1. #1
    Mechagnome Berteh's Avatar
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    Is it safe to route cables under the Motherboard?

    Just wondering whether it was perfectly safe to route cables under the motherboard (the space that is left by the mobo standoffs between the mobo and the side of the case) as it would hopefully help with my cable management.

    I know it could be a pretty stupid question, which is why I came here to ask and make sure... :/

    Cheers

  2. #2
    I am Murloc! Fuzzykins's Avatar
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    It's perfectly safe, just make sure you don't bend the motherboard with a bulge of cables.

  3. #3
    Wires are non-conducting, so yeah, you should be perfectly fine. The only thing that I can think of that might possibly cause problems is some kind of metal clip to hold the cables together or something.. But hopefully you would never use that sort of thing anyway

  4. #4
    Scarab Lord Djinni's Avatar
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    Just be careful not to "wiggle" them around too much tearing breaks in the plastic shielding/casing on the cables, exposing the bare wire.

    Assuming you mean:

    S -- M -- | -- S
    I -- O -- - -- I
    D -- T -- C -- D
    E -- H -- A -- E
    | -- E -- B --|
    P -- R -- L -- P
    A -- B -- E -- A
    N -- O -- S -- N
    E -- A -- | -- E
    L -- R -- - -- L
    | -- D -- | -- |
    Last edited by Djinni; 2011-11-07 at 09:55 AM.

  5. #5
    I am Murloc! Xuvial's Avatar
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    Err there's something called a motherboard tray which comes between the mobo and the side panel.

    So I don't know whether you mean between the mobo and mobo tray (you would have like 3mm to route cables) or between the mobo tray and side panel (much more space, depending on the case).
    Hopefully you mean between the mobo tray and side panel, in which case of course it's safe! That space exists entirely for the reason of routing cables
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  6. #6
    Scarab Lord Djinni's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Xuvial View Post
    Err there's something called a motherboard tray which comes between the mobo and the side panel.

    So I don't know whether you mean between the mobo and mobo tray (you would have like 3mm to route cables) or between the mobo tray and side panel (much more space, depending on the case).
    Hopefully you mean between the mobo tray and side panel, in which case of course it's safe! That space exists entirely for the reason of routing cables
    I'm hoping he means that too... not like I said....

    But not all cases have a tray...

    S -- M -- | -- | -- S
    I -- O -- | -- - -- I
    D -- T -- T -- C -- D
    E -- H -- R -- A -- E
    | -- E -- A -- B --|
    P -- R -- Y -- L -- P
    A -- B -- | -- E -- A
    N -- O -- | -- S -- N
    E -- A -- | -- | -- E
    L -- R -- | -- - -- L
    | -- D -- | -- | -- |

  7. #7
    The Unstoppable Force DeltrusDisc's Avatar
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    As you can see I routed my 8-pin CPU power cable to go through that little cutout behind the motherboard, yes it touches the motherboard, no nothing bad has happened. I think a lot of people just don't do it because they're scared to.
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  8. #8
    The Lightbringer Primernova's Avatar
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    I don't know how your case is laid out but mine has very little clearance between the MoBO and the side of the case. Most of my raw electronics expirence is in automotive and I have been shocked at some of the weird ways wires wear out. If a wire behind a MoBo snugs up to an odd sharp bit of solder; given time, heat and the slight vibrations from the fans and drives, it can drill thru and cause a short which will fry multiple things.

    I wouldn't do it with my case for sure.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by DeltrusDisc View Post
    As you can see I routed my 8-pin CPU power cable to go through that little cutout behind the motherboard, yes it touches the motherboard, no nothing bad has happened. I think a lot of people just don't do it because they're scared to.
    Or that you don't need to, per se. I just used the cutout just 5 cm above. My cable reaches so why make things the hard way? After all, I install the motherboard before I do the PSU.
     

  10. #10
    I was pretty sure the HAF X also came with a cable extension for the 8pin.

    Quote Originally Posted by tetrisGOAT View Post
    Or that you don't need to, per se. I just used the cutout just 5 cm above. My cable reaches so why make things the hard way? After all, I install the motherboard before I do the PSU.
    Burnt (figuratively!) my fingers on poor 8pin options before, so I personally install the PSU first. :P

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Primernova View Post
    I don't know how your case is laid out but mine has very little clearance between the MoBO and the side of the case. Most of my raw electronics expirence is in automotive and I have been shocked at some of the weird ways wires wear out. If a wire behind a MoBo snugs up to an odd sharp bit of solder; given time, heat and the slight vibrations from the fans and drives, it can drill thru and cause a short which will fry multiple things.

    I wouldn't do it with my case for sure.
    Computers don't vibrate nearly as much as cars though, so I doubt that would ever be a problem. If your computer is actually experiencing enough physical turbulence to have that be a worry, well.. I'd ask you why your computer is a lawnmower. :P

  12. #12
    Behind the back plate yes, having it touching the mobo no. Should never have anything touching the mobo except the backplate due to PCB's not exactly being the most durable of products. Last thing you want is to knock some soldering off when you tug out some cables when replacing hardware. Alongside that cables do give off an EM field that can be annoying with circuitry, unless your cables are insulated from EM.

    Behind the backplate A-OK, touching the mobo, not the best idea but risk is still low. (But there is a risk, like theres a risk with not "safely removing hardware" when pulling out pen drives).
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  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Sackman View Post
    Behind the back plate yes, having it touching the mobo no. Should never have anything touching the mobo except the backplate due to PCB's not exactly being the most durable of products. Last thing you want is to knock some soldering off when you tug out some cables when replacing hardware. Alongside that cables do give off an EM field that can be annoying with circuitry, unless your cables are insulated from EM.

    Behind the backplate A-OK, touching the mobo, not the best idea but risk is still low. (But there is a risk, like theres a risk with not "safely removing hardware" when pulling out pen drives).
    If the cables are sleeved or protected in any way (like the flat cables that come with Corsair PSUs), then routing them directly underneathe the motherboard won't hurt anything unless it's bulging it out. Other than that, most cases these days come with extra room behind the motherboard tray and side panel to route cables (as you and others have said). If the wires are exposed, then yeah, that's a bad idea =V

    Edit: Oh derp, there I go not fully reading what you said. Yeah, about the same risk as just yanking out a thumb drive or something without shutting it down properly (though, it's never happened to me, I've heard it happening to others.)

  14. #14
    If it wasn't fine I would have major problems, I have cables coming out the wazzo in my computer =/ haha.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Drunkenvalley View Post
    Burnt (figuratively!) my fingers on poor 8pin options before, so I personally install the PSU first. :P
    I prefer building in good cases. I jest, but I haven't had this issue yet. The FD Arc is so fantastic I'm thinking of dumping my Define and screw the extra noise. It won't be as loud as a HAF-case, but still louder. :/
     

  16. #16
    I don't recall the midi Define R3 well, but the NZXT Phantom in some revisions has a really tricky thing with the 8pin where the motherboard must either come off or be loosely attached. :P

    And I know at least another case had a really odd thing where I had to squeeze and push to get it past the panel's fittings and into the grommet, as it lacked just a few mm of clearance. -_-

  17. #17
    The Unstoppable Force DeltrusDisc's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tetrisGOAT View Post
    Or that you don't need to, per se. I just used the cutout just 5 cm above. My cable reaches so why make things the hard way? After all, I install the motherboard before I do the PSU.
    Unfortunately I need to, because I don't like the extension cable I got, it's not braided and therefore ugly as can be. But yeah I guess people with smaller cases wouldn't need to, though it still looks nicer if you ask me. And all I had to do to get the cable through there was take out two of the motherboard screws and then I easily slipped the cable through without breaking the motherboard. ^_^
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    Quote Originally Posted by mmocd061d7bab8 View Post
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  18. #18
    It should be fine. There is a VERY slight possibility that a power cable next to the wrong part of the motherboard might interfere with some of the signals. So basically if the system starts acting funky after doing this, try relocating the power cables that are behind the mobo

    Infracted for thread necro - Cilraaz
    Last edited by Cilraaz; 2018-09-04 at 10:15 PM.

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