One of the most challenging parts of PC Builds is cable management which is the art of organizing your cables, wires and other lines of communication among your electronic components. Why bother with cable management?
Many of today’s modern components are well-built with sleek and sophisticated designs and have built in RGB lighting along with cutting-edge technology. That’s mainly what you’re paying for when purchasing these components. So why pay for something that’s built to look stylish but gets buried underneath all the wires and cables? Not only does good cable management make your PC Build look nice and clean, but it can also help improve airflow and help increase performance in your new build. Also, an organized system is easier to upgrade if you need to add or replace one specific component.
How do you manage your cables?
Whether you are building a new PC from scratch or trying to upgrade and organize your old system, these are some basic tools that will come in handy: zip ties or hair ties, Velcro straps or twist ties, wire cutters or fingernail clippers, a screwdriver and an anti-static wrist strap so you don’t accidentally fry any of your components. If you are building a new PC, consider getting a case with built-in cable management features like routing holes or cable clips, or even some with a shrouded section specifically to hide cables. If your case doesn’t have these features, you can always do without them or even make your own version if you want to go the extra mile.
Where should you route your cables?
If you are working with a case that hides one area and shows another via glass panel or has no siding at all, plan to route your cables toward the side with less to show so that you can show off the open side neatly. If you find a cable isn’t long enough for your desired route, you can purchase a cable extension, giving you more options by allowing you to route your cables anyway you want without worrying about the length. When organizing your cable routes, start at the PSU and end at the component. Make sure your cables are out of the way of any moving parts or main components and always group them together to maximize airflow. We suggest using a twist tie to group when planning things out then replace the twist tie with something that looks a little nicer once everything is finalized.
When should you connect, organize, and secure your cables?
If you are building a new PC, we recommend installing your smaller components such as SSDs, hard drives and cooling fans within the case before cable management and leaving the larger items like GPU, RAM, CPU and heatsink all connected to the motherboard outside of the case to be installed afterwards. Start with the smaller cables first and end with the lager ones. This will ensure that the tiny cables get the attention they need and will even be held more securely in place once the bigger cables are all set. Once you have all the cables connected, make sure that your case will close. If not, you may need to rethink your routes and how you are grouping everything together before securing them in place.
Extreme Cable Management Tips
If you really want to go above and beyond, you could invest in cable management accessories designed to match the rest of your intended PC aesthetic. Custom Cables can be ordered to fit your case’s dimension and exact color scheme from sites like CableMod or Amazon. You can also purchase or make your own cable sleeves, so you have control over the material as well. Not only do cable management combs keep your cables together, they also make them appear in a perfectly straight line instead of being all clumped together.
If you have any questions not answered in this video or tips we didn’t mention, please share away in the comments. We’ll do our best to answer everyone. If you have a build with perfect cable management you’d like to share with our viewers, please tweet and tag them with #DIYin5.
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