Rounding my own cables

[luderob]

I was just wondering if rounding my own cables will have any affect on performance of the cable. I want to round my UDMA 100/66 cable. To let more air flow through my case. But will it affect HD transfer rates for anything like that?

 

[LeStEr]

It shouldnt if you do it correctly but i strongly recommend not to do it. If you really need rounded cables i would recommend buying some machine rolled one's. But if your content on doing it yourself read some tutorials on how to do it before you start.

 

[CTho9305]

no performance change on ata66 or 100. dont know about scsi, or future 133. if its an ata33, do each cable individually, but for ata66/100, keep the cables in groups of two or more.

 

[henmaster]

I rounded my own UDMA 33 cables a while back and it didnt have any adverse affect on performance. I dont know about UDMA 100 though, I dont have any of those. I would think that as long as you are careful in your cuts to stay in the grooves and not hit the conductor part of the wire you would be fine. The electrons dont care if they go through a round cable or a flat one You will get some better airflow though, my temps went down by about 1 degree C after doing the rounding (measured by MBM 5). Read some tutorials to get yourself aquainted and then take your time when you make the cuts. I made my cuts with a utility knife. You should only make the cuts to start separating the wires, after the small initial cut it is better to tear them apart the rest of the way.

 

[Dan]

The ATA/100 cables are harder to round because each individual conductor is finer than those on ATA/33 cables. I round my own and can do the ATA/33's all day long with no problems. When it comes to the ATA/100's though I buy them already rounded. When I run into flat ones I just fold them over 4 times and wrap them in bright colored electrical tape.

I've never experienced any data corruption because of rounded cables. Frankly, I don't thing they have a huge impact on air flow or system temps. However, rounded cables do give your case interior a "cleaner" look. So, on the basis of form rather than function, I use rounded cables.

 

[wfbberzerker]

if you dont want to spend loads of cash, dont buy rounded cables. they are pretty damn expensive. besides, who cares what the INSIDE of your case looks like? (even tho those machine made ones look pretty spiffy

 

[igowerf]

I rounded all my cables (including ata/66/100). The ATA/100 cables aren't hard to do. I just split the cables every 3 or 4 wires. When I was done, I tied it all up with electrical tape.

 

[flood]

i did my ata/100 cables myself
split at every other wire, then i wrapped them in split loom - this allows for more flexibility than electrical tape

 

[dukdukgoos]

Rounding is pretty easy and works great. Even 80pin cables can "rounded" without cutting by folding them in half, then fold each half in half again and tie them up. Works great!