"Holley's Wiring Guide"

 I hear this many times - "the case is too small to hide the wires" or "there's too many wires".  Here are some pictures that you might want to see. This is my wire tidy guide.

 Tools and Supplies: 

• A dremel tool with metal cutting wheels
• A soldering iron and solder
• Wire cutters
• Small common file set
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Bag of assorted tie wraps
• Small scraps of MDF wood
• Safety glasses

 This case I consider small and hard to hide wires in, but I will show you how it can be done.

First, put all the wires behind the motherboard tray as follows;   mount the motherboard, hard drive and CD ROMs in place.   I always like to use the 5-1\4” bays for all the drives - it's the best way.  Don't worry about the floppy drive since the only time you will need this is for BIOS flashing.  Just leave the power plug somewhere you can get at it when you need it - if you've got the room then leave it in.

On this image you can see where all the power cables go.  Keep one drive open just for the wires.  Later, you can put your Reo-bus in there.  You may need to dremel a larger hole to get the plugs through.  In some cases, you can get the IDE cables in there as well.   Using string or old wire, measure out the length you will need for your IDE cables - there's nothing worst then ending up with a cable that's too short - so measure.

Here is another example on this image.

Here is a great place to hide inverters when you're doing your upper case lighting, right on top of a CD ROM.

This image shows how I ran the IDE cables - notice now the cables flow together and the power cables are hiding behind the IDE cables.  Tie wraps are your best friends here.

Here is another image from the side. The power cables are tucked into open spaces in the drive bays.

I made a partition wall here out of plexiglass and painted the backside to hide more wiring.  It's easy to do and it works for me :wink: !

Here's a great way to hide all those USB wires, LED header wires, inverters, case fan wires and whatever hangs out at the bottom.  You can use painted plexiglass or plexi-mirror like I did.  Get some wood blocks to raise the plexiglass off the floor so that it's flush with the lip of the case rail.  Once you have the right height, glue the blocks to the case floor, mark the areas where you want the cable to come through and notch the plexiglass out like this.  Then, velcro the plexiglass to the wood blocks and you're done.

Here's the fun part - hiding the fan wire from your heatsink and the power cable for Radeon cards.  There's just one thing to remember: use heatshrink whenever you thread wires through the motherboard’s mounting holes.  You don't want to damage the wires and have it ground out.  After you get the wires through the motherboard, it’s time to measure and drill out the holes in the motherboard tray to feed the wires through the backside.  Clean up all the burrs with a file and insert a grommet.  I like using the snap-in plastic type but it's up to you.   Don't worry if you don't get the hole in the perfect spot - there's plenty of room between the motherboard and the tray.

 Here are some images of how to do this:

Here’s where the wires come through the motherboard tray.  If you try this, remember to use grommets and add plugs so if you ever have to remove the tray it will be a lot easier.

How convenient - there was a mounting hole right at the rear of the AGP slot for the Radeon 9700 power cable!

On to the LED fans and wiring them. There's lots of ways to hide wires.  In this image I used the inside of the window molding.

If you remember me saying, use the corners and the case side edges to hide fan wires and your CC light wires.  In some cases you can bend the metal tabs in to hold your wire in place.  Don't use tie wraps or you will never get the side panels on.   Just use glue to hold them in place. 

In this image you can see where the CC light is hiding and you can see the LED fan wires leading toward the right corner of the case.

Here's where the fan wires end up and that’s right where you want them.  That’s where the Reo-bus sits. 

This image shows where I placed the other CC light.  I also ran the wires up the inside corner of the case to my Reo-bus.

Here's a great way to hide that ugly speaker:  just bend the tabs the other way and you’re all set.   Also notice how I routed the LED header wires through the front of the case and along the case edge and under the plexi-mirror.

That about covers all the bases in tidy wiring.  There are some cases out there that are more difficult to work with than others therefore, when you go out and buy your next case look at the case’s construction and figure out how you’re going to tackle the wiring.  Now that you’re armed with some knowledge, you can tear right into it and make your own work of art.

Good luck and happy modding.  Don't forget to post your pictures so others can learn from you.  That’s what makes this such a great past time!