MISCONCEPTION: Round cables are actually better!

[FO_SHO]

I see people telling me that round cables are worse than flat cables, but I came upon this review and it seems like the round cable beats the flat ones.

http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/other_misc/Copper_Cables/index.htm

I guess some round cables are good.

 

[4Ryan6]

If they are shielded, high quality.

<b><font color=purple>Details, Details, Its all in the Details, If you need help, Don't leave out the Details.</font color=purple></b>

 

[lhgpoobaa]

it depends... airflow and ease of use rounded are better, but if one is using cables longer than the max officially specified (18") then flat ones apparently better, unless you get grounded shielded ones.

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[FO_SHO]

another misconception is that airflow is better. The review also says that airflow doesn't make ANY difference on rounded vs. flat cables.

http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/other_misc/Rounded Cables/index.html

I don't know about the grounded wires but 24" flat I guess would be better for over 18".

 

[lhgpoobaa]

well it might if you have a small cramped case with minimal flow and lots of cables.

Realisticy though they dont do much for airflow... but they ARE easier to handle and bend inside ones case.

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[jihiggs]

mostly they are just meant to be neater than ribon cables. if you have a super tower with tons of devices in it, especialy scsi, rounded cables are neccessary. in the case of scsi, those ribbon cables just dont cut it for hard drives, they will limit the throughput of your devices. you need to have the round cables that are orderd with ground wires to separate the data wires. or the ribon cables that are twisted pairs in between plugs.

my computer is so fast, it completes an endless loop in less than 4 seconds!

 

[gebbly]

"Realisticy though they dont do much for airflow"

I thought airflow improvement was their main selling point? Lucky you mentioned this before I bought some.

And you say anything beyond 18" and the performance is reduced unless I get the expensive shielded versions?

And Jihiggs you say
"if you have a super tower with tons of devices in it, especialy scsi, rounded cables are neccessary"
BUT they offer worse performance if not shielded and within 18".
As well as
"in the case of scsi, those ribbon cables just dont cut it for hard drives"

I have a tower with scsi drives so could someone clarify these crossed messages?

Is the collective wisdom then, that for best performance in a system with scsi drives you need to use grounded shielded high quality rounded cables over a distance of less than 18" ?

 

[Twitch]

I buy round cables just to keep the inside of my case from being cluttered. My case has windows and I have to be a little more tidy, otherwise I'll just be showing off my mess. To me, that's the only reason to buy them.

<-----Insert witty sig line here.

 

[jamarno]

Be careful about metal coverings because some aren't grounded and don't act as shielding. There's nothing wrong with round cables, provided they're made with twisted pairs and not just straight wires.

A valid test would look at the analog quality of the signals, but that's about as likely to be found on the Internet as a decent power supply test.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

Bear in mind that modern IDE hard drives and controllers can tolerate noise too. a built in safeguard. and have single bit data correction facilities.

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