Tutorial Building a Custom Gaming PC Desk with Cable Management Solutions Organizing Your Setup Neatly

The ultimate guide to proper PC cable management

Theres no doubt about it: Taking the time to tidy up your cables is something every system builder and upgrader should do.

Aside from the small additional effort it takes, there are no downsides whatsoeverbut benefits abound. Even if youre not into the clean aesthetic, a PC with its cables properly routed and secured will run cooler and quieter, accumulate dust more slowly, and be easier to upgrade in the future.

Heres how to transform that terrifying tangle of cables into a prim, polished PC.

Components matter

There is no secret to proper PC cable management. There are, however, a number of strategies to ensure a good outcome. It starts with wire ties, a keen eye, and a bit of patience, but the right components and component placement also matter greatly.

A little forethought can make a big difference to your cases cable clutter.

Many of todays case manufacturers take cable management very seriously and have designed their products to tame tangles. They scatter strategically placed holes about the motherboard tray, leave adequate space behind the motherboard tray to hide and tuck cables away, and litter the case with tie-down spots.

When building a new system, wed highly recommend buying such a case. It might cost a little more than a generic chassis, but its worth the investment and could last though multiple upgrade cycles.

A modular power supply unit (PSU) is also a good idea. It sports detachable cables, so you only have the cables youre actively using taking up room inside your case.

Modular PSUs have their detractors, because technically speaking every connection or break in a wire increases its resistance. In the many years Ive been building systems, however, Ive never had a problem. Being able to use only the cables you need is great and eliminates the need to stash large, unused bundles of cable inside your case. Modular PSUs are not a necessityin fact, the system featured at the end of this article doesnt use onebut they will alleviate cable clutter.

Loyd Case

Component placement within a system is also important. Of course, your motherboard and power supply are only going to fit in one spot, but drives, graphics cards, and other expansion cards should be positioned in such a way that their cablesor the components themselves, for that matterdont interfere with one another. You should also try to position them so that component cables begin near one of those holes in the motherboard tray if at all possible.

When assembling a systemI find its best to save the drives and power supply for last. When all of the other components are in place, its easier to see where to position the drive (or drives) and where to route cables.

Touch everything

The process of actually cleaning up the cables within a system is going to vary from build to build, obviously. The best advice we can give is to give each cable some attention and route each one as neatly as possible.

Loyd Case

Its best to snake the cables behind the motherboard tray and to not tie anything down until every cable has been connected and is roughly in the ideal position. I like to route and connect any front-panel or case-related cables first. Then I install any data cables for various drives, and finally place in the power supply. If you throw everything into the system willy-nilly and connect it all up, youll often find yourself disconnecting or moving things around to get the cabling right.

Keep airflow in mind; dont cover any case fans or coolers with a cable if at all possible.

The vast majority of the cabling should wind up behind the motherboard tray in many builds. If your case doesnt have cut-outs in the motherboard tray, try running all your cables along the side edge of the tray to achieve a clean look.

Once youve placed all of the cables, start securing them in tight bundles, starting from the top of the case and working your way down. If any cables are especially long or have excess connections, consider tying the cable together to prevent it from getting in the way of other components and cords. In most cases, youll find a large spacerelatively speakingtoward the bottom of a system where the bulk of the excess cables can be hidden and secured, as well as ample room behind the motherboard tray.

Velcro strips and twist ties are ideally suited to PC cable management, and adhesive tie downs can also come in handy if your case doesnt already have tie down locations built-in. Heck, you can even use rubber bands! Dont use zip ties if you can avoid it, howeverif you ever need to remove a component or rewire your PC, zip ties have to be cut away, and its all too easy to slice a cable in the process. Stick to reusable, removable ties if at all possible.

Now that you understand the building blocks of smart cable management, you may want to see smart cabling in action. Check out PCWorlds guide to organizing your PC cables for a complete system build that discusses proper cable management each step of the way.

What about the outside?

If youre looking to tidy up the cables on the outside of your PC as well, all of the same suggestions apply. Disconnect all of the cables and reconnect them thinnest to fattest, giving each cable some individual attention. Connect any thin audio cables first, then move on to the USB cables, Ethernet cables, and power cables. Route each cable neatly, making sure not to create any tangles along the way, and then use Velcro strips to create tight bundles. Spiral wire wraps can also be great for tidying up the cables outside your PC.

Good cable management isnt going to improve your benchmark scores or give your system a magical performance boost, but it will make the system run cooler and quieter and could enhance its longevity too. Give it a goespecially if youve got a system with a side panel window and want to show off both your computers components and your crisp, clean cabling skills.

How to manage cables: six ways to keep your gaming PC neat and tidy

Taking the time to manage cables in your gaming PC setup is more important than youd think. Not only does it make everything neat and tidy, saving you from the Reddit ridicule should your rig ever make it into the depths of the forums, it also instils a sense of pride.

Cable management inside your rig may feel like a chore, but it could help make it look like the best gaming PC it can be. For starters, cleaning up your wires could prevent tasks like upgrading to the best gaming CPU from feeling like an action movie bomb disposal scene. Better still, if you want to boost fps in your favourite games, freeing up casespace can help keep things cool when overclocking your CPU and GPU.

Of course, you could just cheat by packing everything behind the best gaming motherboard and jamming the side panel back on, but there are far more elegant solutions out there. Follow thesesix steps and your gaming setup could look like its been done by a professional in no time.

If youre just getting to grips with how to build a gaming PC, then youre in the ideal position to think about managing cables. After all, its always easier to start from scratch than it is to perform the delicate operation of untangling a birds nest of wires that are already sitting in your system. Thats not to say pre-built systems are beyond saving, but theyre a little more work given wed always recommend stripping it down first.

1. Modular and semi-modular power supplies

With a little elbow grease, almost any PC can scrub upto look good, but if you want something to help you manage cables, then a modular power supply comes in rather handy. Instead of letting cables that youre never going to use spew all over your case or squish behind your motherboard, a modular power supply does away with these unwanted wires by making them detachable.

Choosing what you can plug in streamlines the process of building the PC, not only making things significantly tidier, but getting rid of the headache that comes with a pile of cables getting in your way as you piece things together. Here are a few fully modular power supply suggestions to get you started:

If the expense of modular power supplies means this isnt an option for you, then perhaps turn your attention to the semi-modular options that are out there. As its name suggests, only some cables are detachable with these models, but the ones permanently installed are likely ones youll be using anyway.Naturally, if youre looking to maximisespace within a mini-ITX case, youll also want to consider opting for an SFX (small form factor) PSU so that youve got plenty of roomto work with.

If youre stuck with a non-modular power supply, you can still get a pretty decent hold of cable management itll just require a bit more effort. Dont worry if all of this sounds daunting, we can walk you through how to install a power supply, too.

2. Choose the right case

Most cases nowadays come with cable routing features, but not all are built equally. If youre in the market for a new case, whether its an upgrade or a fresh build, you should always look out for:

• Size, as smaller cases tend to be more fiddly
• Spaces to feed your cables through the backplate
• A shroud for your power supply
• A cable routing bar

Bigger cases arent for everyone with the amount of space they take up, but they are usually packed with plenty more features made to manage cables easier, such as a power supply shroud to cover the shame of any extra cables you dont need and a cable routing bar to keep things orderly. And, facing facts, its much easier to move around when youre threading cables through the back.

Thats not to say that you cant find similar features in a smaller chassis, but if you cant fit a full tower or even a mid tower setup into your room, then mini-ITXmodels can be a little trickier, and youll want to use all available cutouts and rubber grommets to the best of your ability. Here are some of the best PC cases for cable management:

Cases with good cablerouting no longer cost a fortune, so theres really no excuse to manage cables poorly anymore.

3. Arm yourself with cable ties preferably velcro

Sometimes dealing with cables can be likened to wading through a jungle, especially if youre running a non-modular power supply. Instead of cutting off the wires you dont need which we absolutely do not recommend you can use cable ties to keepthem at bay and secure them in place once youre done.

We recommend using velcro cable ties over plastic zip or twist ties because theyre less fiddly, they reduce the risk of cutting into other wires, and theyre completely reusable. And the best thing is they dont cost too much, as you can get 100 velcro cable ties on Amazon for around $12 USD / 9 GBP.

4. Plan things out

If your gaming PC has already been built, your job will be made that much easier if you unplug everything to start fresh. Once youve got a blank canvas, you could just grab all your components and wing it, but youll more than likely run into issues if you dont go in with a plan of how you want to route your cables.

As a modular power supply user, you can begin by plugging in the cables your system needs and leaving the rest in its packaging. Dont lose these, as you might need them for a future upgrade. If youre running a non-modular power supply, however, then youre best isolating the unnecessary cables with your velcro cable ties, keeping them out of the way.

Fan wires are often quite short, so it might seem like it makes sense to point them directly towards the motherboard, but this can sometimes introduce extra slack that just doesnt look all that appealing. Conversely, placing it too far away could mean it doesnt reach. Your best bet is to rotate each fan until the cable sits neatly around the frame with enough room to still plug into a fan header.

Remember, rotating is fine, but flipping could turn an intake fan to an exhaust fan and vice versa, which will affect your temperatures. A typical setup would have all your bottom and front fans intaking air and your back and top fans pushing it out. You can tell which way around a fan is because the air will hit the curved part of the blades first.

5. Route your cables in order

Since the cables on the best CPU cooler, your fans, andcases front panel are dainty compared to your braided power supply cables and dont stretch particularly far, you should connect them to the motherboard before starting the bigger project. Theres nothing worse than routing all your cables to find that one wont reach because another is in the way.

Once youve plugged in any SATA cables you need and fed them through to the back of the hard drive cage, you can then turn your attention to the big box at the bottom. We recommend tackling the biggest cables first, such as your 24-pin motherboard power connector, as these can be difficult to wiggle through when the other cables are in place.

All power supply cables should be routed using the contours along the sides of the case or, preferably, through the back using the cutouts. This means you dont obstruct fans, heatsinks, or coolers, improving the airflow and even the longevity of your gaming PC.

Once all cables have been connected, do one last check to make sure everything is in order, to avoid the panic of pressing that on button with no response. Make sure youve definitely switched on the power supply at the rear.You shouldnt be able to see much in the way of cables from the front, with the necessary ones disappearing behind the nearest cutout. Behind the motherboard should be just as neat, if youve used most of the length of each cable.

Once your PC successfully boots and everythings working, and you dont feel like a particular cable would be better feeding through another slot, you can tie your cables up, pop the side panels back on, and marvel at all your hard work.

6. Outside your pc

Having a tidy looking PC is all good, but the back of the best gaming desk should be just as neat. After all, they say a tidy desk is a tidy mind. There are some pretty basic ways to hide cables, such as routing the power cable and display wires behind the stand of the best gaming monitor or investing inan under desk cable routing system to keep cables off the floor.

If cables are really getting on your nerves, you could consider picking up the best wireless gaming mouse and a cordless verion of thebest gaming keyboard. Those of you that are stuck with wires, however, might want to consider pairing the best gaming mousewith a bungee to avoid cable drag and neatly direct them where you want them to go.

Those of you with a busier setup that includes the best gaming microphone dont have the luxury of going wireless unless you opt for Antlions wireless Modmic, of course. In this instance, you might want to consider drilling holes in your desk so your wiresdisappear beneath the tabletop,but youll want to make sure your peripherals are definitely in their correct position before doing this.

Just like inside your PC, wed recommend the velcro zip ties again for tidying up any excess cable, while still being able to easily detach if swapping out any of your peripherals.

Whats the best PC case for cable management?

Most of the best PC cases will be designed with cable management in mind, but that doesnt mean itll be an easy task. Depending on your choice of PSU, youll need to carefully assess where to route connections and wires, and if youre using a non-modular power supply, youll need to tuck any redundant connections away in crevices.

Do graphics cards need power cables?

Most modern-day graphics cards require a power supply connection, Nvidias RTX 4000 series GPUs couldrequire a new 600W PCIe standard. However, there are still options for low-spec gamers andmini build enthusiasts, as the likes of the GTX 1050 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 460can use your motherboards PCI for power, and they still pack a modest punch.