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PCI-E Riser Cables

I had a bunch of options when choosing a riser cable and I continued on research that I had started when I built my wall-mounted PC. The difficulties with the console build would be bending the cable into the small space and making sure that it actually worked, operating so close to the underside of the graphics card and edge of the motherboard.



Option 1 - Buy another Premium Shielded Riser from 3M. However, they are very expensive and I was concerned that I simply wouldn't be able to bend the cable into place in such a small space. My wall mounted build had big bends in the cable and I was able to appreciate just how thick the cables are.



Option 2 - Try to manually shield, an unshielded cheap cable again. These cables are super cheap. But when I tried this before, it worked fine, then didn't work, then worked fine again, then stopped working completely. These cheap cables are so hit and miss. I don't think this would work so close to my other components. Also, the contacts aren't very strong, which is something that was immediately obvious when I got my hands on the more premium cables



Option 3 - Buy one of the cheaper, but still premium shielded cables that exist online. I was tempted by these ones that are sold on ModDIY.com . They look to have re-enforced contacts and thick shielding



Option 4 - I discovered another brand of premium shielded cables from a few members of the small form factor forum. Li-Heat cables seem to be reasonably priced and they come in a couple of different styles that have 90 degree angled ends in a few orientations. This seems to dramatically reduce the space required to bend the cable around and into place. This was looking like it was going to be perfect for what i need, so i ordered a 285mm length B. type cable through facebook directly from the company.



I tested the fit inside the case to see how tight the cable can be against the edge of the case. I have to say, it's pretty dam close! I think it's going to fit really well. The only thing left to do with the riser is design a few strips that will pin the cable to the bottom of the case below the GPU.


More small updates soon!