Cable management not important imo

[Deleted]

I have had 2 self built pc,s now and I never did cable managing.

I mean I can't imagine the gain in cooling is that much in increase, minimal at best.

I think it's mostly for looking neat and tidy, am I right?

[Orlong]

If done properly it can greatly help airflow to keep your PC cool

[Deleted]

If done properly it can greatly help airflow to keep your PC cool

Hmm okay, but really it looks like it is great hassle, something I can't be bothered with after finishing building. :P

[Beyturga]

Hence why you do your cable management WHILE building.

[Orlong]

Hmm okay, but really it looks like it is great hassle, something I can't be bothered with after finishing building. :P

It best done while you build. much easier

[vindicatorx]

It looks like you took some pride while building your machine. Not taking the time to do it makes it look sloppy and half assed which in your case I'm not shocked you don't get. how about that new name of yours huh? truly disappointed that no other action was taken against you.
Also it takes almost no time at all to use some zip ties and to trim them.

[Annoying]

I really feel that cases without backplates to hide cables prevent most people from doing cable management. I tend to only recommend cases that basically do your cable management for you. Also, sleeved extension cables are quite the nice touch for improving a case's looks.

I still haven't figured out how to properly cable manage video card power cables, though.

As for airflow: It really depends on what you're doing. I've seen people drop 10C on their harddrives, 5C on the video cards, and 3C on the mobo/cpu just by pulling all the cables behind the motherboard. It depends on how big your case is, what kind of fans you have, and how restricted your airflow is.

[Iyarashii]

Honestly it just brings your temps down and if you have a window it really makes it look nice, like really nice. I appreciate those who make their cables neat and tidy and have a modular PSU it just makes the build look professional in a way.

[Deleted]

I really feel that cases without backplates to hide cables prevent most people from doing cable management. I tend to only recommend cases that basically do your cable management for you. Also, sleeved extension cables are quite the nice touch for improving a case's looks.

I still haven't figured out how to properly cable manage video card power cables, though.

As for airflow: It really depends on what you're doing. I've seen people drop 10C on their harddrives, 5C on the video cards, and 3C on the mobo/cpu just by pulling all the cables behind the motherboard. It depends on how big your case is, what kind of fans you have, and how restricted your airflow is.

Hmm I see, so not too big of a difference but it can help a little.

Yes the video card cables are indeed a pain.

Airflow and intake in my case is pretty good with a 120 mm in the back, a 140mm on the top and a 140mm in the front so I don't think it's needed, but I will try to do it tomorrow, hopefully it will look pretty good.

[Annoying]

Given, those temps are from crazy improvements, but I'm the type that a 1C improvement on something is worth doing.

Even just zip tying the cables to the back side of the case instead of letting them roam free can increase flow quite a bit. If you don't have a backplate to run things behind your mobo, get some of these: http://www.ziotek.com/templates/sear...productid=1387

Slap them on wherever you can manage to pull the cables back, and you don't even have much work to do. There are cables that are just too short to get out of the way, and you'll need an extension to be able to get them out of the way.

[Deleted]

Given, those temps are from crazy improvements, but I'm the type that a 1C improvement on something is worth doing.

Even just zip tying the cables to the back side of the case instead of letting them roam free can increase flow quite a bit. If you don't have a backplate to run things behind your mobo, get some of these: http://www.ziotek.com/templates/sear...productid=1387

Slap them on wherever you can manage to pull the cables back, and you don't even have much work to do. There are cables that are just too short to get out of the way, and you'll need an extension to be able to get them out of the way.

Looks good. Hope those things don't cost too much. They look cheap.

[Cyanotical]

I think it's mostly for looking neat and tidy, am I right?

no

you want as little blocking the airflow

airflow is not about how much air, but getting the right amount to the right places, even a watercooled computer sill needs incidental airflow, all the components on the motherboard need a small amount of airflow to stay cool, not much, but at least a small amount

cramming a case full of wires can cause turbulence and eddies in the case environment, some parts may end up not getting airflow at all

it may seem like it's all for show, but even high end enterprise blade servers use a form of cable management and directed airflow, and that's a platform where nobody cares about looks

[googz]

Go find a house fan and blow it in your face. Then grab a heavy gauge extension cord and bunch it up and put between your face and the fan. You'll notice a difference.

[Killora]

Why is this topic even here? Why start a random thread saying that you don't feel cable management is important?

Of course cable management is important.

Without it, it's a pain in the ass to look at the components, or take them out. Less airflow, a crappy looking interior (frankly if i look in the inside of your case and it's a jungle of wires i'm going to think you're an amateur builder) and makes it harder to clean out your PC. It's just all around a bad thing to go without. Yeah, it'll work, but it'll be a hassle down the road and your temps will be higher.

[Deleted]

Why is this topic even here? Why start a random thread saying that you don't feel cable management is important?

Of course cable management is important.

Without it, it's a pain in the ass to look at the components, or take them out. Less airflow, a crappy looking interior (frankly if i look in the inside of your case and it's a jungle of wires i'm going to think you're an amateur builder) and makes it harder to clean out your PC. It's just all around a bad thing to go without. Yeah, it'll work, but it'll be a hassle down the road and your temps will be higher.

Then again, I am an amateur builder.

I just didn't think it would be much gain cooling wise.

[Lemmiwink]

I support democracy and your right to have an opinion and all. But your opinion is wrong. In fact, if you think cable management is not important then "amateur builder" is a bit too far up the skill ladder tbh. All business oriented servers/rigs etc. that no one is ever gonna be looking at has some form of cable management. I could list 3 reasons you should manage your cables and I will leave out the 275 others.

It's really simple:
1. To prevent dust from gathering around components/clusters of cables in case airflow is so hindered you aren't getting positive airpressure inside the case.
2. To distribute air to the right places so that your components lifespan isn't reduced severly.
3. To make sure that if you have to work in your case, you won't have to tidy away 1 pound of dust and a large ball of cables.

See? That's three reasons that doesn't have anything to do with temperature. I can't think of a single reason NOT TO do some cable management while you are building your rig. Seriously, this looks like a troll post but I will be so kind as to believe you just don't know anything about the subject and therefore I am willing to give you information in a proper manner. Do you have any more quandries about PC's you feel you need answered?

[noteworthynerd]

Why is this topic even here? Why start a random thread saying that you don't feel cable management is important?

This. I'm confused as to the thread's point as well... OP: Are you asking if cable management is important? Or are you telling us it isn't? Because it is.

[a21fa7c67f26f6d49a20c2c51]

Does anybody have reputable benchmarks showing the difference in temperatures for one case assembled with the "just stuff it all in" ethos and the the same case rebuilt with careful attention.

The aesthetic arguements are easy enough to accept: it's hard to argue with "I think it looks nice" but actual temperature differences (which presumably allow for slower/fewer fans to reduce noise, or higher over clocks to improve performance) should be easy to show if they're real. The OP might have a point if he can show "sure, you can make the component temperatures X degrees lower but you can't use that thermal headroom in any meaningful way (ie: higher performance or lower noise). So far he's offered nothing to support such a view but we could at least imagine what evidence we'd expect to find if that was true.


I did some simple googling but found nothing worth mentioning. Some random forum posters making claims like "10c cooler" and others saying "no difference" but no well measured experiments by reputable reviewers. Given we have people on these forums claiming better performance from 6 year old budget-conscious computers than people with modern $10,000 systems I think we're best served to discount claims either way if we can't authenticate them.

[Killora]

Why do you need reputable benchmarks to show the obvious? Put a fan to your face, and then stick a sea of wires in the way, and guess what? You feel less air. Physical objects block air movement. If it's in the way, it will restrict airflow and increase temperatures..

The concept is so obvious that no one benchmarks it because uhhh, it's obvious.

[a21fa7c67f26f6d49a20c2c51]

A lot of thing seem obvious but aren't: that's why we have scientific methods.

It used to be obvious that MHz = performance, but then we measured important difference to tell us there was more to it than that. It used to be obvious that you "thought" with your heart and your brain was just a radiator for blood. It was obvious that women and black people were less intelligent than white males until we found that there was some confounding variables in the way intelligence was measured.

If its so obvious then we'd have no trouble finding data to back the claim, just like we have no trouble measuring that one SSD is faster than another or how one brand of CPU cooler is more effective than another.

The fact that I could easily find results for "heatsink temperature benchmark intel 1155" but nothing for searches like "cable sleave" or "modular power supply" + "temperature"makes me hesitate to dismiss his question.

If he's on to something then we certainly want to know that. If it turned out that it was only an aesthetic improvement then it would mean you could stop worrying about cables and start focusing on things that do have a measurable improvement (fan location/speed, case size, or whatever else ends up being true) if you didn't care about appearance. If he's wrong then our evidence will convince him (and anybody else who wonders this sort of thing) of the correctness of the contrary view.

We want to give the best advice possible and we do that by having good evidence and strong arguements based on evidence. Just appealing to "it's obvious" is intellectually dishonest and is the kind of thing we would only do if the evidence wasn't I our favour.