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My coworker insisted the weird fan noise was a bad bearing, not a cable
He was right, a SATA cable was just barely grazing the blades. Anyone have a good trick for routing those cleanly in a tight case?
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wendygarcia1mo ago
Yeah I used to be in the "it's always a bearing" camp too. Had a similar situation where I swore it was a fan dying and swapped it out three times before noticing a power cable was the real culprit. Now I always check for cable interference first, especially in tight cases. One trick that works for me is to use small zip ties to route the SATA cables flat along the back of the motherboard tray, then bring them out only at the drive bay. If your case has a PSU shroud, tucking them under that and using the cutouts helps a ton too. Also those right-angle SATA connectors are a lifesaver when clearance is super tight.
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karenf401mo ago
That "swapped it out three times" part really hit home, I've been there with a GPU fan I replaced twice before figuring out it was a loose wire. Your zip tie trick along the motherboard tray is smart, I usually just cram things in there and hope for the best. Those right angle connectors really do make all the difference when you're down to millimeters of space.
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