Rounded cables vs. very neatly bundled cables = no difference? My opinion

[MichaelD]

I'm waiting on my new case to come in (OK; you can ship it any freakin' day now, EMS!) and am dreaming about transferring all my stuff into the new case. Sad, I know. Anyway, I've been looking at pics of cases with rounded cables. OK, they look neat.

However, so does my current case. I see lots of pics that folks just have the IDE cables basically just hanging all over the place. Draped over PCI cards, resting on the mobo, you get the idea. All the excess IDE cable length in my case are neatly folded, zip-tied together, then zip tied up and out of the way of the airflow. In other words, you can "see" a clear path for the air to take from the front fan, over the cards, mobo and to the rear exhaust.

Supposedly, the main purpose of rounded cables is for better airflow. I think that if you take the time (it's not easy, depending on the case and how much stuff you have in it) to fold, tie and get your flat cables out of the way, you can have just as good airflow as you would if you had rounded cables. My case temp at idle or surfing is exactly 1C over room temp. Under stress it get about 5-8C above room temp.

What do you think?

 

[paruhd0x]

Your fine, rounded cables are usually used by fanatic overclockers who demand to have insane air flow...

 

[narzy]

also machine rounded cables look better IMO.

 

[MichaelD]

Mmmm....yes, ok, I will concede that point. Machine-rounded cables are snazzy looking. Especially in flourescent yellow. I can't stand to see homemade cables, wrapped in two different color (on the same cable) electrical tape and it's all bulgy and knotted and stuff. ICK! I like a nice, tidy case interior.

 

[dkozloski]

Neatly tied and rounded cables are great if that is the end result you're after, but if you are like me and are experimenting on 10 different configurations of hardware a week it is a royal pain. Function over form is the norm if you want it all to work. As Stroker McGurk used to say, "If it don't go, chrome it".

 

[Noriaki]

<< I can't stand to see homemade cables, wrapped in two different color (on the same cable) electrical tape and it's all bulgy and knotted and stuff. ICK! I like a nice, tidy case interior. >>


Obsessive compulsive are we?
Why do you care what the inside of your case looks like as long as you have good airflow?


But yes folding and tieing cables off should offer good airflow as long as you are careful with the folding and tieing.

 

[Recneps]

Neat case you should see mine I round all the cables together in the shape of a soft ball.

I don't think it will make much of a differnce even if you ball your cables.

 

[MichaelD]

Yes, airflow is the main reason why I prefer my case to be &quot;neat and tidy&quot;. The other reason is that I don't want all these cables/wires dangling over the mobo in case i need to go in there to swap cards/reset CMOS/vacumm out dust, etc. It just makes maintenance a whole lot easier and quicker.

 

[bacillus]

as long as you have good airflow then that's all that matters. how many folk here open up their cases to show their friends how tidy their rounded cables make the case innards look?