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Cable Management Poll.

Q

QUOTH

Senior member
I've read that some people run cables under there motherboard in the name of cable management and air flow. Is this OK? Are there any cables that shouldn't be run under such as molex [4 pin power]?

Also any tips on slicing IDE ribbon cables?

Thanks in advance.

Feel free to post your Cabling solutions. Any unique ideas?
 
Well it depends on what you mean by under the motherboard, a lot of cases have removable motherboard trays that have some spare space behind the tray which allows for cable management but if you mount the motherboard straight into the case then it's doubtful you should run any cables under the board.
 
?? Hmm, contradictory. Ive seen posts where people have said to be careful of "trees" sticking out of the bottom of the motherboard.

So what are the dangers of running the cables between the motherboard and the case?
 
A short between the motherboard and the cables.
It's a quite hard combination to happen, but it could happpen.

I could only think of two things that could lead to this accident:
1) long through-hole connectors/metal from mobo puncturing/tearing the cable,
2) the cable itself may be frayed, loose or exposed
 
Exactly what bigpow said, it's pretty unlikely but you run the risk that your board gets damaged from it. Overall I'd say it's safe enough to run the cables under the board but it's going to be a pain getting them in there and making sure they don't move, personally I don't see whats wrong with just using cable ties and calling it a day, do you have any reason for wanting to run the cables under the board?
 
Q - stick with the IDE cables as they were designed. When they went to 80-wire cables (still 40-pin connectors), the extra wires were all ground wires, designed so that each signal wire was surrounded on both sides by ground wires. Slicing them means that some data wires will no longer have a ground wire on one side, and most likely the slices will be stacked on top of each other, which can lead to problems of wire-to-wire signal crosstalk.
 
Not really. I have a strange combination of really mild OCD and depression. If I do something it has to be done Right 😛

So there's no added issues with running molex's? What with power running through them and all.


Thanks guys
 
IDE under mobo = bad idea.

I ran a ribbon cable under my motherboard, it's damaged 🙁 not that big a deal as it's cheap and I have a spare, but I'm still kicking myself.

Seems it was a combination of thin sleeving and not enough care.


Looking at the poll, who cuts their cable to length? Is it difficult? Just power or data cables aswell?

Is it safe to trim the "trees" off under the motherboard? What precautions need to be made?
 
ribbon wire under mb? I seems to me a solder point could end up piercing the insulation. I do not like the idea at all. I use round IDE cables and lots of cable ties. I bundle cables as neatly as possible with the goal of maximizing airflow being my primary concern.
 
It's not wise to do it straight under the mobo, if you had a case designed with space behind the mobo or a removable mobo tray like mine then its ok, like you said it was built for it, but otherwise you run the risk of shorting your board with a wire getting stripped.
 
Ribbon cables are great to hide under a motherboard or anywhere there is a small gap in a case. You can easily fold and tuck them in. The stand-offs for motherboard gives at least 5~7mm of clearance between motherboard and the casing - you just have to be careful not to cross sharp soder ends. Electrical tapes (those black sticky ones) work great to hold cables/wires underneath a motherboard.
 
Originally posted by: lopri
...you just have to be careful not to cross sharp solder ends. Electrical tapes (those black sticky ones) work great to hold cables/wires underneath a motherboard.
Click to expand...

I really do not like electrical tape where there is heat present. It gets gooey and leaves a big mess when you inevitably have to remove it.

Again, even the most remote possibility of a solder end piercing through a cable's insulation rules out threading ribbon cable underneath my MB - call me over-cautions, I'll accept that.
 
Originally posted by: wired247
forgot to mention, I am finally running a rig without those hideous IDE cables. SATA makes your life so much easier for cable routing... 😀
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more since I just went from my 6 year old system to my current one, SATA all the way 😛
 
I cable tie.

For IDE cables I don't buy rounded ones. Most of us have so many IDE cables we can afford to screw one or two of them up when we cut hem. I really haven't had a problem.

I make about a half inch or so slice every 4-6 strands apart and then pull the rest of the lengths apart with two hands. If I expose a conductor I either start over or just mark the section and leave it until I am ready to tape it. When I tape it I stack the sections so that it looks like a square bundle and then wrap black electrical tape around the bundle every few inches neatly. Works great and looks fine.

John
 
I want good air flow above and below the motherboard.

The motherboard serves as the heat sink for some parts.

So, no cables under the board. Extra cables might be stashed under the mobo tray. Sometimes cables are run under the tray, if they can come back up near the device.
 
Originally posted by: wired247
forgot to mention, I am finally running a rig without those hideous IDE cables. SATA makes your life so much easier for cable routing... 😀
Click to expand...

I really need to get on the ball and replace my optical drives with SATA ones. I would be content once that happens.
 
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