Internal pc wiring

Ross84

Ross84

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Ive got a fairly full pc case (5 ide drives, 1 floppy, 3 dvd/cd drives, 6 fans) and the wiring is a complete mess, has anyone managed to make theres look neat? The psu y splitters prevent me from using sheaths that wrap them all together as they make it too thick. I also find that if i buy short cables then they have to take a direct route which looks messy but if i buy the next size up to route it around the edge then ive got loads of excess coiled up everywhere.

Any solutions or advice appreciated.

Thanks - Ross
 
My computer seems to look a mess as well. I minimize the mess by just using twist ties to tie everything to the side. I will roll up and tie cables to holes on the side near HD bays. My extra IDE cable gets shoved above or below the drives that aren't being used.

I spent about an hour disconnecting and reconnecting everything one at a time triying to get everything out of the way. What's even worse is that my case is large (chieftech server case, ie, old school alienware type case), and it still looks like a mess. I'm not sure if there's some secret and I'm missing out, but that's what I do.
 
I have that problem too. My case is also a large server case. I just made the mistake of getting round IDE cable that are too long. It's pretty hard to do anything with them. I did clean it up a little with cable ties. I would suggest looking to round cables to help. They look better than the regular cables, just be sure to get the right length cable. If they're too long, they become a pain. Here's a pic before I cleaned it up. It isn't too much better though.


One thing I was thinking of doing is getting IDE to SATA adaptors for my 2 hard drives. That way I could use some small SATA cables. It might be a good solution for me, but it would be a little expensive for you since the adaptors cost around $15 each. And with five hard drives, you'd need some kind of an extra card since most motherboards only have 2 SATA connectors.

My case also has a semi modular power supply. The main motherboard cable is connected to it, but the rest plug into it. I only need to put the cables that I would use. That helped some.
 
Theres no real secret to it; you just need to try things until you find a set up that you like.

On my new PC I have 4 5.25 bays but only use 2, so all of my unused power connections go in there.

Folding IDE cables wont really harm them if you don't bend them a lot. if you have two drives 2 inches apart but you have 6" of cable you can just make an 'S' with the excess to give it a slimmer profile.

My old PC has a removable carriage for the HDDs and floppy so I route the IDE cables under it.

I run the mobo power cable under the edge of the motherboard and around the corner. That holds it back out of the way.

I use one PSU plug for my fans and daisy chain them.
 
The round IDE cables work great to minimize the clutter. As for the PSU lines, there's really just the zip ties that work nicely in keeping them bundled together. If you've got a removeable MOBO tray you could hide some behind that as well so you won't be able to see most of it.
 
If you have a larger case, you can most likely move your HDs around inside the 5.25" or 3.5" slots to allow the IDE cables (rounded or not) to be at some 'relaxed' position. If you put 2 HDs and 2 ROM drives on all 4 slots consecutively, then you'll have to make 'U-turns' on those round cables (regular IDE cables would be easier since you can fold). Plan out some of the drive positions if you worry about cable messes, you dont just stick all hardware in there then make the cables work, think ahead and you can clean up a lot of the messes. Also you can hide a lot of those longer power cables beside the spot where the drives go near the front of the case. I had pictures of my older PC w/ a mid tower that had nicely tied cables, but I dont have pics now but if I find them I'll post. Now I'm on Shuttle XPC, its even harder to tied cables since there's so little space to work with.
 
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