For me Cable Management was perhaps one of the most difficult and time consuming jobs of building a computer. I personally had bad cable management when I built my computer, but then I decided to change that and learned much from it: http://pcpartpicker.com/b/X6jcCJ
Here is what Ill cover:
1. Parts
2. Technique
1. PARTS
It's important to get the right case and PSU or else you could have a terrible looking computer build no matter what you do.
Cases: When choosing a case for your PC, you not only want to make sure it has enough fans/radiator mounts, PCIE slots, HDD/SSD slots, etc. But you want a case that has a lot of cable routing via grommets that go behind the motherboard tray. A good example of a bad cable management design is this case:
As you can see, this case lacks a lot of grommet holes. Most noticeably, at the top where there isn't even a small hole to route your 8 pin CPU cable. And with a non modular psu, you can see how it makes it even worse.
What to look for: There are many cases these days that have good cable management, but most are at least $100 or more. Again, you want a case with a lot of grommet holes and a big enough space at the back of the case for storing your cables. One of the best cases for cable management is Corsair's 540 (mid ATX) and 240 (micro atx) cases. Because of the dual chamber design, it offers unlimited cable management ideas.
Power Supplies:
This is the perfect example of why you want a modular PSU.
(This used to be a top of the line system back in 08, but now I use it for spare parts.)
Power supplies are the most important when it comes to cable management since there are 3 kinds of PSU's that will make all the difference in the world when it comes to cable management:
A. Non-Modular. A PSU that has all it's PCIE, CPU, and SATA cables connected, without the ability to take out non used cables.
B. Semi-Modular: This is the most optimal PSU, the CPU connectors are hardwired, while the SATA and PCIE can be connected and disconnected to make a very clean build.
C. Fully-Modular: ALL connections are modular, or rather can connect and disconnect. Ideal for adding custom colored cables. (However, Fully Modular PSU's are normally expensive.)
B and C are the best, since you can manually connect only the cables that you need, this makes cable management a way easier job and makes it a lot cleaner than any non modular psu.
2. TECHNIQUE
There are lots of ways you can sort your cables, some ways are look better to some folks than others. It all depends on what you want to achieve.
Here are some tips I've learned:
1) Don't be afraid to "smush" cables. I used to be afraid that I would "injure" a cable if it was too cramped in, but remember, cables are not fragile pieces of glass, they are made so they won't break and you have to cut it in order to break them. (I know this sounds very dumb, but I had a strange view of cables a while ago. I hope to fix this for others too lol.)
2) The key to any type of clean cable management is to hide the cables, the best way to hide them is behind the mobo tray. Try to tuck as much of the cable in behind the mobo tray to get the cleanest look, if you have your cables only half hidden, then your not that much better off than with leaving all the cables in the front.
3) Hide the 8 pin CPU complementary power cable, I've seen lots of builds where they have everything nicely tucked away, but then they have the 8 pin sticking out and routed thru the mobo even when they had enough length and a hole so they could hide it behind the mobo tray. This does ruin the cleanness.
4) Making the hidden cables "pretty" is completely optional, in my opinion I see it as not necessary and a waste of time since nobody will look back there.
5) Fan's and their cables: Don't forget to orient your case fans/rad fans in the direction most optimal for hiding the fan's cables. And try hiding extra fan cables in places where they won't be seen (if possible).
6) Cable straps: Zip ties are very popular for tidying up cables, however when you want to redo your cabling you have to cut your zip ties. I recommend velcro cable straps, this way you can re use your cable straps when adding new cables or changing out old ones. Some PSU's come with these type of straps.
I hope this tutorial was helpful.
TechyInAZ
If you have any comments about the tutorial, please PM me.
Here is what Ill cover:
1. Parts
2. Technique
1. PARTS
It's important to get the right case and PSU or else you could have a terrible looking computer build no matter what you do.
Cases: When choosing a case for your PC, you not only want to make sure it has enough fans/radiator mounts, PCIE slots, HDD/SSD slots, etc. But you want a case that has a lot of cable routing via grommets that go behind the motherboard tray. A good example of a bad cable management design is this case:
As you can see, this case lacks a lot of grommet holes. Most noticeably, at the top where there isn't even a small hole to route your 8 pin CPU cable. And with a non modular psu, you can see how it makes it even worse.
What to look for: There are many cases these days that have good cable management, but most are at least $100 or more. Again, you want a case with a lot of grommet holes and a big enough space at the back of the case for storing your cables. One of the best cases for cable management is Corsair's 540 (mid ATX) and 240 (micro atx) cases. Because of the dual chamber design, it offers unlimited cable management ideas.
Power Supplies:
This is the perfect example of why you want a modular PSU.
(This used to be a top of the line system back in 08, but now I use it for spare parts.)
Power supplies are the most important when it comes to cable management since there are 3 kinds of PSU's that will make all the difference in the world when it comes to cable management:
A. Non-Modular. A PSU that has all it's PCIE, CPU, and SATA cables connected, without the ability to take out non used cables.
B. Semi-Modular: This is the most optimal PSU, the CPU connectors are hardwired, while the SATA and PCIE can be connected and disconnected to make a very clean build.
C. Fully-Modular: ALL connections are modular, or rather can connect and disconnect. Ideal for adding custom colored cables. (However, Fully Modular PSU's are normally expensive.)
B and C are the best, since you can manually connect only the cables that you need, this makes cable management a way easier job and makes it a lot cleaner than any non modular psu.
2. TECHNIQUE
There are lots of ways you can sort your cables, some ways are look better to some folks than others. It all depends on what you want to achieve.
Here are some tips I've learned:
1) Don't be afraid to "smush" cables. I used to be afraid that I would "injure" a cable if it was too cramped in, but remember, cables are not fragile pieces of glass, they are made so they won't break and you have to cut it in order to break them. (I know this sounds very dumb, but I had a strange view of cables a while ago. I hope to fix this for others too lol.)
2) The key to any type of clean cable management is to hide the cables, the best way to hide them is behind the mobo tray. Try to tuck as much of the cable in behind the mobo tray to get the cleanest look, if you have your cables only half hidden, then your not that much better off than with leaving all the cables in the front.
3) Hide the 8 pin CPU complementary power cable, I've seen lots of builds where they have everything nicely tucked away, but then they have the 8 pin sticking out and routed thru the mobo even when they had enough length and a hole so they could hide it behind the mobo tray. This does ruin the cleanness.
4) Making the hidden cables "pretty" is completely optional, in my opinion I see it as not necessary and a waste of time since nobody will look back there.
5) Fan's and their cables: Don't forget to orient your case fans/rad fans in the direction most optimal for hiding the fan's cables. And try hiding extra fan cables in places where they won't be seen (if possible).
6) Cable straps: Zip ties are very popular for tidying up cables, however when you want to redo your cabling you have to cut your zip ties. I recommend velcro cable straps, this way you can re use your cable straps when adding new cables or changing out old ones. Some PSU's come with these type of straps.
I hope this tutorial was helpful.
TechyInAZ
If you have any comments about the tutorial, please PM me.
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