p180 - cable management

socialsupernova · Post by **socialsupernova** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:17 am

First off I just want to say thank you to everyone out there. I just found this site the other day and I love it.

I just bought a p180 and the thing came with no instructions. I used this site and a little common sense and managed to get just about everything all set up but I cant figure out how to not just make a complete mess of this case with all cabling.

anyone got any tips? maybe a guide or some instructions?

sjoukew · Post by **sjoukew** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:59 am

I did it with a lot of 'common sense' and a lot of time and some coffee.
Then I had some second thoughts and rewired some parts so it got even better, and did cost some more coffee

ultrachrome · Post by **ultrachrome** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:56 am

The instructions would have likely been useless when it comes to cabling.

I use lots of zip ties (several dozen) although most will end up being removed by the time I'm done.

I focus on keep in the cables orderly, out of the airflow path, and positioned so that components can be easily removed without interference with cables.

I typically run one cable at a time, zip tieing it in place. I then run another cable and place a new zip tie over both cables and then remove the original zip tie. Repeat as necessary.

You can reuse zip ties you know you will need to remove by wrapping the tie around multiple times before fastening it. That way you can cut it off and still have plenty of length to use it again.

The tails are best trimmed with flush cutters. Other trimming methods can leave sharp edges that can cut you or even cut through the insulation of a cable.

Don't over tighten the zip tie. It can break or damage the wire. You want it just tight enough but still allow the cable to slide through a bit which is helpful for making adjustments and avoiding cable damage.

With the P180 a CPU power extension cable would be a wise investment as this cable is next to impossible to run neatly in this case.

It takes time. I spend at least half the assembly period dressing cables.

amjedm · Post by **amjedm** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 12:29 pm

IMO one of the best ways to find out is by looking at the pictures in General Gallery.

firebane · Post by **firebane** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 2:17 pm

ultrachrome wrote:The instructions would have likely been useless when it comes to cabling.

I use lots of zip ties (several dozen) although most will end up being removed by the time I'm done.

I focus on keep in the cables orderly, out of the airflow path, and positioned so that components can be easily removed without interference with cables.

I typically run one cable at a time, zip tieing it in place. I then run another cable and place a new zip tie over both cables and then remove the original zip tie. Repeat as necessary.

You can reuse zip ties you know you will need to remove by wrapping the tie around multiple times before fastening it. That way you can cut it off and still have plenty of length to use it again.

The tails are best trimmed with flush cutters. Other trimming methods can leave sharp edges that can cut you or even cut through the insulation of a cable.

Don't over tighten the zip tie. It can break or damage the wire. You want it just tight enough but still allow the cable to slide through a bit which is helpful for making adjustments and avoiding cable damage.

With the P180 a CPU power extension cable would be a wise investment as this cable is next to impossible to run neatly in this case.

It takes time. I spend at least half the assembly period dressing cables.

Good advice, I can't say or tell you how many zip ties I can go thru in a system.

There is a good way to run the 4pin aux cable tho and its up behind the video card if the connector is in a good spot, otherwise as you said the extender is needed.

SockToy · Post by **SockToy** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:50 am

http://keg.zymurgy.org/~pingu/case/

socialsupernova · Post by **socialsupernova** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:24 pm

So this small project that I embarked on is turning into something much longer than expected. I took your guys' advice and looked at some pictures. Basically the whole thing was just trial and error. I think I probably spent the majority of my time just hunched over staring the thing down. I probably did everything twice. It took all afternoon. I didn't have any zip ties but I managed to do a pretty good job without. The thing still needs a little work but it I was getting grief from the lady for using our bed as a work bench so I boxed it up and plugged it in.

It was beautiful. It was quiet and sophisticated. At least half as quiet as my old monster. Within 30 seconds the machine just shut down. I tried to turn it back on and it made a weird noise. Not like a rattling but 4 long system beeps. I tried again and during the boot screen I saw something about overheating but before I had time to read it my computer shutdown again. It made me sick to my stomach and I just walked away. Later came to find out that sick feeling turned out to be the flu and hunching over my computer has made my body ache.

I'll take some pictures when I get the strength but it's pretty crappy.

PopCorn · Post by **PopCorn** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 5:23 pm

did u forget to put a heatsink on it?... or forget to put thermal goop on it

socialsupernova · Post by **socialsupernova** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:34 am

the heatsink is on and i didn't even take processor off!

Mr. B · Post by **Mr. B** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 10:55 am

I think the best thing you can do is to look though the general gallery for P180s and see how people do it.

At the risk of flattering myself, I think I did a decent job on my P180. I didn't have any grand strategy although I did try to keep everything in one bundle.

More pics...

mbetea · Post by **mbetea** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 7:31 pm

If you're not afraid of using a dremel, you can do some mods along the lines of the p182. Helps tremendously in my opinion as far as routing cables go.

viewtopic.php?t=29646&highlight=

I didn't bother cleaning anything up I did to that case. I'm going to get a p180B here soon, so I'll use a couple of the same mods I did above and some new stuff.

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:48 am

What I did after MANY changes:

Most cables are hidden behind the upper hard disk cage. No cutting, just some PSU and SATA cables pressed between right cover and chamber isolation plate.

SockToy · Post by **SockToy** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:13 am

Damn you. Now I'm going to have to open mine up and try again.

That is *very* tidy

Kremmit · Post by **Kremmit** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:51 pm

JimX, what's the story on that fan mod? Was there a performance reason, or is it just for looks? Have you done comparison tests with a non-modded fan, and if so, how did it come out?

Looks good, BTW.

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:34 pm

Kremmit wrote:JimX, what's the story on that fan mod? Was there a performance reason, or is it just for looks? Have you done comparison tests with a non-modded fan, and if so, how did it come out?

Looks good, BTW.

Thanks! The fan is a Nexus with closed corners that needed opening to work with the Thermalright, but the operation went horribly wrong (with pliers) and I broke the frame ! So, I improvised. Notice the wires holding the fan in place?

Temps are the same and I didn't notice any noise difference, the hard disks being far noisier than the undervolted fans.