Cable sleeving: Really all it's cracked up to be?

Dom · Post by **Dom** » 23 Sep 2004, 17:51

Hey guys

I decided to sleeve my PSU's wires, in the interests of neatening up the interior of my chassis (and to supposedly help with airflow). Well, all that's ended up happening is that my temps have, on average, gone up by 4-5 degrees (CPU, GPU, ambient, you name it).

The only upside is that the inside of my PC looks a bit nicer.

What a fricken waste of 3 hours!

Sojourn · Post by **Sojourn** » 23 Sep 2004, 18:07

Maybe some ribbon cable "channeled" some airflow BACK at the processor and all you did was remove the xtra cooling?

S

Dom · Post by **Dom** » 23 Sep 2004, 18:54

Possibly.

Oh well, I could always get myself a CMStacker to improve my airflow situation...

(Just wish I had the space for one!)

Saddam · Post by **Saddam** » 23 Sep 2004, 18:56

it can and cant be all its cracked out to be,

from a previous experience, i sleeved my first psu and what actually happened was the psu started taking strain from the crappy connectors from vantec i put on at the same time......eventually my psu popped and that was that......

just check if your psu is hotter.......feel at the back if you dont have a temp sensor.........

if it is, go to modshop, get the cheap window mod for your psu and add a second high rpm fan blowing in...if there isnt a fan already..

often what happens is your psu starts taking a knock.....and then the rest of your components become a little unstable from the lack of power thereof............and thus the temps go up......

i sleeved my second psu, and bought a second set of connectors and made sure i did it right...takes a while.......and it seemed to work for a while until i decided that ready sleeved thermaltake psu's was where the game was @......

out of interest, what psu have you got????

Dom · Post by **Dom** » 24 Sep 2004, 00:56

It's a 400W AOpen...

I haven't got a problem with system stability (thank goodness), but it's just the general temp increases that concern me.

Post by **maxxis** » 24 Sep 2004, 01:03

I just used a bunch of zip ties to keep my PSU cables sorted. Worked fine.

After cleaning up my cables I got a 2deg reduction in heat.

Do you say Vantec connectors are bad?

Makes me wonder a bit. I order some Vantec rounded Ide cables.

How good are these.

Cheers

Post by **fallen_angel** » 24 Sep 2004, 01:11

The problem with cable sleeving is that the temperature from the cables stay trapped inside the sleeve which contributes to the heat build up in your case.

Dust is a major factor in heat control.
I clean my fans and cables once a month at least..... I got my sleeved cables from Frozen CPU in America...... They're ventilated

www.frozencpu.com

Dom · Post by **Dom** » 24 Sep 2004, 01:17

Makes me wonder a bit. I order some Vantec rounded Ide cables.

I have a Vantec rounded IDE ribbon in my PC, and I think it's pretty good quality wise...

Saddam, you aren't referring to the Vantec EZ-Grip molex connectors? I got myself a set (to match the cable sleeving) and I think they're not too bad (plus, I needed the tool for removing the molex plugs to get the sleeving on!)

The problem with cable sleeving is that the temperature from the cables stay trapped inside the sleeve which contributes to the heat build up in your case.

Good point. I'm beginning to think I shouldn't have bothered with cable sleeving...

Post by **maxxis** » 24 Sep 2004, 01:19

On the topic of PSUs

My -12v is reading -12.85. Is this ok or should I worry. Two of my fans are spinning at 3300 while they are rated at 2900. Both are Vantec Blue UV Led fans.

My CoolerMaster fans did the same.

I have a cheap 300W Procase PSU.

Connected are:

From the mobo - 2 case fans (Cables are twisted around the mobo power cable - will this do anything?)
From molex 1 - HDD- CPU Fan
From molex 2 - DVD ROM & DVD Writer & case fan
From molex 3 - 2 CoolerMaster fans & CCFL tube

Cheers

Post by **fallen_angel** » 24 Sep 2004, 01:25

Might be that the PSU is to small. I've got a 500W thermaltake and my voltages is correct

Dom · Post by **Dom** » 24 Sep 2004, 01:30

Hey maxxis

Have a look at this.

It calculates what sort of PSU you should be running...

Off topic: It's interesting to see how many ppl like to stay up as late (or early) as me...

Post by **maxxis** » 24 Sep 2004, 01:36

I thought so.

The calculation suggest that I use a 292 watts psu.

Maybe my PSU has seen better days.

I will upgrade to an Antec 480w next year when I have R700 to spend on that.

Off topic. I am always on this late because I skype my boet in the states. It seems like 10 people on avg stay up this late.

Cheers

Post by **fallen_angel** » 24 Sep 2004, 01:51

The calculation shows that i am using 448W of my PSU but the more you have the safer it is and it's easier for the pc to control and regulate verything

Off topic: There is a couple of night owl on the site but I don't have a choice...... I'm working

Dom · Post by **Dom** » 24 Sep 2004, 01:55

Off topic: There is a couple of night owl on the site but I don't have a choice...... I'm working

I see. What job do you have?

Post by **fallen_angel** » 24 Sep 2004, 02:06

I'm a supervisor at SASOL in Secunda

Post by **maxxis** » 24 Sep 2004, 19:05

Is there any software to monitor the usage of the PSU?

Cheers

Dom · Post by **Dom** » 24 Sep 2004, 20:01

fallen_angel wrote:I'm a supervisor at SASOL in Secunda

There was that terrible explosion at SASOL Secunda a while back if I'm not mistaken... quite a tragedy!

Post by **fallen_angel** » 24 Sep 2004, 20:04

That's true..... 9 people died because of the explosion

dom wrote:
fallen_angel wrote:I'm a supervisor at SASOL in Secunda
There was that terrible explosion at SASOL Secunda a while back if I'm not mistaken... quite a tragedy!

Tokkle · Post by **Tokkle** » 27 Sep 2004, 09:27

heya,

The vantec sleeving kit would not keep any heat in, due to the fact that they are made from braided plastic, so they are quite well ventilated.

but ye, they are a mission to put on, but thats good, so at least us folk that have missioned to do them are more original

Dom · Post by **Dom** » 27 Sep 2004, 09:46

but ye, they are a mission to put on

I'll say!

Anyway, at least the interior of my PC looks nicer for it...

You're quite right about the sleeving not being able to trap heat. If I touch any of my PSU's wires, even after my PC's been running for a while, they're less than luke-warm. No different to when my cables weren't sleeved.