My case is cluttered like you wouldn't believe. I'm in dire need of help.

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ThatWasFat

Member
Dec 15, 2001
93
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I have an Inwin Q-500 Full-Tower. It's kinda big =D My IDE cables are stretched pretty much to their limits, from the very top to the very bottom. My Sparkle 400 Watt PSU has is the worst part. I have cables going everywhere in my case, and I mean everywhere. It's controlling 3 case fans, 3 hard drives, 2 cd-roms, and a CPU fan. It's just a total mess. What I need is some tips on either

A.) A smaller, relatively cheap case that is easier to work with
B.) Tubing advice. It can't be that hard, but, I know nothing of the topic. I just need to know exactly WHAT you are supposed to tube, where to buy tubing, etc. And, I don't really get how tubing helps sometimes, cause I have wires going everywhere, and if I covered them in tubing, that would make them fatter. Do I group cables together? Or what...
C.) Cheap rounded cables =D
 
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WA261

Diamond Member
Aug 28, 2001
4,631
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you really need to post some pics of your case....cant tell ya what to do if we cant see it....look around at other threads on case mods...you can get an idea of what to do ....i had no clue what i was doing but it seemd to turn out ok...just wrap and hide everything possible =)
 
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Othersider

Junior Member
Jan 3, 2002
10
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0
Before you do split loom (what you're calling tubing), get yourself some good wire ties, and adhesive anchor points for the wire ties. Any hardware store will have all this. See how much you can strap up with the ties and pull out of the way with an anchor point stuck somewhere. It's pretty easy, and if you need the hardware store guys can show you how it works.
 
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Daovonnaex

Golden Member
Dec 16, 2001
1,952
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<< I have an Inwin Q-500 Full-Tower. It's kinda big =D My IDE cables are stretched pretty much to their limits, from the very top to the very bottom. My Sparkle 400 Watt PSU has is the worst part. I have cables going everywhere in my case, and I mean everywhere. It's controlling 3 case fans, 3 hard drives, 2 cd-roms, and a CPU fan. It's just a total mess. What I need is some tips on either

A.) A smaller, relatively cheap case that is easier to work with
B.) Tubing advice. It can't be that hard, but, I know nothing of the topic. I just need to know exactly WHAT you are supposed to tube, where to buy tubing, etc. And, I don't really get how tubing helps sometimes, cause I have wires going everywhere, and if I covered them in tubing, that would make them fatter. Do I group cables together? Or what...
C.) Cheap rounded cables =D >>


a) The Lian Li PC-30 (or PC-31, if you prefer black) would fit all your components, it has a slide-out mainboard and expansion tray, removable drive cage, drive rail for external bays, and it's only a mini-tower!
b) For PSU cables, you can find tubing (the same kind that comes with Enermax PSUs) here
Another option, which will work (and fit larger cables) is to buy heat shrink tubing. This is a type of rubber tubing that contracts at blow-dryer heat (preferrably a heat gun, Wenger makes good heat guns) and molds around things. It can be purchased in varying sizes (it shrinks to about half of its original size), and can be found at hardware stores and many electronic suppliers (Digikey may have it).
c)FrozenCPU has a good selection of rounded cables, as does Sidewinder Computers (one of the best selections I've seen). Remember that the official ATA specification calls for cables to be no longer than eighteen inches, so don't buy 24" or, even worse, 36" ATA cables.
 
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Atlantean

Diamond Member
May 2, 2001
5,296
1
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I have a lian-li pc67 +usb and it is a great case, but not really that cheap $200 or so being the pricetag, but it is all aluminum, so it is very light. You could try rounded ide cables, but if the problem is that the case is too big that then it would be wiser to get a smaller case.
 
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clarkmo

Platinum Member
Oct 27, 2000
2,615
2
81
Get your tubing at radioshack.com. Not fancy shmancy but relatively cheap. I use the same case. I have my hard drives in the lower cage. I softly fold them at the drive connection so they head directly toward the mob. I tuck the extra between the drive cage and back side wall, out of sight, leaving only the mobo connecting end extending to the mobo connectors. My cd ide cables are in the upper cage. Whatever spare there is in these cables gets tucked in with the hd ide cables. Got this idea from Maximum PC article on an origami folding pc designer at Voodoo PC or some other such place.
 
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darth maul

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 1999
2,392
0
76
I have the Q500 as well. But I ripped out that lower hard drive cage long ago :). And I mount my single hard drice in a 5" drive bay with a three fan hard drive cooler kit. I leave the bottom 5" bay clear and tuck alot of my extra cables there, including extra IDE and power cables. Although for the most part my power cables are going every which way as well.

I just got in some round IDE from here they had a sale last week where all but the silver mesh were $6, but alas if you can't time travel, no $6 price for you. But they still have one of the lower prices on round IDE/floppy. Also check out here as they have ok prices on the round cables as well, but they also have a nice selection of other goods you may want to pick up as well. And I am sure others will have their favorite store for round cables.
 
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ThatWasFat

Member
Dec 15, 2001
93
0
0
I got pics. They are here. They are at here and here


Jimmy1.jpg is a main case pic, with all the cables being gay.
Jimmy2.jpg is a top case pic, near the PSU. It's kinda blurry.

Any thing blatantly wrong you see here? I just kinda rammed everything out of the way..;)
 
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JameyF

Senior member
Oct 5, 2001
845
0
76
Rounded IDE cables would help clear out some of the obstruction. Move all the extra power wires up and out of the way. Bind them with some ties of some kind to keep them from falling back down. Of course, you could get drastic and start cutting with a pair of side cutters, but I wouldn't advise it :D

Bad cables, Bad cables....you sit there until I tell you to get up.
 
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mrman3k

Senior member
Dec 15, 2001
959
0
0
Did you happen to see the pictures in the Maximum PC article about the cable oragami from Voodoo PC? Take a look at that if you can, otherwise post back and I might post a few pictures from the article so you can see how to clean your case up even with the same everything. I did it and my system temps dropped about 40F because of the increased airflow.
 
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J3anyus

Platinum Member
Mar 30, 2001
2,774
0
76
mrman3k: Your temps dropped 40F?!? That's insane! You must've had a really cluttered case. If my temps dropped that much, I'd be running well below room temperature :)

Anyway...could you post some pics from that article for me? I really need to clean up my case and need some ideas for where to start before I can do anything. If you could post some of those pics, that would be very much appreciated. Thanks a ton!

J3
 
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ku

Golden Member
Mar 11, 2001
1,309
0
71
thatwasfast: That is cleaner than mine. Mine is like yours but from top to bottom (literally, i have my HD's and floppy down there, and another hard drive and cdroms at the way top. Hell, I have to worry about my wires hitting my CPU fan.

I would also like to know how I can do those round cable things (without buying).
 
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SinnerWolf

Senior member
Dec 30, 2000
782
0
0
electric tape is a good quick fix

rounded cables are better

split loom/spiral wrap is best

putting all the wires you possibly can behind the motherboard is simply THE way

almost all wires are too short for this, so you will need to buy some heatshrinks and extend them. It's a very simple and quick process that doesn't affect performance at all, assuming you lengthen the wires properly The vast majority of the modded cases you see pictures of do this so that you cannot see any of the wires through the case window.

This Site is a good starting resource for learning how to do most any mod to your case. inlcuding how to round cables Ku
 
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erikiksaz

Diamond Member
Nov 3, 1999
5,486
0
76
If you want another cheaper alternative to rounded cables, just take a look at the Maximum PC pics. You can see that most of the ide cables are long enough to be bent and run parallel along the case.
 
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Daovonnaex

Golden Member
Dec 16, 2001
1,952
0
0


<< If you want another cheaper alternative to rounded cables, just take a look at the Maximum PC pics. You can see that most of the ide cables are long enough to be bent and run parallel along the case. >>

You can also make ribbon cables round with zip ties.
 
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