Antec 900 (painted/slightly modded/and with decent cable management) + Introduction

[The MAX]

So hi.
I'm Hugh Newman, from Newfoundland. I'm a Physics graduate student at Memorial University. Just joined today, and I had this post all written up, previewed it and forgot to post it .
So I'm trying this again!

A lot of people say the Antec 900 is no good for cable management. I've had mine since June 2008 and I'm toyed with it, poked at it and after a few simple mods I've gotten it to a place where I'm fairly happy with it. I should also mention this is my first serious build. I've put together comps before but nothing special. Mostly just budget gaming rigs.
Never worried about cable management or cooling or any of that fun stuff. lol

So here's my slightly modded 900. What do you guys think?





the main argument I find is there is no hole for the PSU cables. Well I guess where my PSU isn't a big honking 1000watt I was able to fit almost (not 4pin mobo or PCI-E but because they needed to be routed differently) all my PSU cables to the side of the PSU and out the that hole under the flap that holds the psu down.

For the 4pin mobo connector I cut the zipties and flatted the wires out and taped them down flat underneath the mobo.
The PCI-E wasn't long enough to through the back hole and back around so I cut a small hole just under the usb headers for the firewire/usb front panel connectors aswell as the PCI-E connector. I cut and extended the HDD LED and the reset switch buttons and ran all the front panel connectors down through a hole I cut in the top leading to behind the drive bays. you can see what I mean in this next pic.



And heres the whole case!



Only things that really bugging me now are the sata connectors and the sata power for HDDs and the molex power going to the fan controller. Also a Sata optical drive would be nice .

Anyways I think I did a pretty good job! Its my baby.
But I would gladly take any suggestions. I would like to do some sleeving on the sata power and molex power cables I have, aswell as the PCI-E connector. But I only know how to remove molex connectors and not the other two...

Anyways that's me and that's my case. So nuts to you people who say the 900 is no good for cable management. All it needs is a little TLC. I love the case.
Again if anyone has info on how to sleeve the PCI-E power or Sata power cables reply! Also if you have a suggestion that might improve my cable setup, reply!

Thanks!

[sswilson]

Looks great, and welcome to the forums!!!

As you're no doubt aware... sleeving Sata power cables isn't the same as sleeving a molex connectors. The only "easy" solution I can think of is to use the plastic "curly" stuff (having a major brain fart tonight... can't think of the word I'm looking for... :) ) used for wire bundles on aircraft..........



You can see it on the left hand bundle. It comes in various sizes so there's no need for it to look quite a poor as I've done it there. It also comes in clear, white, or black. 3.0Charlie had a link to a distributer in Montreal.

[The MAX]

Yeah I know the stuff you mean. Not a huge fan of it though. I'd prefer heatshrink or the plain black expandable sleeving.
Suppose I'm stuck with just the Red/yellow/black/orange for now.
Thanks for the comment and welcome!

[Evilyeti]

Don't know how good they are, i have been tempted to order some myself but you can get some cheap black Sata 2 cables here

Hard Drive Cables-Serial ATA(SATA)

Not the same as sleeving, but at least they'd be black.

[SiDiX007]

One thing you can do with long sata cales is wrap them around a pen to sorta pig tail them. takes up the excess slack and looks nice IMO.

[EaGle1337]

how'd u get the raidoactive symbol like that.?

[Brian]

Looks good with the red! Actually...looks really good with the red and blue combo. Seems hard to get those two to balance but you've done it quite nicely imo.
Is that radioactive symbol done with UV paint or decal?...or UV decal if there's such a thing haha.
Also, what's the fan controller on the bottom? Looks nice, and great placement on the bottom looks sharp. I might have to take that idea hehe!!

[misterlarry]

Nice rig Max! Welcome to HWC!

[The MAX]

Thanks guys.

The Radioactive symbol is just a white peel on decal from an auto store!
no uv or nothing. Just white.
Looks cool though eh?

Also.
This is the controler
NCIX.com - Buy Sunbeam 4 Port Rheobus Fan Controller Kit Black - RHK-BA In Canada.
But the LED's are normally SUPER bright. Not good if its sitting on your desk.
But I Opened the plastic clips and pushed the led's backinto the casing of the controller so they only look bright if you're looking straight into them, but not so bright at any angle past 10degrees or so. Worked pretty well. Easy mod!

[element291]

Looks pretty cool! The only think I can say is HOLY electrical tape on the back ;) Talk about cable management. hehehe