# Cable management?



## Warfare (Jun 21, 2008)

Is there any good ways to have really good cable management in a Antec 900 case?? I've had this case for a while(1yr) and I am looking to mod it so I hopefully can get some better airflow... Right now I have my unused cables in the bottom Hard Drive cage, There is nothing in there but the unused cables.. The cables that are going to their parts are just plain messy and everywhere.. Ive tried to use "Zip Ties" but that only made it worse, because my cables are wrapped in black sleeve. I know that you can run the cables under the mobo if you flatten them but im not sure how to flatten the cables.



Thanks for your help in advance!


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## derek_jones_36 (Nov 9, 2008)

You might want to check and see if there's a spot behind the motherboard perhaps between that and the back of your case to tuck the wires behind. I'll take a look at that case and see what I can come up with. 

When I managed my cables what I did was I used some velcro with the sticky side and attached that to the side of my case. I used the soft side of the velcro as opposed to the rougher side. I then attached the velcro (soft side), using a rather large peice then I layed the wires onto that peice and then took the other peice of velcro and layed it on top and it kept the wires attached to the inside of the case. You have to leave the backing on the second peice of velcro or else everything that comes close to it in the case will stick to it. If I can I will post some pics tomorrow to give a better example. You can pick up the velcro from Staples. What I liked about that method is that you can lay the velcro on the interior areas of the case where nobody can see it. The Velcro can be adjusted for size to accomodate really big wires and it's strong so it'll really hold alot of wiring and it's great for routing cables all over the place.

Jones


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## Warfare (Jun 21, 2008)

That's a good Idea.. There is a like I don't know a little less than a half an inch from the "Mobo tray" to the back part of the case.. 
I guess I could dremel out some places to give me some extra room


A picture of your setup would be nice if you could, But don't put yourself through trouble.


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## derek_jones_36 (Nov 9, 2008)

No trouble at all. What I really like about the method I used with the velcro is that when your working on the cables when your case is flat is that when you turn it upright the cables will all stay in the same place they were when the case was flat because wherever you put them they don't move and stay out of view better.

Jones


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## Warfare (Jun 21, 2008)

Also... How would you install these lights
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5539/ele-234/3mm_Orange_LED.html?tl=g6c77s117

Are these the lights that are used on the Antec 900's case fans?


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## derek_jones_36 (Nov 9, 2008)

Just looked at the lights you were referring to. What do you want them for? Do you want to replace the front light on your case? or perhaps some internal lighting? They look like they would replace the front lights on your case by the HDD/Reset lights/Power Indicator Lights.

Jones


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## Warfare (Jun 21, 2008)

Well...
Here is my case(Antec 900)










Here are the lights that I am talking about.. They are in the fan.









As you can see in this picture the top fan is missing a light.. This is what I want to replace, I may just replace all of the lights.










They look like little Christmas lights.. They look like they can be replaced without messing up the fan.



Oh, and by the way.. Thanks for the Velcro Idea.. It dropped my case temp buy at least 5-7 degrees  I am very happy with that.:4-jump1:ray:


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## derek_jones_36 (Nov 9, 2008)

Well now I see what you mean by the lights. I can't see how they would be swapped out for the other lights. Perhaps they just push out and the others might just snap in. BTW no problem for the velcro idea. Very Happy to help. Were my instructions on how to put it in good for you? I can still post some pics if you like just to illustrate some more. There may be some more you can get from the pics if I post them. 5-7 degree drop Eh.......Pretty Good. I like that. Makes me think I was on to something. Now I have to post the pics.....LOL......

Jones


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## Warfare (Jun 21, 2008)

lol any pics are good if you have them.. You don't need to post them if need to take them.. I guess I could steal some more degrees if I tried.. But I would have to think some.. My case looks A LOT cleaner than it did.


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

Have a look at my Antec 900* HERE* 
See post numbers 471 and on the next page #483


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## Warfare (Jun 21, 2008)

WOW!

That is probably the cleanest computer case I have ever seen..

Just out of curiosity how did you attach your harddrives to the Mobo? I see the sata cables but they go to the back but I do not see them go back in anywhere.. 

With that rig do you use teh fans at all?

Also, Do you know what size the lights are on the fans? Or if they are replaceable at all?




EDIT--
You have no video card? I guess you don't use that computer for gaming.


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

The drives are reversed, you have to drill 1 new hole in each side of the drive cage and use right angle data cables.
I use all the fans and also installed another one in the door of the case.
Can't help with the leds they came with the antec tri-cool fans supplied with the case.
Yes i did not have a video card installed at the time, I was waiting for it to arrive.


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## derek_jones_36 (Nov 9, 2008)

Got some pics of the velcro system I used for my rig. I managed to get core temp readings of 35 degrees for both cores. Check it out. I may have to revise the velcro and reapply if I find that the system has failed.

Jones


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## derek_jones_36 (Nov 9, 2008)

Moe Pics....


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## derek_jones_36 (Nov 9, 2008)

Hey they only allowed two pics at a time...what the *?$&(....


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## derek_jones_36 (Nov 9, 2008)

Rest of the Pics....


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## Warfare (Jun 21, 2008)

Nice.. When I have the time I can clean up my Velcro Strips some and post some pics. 

I really like this Idea, I'm really about to steal kodi's idea and use the velcro instead of the duct tape. But I have to ask Kodi if he still checks this post.... what did you cut the metal with?

And to you derek_jones_36

What case is that? That looks pretty good!
Currently I get 29c-31c (idle) on my CPU with the stock cooler  I hear that that is pretty good for a stock cooler.


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## derek_jones_36 (Nov 9, 2008)

Thanks....the case is this one below, it's a Lian Li Case. I got it at a computer store down here in Toronto....here's the link below. Yeah I never thought I would have used velcro like that but it was really pretty good. Most of the other wires have been hidden behind the hard drive cage and some others are behind the moveable fan.

Jones

http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=179&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=62


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## Warfare (Jun 21, 2008)

Are Lian Li Cases good for modding? I seem to see quite a few of them now.


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## derek_jones_36 (Nov 9, 2008)

Not too sure about the modding thing for a Lian Li Case but they do have some really freakin big cases out there. I would say that the larger cases would allow for some "hiding" of some cables and then it would look cleaner. If I had to do it over again I would probably have bought a larger Lian Li case. Unfortunately I don't have a really big Computer Desk so I was not able to get the BIG CASE.

Jones


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

Duct tape is the better option, I tried velcro and found that with the thickness of the tape plus the wires i was not able to get the back on the case. The tape is only there to hold the wires in place till you close the case so it does not have to be extra firm.
I cut the case with a drill and Jigsaw with a metal cutting blade and a Dremel.
I have attached a picture of the Hard drive setup.


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## Warfare (Jun 21, 2008)

Thanks Kodi and derek_jones_36 

@kodi 
Was there any trouble with cutting the case?(Did you need to cool the blade etc.) I assume that it would void the warranty.

And PS kodi.. That bottom hard drives sata looks loose...


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## kodi (Jun 30, 2004)

No problems cutting the case, the metal is fairly thin,didn't need to cool the blades.
The top one is loose also, was concentrating on taking photo and did not notice.
The power cable was cut and the connectors placed back on at the correct distance apart.


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## derek_jones_36 (Nov 9, 2008)

I like the idea of using duct tape but only if the wiring is complely hidden behind the motherboard tray or somewhere they can't be seen. You wouldn't want to use duct tape if you could actually see the wires in the case. The reason I like the velcro is because you can route wires that can't be hidden behind panels. When I first thought of the idea of using the velcro I was routing wires that couldn't be hidden behind anything such as the wires from my fans because they had to be hooked up to my PSU and then to the Motherboard. I had to have them in the open so I need to use the room at the bottom of the case so that whe the job was done the wires were hidden below at the bottom. I also tucked the usb, firewire and cables for the front audio as well using the velcro. It's pretty mich invisible if I were to pull the sticky back from the outer peice because it's black which blends into the case colour. I pretty have the wires as neat as they could possibly be short of getting a bigger case which I mentioned previously would not be possible due to the size of my computer desk.

Jones


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