what exactly do i need to sleeve a PSU is there anything like a special tool to get the plugs off or do you just pull real hard or what??
i want to use UV red sleeving and also do a change over to make all the plugs UV red too

and what how many watts would i need to power; 2 cold cathodes, athlon 64 sys, about 6-10 case fans, and 5 lazer leds.
and what are some good psu brands

post links to stuff to please

If you want to go cheap, fast, easy, and decent looking Use split loom (found at hardware or auto store) and zip ties. Or if you want a more profesional look for a good bit more work try a sleeving kit like this.Click on Me! Click on me! Tip a molex remover tool will be worth its wieght in gold if you go this rout.

i'd rather take my time and make it look good then going cheap on it
and should i put the sleeving on and then put some heatshrink on the end where it meets the plug or just leave it with no heatshrink at all

you have to do something on the ends. Heat shrink looks a lot better. but zip ties are quicker.

a role of electrical tape did me wonders i would actually suggest you try it before you start spending money on these sleeving kits

i'm doing it mostly for the looks and therefore i would rather spend a little money and make it look profesional and does anyone have any advice on anything for a changeover kit??

you dont have to use heatshrink on the ends. i am using electrical tape. and also take a look at case-mod.com. i ordered from them when they were on sale which was last week. not sure if they still are but the kit was around 8 dollars. you should check that out.

I JUST finished sleeving my first PSU. Let me tell you, this is tedious and un fun work that sucks. Call me a n00b, whatever. I'm not 1337, I don't care. It sucked, but, that said, I'm glad I did it. It looks pretty good. Just be prepared for tedious work.

My Freshly Sleeved PSU and stuff:
http://www.deckadance.com/curious/pics/misc/project

You can go to that link. I took a bunch of pictures while I did it. I used techflex sleeving kits (they are 14 dollars at jab-tech.com--wow, that's twice I've plugged them today, really good prices!). One kit is probably not enough, it's like they give you more of the sizes that you don't need and less of the ones that you do.

Anyways. First and most important: BUY A MOLEX PLUG REMOVER. Mine worked great, they cost too much (10 bucks at most places) but you'll be glad you spent the money.

Secondly, maybe get a heat gun. A blowdryer just didn't really cut it with the heatshrink. I had to go over things with a blowdryer, and then sometimes use a lighter too--and using a lighter it's easy to mess up and scorch things or burn the danged techflex... it was all very agitating.

Third... BEFORE YOU PUT THE ADAPTERS BACK ON... MAKE SURE YOU ARE REALLY READY... make sure you have the right length of sleeving and both of the heatshrink segments cut out.

Fourth... apparently the 6pin Aux plug is the easiest to remove... you just need a tiny little bitty flat head screw driver... well, I didn't have one. I tried just about everything, too. Finally, a dremel did the trick (there is a pic of this in the link up above)

Fifth, mark the wires well--buy sharpies, nothing else will do... fine tip would be best, and mark them on the metal leads, not the wires themselves.

Great links:

Gruntvilles PSU Sleeving Guide:
http://www.gruntville.com/howtos/psu_sleeve/index.php

PimpRigs PSU Sleeving Guide:
http://guides.pimprig.com/modding/psu_slee...glish_style.php

The pimprig guy went a little overboard I think (although it does look nice...). I just used electrical tape under the heatshrink to keep it tight (if you leave it loose and only have a blowdryer, it takes longer...)

I worked on it for 3 days, a couple of hours here and there. It's completely impractical, it's expensive, but it does look really nice, and that is what I was going for... Glad I did it.

Hope this helps, and good luck!
Bruce

[edit: bonus link = http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=12521 <- discussion about modding/sleeving this specific powersupply, the Enermax NoiseTaker 475]

Is it really that hard to take off the plugs and then put new ones back on or is it the whole proccess that is hard??

And caxis0 do you like your case. Is it the Lian-Li PC-60? I'm thinking about getting the PC-61 (same thing just in black) and just wanted to know what you thought of the case. And is it worth getting the CD-ROM drive covers for the CD Drives or is it better paint them?

The plugs that gave me trouble were the 20 pin and the 6 pin aux. A dremel did the job for the aux (I didn't have a tiny flat head screwdriver). But that's not what makes it awful, it's just tedious and time consuming and easy to mess up.

I love the case I selected. It's kind of dated, but I really dig it. If you are going black, then you might just paint the front of your drives, but if you have a few extra bucks, get the bezels that match.

Only thing about Lian Li's is that everyone seems to have one--but noone that I actually know in person, so I didn't mind.

Bruce

im gonna sleeve my psu today and was wondering if unplugging the power from my hardware will mess anything up? im mostly concerned about my hard drive and the data on that. thanks.

Here is a link to the "special Tool", for me it was well worth the $7.29 made the job easy & great looking. I recommend using heatshrink at the ends also, I shrink mine with a heat gun I got at walmart. And also, now loss by unplugging everything. I do recommend removing the PSU from the case to work on it, especially if you going to use heatshrink. And be sure to unplug the psu from the wall and wait about 15-20minutes before handling it.

I have a question about the PSU sleeving and changeover kit from frozencpu. Does the Red UV kits look more like a pink color or are they actually red? If they are pink I might go with a green kit. (Does red with UV green look ok?)

red with green? Seems a little christmas-festive to me... Not sure about the PSU changeover kits--I do know that you can get them cheaper at jab-tech.com probably.

I just wanted to jump in and ask if anybody thinks there is really anything wrong with just using electrical tape. I think I may go that route on my rig, I don't have a window to show it off with anyway. Are there any drawbacks to using electrical tape that anyone knows of?

i dont know of any but i know that Rick_fourdumbkids used electrical tape so ask him about it, but i'm mainly doing it for the looks

better air flow. cool looks

Electrical tape also leaves black sticky gunk on wires.

I read somewhere recently that Tommy Tape was good for that.

that looks like it would work and not get the wires sticky

Bah. i have a freaking drawer full of that stuff, and to this day i dont know its use. i will have to try it out, before i buy my sleeve kit.