Please help me with cable management

theone1989 · 7 Jan 2011 at 21:16

I have no idea how to go about it, as I'm about to build a pc for the first time and previous pcs were too cheap for any sort of cable management.

The case I'm going to go for is Coolermaster HAF X, so a high end investment.

Please help me. Thanks.

Tealc · 7 Jan 2011 at 22:03

It's not that tricky really.

You'll want to route as many of the cables around the back of the motherboard and through the little cut outs near to their destinations. You may (will) need some extensions for at least the 8way CPU and maybe even the 24way motherboard depending on your psu and where they are located on the board itself. You can get some nifty pre-braided extensions which look pretty good. Fan leads should also be tucked behind the motherboard.

If you have a non modular psu you can try and lose the unused leads behind the motherboard tray or behind a hard drive bay.

Get some cable ties of different types so you can gather cables together and anchor them in place.

Have a look through the new cases gallery thread for ideas.

Take your time.

LiamJ · 8 Jan 2011 at 00:04

Make sure to route cables tidily through the cut-outs and behind the motherboard tray as you install each device. I found that, once everything is installed, doing the power cables first is easiest, as they are thicker. Then do things like SATA cables, molex/peripheral cables and fan cables.

And always make sure to connect the case front panel connectors to the motherboard before you install anything else into the case. It can be extremely annoying to get such small connectors in a small place with a GPU and lots of other cables in the way.

theone1989 · 8 Jan 2011 at 02:55

So what do I need to buy? Suggestions pls?

G-Dubs · 8 Jan 2011 at 08:49

put your psu into the case, but do not install the mobo. Then with an idea in your head about where all the various sockets are on the mobo ang gpu you can route your cables through to give you a good idea of what will reach and what wont, and the best way and order to have your cables laid out. the ones that dont reach are the ones you need to get extensions for. the reason you do this first without the mobo in as a dry run is so you can clat around as much as you like without risk of causing damage. then when youve got it all visualised and your parts have arrived you can slowly start to put it all together. take your time and it will look great. rush it and it will look rushed