addition. for what wires you DO have to have exposed, sometimes its fine, and when done right can look GREAT. so you say you dont think you have "artistic" ability? well here is a thought. use zip ties / cables clamps / anchors and try to get as many straight lines as you can with exposed wires. so parralel to the main lines of the case and mobo. either straight up n down or horizontal. take your pics and start there.... everyone will help you finish it off.

 

[extreme4377]

Well said G33z. Im glad peolpe are actually interested in wire management. Its really amazing how good it can look when its managed well. So post some pics and we'll be glad to help you. Here are some dated pics of my machine.


Here is an overall shot of the case


What you can do with extra wires...


A shot of where the cables are hidden


And where the others are on the other side..


A closer shot of how I managed the HDD area


The DVD+-RW area...you cant see it but I actually stuck a little bracket to the top of the case(underside of the ceiling) and ran a tiny zip tie through the bracket which is what holds the wires so far into the drive cage. You can see the tail of the zip tie, its white.


A shot taken further back of the case interior


And another


One last one of the lower section

So like I said, just post some pics and well be glad to help. BTW, all specs are in my sig. I have made a few cuts to my case(Antec SLK3700AMB) to better route my cables. Its not mandatory for good cable management but makes it much easier and better looking. Good luck!

 

[Carv]

Very nice work there g33zy, I've learned some good things from that post. I'm going to be working on cable management when I get my next case soon.

 

[morningreis]

Or you could just print out that picture g33zy posted and paste it on the side of your case.

 

[Moose777]

Damn. And I thought I did a fairly decent job hiding my wired in my Gaming Bomb II.

I ran everything ehind the mobo tray and on teh floor of the case. Looks like I'm gonna be redoing mine.

 

[N H O]

thats nice man but you didnt hav to quote all the pics!!

 

[Moose777]

Sorry.

 

[gutkin]

g33zy thanks for the post, gave me some great ideas.

 

[gutkin]

oh geez you are the boss. ha! now come help me with my wire management.


my one tip in addition. for what wires you DO have to have exposed, sometimes its fine, and when done right can look GREAT. so you say you dont think you have "artistic" ability? well here is a thought. use zip ties / cables clamps / anchors and try to get as many straight lines as you can with exposed wires. so parralel to the main lines of the case and mobo. either straight up n down or horizontal. take your pics and start there.... everyone will help you finish it off.

Thanks again to everyone for the suggestion, I'll be working on my case this weekend, and post the pictures after I'm done.

 

[M4rk]

This has inspired me to rewire my entire comp. Unfortunately, my entire family uses my computer so I have to find a date where no one needs it. When I make my SFF I'm selling my current build for $500 to them anyhow...

 

[g33zy]

Don't mention it guys, thats what we're here to do...
Anyone need help please feel free to ask.


It's fun to wire up the cases I have done and don't get discouraged, you get more creative (and daring) the more you do it.

In my old generic case, my mobo was bent soooo bad I literally thought one day it was just gonna snap in two. But these are the things we go thru to get'it done!

There are always ways to improve, its just whether or not you're willing to do the work. Tell you the truth, The hole that I put in the mobo tray is uber ghetto. I couldn't find my dremel and was so in the zone, I took a flat head screw driver a drill and a hammer, im sure you can imagine what I did. It came out with horrible jagged edges that literally look like they would slice right thru my IDE cables. Put some rubber molding on it and i was good to go.

The only bad part about a super wiring job is, when you gotta pull stuf down, its really annoying. Right now, my computer isn't even posting, the fans/lights/dvd drives/hdds all turn on but nothing on screen. I don't know wtf is going on but hey, that's what we have to live with.

Good luck on everyone cases, and im sure i'll see everyone's progress around here on the [H].

 

[M4rk]

How are you posting? I guessing you have another comp that's not in your sig.

One good question for discussion...does a big case mean better wiring/cabling/airflow?

 

[santaliqueur]

i love rewiring my cases, as soon as finals are over, i'll be doing this to both my machines. i ordered a few sleeving kits, so i can finally get my tech tour server looking clean. i got pretty good at it, but never thought of mounting the hard drives in backwards, i'll have to try that.

i'll be replacing the fan in my psu in my windows machine, it sounds like a blender. my main machine is pretty quiet, but before i built it, i cant believe i used to have the loud machine on 24/7. i dread turning that thing on now.

 

[superkdogg]

How are you posting? I guessing you have another comp that's not in your sig.

One good question for discussion...does a big case mean better wiring/cabling/airflow?

Not really. I mean with care most anything can be wired well, but having the extra space can be helpful.

This thread has me motivated to redo mine too. I kinda threw all my stuff in the box (since it doesn't have a side window....yet) and turned it on. I have about a million fans and 2 4 port fan buses to control the noise so didn't worry about wire management. Now seeing what a difference it makes when done well, I may just go and do it tonight...and tomorrow...and over the weekend!

 

[gutkin]

Okie here is my work:

http://myview.blogs.com/photos/gaming_rig_1205/index.html

I decided on this looks vs. everything hidden, mainly because I suck

 

[g33zy]

How are you posting? I guessing you have another comp that's not in your sig.

One good question for discussion...does a big case mean better wiring/cabling/airflow?

and I'm posting from my work computer...

 

[theyangster]

Okie here is my work:

http://myview.blogs.com/photos/gaming_rig_1205/index.html

I decided on this looks vs. everything hidden, mainly because I suck

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my eyes! I can't see!



first step is to reverse those hard drives to the other way so the wires are in back,
the rest well.....
get a closer shot of the inside so we can see what we have on our hands

now here's mine, not as good as others, but mine has cooling and silencing benifits

since I have no window, who cares






hope you like my lego hdd decoupler

EDITED for blurriness

 

[gutkin]

This lexa case comes with screwless HD rails, if I revverse them the cable end do not allow the rails to go all the way into the cage, the rails stick out enough to prevent the door from closing. I did add some more wire wrapping, I think it improved the look somehat. I added more pictures to the link below:

Gaming Rig Pics

 

[g33zy]

Ok, i'll just give you a few tips to get started.

The rear fan, rotate it so the wire comes out on the side closest to the mobo and take off the loom.

The cathode inverter, put it all th way in the corner under the sound card, if you can run the plug on the other side of the case (if the panel can come off). Then run all the wires needed to go to the cathode in the corners of the case. Nothing makes a case look cleaner than a clean floor.

The rest of the wires aptly titled "wtf" i'm not sure what they all are since you have some loomed and some look silver like whats on a modular PSU. To start, run them straight across into the 5 1/4 bays. Like el rolio said if you can't get rid of them, at least make straight lines with them.

An overall word of advice too, the loom looks like its making more of a mess. Maybe you want to only use it where the wires are definitely exposed and then make sure you wrap it reeeeeally tight. It being loose like it is hurts your goal a little bit.

That should start you off in the right direction.

Oh and one more thing, since you can't reverse the HDDs, run the SATA and the power cables in between the 2 drives. If you can't get it tight enough put the drives right under each other (i wouldn't worry too much about heat if thats what you are thinking )

 

[Frank4d]

One thing I have learned is that it is almost impossible to clean up a wiring mess that is already a mess without starting over. You need to disconnect all wires and cables... carefully plan where they will go ... and plug them back in one at a time.

 

[g33zy]

One thing I have learned is that it is almost impossible to clean up a wiring mess that is already a mess. You need to disconnect all wires and cables... carefully plan where they will go ... and plug them back in one at a time.

QFT. not necissarily all of them, but the relevant ones.

 

[gutkin]

Thanks again guys, I just ordered a madular PS, when it arrives next week, I'll try again and post some updates

 

[tanjO]

I just ordered a madular PS

hahaha that made me giggle ^_^

 

[HaVoK]

Please tell me you didnt use a peice of wire as a tie for the cables as they come out of the psu -_- Also i agree with g33z. that "Loom" makes it look worse. make it as tight as possible and use straight lines that flow with the lines of the case.Also g33zy i think those wires that look like they are off a modular psu, the silver ones, are IDE cables. just rounded. Soooooo, i would like to suggest you get ribbon cables instead of those as well.....

 

[gutkin]

Please tell me you didnt use a peice of wire as a tie for the cables as they come out of the psu -_- Also i agree with g33z. that "Loom" makes it look worse. make it as tight as possible and use straight lines that flow with the lines of the case.Also g33zy i think those wires that look like they are off a modular psu, the silver ones, are IDE cables. just rounded. Soooooo, i would like to suggest you get ribbon cables instead of those as well.....

That is correct the silver wires are FD and IDE.

 

[N H O]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my eyes! I can't see!



first step is to reverse those hard drives to the other way so the wires are in back,
the rest well.....
get a closer shot of the inside so we can see what we have on our hands

now here's mine, not as good as others, but mine has cooling and silencing benifits

since I have no window, who cares

hope you like my lego hdd decoupler

EDITED for blurriness

nice....love the creativeness....and also lik your fanless aerocool vm-101 cooler...please post pics of it in the thread thats in my sig


and gutkin, i like you case, it seems to hav very good cooling

 

[g33zy]

ok gotcha, flat IDEs are the way to go, you gotta have some laying aroud the house. If you want them black, sharpie those badboys or see if you can got to a local computer shop and maybe they will sell you the asus ones.

by the way, I think I should say props on the pimpin [H]ardware. SLi'd eVga and BFG 11198 in 3DMark05 ftw!

You got some killer stuff in there for sure. You will be able to get it looking good in no time!

 

[N H O]

and one more thing gutkin, id suggest investing in a sleeving kit

 

[pincho]

what i found to be the best wire management technique is to follow 3 "easy" steps

1. Run everything behind the motherboard tray if possible, if not, run PSU wires to DVD/CD drive bay and work neatly from there

2.Mod if possible. I no it feels kinda sad to mod a $200 case, but in my case (Gigabyte Aurora) modding the HDD drive bay 90 degrees worked wonders as u could hide IDE cables behind it, and then follow them through to their respective drives

3. Probably the most easy, is to get Molex splitters/extenders. LOTS of them . if ur motherboard tray has limited holes in which u can bring the wires through, then extend them and pull them through, or just us the extensions to bring a wire through say for example under the HDD cage and to the HDD drive.

Before:


After:




im still not 100% happy with this job, im probably 70% way through for my likings, but a new system + modular sleeved PSU + modding over the summer =

 

[gutkin]

ok gotcha, flat IDEs are the way to go, you gotta have some laying aroud the house. If you want them black, sharpie those badboys or see if you can got to a local computer shop and maybe they will sell you the asus ones.

by the way, I think I should say props on the pimpin [H]ardware. SLi'd eVga and BFG 11198 in 3DMark05 ftw!

You got some killer stuff in there for sure. You will be able to get it looking good in no time!

Thanks g33zy, will do with the cables, I went ahead and ordered the Aerocool modular PS, because last time I took apart an PS to sleeve it, I blew it up If nothing else, I learn from my mistakes My Antec will go into my file server. So it wont be wasted I'll post some new pictures next weekend once I install the new PS and re-arrange everything.

 

[N H O]

Thanks g33zy, will do with the cables, I went ahead and ordered the Aerocool modular PS, because last time I took apart an PS to sleeve it, I blew it up If nothing else, I learn from my mistakes My Antec will go into my file server. So it wont be wasted I'll post some new pictures next weekend once I install the new PS and re-arrange everything.

NOOOO NOT AEROCOOL! (aerocool psu's are on the avoid list)

 

[theyangster]

but not their video coolers

posted in your heatsink thread with an extra cool shot

hmmm I remember an actually guide on this topic a different website, but reinstalling windows ...i don't have it anymore i'll look for it though

 

[BoySetsFire]

i swear i kept reading this topic as "Looking for a good Wife Management Tutorial" ...

 

[N H O]

but not their video coolers

posted in your heatsink thread with an extra cool shot

hmmm I remember an actually guide on this topic a different website, but reinstalling windows ...i don't have it anymore i'll look for it though

sweet man and yeea their cooling products are pretty amazing

 

[gutkin]

NOOOO NOT AEROCOOL! (aerocool psu's are on the avoid list)

Newegg had a good rating on it, too late anyway its on its way. I'll be re-wiring this weekend

 

[N H O]

Newegg had a good rating on it, too late anyway its on its way. I'll be re-wiring this weekend

ahhh wat happened to goin to hard for advice!?!!