Cable management tips for PC builders

In our article for building a PC for beginners, we explained the basic parts you would need to put together your own PC. In this article we cover what cable management is and why you should consider it for your PC build. Good cable management practices can make your system easier to upgrade and manage, prevent overheating and cable snags, and improve the overall aesthetics of your build. 

When you build a PC and finally get all the parts connected, you can slap the case back together and call it a day, but inside your newly assembled PC can be a tangle of cables and connectors with no real plan or thought given to them. Taking the time to properly cable manage your PC can provide a variety of technical benefits, as well as finishing your build with that extra note of care. 

Building your PC is a science, but cable management is an art. 

Managing the cables in your PC is a personal choice. Some PC users will build their system, or buy a pre-built computer, and never think twice about the cable layout inside the case.  

But for hobbyists, a neat and satisfying cable layout in the PC can be the finishing touch to a hand-crafted build. There’s no getting away from the need for cables inside a PC case, so getting that cable routing just right for your build can be the frosting on the cake. That said, here are some other reasons why you might want to consider proper cable management in your PC. 

PCs generate a lot of heat under load, and while heatsinks, CPUs, and system fans can do a great job managing this, making sure your case can handle sufficient airflow to allow that heat to escape is an important part of PC heat management. Cables are your enemy here. Untamed cables inside a PC case can obstruct airflow paths through the system, preventing heat from easily escaping. Even worse, a loose SATA connector or similar is also at risk of interfering with system fans, and if that happens, the heat build-up can quickly become critical, leading to crashes and system shutdowns. 

Combined with the lack of airflow above, a cluttered PC interior can also harbor dust. Messy cable management can not only slow down airflow through the system but can also provide a greater surface area where dust can accumulate.  

If heat buildup occurs in your PC, your internal computer fans, including the GPU fan, will have to work harder than necessary. A good quality fan will simply generate a louder hum than usual, but cheaper or poorly fitted case fans can rattle under load, and be distracting, as well as annoying. 

If you have spent a long time researching, buying, and assembling your very own PC, you will rightly be proud of what you have built; and understandably want to put your hard work on display and show it off. Even if you didn’t build a system for the looks, glass panels on PC cases are very common, and you probably don’t want to look at a tangled mess through the side window. 

If you have taken your PC look to the max with RGB components, illuminated cooling, or a pure white PC build, you want a good view of what you made. 

Cables inside a PC are essential components to tie everything together, but when you are working on your PC, such as upgrading your RAM, they can get in the way. Unplugging and reconnecting cables and components in a tight space can be a chore, so managing your PC layout during assembly can make your life much easier when it is time to upgrade. A well-organized PC cable layout can also make your life easier when you need to trace a cable from start to finish. 

Regular PC PSUs (power supply units) come with all the cables you could need to power the components in your PC, but there is no way to remove the cables you don’t need. A modular PSU uses double-ended cables, so you only need to connect the exact number of cables you need and no more. Fewer cables mean less clutter. 

NVMe hard drives with a PCIe interface are your best option to improve your internal PC cable layout. SATA drives require 6GB/s cables to plug into the motherboard. NVMe drives mount directly to the motherboard, or to PCIe cards, which means no additional cables are required. 

External devices, such as external hard drives, connect to the outside of the PC. Although a cable will still be needed while it is plugged in, once you are done with it, you can unplug it and tidy the cable away. Fast interfaces like USB 4.0 and Thunderbolt mean you don’t need to sacrifice performance for convenience anymore. 

If you are still planning your build, or considering an upgrade, pay careful attention to the case you are using. A large enough case will provide more space to work, and room for more, or larger, fans. Some cases are designed with PC cable management in mind, so look out for features like cable routing channels which you can use to tidy up your internal cables. 

Ribbon cables or flat cables can be difficult to align and bend away from other components if the angle is not quite right. Round cables can provide more layout flexibility but can sometimes be less durable. Look out for right-angled connectors, too, they can be a real space-saver. 

Tamping down your cables is the final step. Even if you have used routing channels, you can tie your cables into a bundle in several ways. Zip ties are the obvious choice but be extra careful when making changes as you will need a sharp knife to cut the zip tie, and you don’t want to damage the cable or any nearby components. Specially designed cable wraps and cable sleeves are another solution. These can be spiral or velcro solutions that hold the cables together. You can even use heat shrink sleeving for a semi-permanent solution. 

Cable management for your PC is not an essential part of building a PC for many users because your machine will still work as long as everything is connected properly. But if you want to maximize performance, efficiency, airflow, heat-dissipation, and make future upgrades and component management as easy as possible, it can be well worth the effort. On the other hand, if you want to show off the carefully crafted aesthetics of your build through a glass side panel, taking the time to properly route your cabling will always be the best way to show off your creation.