Wire management hell

TeeJayHoward

TeeJayHoward

Limpness Supreme
Joined
Feb 8, 2005
Messages
12,271
Just look at the mess that is my computer. Icky. Even without the dust. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how exactly I can clean it up. Every cord I have here is pretty much needed, and there's no room to hide them in my case. Can anyone offer advice?

amobo5ia.jpg
anoroom6pi.jpg

And here's what it looks like when I remove my fans:
arearcage2av.jpg
arearnocage3xf.jpg
 
Everything is pretty well organized it seems. The only thing better than the absence of cords is really well organized cords that show. if you kept up with the dust and claned up the wires just a bit more wire ties, etc...that would look pretty good.

Side note: The shots are WAY to close for us to help you any with tips on what to do with them.
 
*cough* *cough* all that dust.. if you really want to clean up the wire mess you'll have to look into running many of them behind your mobo.. this may require you to get some molex extensions and probably take your whole rig apart, but in the end it will be worth it.. and while your at it get some 80/120 fan filters to keep a lot of that dust out of your case and only stuck in the filter
 
First of all- dust it. Second of all, 86 that extra SATA cable thats not being used and re-zip tie them nicely. Try ordering some 1/4" and 1/8" sleeving and the respective heatshrink to sleeve the fan wires. Those you cant hide too much, but you can make them look nice. Try routing your ATX case wires (PWR/RST/LED) straight from the front to under the mobo; then let like 1-2" pop out the bottom corner where they should be plugged into, and then fit them in there. Same thing with the 4-pin ATXPWR cable, try routing it under the mobo.
 
1) I've no place to put a fan filter... Believe me, I've tried!
2) The "extra" sata cable will be in use sometime next week. I've got a controller card and 9 more drives coming in, so I'll be using 12 sata ports, all said and done.
3) I'll try routing the case wires under the motherboard. Didn't even think of it! (Unfortunately, the 4-pin ATXPWR cord is too short.)
4) Anyone have any suggestions for the 24-pin connector? It's too short to reach the motherboard by itself, and I'd rather not cut stuff up.
5) What do you guys recommend for dusting? Turning the computer off and using a swiffer pad? A can of compressed air? featherduster?
 
Zip-tie long cords to the sides of the case. Create right angles. Right angles look neat.
 
TeeJayHoward said:
1) I've no place to put a fan filter... Believe me, I've tried!
2) The "extra" sata cable will be in use sometime next week. I've got a controller card and 9 more drives coming in, so I'll be using 12 sata ports, all said and done.
3) I'll try routing the case wires under the motherboard. Didn't even think of it! (Unfortunately, the 4-pin ATXPWR cord is too short.)
4) Anyone have any suggestions for the 24-pin connector? It's too short to reach the motherboard by itself, and I'd rather not cut stuff up.
5) What do you guys recommend for dusting? Turning the computer off and using a swiffer pad? A can of compressed air? featherduster?
Click to expand...

ever thought of getting an exention for the 24-pin connector? i know the 20-pin ones are like $10, not sure if they sell 24-pin extensions. to dust, get a vacuum (something with a small nozzel), then use the can of air and vacuum again. thats the best way to do it. otherwise get those dusting wipes. i know CompUSA has them.
 
zipties, rounded cables, and tuck all the cables together if you can. it will give your case a more planned look. you can pull those front panel cables away from the other ones and store those in the front of the case. you have like 10 cables just floating around right there. tuck that power cable under the lip of the door. and try to keep those power supply cables routed around the mobo so you can maximize your view of the board.
 
A can of compressed air and a dust mask for starters :D

Just find the nooks and crannies and start hiding. And binding the wires together like mentioned before, looks nice. Just experiment... it takes some serious patience sometimes.
 
TeeJayHoward said:
1) I've no place to put a fan filter... Believe me, I've tried!
Click to expand...

I'ts been said many times before but if you took stockings (that chix wear) and wrapped them tight around the front of the fan it will capture a lot of dust thats pulled in, and they are so thin they will fit even if you don't have room

OR

check these out, they'll probably fit on 80/120's
 
Techx said:
check these out, they'll probably fit on 80/120's
Click to expand...

The problem is that there's no room between the fan and the slot it slides into. These fans are configured in a hot-swappable setup and are flush with their casings. Thanks for the link, but it just wouldn't fit in my situation...

Picture of fans: (120mm is from case, 92mm from my drive cages)
fans7fq.jpg


Now the stockings concept, on the other hand... Hmm! These fans suck a LOT (99CFM) of air, but if I pulled them tight enough over the fans I shouldn't have a problem...
 
Hell don't take a swiffer to it. Just use a vacuum with a new bag in it. Or a clean capture bucket thingamajig. It looks fine.
 
To do a good job of getting all the wires, you'd probably have to tear it completely apart and rebuild from scratch, taking the time to do it all right, etc.
 
Bbq said:
Stop using 2 ATX extentions.
Click to expand...
Problem is that I can't find a 24-pin to 24-pin extender. So I used a 24-pin to 20-pin and combined it with a 20-pin to 24-pin.
 
I would find a longer 24 pin extender then, sleeve it, and replace it.

I clean dust out of my case with a small leafblower. I turn it on, blast away, and after about 20 seconds it is spotless. I reccommend wearing a dust mask and goggles. Whenever I clean a dusty computer, I always get smacked with an evil, massive dust cloud rocketing out of the case.
 
Volucris said:
Hell don't take a swiffer to it. Just use a vacuum with a new bag in it. Or a clean capture bucket thingamajig. It looks fine.
Click to expand...

everyone should know by now it's an incredibly bad idea to put a vaccum anywhere near your pc.. they generate so much static electricity you can toast your rig if you got too close
 
Yesterday I played around with the cables a bit... Now I have NEW problems. I was trying to get everything set up for when I get my new drives in, and somewhere in the process, my IDE cable shrunk about an inch. It just doesn't fit anymore... Luckily I had a backup, and replaced it. I also needed to add two more SATA cables, and move the 5 SATA cables from the top rack into the main part of the case. I also added the LED headers for the two drive racks, twist-tied a lot of things together, moved/hid the extra unused front panel headers, and twist-tied the remaining ones. I also removed the 24-pin to 20-pin IDE connector, and just bent my existing 20-24pin converter.

This case comes with 9x5.25" bays, and only 6 Molex connectors. Someone really wasn't performing a full thought process. I'm reluctant to modify my PSU, so I'm using molex splitters... Which add bulk. In addition to my IDE cable no longer reaching, I also can't put the top fan back in... At least until I get the new drives in, and can remove my IDE drive and replace it with a SATA drive.

Anywho, lots of talking, mostly incoherent babble. Have some pretty pictures! Yay!

setupblah8pz.jpg
cableseverywhere7vn.jpg
cables28lo.jpg
cables34ae.jpg
 
What do you use all those drives for?

Have you thought about picking up a cheap Sempron or Celeron chip, board and ram and building a seperate file server? Then get a nice easy to manage better looking case for your main rig.
 
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