Cable Management

[Sophrosyne]

I don’t think my case has enough holes to do all that. Plus my cables seems very short compared to the ones in my gaming pc

With foam cable saddles/mounts/clips you don't need holes at all.

 

[TenthAveN]

With foam cable saddles/mounts/clips you don't need holes at all.

I may look into those, but there’s also the issue of short cables. When I try to reroute a lot of the front panel and psu cables, they either barely reach or don’t reach at all.

 

[Sophrosyne]

I may look into those, but there’s also the issue of short cables. When I try to reroute a lot of the front panel and psu cables, they either barely reach or don’t reach at all.

It used to be you could get extensions of cables with sockets on both ends but they may not have that any more.

 

[TenthAveN]

So I downloaded speccy to monitor my CPU temp, and I’ve noticed that when the tea kettle noise is stopped, the CPU temperature goes up to around 35C, but when the noise is happening, the temperature is significantly lower. Moving my mouse around alters/intensifies the noise.

 

[Neostarwcc]

View attachment 294399 Me again,

I was just wondering, in terms of cable management, what I can do better (bear in mind that there is not routing in the back of the case, because there’s no room.)

Currently, most of the cables protruding from the PSU are either stuffed beneath the optical drive (if not in use), routed through the second drive bay (the 20+4-pin), or not routed/hidden at all (the 4+4-pin). The front panel cables are either routed through the smaller drive bays (if they’re long enough), or under it. Thanks for the help.

Although I hate them, you need some cable ties or something to hold your cables together. Like my builds for the last several years, your cables are far too messy in your case and can become problematic later down the line. Something that was suggested to me, were ziploc ties or whatever you call them. You know those things that have metal in them on the inside and are plastic on the outside and you just twist them to get them on and off your bag or whatever? Not 100% sure what you call them they just hold sandwich bags together and whatnot.

It would be fine to stick those in your case as long as they are far away from your components (I wouldn't take any chances with them having metal on them. Exposing a motherboard or other component to metal or magnets is a big no no.) and they would be less of a pain in the butt than cable ties.

I just hate cable ties with a passion because after you secure your cables they're a major pain to get off. They're meant to pretty much permanently secure your cable there and if you like adding components and upgrading like I do, you need a way to take them off. You usually need a knife or scissors to take them off and even then its still a pain. I've cut my hand so many times trying to get those things off it's not even funny. That and those plastic containers they hold SSD's and RAM in these days. Ughh.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Although I hate them, you need some cable ties or something to hold your cables together. Like my builds for the last several years, your cables are far too messy in your case and can become problematic later down the line. Something that was suggested to me, were ziploc ties or whatever you call them. You know those things that have metal in them on the inside and are plastic on the outside and you just twist them to get them on and off your bag or whatever? Not 100% sure what you call them they just hold sandwich bags together and whatnot.

Usually called twist-ties.

It would be fine to stick those in your case as long as they are far away from your components (I wouldn't take any chances with them having metal on them. Exposing a motherboard or other component to metal or magnets is a big no no.) and they would be less of a pain in the butt than cable ties.

I would not use them anywhere near a motherboard because of the metal core in them. Zap!

I just hate cable ties with a passion because after you secure your cables they're a major pain to get off. They're meant to pretty much permanently secure your cable there and if you like adding components and upgrading like I do, you need a way to take them off. You usually need a knife or scissors to take them off and even then its still a pain. I've cut my hand so many times trying to get those things off it's not even funny. That and those plastic containers they hold SSD's and RAM in these days. Ughh.

Velcro would be better if you are worried about getting back in there. In fact Velcro is the standard for Cat6 ethernet cabling, and that has replaced the Zip-tie method. Too many accidentally cut cables when removing the zip-ties. Use Velcro if you need it.

And as to his cables being 'far too messy' that is an aesthetic judgment. All he has to do is figure out why he has fan noise, solve that, and then insure that the cables don't actually fall into any of the fans and he's good.

 

[TenthAveN]

Although I hate them, you need some cable ties or something to hold your cables together. Like my builds for the last several years, your cables are far too messy in your case and can become problematic later down the line. Something that was suggested to me, were ziploc ties or whatever you call them. You know those things that have metal in them on the inside and are plastic on the outside and you just twist them to get them on and off your bag or whatever? Not 100% sure what you call them they just hold sandwich bags together and whatnot.

It would be fine to stick those in your case as long as they are far away from your components (I wouldn't take any chances with them having metal on them. Exposing a motherboard or other component to metal or magnets is a big no no.) and they would be less of a pain in the butt than cable ties.

I just hate cable ties with a passion because after you secure your cables they're a major pain to get off. They're meant to pretty much permanently secure your cable there and if you like adding components and upgrading like I do, you need a way to take them off. You usually need a knife or scissors to take them off and even then its still a pain. I've cut my hand so many times trying to get those things off it's not even funny. That and those plastic containers they hold SSD's and RAM in these days. Ughh.

I just don’t know what to do in regards to the cables since they’re not that long.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Usually called twist-ties.

I would not use them anywhere near a motherboard because of the metal core in them. Zap!

Velcro would be better if you are worried about getting back in there. In fact Velcro is the standard for Cat6 ethernet cabling, and that has replaced the Zip-tie method. Too many accidentally cut cables when removing the zip-ties. Use Velcro if you need it.

And as to his cables being 'far too messy' that is an aesthetic judgment. All he has to do is figure out why he has fan noise, solve that, and then insure that the cables don't actually fall into any of the fans and he's good.

Ah twist ties! Thank you! Yeah you can use those far away from your components.

Didn't hear of velcro straps. Where can you buy them?

 

[chevyontheriver]

I just don’t know what to do in regards to the cables since they’re not that long.

Solve the fan whining problem and then just close up the box and don't worry any more about it. If the cables are not actually in the fans it's really OK. Whatever is causing the excessive fan noise is of greater concern than cable perfection.

 

[Neostarwcc]

I just don’t know what to do in regards to the cables since they’re not that long.

What power supply are you using? I've had problems with the ones I buy for years because they get all over the place and usually cannot be threaded through the back of the case.

If they're not that long and they're going to be held in place permanently yeah, cable ties would do the trick. They work quite well and are very inexpensive

 

[chevyontheriver]

Ah twist ties! Thank you! Yeah you can use those far away from your components.

Didn't hear of velcro straps. Where can you buy them?

Lowes and Home Depot and any good hardware store have all sorts of Velcro.

Here's what I use, but that's because I'm cheap: https://www.lowes.com/pd/VELCRO-0-5-in-Multicolor-Strap-Fastener/3017542

 

[TenthAveN]

What power supply are you using? I've had problems with the ones I buy for years because they get all over the place and usually cannot be threaded through the back of the case.

If they're not that long and they're going to be held in place permanently yeah, cable ties would do the trick. They work quite well and are very inexpensive

 

[TenthAveN]

Solve the fan whining problem and then just close up the box and don't worry any more about it. If the cables are not actually in the fans it's really OK. Whatever is causing the excessive fan noise is of greater concern than cable perfection.

All I know is that when the noise happens, CPU is cooler, and using the mouse causes it to fluctuate. I’ve read that it may be coil whine. I’m not sure what to do about it.

 

[chevyontheriver]

View attachment 294545

Not familiar with that power supply. What I look for in a power supply is efficiency. A gold rating (>80%) on efficiency will cost me less than a cheaper power supply that is less efficient. And the gold rated efficiency power supplies are better made too. So I look to a lesser cost of ownership over multiple years. Since my computer is always on it adds up penny by penny every hour.

 

[chevyontheriver]

All I know is that when the noise happens, CPU is cooler, and using the mouse causes it to fluctuate. I’ve read that it may be coil whine. I’m not sure what to do about it.

There is also 'capacitor squeal'. Actually I would use my finger to very briefly stop each fan in turn to see if it is fan noise. My bet is still a bad fan. Typically there is a processor fan, a power supply fan, and a chassis fan. Any of which could be noisy.

If it is coil wine I would dampen it with a bit of very low pile carpet (like a scrap of indoor-outdoor carpet) applied to the inside of the cover to soak up the sound. Carefully not to block any vents.

 

[Sophrosyne]

Although I hate them, you need some cable ties or something to hold your cables together. Like my builds for the last several years, your cables are far too messy in your case and can become problematic later down the line. Something that was suggested to me, were ziploc ties or whatever you call them. You know those things that have metal in them on the inside and are plastic on the outside and you just twist them to get them on and off your bag or whatever? Not 100% sure what you call them they just hold sandwich bags together and whatnot.

It would be fine to stick those in your case as long as they are far away from your components (I wouldn't take any chances with them having metal on them. Exposing a motherboard or other component to metal or magnets is a big no no.) and they would be less of a pain in the butt than cable ties.

They are called "twist ties" and come in all sorts of color and sized and construction. The ones with paper on one or both sides I don't recommend for any permanent solution that is important find the ones with plastic only on them they won't shed the paper over time and greatly resist the plastic peeling off leaving a bare wire there. As long as you wrap them around with care and clip the excess off twist ties are fine.

I just hate cable ties with a passion because after you secure your cables they're a major pain to get off. They're meant to pretty much permanently secure your cable there and if you like adding components and upgrading like I do, you need a way to take them off. You usually need a knife or scissors to take them off and even then its still a pain. I've cut my hand so many times trying to get those things off it's not even funny. That and those plastic containers they hold SSD's and RAM in these days. Ughh.

Cable ties, panduit straps, zip ties etc, whatever name used for them at one time there was only panduit straps that I know of and they had a toggle head that if you didn't put them on tight could be moved back and they could be used again. I've also uses a small narrow blade to remove many other types of zip ties when I didn't have any and needed to reuse them but it is best to use wire cutting pliers (dykes) to just cut them off and use another one no sense in bothering to reuse them just buy a bag of 50-100 of them and be done with it as if you buy them at a discount place they are less than a nickle a piece in quantity I've seen bags of the small ones for closer to a penny each or 100 for a little over $1. It is the really large and long ones that start getting expensive and harder to find that still at times have me salvaging them if I don't have a bunch already.
As I've said one other solution that is similar to twist ties is solid house wire like 12 gauge wire it is stiff enough you can bend it around a bundle of wires and twist it just once and bend the two ends back and cut it off about a half inch and easily undone to add wires. I've used this method when I can't find removable ties for extension cords and to wire larger cables together and even wrap a wire around something else to tie off to like a pole or shelf riser. You can use smaller wire like doorbell wire also and choose a color that looks good either black or something that accents things or if you have one of those LED fans something fluorescent or white.
There are also velcro straps that I've used on some cords not sure I would use them in a compute case too much dust the fabric would trap it I think making it harder to blow out of there.

I also have some "ball" straps or whatever they are called they look like keychains that have balls on chains that you can snap a clip on the end fo a ball but a keyhole on the end where you can put it through the hole and snap it these are reusable too but the appearance of them may not be as good for some things.

Another idea is to use electrical tape and wrap a piece around the cable backwards sticky side out and cut it so there is a small gap between the ends then take another piece and wrap it around on top of the sticky side of the first piece overlapping itself. This can be removed and the stickiness would not be an issue and could look nice even allowing a wide variety of sizes and colors but beware I've found electrical tape and heat often don't necessarily coexist as some brands of tape the adhesive is not as good as others and the plastic doesn't hold up as well sometimes turning brittle over a decade or so.

 

[TenthAveN]

There is also 'capacitor squeal'. Actually I would use my finger to very briefly stop each fan in turn to see if it is fan noise. My bet is still a bad fan. Typically there is a processor fan, a power supply fan, and a chassis fan. Any of which could be noisy.

If it is coil wine I would dampen it with a bit of very low pile carpet (like a scrap of indoor-outdoor carpet) applied to the inside of the cover to soak up the sound. Carefully not to block any vents.

I’m not sure I’m going to be able to touch the PSU fan. I do not have a chassis fan installed, though I’m considering it. Also, I actually used a magnetic screwdriver to install the motherboard, and in fact, it slipped multiple times and made contact, in reference to the twist tie thing.

 

[chevyontheriver]

I’m not sure I’m going to be able to touch the PSU fan. I do not have a chassis fan installed, though I’m considering it. Also, I actually used a magnetic screwdriver to install the motherboard, and in fact, it slipped multiple times and made contact, in reference to the twist tie thing.

Depending on how many watts your processor and video card and other stuff uses you might be able to get away without a chassis fan. Depends. Lower temps make for longer lifetimes for components. That's the whole idea behind air-conditioned server rooms. But another strategy is run them hot and save on all of that cooling cost, and then replace it all with a newer model you wanted anyway. These things go obsolete in five years or less. I think a good high efficiency power supply makes great sense, but trying to be too cool doesn't. The chassis fan is a maybe. Ideally you will seldom need it, but when you do it will turn on by itself.

 

[TenthAveN]

Depending on how many watts your processor and video card and other stuff uses you might be able to get away without a chassis fan. Depends. Lower temps make for longer lifetimes for components. That's the whole idea behind air-conditioned server rooms. But another strategy is run them hot and save on all of that cooling cost, and then replace it all with a newer model you wanted anyway. These things go obsolete in five years or less. I think a good high efficiency power supply makes great sense, but trying to be too cool doesn't. The chassis fan is a maybe. Ideally you will seldom need it, but when you do it will turn on by itself.

I put my ear up to the cpu and tried stopping it, but then it wouldn’t start spinning, and then I heard this buzzing noise. It’s a new heat sink, but do you think I should replace the fan?

 

[chevyontheriver]

I put my ear up to the cpu and tried stopping it, but then it wouldn’t start spinning, and then I heard this buzzing noise. It’s a new heat sink, but do you think I should replace the fan?

Strange. I would have to be there. Can't tell from here. I would ask of the people you got the components, specifically the CPU and heat sink and fan from. Maybe you have a bad fan but I can't tell from here. Things SHOULD be almost silent.