Can you hide cables directly behind the motherboard?

[Addikt]

Is this possible? I'm looking to put the 4 prong ATX connector behind the motherboard tray, but there is not enough room in the case. Is it possible to put it directly behind the motherboard? There's enough clearance room, and the wiring is individually sheathed with a mesh coating over it.

 

[Swivelguy2]

I've seen it done. The world did apparently not end.

 

[busydude]

I have done it.

I made sure the diameter of the cable was less than the height of the motherboard standoffs and I marked a path on the backplate so that the cable would not press against any leads of the board(A soft sleeving helps).

After that just route the cable along the path and check if the cable clears the length. Place the mother board and do a rough preliminary test by making sure the cable is not getting twisted and bent at uncomfortable angles.

I used a mix of cable ties and electrical tape to fix it onto the backplate.

I was very calculated and took a lot of time to set it up and a word of warning though DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Before:

After:

 

[Meghan54]

I've got all sorts of things behind my motherboard:

And if you look closely, you'll see some light coming from under my motherboard, too.......

 

[Addikt]

Nice cases there. Meghan, are those wires directly behind the motherboard though, or are they behind the motherboard TRAY? As it stands I was trying to get all the wires behind the tray to avoid all contact but it seems to hide the 12V ATX wire I will have to have it behind and directly contacting the motherboard.

Also, I have an Asus P5W DH DX, and it has a very bulky Northbridge & MOSFET cooler. I wanted to change the Northbridge cooler, but could I get away with ditching the MOSFET heatsink altogether?

 

[zagood]

Basic rule for hiding wires behind the motherboard is to not let the motherboard contacts (which can be fairly sharp) pierce the insulation and contact the wires. If you're talking about standard molex/16-18 gauge wires, shouldn't have a problem with that. Just be sure that the molex connector itself doesn't put any pressure on the motherboard, even if it seems ok, flexing over a long period of time can wreak havok on a motherboard.

 

[mmntech]

I've got all sorts of things behind my motherboard:

And if you look closely, you'll see some light coming from under my motherboard, too.......

That's some geek porn right there. ^_^

 

[TheStu]

I have done it.

I made sure the diameter of the cable was less than the height of the motherboard standoffs and I marked a path on the backplate so that the cable would not press against any leads of the board(A soft sleeving helps).

After that just route the cable along the path and check if the cable clears the length. Place the mother board and do a rough preliminary test by making sure the cable is not getting twisted and bent at uncomfortable angles.

I used a mix of cable ties and electrical tape to fix it onto the backplate.

I was very calculated and took a lot of time to set it up and a word of warning though DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Before:

After:

Is that the Coolermaster 590 Centurion? I love that red in there.

 

[busydude]

Is that the Coolermaster 590 Centurion? I love that red in there.

Its Azza Helios 910R. I love that color too.

 

[Fayd]

Is this possible? I'm looking to put the 4 prong ATX connector behind the motherboard tray, but there is not enough room in the case. Is it possible to put it directly behind the motherboard? There's enough clearance room, and the wiring is individually sheathed with a mesh coating over it.

as long as the wiring is sleeved, and the leads on the back of the board dont cut into it, you have nothing to worry about.

 

[Meghan54]

Nice cases there. Meghan, are those wires directly behind the motherboard though, or are they behind the motherboard TRAY?

Well, some are behind the tray, but my ATX/EPS 8-pin cable, along with several other fan cables, two LED strips, are between the mb and tray.

I do have the luxury of having a Silverstone TJ07 which uses taller standoffs than your typical case.


Two standoffs....the brass one is a typical one; this one used in a Gigabyte 3D Aurora case (made by CoolerMaster). The silver colored one is one from my TJ07. You can see the height difference between the two:

So I do have more space under my motherboard to route cables. But I have done the same cable routing with the typical standoffs found in cases like those from Lian-Li and CoolerMaster.

As was mentioned before, you just have to ensure the solder points on the bottom of the motherboard don't puncture the cable.

Of course, the problem always is the 24-pin motherboard cable as it's typically the thickest and most difficult cable to route under the motherboard...but there is a solution.


Performance-PC's, among other places, sells this.....a uni-sleeved 24-pin cable extension which will lay flat under the board:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=27501



4/8-pin ATX/EPS uni-sleeved extension:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=27507



PPC's has a host of NZXT uni-sleeved cable extensions....fan header cables, PCI-e cables, etc.