# [SOLVED] Cable management



## JohnO28356 (Feb 2, 2005)

Maybe there's a better forum for this, if so hopefully a mod will move it. Thanks.

Corsair C70 case:

I have built many desktops and one problem has always been insurmountable to me-- cable management. I see all these pictures on the net showing case interiors so neat that I find it hard to believe they're wired at all, lol. I've often been tempted to cut and solder wires to length, but so far have been smart enough (in my mind anyway) not to do this. I'm going to get some vinyl tubing and try to get this thing looking halfway decent and hopefully fix any air flow problems I may be having.

But where do I start? My PSU is a Corsair 700 and those thick wires make it seem like the logical beginning, but I dont know. I'm getting old and seem to lack the patience for a lot of trial and error.

If anyone has this case I could sure use some hints. On other boxes I would get halfway through and start running in to problems and give up.


----------



## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

*Re: Cable management*

Cable management can be a pain but as long as you dont have cables disrupting airflow then really you have nothing to worry about.

Sometimes when people are passing cables through grommits and making them fit they are scared to use a bit of force to bend them, trust me on a psu the big cable will take some punishment.

I don't have the c70 I have the corsair 600T case. My cables are neat in it unless you look at the back where you can see them and its a big mess.

Just take your time.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Cable management*

Cable management can take a lot of patience and sometime some ingenuity. 
Some cases are more friendly to hiding cables than other.
GB (zip) ties are a good way to bundle cable together. Stuffing bundled cable into unused drive slots is a good way to keep them out of the way and out of sight.


----------



## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

*Re: Cable management*

The Vengeance C70 has significant space behind the motherboard tray. Run the power cables through the large grommets at the bottom of the case and up the back side, and out the grommet nearest to where any particular cable is needed. Run them in straight lines where possible and tie them off with zip ties. Any unused cables, bundle them neatly and leave them behind the tray.

Forget the vinyl tubing idea, but if you would like to mask the cables, invest in a few meters of mesh sleeving.


----------



## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

*Re: Cable management*

The best place to start would be to find videos of other people that have the same case as you and see how they routed their cables. This will give you some ideas. I like to use Velcro ties so that you don't have to buy new cable ties each time you clean out the case.


----------



## JohnO28356 (Feb 2, 2005)

*Re: Cable management*

Ok, thanks for all the replies. I just ordered a top filter for my C70 from Demcifilter and since they're in South Africa I've got some wait time before it gets here. I'll use that time to open the case periodically and try to draw up a little diagram of how and where I think the cables should be run. When the filter gets here I'll tear the comp down for a good cleaning and the cable routing will be right behind my dust brush and little vacuum. I'll start looking on the net also for boxes with good cable management. I'm going to take before and after pics and if it looks good enough I'll post them.

Tyree, I've noticed your MACV patch often and have been wanting to ask you what corps area you were in. I went over the first time in 1960 and came back the last time in July of 1972. Had almost 6 years there all together, all in various provinces/ districts down in the Mecong Delta (4th Corps).


----------



## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

*Re: Cable management*

Cable management with the Corsair C70 is fairly easy (I've got one). Don't worry about what it looks like initially behind the right panel, just concentrate with what's inside the case and then mainly on those things that potentially block airflow. Later you can zip tie a few things together behind the right panel so that it is easier to remove and replace.

Here are the few cables that are inside my case. The blue SATA cable runs directly to the optical drive. Though I could run it out a grommet and back through another one, why bother -- it doesn't block any airflow.

The power cables run from the PSU, under the right-panel cover, then back out the appropriate grommet. The data cables do likewise but in the opposite direction (My SSD and HDD are mounted so that the power and data ports face the right case panel).

Note that my front fans (2 x 120 mm) are mounted directly behind the air filter, not inside the case.

The power cables for the big Noctua NH-D14 and CPU and rear and top case fans come in at the provided port at the top rear of the case and don't clutter anything at all.


----------



## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

*Re: Cable management*

Damn, I like the way that board's SATA ports are pointed sideways. That's so convenient. Damn my board to ****! haha


----------



## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

*Re: Cable management*

Right-angle connector SATA cables are good to have sometimes, especially of your motherboard's headers are mounted perpendicular to the board. Also, round cross-section cables (like my blue one above) sometimes work better than the flat cables in that you can manipulate them easier. I just grabbed that blue cable from a box of cables to test the a new ODD, originally thinking of running a black one later in a more "hidden" configuration but once it was installed I sort of liked the blue accent to my blue motherboard and just left it there.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Cable management*



JohnO28356 said:


> Tyree, I've noticed your MACV patch often and have been wanting to ask you what corps area you were in. I went over the first time in 1960 and came back the last time in July of 1972. Had almost 6 years there all together, all in various provinces/ districts down in the Mecong Delta (4th Corps).


Pm'd you.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Cable management*

Right Angle SATA connectors are the best thing since pockets on shirts!


----------



## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

*Re: Cable management*



> round cross-section cables


I've never seen those for SATA before. They look ideal. I might pick up a few.



> Right-angle connector SATA cables are good to have sometimes, especially of your motherboard's headers are mounted perpendicular to the board.


Yes, they do help, but nothing beats having the headers like your board. The reason I say this is that even with a right-angle cable on a motherboard whose headers are mounted perpendicular to the board, you still need to pull upward when you unplug the cable, whereas on your board in the photo, you simply pull sideways.


----------



## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

*Re: Cable management*

my board is like the one above and in the corsair 600t which is similar in how many grommets etc there are in the c70 it's very easy to make it look neat, right angled SATA cables are good for this too.

The only cable you can see a lot of in my system is the front USB 3 as the case was designed before USB 3 was officially made a standard so I had to buy an adapter for the header on the motherboard for the cable to go into, but it doesn't really spoil the neatness.


----------



## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

*Re: Cable management*



> Right-angle connector SATA cables are good to have sometimes, especially of your motherboard's headers are mounted perpendicular to the board.


They have their use, but can be a bit problematic if the SATA headers are oriented thus:


----------



## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

*Re: Cable management*

^Damn, never thought about that haha imagine the nightmare lol


----------



## Burto87 (Aug 24, 2011)

The majority of SATA cables that I have used are right angled on one and and straight on the other so it makes it a little easier if you don't have the ability to connect everything and have it right angled.


----------



## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

*Re: Cable management*



gcavan said:


> They have their use, but can be a bit problematic if the SATA headers are oriented thus:
> View attachment 134241


I had a board like that once and i only had SATA cables where one end was at an angle I just put them the other way around.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Cable management*



greenbrucelee said:


> I had a board like that once and i only had SATA cables where one end was at an angle I just put them the other way around.


I usually use the 90 end for the drives and the straight end for the Mobo.


----------



## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

*Re: Cable management*



Tyree said:


> I usually use the 90 end for the drives and the straight end for the Mobo.


yeah me too, with the board were the SATA ports point up if you have a few drives to connect it gets pretty difficult to it.


----------



## T_Rex (Oct 21, 2012)

*Re: Cable management*

The only time you are going to use the 90 deg. side on the mobo is if the board is typically mATX (or slim full ATX) and you have a large video card (long) and the SATA ports are covered, for instance your SATA 6 ports are covered. Asus is famous for positioning the SATA 6 ports on newer mATX (and some full) straight up and in line with main PCie slots.


----------



## Space1 (Feb 28, 2011)

*Re: Cable management*

cables are a huge problem when building. Cable ties are great, and empty drive slots are great too. The most important thing is to avoid damaging the headers. I know it can be tempting to keep stretching, pulling and pushing everything until you can get it stuck somewhere nice and neat, but make sure you aren't stressing the connections themselves, believe me, as long as air flow is good, the mess is better than weak connections...could you send us all a pic of what your computer looks like now?


----------

