• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

homemade rounded cables

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.
I don't cut my cables. I tri-fold them and then fold in half again. A little tape in a few spots finishes the job nicely.
 
i have a crapy compaq 380 @ 450 and the thing came factory with cut and folded cables and ive never had problems so i dont think it matters
 
I am not a HAM like Hoot, but I understand and respect what he said. If this was a HiFi, where the superior computer between your ears can hear the difference, I would not round my cables. Same reasoning goes for a transmisson line to an antenna. FWIW, I used to be in the HiFi business and manufactured esoteric audio cables.

That said, I have not experienced any trouble with rounded cables in my computers and I transfer large amounts of photographic files for my business on a daily basis. If you want to round the 80 conductor cables, fold them into a W and secure the W with zip ties. No need to split the cables. Ribbon cables are configured that way because they are cheap and convenient. The lenght of the cables, the voltage and current carried, do not seem to require that they remain as a ribbon or pseudo ladder line.
 
dunno260 (May 10, 2001 05:42 p.m.):
sketch, could this have anything to do with the fact that summer has arrived?

I don't think so. replacing cables took about 5min, I don't think my room temp climbed that much in 5min but I could be wrong.
 
I rounded my 40 pin cable going to my CD=ROM and CD burner months ago. Working just fine still. With my 80 wire ATA100 flat cable, I just folded twice and used some black plastic electrical tape to round it. I didn't cut and strip each wire out, then bundled, and tape it like I did to the 40 pin data cable. Seems to work great. Really allows the case fans to circulate the air better.
 
i would not round an 80 pin cable on my own because it is much harder. With anything else, you will be fine like I have said. As colin said, the current is so little that you have barely any magnetic field. PLUS, everything is in your computer case, with magentic fields all over the place, so you are not going to make things worse. I wouldn't have a problem with buying some rounded cables like those on the net.
 
i totally shredded my floppy cable and my 40 ide to the cd drive.... no problems at all.... for about 6-7 months now.... i did round the 80 ide but i messed up... i started pulling and all sorts of wires started exposing... so i bought a new ribbon....

i heard somewhere that if you were to round the 80 pin, the most you should shred it is every 2 wires.... 1 is for return something, and the other carries the data.... when i have time, im going to shred those too.....
 
As someone has already said, you do NOT need to cut your cables.
I folded mine into a sort of "M" shape and binded insulation tape around them.
The cable then "fans" out at either end to join with the connector.
They look just as good as the bought version, and also work just as well!
No problems whatsoever running my IBM 75GXP at ATA100.
 
Steven J Gore (May 16, 2001 01:20 p.m.):
As someone has already said, you do NOT need to cut your cables.
I folded mine into a sort of "M" shape and binded insulation tape around them.
The cable then "fans" out at either end to join with the connector.
They look just as good as the bought version, and also work just as well!
No problems whatsoever running my IBM 75GXP at ATA100.

I was very carefull doing my 80 i'm glad i did though because it matches my other cables also I did take my second connector off to make the cable shorter as it was too long to begin with I think for the less adventurous folding is the best way but were talking apples and oranges here both ways work and give the same results a cooler case :) I never did cut any cables at all only made a small incision to get it started I'm sure that my cut or pulled apart and stacked cables are smaller then the folding method but again i'm sure there is no temp difference to be gained doing it one way or another I just like mine as small as i could get them. All in all I have not heard one bad thing about home made rounded cables which to me means if your trying to get every ounce of cooling performance out of your PC so that you may be able to get the most out of your proccesor then homemade rounded cables is the way to go :)
 
Both my 2 systems (Now only 1, my 1.1Ghz blew up) have rounded cables inside them. Of the two I have rounded both IDE33 cables and even IDE66.

IDE33 is absolutely easy to cut, while IDE66 needs real precision and patience (Should really buy rounded IDE66). To round IDE33/66 cables take a sharp knife or cutter with a good handle. Cut a small hole about an inch from each port ending and pull the wires apart until you reach about an inch from the other port ending. Once this is complete, tighten the cables and pinch the wires together at one end and tie up with duct tape. Repeat this until end of IDE33/66 is complete. If you complete this w/o damaging the wires then you have a fine rounded cable. If a wire is severed, chuck the cable and buy a new one. If it is just exposed, seal it in with non-conductive taping.

A good piece of advice is to have another person help with you with this, as it is a pain to tie up at the end while keeping the job need. Also, you should get a good colour duct tape, masking tape or selotape looks butt ugly!

NEVER try to round IDE66 cables until you are very confident at rounding IDE33 cables. And for god sake, don't even bother with IDE100 and SCSI 2 & 3 cables (Just buy them rounded, they come with a warrenty then)!
 
I'll add to the mix. I rounded my cables about 3 months ago and have been running fine every since. 2 DMA 33 cables run my DVD, CD Rom and Burner..........3 ATA 100 cables run 5 hard drives.

The 33 cables were spliced every wire.......(someone mentioned, and it's the same place I got my idea from, an old Compaq that came with the cables already spliced) the 100 cables are every 4. 80 conductor wires are 40 data wires and 40 ground wires. The ground wires help stop noise so I figured I'd keep em together. Wire loom or electrical tape holds em all together. Case temps dropped a bit and for free it was well worth it.

You can buy ribbon cable by the foot or by the roll. You can also buy the tool to crimp on the ends, but you can also do it manually if you are patient. I'd prefer the tool for reliability tho. Nice thing about this part is you can "custom fit" your cables to go exactly the route you choose inside your case.
 
THE TRUTH COMES OUT

Well i reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled windows [me] and noticed when I play my favorite game that the sound only while online and then only 50% of the time would be distorted and there was a echo well I changed my 80 wire hard drive cable that i cut and rounded and now no problems what i did wrong was to take off the second hard drive connector leaving exsposed wires I did try and tape them off but it was no good and did not help As the senior and non senior members pointed out [the ones who folded theres] The best way to do this is to fold your 80 wire hard drive cable even though my problem was the removal of the second connector after having these problems I now stand corrected in thinking cutting them or pulling them apart is the best way or a good way as now I do not want to take any chances so now I'll fold my new one.
 
just a half cent input... you know that if you twist the wiring across each other, you decrease you chance of crosstalk. If you leave the wires parallel to each other you increase you chance of crosstalk...... I always thought that you stayed in the car when it rains and thunders is so that you do get wet :b that and that electricity travel along the surface and not thru
 
i shreded my ata100 wires, every 2 wires.... i left teh second connector on though, and only shredded it half way... from the mobo the the middle connector

it works ok so far.... no problems yet.... i used both connectors for 2 harddrives
 
I took everyones advice on crosstalk when I was building my system. It worked without fail on my IDE33 CD-ROM drives and my floppy but it totally ditched the performance on my Ultra DMA66 Hard Drive. I got HUNDREDS of lost clusters when installing windows with home made rounded cables.
I henceforth don't recommend rounding them yoursellf. If you want the cables out of the way fold them flush to the motherboard or just use dryer tube to vent air around them.
 
just thought i would add a late comment.
I rounded all of my cables,two 40's,two 80's and the cable that connects my live drive, shredded them every wire( was really bored) & havent noticed any problems. BUT, I did pinch off the cables just before the connectors and twisted the cable round and round and round, then just held one end in a desk drawer and started taping till i reached to other.Works great so far.

Tim
 
I also folded my cables without cutting them. I'm just a bit paranoind about cutting. The only cable I have cutt was my floppy. I cutt it off at the second connecter. Although like a dumb a@#, I cutt the wrong end off (the side with the twis in the wire). I had to take the one end off and crimp the other one back on. But it works fine.
 
Rounded my floppy cable last night and did the same thing, with the end with the twist in it, derrrrrrr
But finally realised and fixed it up.
Am still undecided weather to buy a rounded ATA100 cable or have a crack at it myself..............
 
Squid (May 27, 2001 08:41 p.m.):
Rounded my floppy cable last night and did the same thing, with the end with the twist in it, derrrrrrr
But finally realised and fixed it up.
Am still undecided weather to buy a rounded ATA100 cable or have a crack at it myself..............

I would recommend buying one, due the nature of the cable. You could just fold it too.
 
if youre gonna buy one anyways... might as well try to round it yourself... cuz if it doesnt work, then you have the one coming....
 
Back