Cable Tidying Guide

Cable tidying is something everyone has to deal with at some point. It’s not exclusive to case modding either because it affects the whole scale of work and play – from your job, to your home, to your PC. As humans we feel the need to go against the laws of nature and entropy and try to order everything as much as possible by keeping where we live as neat & tidy as we can - unless, perhaps, you're a teenager or student (or a guy? -Ed). As we experience the continual evolution into a more and more technology-focused lifestyle, cable management is an increasing issue in our lives, whether it's inside the PC case or around the back of the living room TV.

This whole topic undoubtedly will make many of you think, "Surely this is something everyone knows already?" but you would be surprised - after all, it’s never something as frequently discussed as the next piece of hardware due out or “how you rig up an old laptop LCD”. Cable tidying is an understated yet crucial weapon in the PC modder's armoury – making insides and outsides aesthetically pleasing, providing good airflow and cooler components.

In this article I hope to provide a general overview of the different cable management solutions for your computer case and external computer cables, how easy each solution is to use and reuse, how the final solution looks to the ever-scrutinising case modder and the relative prices of each. Obviously, availability in your own areas is totally dependent on local or national stockists and as you can imagine, some products and prices available in some areas aren’t in others.

Whilst everyone has their own favourites and opinions, we try to look at things in a comparative manner. Nor do we claim to have used every cable management solution on the planet! Feel free to tell us about your own innovative solutions in our forums.