PSU cables all over the place?Is it safe?

[catchme247]

Hey I am almost done,with my new built?I have huge number of cables snaking out of the power supply? they are plugged into the right place. But the spare ones, they are hanging out all over the place! Some are touching the CPU (the silver part),is that oky?Please help!

 

[Silvune]

I think not. Zip tie the loose ones up and push them out of the way somewhere, for instance a spare 5.25" bay.

 

[catchme247]

Hmm oky! btw will the silver part melt my wires' plastic?that might sound stupid, but u know its better to be safe than sorry.and u know how there is a switch on the back of the PSU? should I turn tht off after use? or is it oky to leave it on?
and btw wats a 5.25 " bay? lol

 

[cyansnow]

5.25 bay is a disk drive bay/blu-ray/dvd-drive. The psu shouldn't need to go off after each use, only turn it off when performing maintenince. Get some tie wraps and anchor those cables together and tie them down somehow.

 

[C12Friedman]

You really don't want cables all over the place if only because of restricted airflow. And definately not touching anything on the mobo it isn't plugged in to.

Look up "PC cable management" there are lots of tutorials and Q&A's about it.
To give you an idea of the effort involved in cable management, I hadn't completed my cable management from my last mod... I completed it last night - it took 6 hours but the inside of my case is clear of any loose cables, You run wires the least direct way (it seems) to keep them out of way (if not out of sight), you make mistakes, sometimes requiring to start over. I'm fairly good at it but the first few attempts may make you reconsider just what you are doing inside the case in the first place. My 1st attempt at cable management took about 8 hours and (in retrospect) looked like crap. The time is worth it though (never know when your mom is going to show up and want to look in your computer... or something like that...)

 

[catchme247]

Oooo oky thnks man!So i can calm the hekk down and not worry abt having to turn the switch off and on rite? I am learning stuffs everyday lol ! ;D

 

[catchme247]

You really don't want cables all over the place if only because of restricted airflow. And definately not touching anything on the mobo it isn't plugged in to.

Look up "PC cable management" there are lots of tutorials and Q&A's about it.
To give you an idea of the effort involved in cable management, I hadn't completed my cable management from my last mod... I completed it last night - it took 6 hours but the inside of my case is clear of any loose cables, You run wires the least direct way (it seems) to keep them out of way (if not out of sight), you make mistakes, sometimes requiring to start over. I'm fairly good at it but the first few attempts may make you reconsider just what you are doing inside the case in the first place. My 1st attempt at cable management took about 8 hours and (in retrospect) looked like crap. The time is worth it though (never know when your mom is going to show up and want to look in your computer... or something like that...)

Hmm tht sounds about rite!so only thing I need to worry abt is if i have a good airflow rite?

 

[C12Friedman]

Airflow is the real reason for cable management, even without a window on the side to show off your build, keeping the cables "clean" inside minimizes turbulence and accompanying "dead zones" inside the case. Keeps your PC running cooler and happier.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Flagging to link pics and help in the morning
Moto

 

[catchme247]

Airflow is the real reason for cable management, even without a window on the side to show off your build, keeping the cables "clean" inside minimizes turbulence and accompanying "dead zones" inside the case. Keeps your PC running cooler and happier.

Hmm i think airflow looks pretty good in my build, but wat about the wires touching the CPU(not the fan,the silver part) or other motherboard components?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Your spare cables should be tucked away, and definately NOT touching anything anywhere near your mobo
Moto

 

[C12Friedman]

Perhaps you're referring to the CPU fan wires that go from the heatsink fan to the motherboard - if so, an easy trick for that is to tie loose half hitches in the wire (two or three) to shorten it up and/or pulled taught (not tight!) and the excess tucked behind the top of the mobo (usually 20-22ga wire, should tuck in easily enough).
As far as wires touching the mobo consider that there are a few hot areas on the motherboard (CPU being the hottest), wires touching on those surfaces can prevent heat from dissipating (depending on size and surface area), also, there are minute vibrations going on in your PC, eventually the insulation could get worn through (notably if touching anything sharp like a heatsink fin) - that would be bad
See what Moto has to offer here - good stuff

If you have a super cheap power supply (400W, came with $30 case), you might want to turn it off when not in use - or make sure your fire alarm batteries are fresh - seriously, no real reason to turn off the PSU itself afer the computer shuts down.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Check out these logs for some tips and pics on hiding wires,
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareuk.inc&cat=13&post=279226&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareuk.inc&cat=13&post=287494&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareuk.inc&cat=13&post=311860&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0

You'll have to scroll through for pics but theres plenty in there
As long as your cables are out of the way then airflow will be fine, tuck them into the drive cage or even just at the bottom of the case but make sure that none of the connectors are toiuching components like the motherboard, graphics card etc,
hope this helps,
Moto