I'm mulling over what to do to improve the look of the cabling inside my PC. Making extensions with individually braided wires is of course an option, as is making/3d printing an enclosure to completely hide the cables, but at the moment I'm not entirely convinced by either method. Does anyone have any interesting/clever examples of how to hide/disguise/improve these ugly cables? Cheers.
Best way usually involves a dremel to add holes to you case to better route cables. Sleeving whilst simple in theory is actually a pain in the arse, and can add up especially as the crimping tool is £32 alone. I got 1 for £26 and it doesn't really do it properly, Shakmods.com has a great range of DIY sleeving kits and tools - just be prepared to throw around 12 hours at it, it is quite time consuming, I've done my 24 pin, 8 pin and 1 6pin PCIE with an 8 pin PCIE left to do, and I reckon it has cost me around £55 and around 20 hours of work, initially due to **** crimping tool. You can also just order custom extensions on that website aswell, theres a PCIE template you can use if you want specific patterns: http://shakmods.com/ https://store.cablemod.com/configurator/
Thanks, yes the cables are already fed through holes in the case which helps a lot but they still look untidy, especially the 24 pin connector's multi-coloured wires. I have most of the bits needed to make individually braided extensions but I was wondering what other neat ideas people had come up with.
I have been trying to find time to find and post this for over a week. I like the look of neat orderly wires and for a case I was think of doing the following. In the mock up, I used tape rather than stitching the wires in place. Unfortunately the wires are a little loser and messier than when I first mocked it up, some tape has fallen off. Alternatively one could also use combs to help achieve order. I really liked the look of having the wires 4x6 (actually 4x5 it was only a 20 pin ATX ). In my opinion much nicer than the 10x2 or 12x2 that most combs come in. Procedure: I start at pin 1 and 11, bent the wire 90°. Then bent wires to pin 2 and 12 90° laying them out side the wires of pin 1 and 11. Wires from pin 3 and 13 were then bent 90° and laid on top of wires for pins 1 and 11 respectively. Wires from pin 4 and 14 were then bent 90° and laid on top of wires for pins 3 and 4 respectively. Repeat the process until I reached the end. Obviously you'll want to determine which end you want to start at to best facilitate wire routing in your case. With version ATX 2.x not all of the 24 pins are required and some PSU have the extra sense wire(s). You'll want to confirm total number of wires from your PSU and determine if you'll need a filler wire in the bundle. If I was to do this for any length I would get a couple combs to to help with alignment and holding the wires in place as I stitch them together. Moving the combs as proceed down the length. I'm also an odd ball in that I'd do it without sleeves, albeit in one insulation colour.
I've been contemplating putting mine in pipes for a bit of a different aesthetic - but then again, it might look like arse!
For the 3D printer crowd, it should be relatively straightforward to create a rigid cowl to cover the wires around the 24pin connector. Might be worth a look on Thingiverse - there are plenty of folk on there making cable combs and the like - maybe someone has already created something that can be adapted.
You can also make a connector to route the cables away to a less unsightly position. I made one Here, but you can make all sorts of angles and shapes. A 3D printer could help this process go a lot quicker.
That is really clever, I've often wondered why something like that isn't commercially available, also why the connector isn't mounted facing backwards to start with but then case manufacturers would have to be onboard too.
Cheers Attila, I'm liking that idea a lot. Since the structural integrity is provided by the acrylic connecting piece, I wonder if it would work with regular, insulated "PSU wire"? It would remove any arcing potential and therefore the need for epoxy. To hide the gubbins, a small frame could be glued around the wires and a cover placed on top.
I posted this in another thread but its relevant to here. Stitching the cabling for a super clean and nice look! Here's a few links to what I mean. Couple of tutorials on how to do it: Tutorial 1 (Part of a series, check channel for other parts.) Tutorial 2 Tut 2 the guy uses an extra thick thread to better illustrate each step. You'd ideally use a much finer thread to make it less noticeable. Probably a bit late now but perhaps for your next mod
Great little tutorial. I believe that dual sided boards are much more expensive to assemble. While the members of this form and a few others might be prepared to pay a premium for power connectors on the back, the general public probably isn't. That said I think it is time for the 24 pin ATX connect to have a serious redesign, and replacement like the power cable for SATA. Not sure how strong the glue between the acrylic and ATX plug and socket are. The potting the wires in epoxy probably does add a fair amount of strength. That said there is no reason why you couldn't proceed with your plan. The tutorial, was overly cautious, as the wire used is coated i.e. insulated. It didn't look like too much was removed for soldering the pins on thus there should be little chance of shorts (unless there was damage to the coating that didn't show in the pictures).
Wow, that looks really smart. I reckon you could refine the size down a little bit, but I love the idea and the execution!
For cabling you have 2 options depending on the case. If your case has a PSU shroud and lots of room in the cable for cables then I would suggest making some extensions or getting some made. If You don't have a PSU shroud or are limited in room to hide cables in the back custom full sleeved cables are the way to go. I have sleeved many sets over the past year and if you need some help/advice to do it yourself feel free to message me.
