Thursday 20 May 2021

Any PC building veteran will tell you about the trials of trying to manage your PC cables in a way that's both visually appealing and functional. It's easy to plug in all the components, but those components need cables. And those cables need to go in every direction without turning into a high-tech rat's nest. Here's how to wrangle your PC cables properly.

What you'll need first

  • Cable ties
  • Scissors or wire cutters

Getting started

Before you get into the actual cable management, the first step should be to formulate a good plan. Without one, you'll get overwhelmed with how many PC cables there are to actually manage. The best thing to do is write down, draw out, and think about the components involved and how far their respective cables need to travel. You should also consider what cable management options your PC case has too.

It might help you to start with power cables to things like each hard drive or SSD, your motherboard, and your graphics card. Think about the size of each cable and which ones you'll need to cable tie to the case, and which ones you could cable tie together. Even if you're new to building a PC, having some visual idea to start with will go a long way. The worst thing that can happen is being surprised while already deep into routing all your cables.

How to manage your PC cables

Now that you have a game plan, here's how to start managing your cables.

  1. If you're building a PC fresh, plug in all of the components without any extra cables. If you're re-managing PC cables, then unplug everything and keep the cables organized and to the side.

  2. Take all of the large remaining cables and bend them away or set them aside. We want them out of the way for the next steps.

  3. Gather up the small cables from your fans, rear IO, and front panel connectors. Avoid the SATA cables for your hard drive and SSD for now.

  4. Take these cables and start routing them from or through the back of your case to catch the excess length so you can tie that up.

  5. Use cable ties to fasten the cables tightly and neatly to the back of the case. You can also loop them up and store them in unobtrusive pockets.

  6. Consider using cable sleeves if you're worried about exposed cables looking a little loose. Otherwise, don't be afraid to use cable ties to simply clean up their look.
  7. Now grab those big cables from your motherboard, graphics card, and power supply and start lining those up.

  8. Connect the ends of the big cables to your components and push the rest through to the back of the case. Keep the front connections snug so it's tidy and clean.

  9. For the graphics card in particular, you might consider plugging the cables in so that it pulls it upward to prevent sagging.

  10. Take the SATA cables for your hard drive and SSDs and pull those through the back of your case. Make use of their flat shape to slide them neatly around the other cables.

  11. Review your work and make sure everything is secured and connected correctly. You don't want any cables making hard bends or interfering with fans.

You only get to manage your PC cables once. Thankfully, some cases come with great options for that. But regardless of what you have, if you follow this guide, your PC cables should be neatly tucked away so that if you do ever need to get back into your PC, you won't have to battle a nest of wires. Even if you're not worried about aesthetics, clean cable management is important, especially when cleaning your PC down the line.

Our top equipment picks

To properly manage your cables, you're definitely going to need a few things to make everything neat and tidy.

Cable Ties

TR Industrial Cable Ties

$7 at Amazon

Cheap, black cable ties that will disappear in your case.

Cable ties are as essential to PC cable management as cheese to grilled cheese. They're cheap, reliable, and invisible when used right.

Cable ties are the obvious pick for managing your PC cables. Not only are they cheap, so you don't have to worry about messing up a few, they're also effectively invisible for anyone worried about aesthetics. PC cables need wrangling, and cable ties get the job done in the easiest way.

Wire cutters

Hakko-CHP-170 Micro Cutter

$7 at Amazon

Simple wire cutters for snipping off excess cable ties.

You'll need wire cutters to snip off any extra cable tie length or re-do any cable ties you messed up. Scissors work too, but wire cutters are easier to handle.

Wire cutters will perform the same basic function as scissors, but they're easier to handle. It might be worth investing in some so that it's easier to squeeze your hand into fairly hard-to-reach spots in your PC case.

Additional Equipment

If you're very worried about aesthetics or want more control over where your PC cables go, you should consider picking these up.

Velcro Stick Back Tape Roll

$7 at Amazon

Velcro tape is useful for fan controllers and is less permanent than tape or cable ties if you want to move things around.

Alex Tech Cable Sleeve

$10 at Amazon

Cable sleeves help a lot when it comes to making your wires have a unified, clean look.



0 comments:

Post a Comment

ShortNewsWeb

Blog Archive

Categories

'The Woks of Life' Reminded Me to Cook With All the Flavors I Love (1) 10 Scary Podcasts to Listen to in the Dark (1) 13 of the Best Spooky Episodes From (Mostly) Un-Spooky Shows (1) 13 Spooky Movies Set on Halloween Night (1) 1Password Now Generates QR Codes to Share Wifi Passwords (1) 2024 (15) 30 Movies and TV Shows That Are Basically 'Competence Porn' (1) 30 of the Most Obscenely Patriotic Movies Ever (1) 31 Spooky Movies to Watch Throughout October (1) 40 Netflix Original Series You Should Watch (1) 55 Box Office Bombs Totally Worth Watching (1) Active Directory (1) Adobe's AI Video Generator Might Be as Good as OpenAI's (1) AIX (1) and I'd Do It Again (1) and Max Bundle Isn't a Terrible Deal (1) Apache (2) Apple Intelligence Is Running Late (1) Apple Intelligence's Instructions Reveal How Apple Is Directing Its New AI (1) August 18 (1) August 4 (1) August 5 (1) Avoid an Allergic Reaction by Testing Your Halloween Makeup Now (1) Backup & Restore (2) best practices (1) bleepingcomputer (56) Blink Security Cameras Are up to 68% Off Ahead of Prime Day (1) CentOS (1) Configure PowerPath on Solaris (1) Documents (2) Don't Fall for This 'New' Google AI Scam (1) Don't Rely on a 'Monte Carlo' Retirement Analysis (1) Eight Cleaning Products TikTok Absolutely Loves (1) Eight of the Best Methods for Studying so You Actually Retain the Information (1) Eight Unexpected Ways a Restaurant Can Mislead You (1) Elevate Your Boring Store-Bought Pretzels With This Simple Seasoning Technique (1) Everything Announced at Apple's iPhone 16 Event (1) file system (6) Find (1) Find a Nearby ‘Gleaning Market’ to Save Money on Groceries (1) Five Red Flags to Look for in Any Restaurant (1) Five Ways You Can Lose Your Social Security Benefits (1) Flappy Bird's Creator Has Nothing to Do With Its 'Remake' (1) Four Reasons to Walk Out of a Job Interview (1) Four Signs Thieves Are Casing Your House (1) gaming (1) Goldfish Crackers Have a New Name (for a Little While) (1) Hackers Now Have Access to 10 Billion Stolen Passwords (1) How I Finally Organized My Closet With a Digital Inventory System (1) How I Pack Up a Hotel Room So I Don’t Forget Anything (1) How to Cancel Your Amazon Prime Membership After Prime Day Is Over (1) How to Choose the Best Weightlifting Straps for Your Workout (1) How to Enable (and Turn Off) Apple Intelligence on an iPhone (1) How to Keep Squirrels Off Your Bird Feeders (1) How to Set Up Your Bedroom Like a Hotel Room (and Why You Should) (1) How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac (1) How to Take Full Control of Your Notifications on a Chromebook (1) Hulu (1) I Chose the Beats Fit Pro Over the AirPods Pro (1) If You Got a Package You Didn't Order (1) If You Hate Running (1) Important Questions (17) Install and Configure PowerPath (1) interview questions for linux (2) Is ‘Ultra-Processed’ Food Really That Bad for You? (1) Is Amazon Prime Really Worth It? (1) It Might Be a Scam (1) July 14 (1) July 21 (1) July 28 (1) July 7 (1) June 30 (1) LifeHacker (123) Linux (36) Make and Freeze Some Roux Now for Easy Turkey Gravy (1) Meta Releases Largest Open-Source AI Model Yet (1) Monitoring (3) music (688) My Favorite 14TB Hard Drive Is 25% Off Right Now (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: Apple AirPods Max (2) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: Apple Pencil Pro (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: Google Nest Mesh WiFi Router (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: Google Pixel 8 (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: PlayStation 5 (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: Samsung Odyssey G9 Gaming Monitor (1) My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: SHOKZ OpenMove Bone Conduction Headphones (1) My Favorite Tools for Managing Cords and Cables (1) Nagios (2) Newtorking (1) NFS (1) OMG! Ubuntu! (688) Oracle Linux (1) oracleasm (3) osnews (26) Password less communication (1) Patching (2) Poaching Is the Secret to Perfect Corn on the Cob (1) powerpath (1) Prioritize Your To-Do List By Imagining Rocks in a Jar (1) Red Hat Exam (1) register (63) Rsync (1) Safari’s ‘Distraction Control’ Will Help You Banish (Some) Pop Ups (1) Samba (1) Scrcpy (1) September 1 (1) September 15 (1) September 2 (1) September 22 (1) September 23 (1) September 30 (1) September 8 (1) Seven Home 'Upgrades' That Aren’t Worth the Money (1) ssh (1) Swift Shift Is the Window Management Tool Apple Should Have Built (1) System hardening (1) Tailor Your iPhone's Fitness Summary to Your Workouts (1) Target’s ‘Circle Week’ Sale Is Still Going After October Prime Day (1) Target’s Answer to Prime Day Starts July 7 (1) Tech (9542) Tech CENTRAL (21) Technical stories (120) technpina (7) The 30 Best Movies of the 2020s so Far (and Where to Watch Them) (1) The 30 Best Sports Movies You Can Stream Right Now (1) The Best Deals on Robot Vacuums for Amazon’s Early Prime Day Sale (2) The Best Deals on Ryobi Tools During Home Depot's Labor Day Sale (1) The Best Early Prime Day Sales on Power Tools (1) The Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch on Netflix This Month (1) The Best October Prime Day Deals If You Are Experiencing Overwhelming Existential Dread (1) The Best Places to Go When You Don't Want to Be Around Kids (1) The Best Strategies for Lowering Your Credit Card Interest Rate (1) The Best Ways to Store All Your Bags and Purses (1) The Latest watchOS Beta Is Breaking Apple Watches (1) The New Disney+ (1) The Two Best Times of Year to Look for a New Job (1) These Meatball Shots Are My Favorite Football Season Snack (1) These Milwaukee Tools Are up to 69% off Right Now (1) This 2024 Sony Bravia Mini-LED TV Is $400 Off Right Now (1) This Google Nest Pro Is 30% Off for Prime Day (1) This Peanut Butter Latte Isn’t As Weird As It Sounds (1) This Tech Brand Will Get the Biggest Discounts During Prime Day (1) Three Quick Ways to Shorten a Necklace (1) Three Services People Don't Know They Can Get From Their Bank for Free (1) Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Monday (4) Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Sunday (11) Try 'Pile Cleaning' When Your Mess Is Overwhelming (1) Try 'Rucking' (1) Ubuntu News (346) Ubuntu! (1) Unix (1) Use This App to Sync Apple Reminders With Your iPhone Calendar (1) Use This Extension to Find All Your X Followers on Bluesky (1) veritas (2) Videos (1) Was ChatGPT Really Starting Conversations With Users? (1) Watch Out for These Red Flags in a Realtor Contract (1) Wayfair Is Having a '72-Hour Closeout' Sale to Compete With Prime Day (1) We Now Know When Google Will Roll Out Android 15 (1) What Is the 'Die With Zero' Movement (and Is It Right for You)? (1) What Not to Do When Training for a Marathon (1) What to Look for (and Avoid) When Selecting a Pumpkin (1) What's New on Prime Video and Freevee in September 2024 (1) Why You Can't Subscribe to Disney+ and Hulu Through Apple Anymore (1) Why Your Home Gym Needs Adjustable Kettlebells (1) Windows (5) You Can Easily Add Words to Your Mac's Dictionary (1) You Can Get 'World War Z' on Sale for $19 Right Now (1) You Can Get a Membership to BJ's for Practically Free Right Now (1) You Can Get Beats Studio Buds+ on Sale for $100 Right Now (1) You Can Get Microsoft Visio 2021 Pro on Sale for $20 Right Now (1) You Can Get This 12-Port USB-C Hub on Sale for $90 Right Now (1) You Can Get This Roomba E5 Robot Vacuum on Sale for $170 Right Now (1) You Can Hire Your Own Personal HR Department (1) You Can Set Different Scrolling Directions for Your Mac’s Mouse and Trackpad (1)

Recent Comments

Popular Posts

Translate

My Blog List

Popular

System Admin Share

Total Pageviews