How to recolor SATA cables

The Von Matrices · Jan 8, 2012

Hi everyone,

I just bought an eSATA backplate for my system (stock image below) and its SATA cables are colored Gigabyte yellow but my system theme is black. What would you suggest to do to change the color of the SATA cables to black?

Thanks for the advice in advance!

entropy13 · Jan 8, 2012

Paint! lol

If you know how to sleeve, then use black sleeves.

Or wrap electrical tape, and super glue the edge of the tape to the rest of itself.

The Von Matrices · Jan 8, 2012

I thought of paint but I figured it wouldn't adhere to plastic. Is that right? And wouldn't the black mesh sleeving I have still show the yellow through? I didn't think about the tape though - that's an interesting idea.

Yin · Jan 8, 2012

I would just replace the cables if it matter that much, but if you really wanted to paint them try a hobby store they usually sell paint for plastic models and etc.

theonedub · Jan 8, 2012

The Von Matrices said:
I thought of paint but I figured it wouldn't adhere to plastic. Is that right? And wouldn't the black mesh sleeving I have still show the yellow through? I didn't think about the tape though - that's an interesting idea.

Tape is really a cheap way to do it and it can be a little difficult to get it to stay even with superglue.

With a nice dense premium ultra thick weave sleeve (like all the marketing talk

), you should be able to make sure no yellow peeks out- and it will look many times better than electrical tape.

FordGT90Concept · Jan 8, 2012

1 up for sleeve. Paint will eventually chip because the cables are flexible. Black shrink warp would probably be ideal.

bbmarley · Jan 8, 2012

black marker pen?

radrok · Jan 8, 2012

There are tight sleeves that make the underlying color not visible, but I don't recall seeing any for SATA cables.
What about covering them with black/white tape and then sleeving them?

The Von Matrices · Jan 8, 2012

I just sleeved them now. I think the result is pretty good, but it's definitely not perfect like radrok's photo. It looks good in the case though.

radrok · Jan 8, 2012

It's good, a bit rushed on the heatspreaders but whatever, it looks good

sneekypeet · Jan 8, 2012

The image above yours is what is called "triple braid", the ones you used are "single braid" sleeves. Just something to look for when you go to order more

The Von Matrices · Jan 8, 2012

The trouble I was having was that the sleeving was sliding out of the heat shrink even when shrunken; I don't have the exactly right size of tubing so that it would shrink tightly so I had to use a larger size and the zip ties.

de.das.dude · Jan 8, 2012

hey, everyone needs practice and you did a pretty decent job!

AsRock · Jan 8, 2012

bbmarley said:
black marker pen?

Wont that turn like a purplish colour ?.

Just buy some black sata cables lol.

micropage7 · Jan 8, 2012

The Von Matrices said:
I just sleeved them now. I think the result is pretty good, but it's definitely not perfect like radrok's photo. It looks good in the case though.

http://img.techpowerup.org/120108/P1060176.jpg

nice work

scaminatrix · Jan 8, 2012

Very good for a first job, my first job was much muuuch worse

I don't use cable ties anymore, as I don't like the look of them under the heat-shrink. After I put the sleeving over the wire, I use a bit of electrical tape to hold the sleeving to the wire then I heat-shrink it. Then pull it tight at the other while holding the end you just heat-shrinked and tape and heat-shrink the last end. I should make a video as I only use cheap stuff but still manage to get a good finish :laugh:

I use what I call "poor-mans MDPC-X" (it's not as good but it's ok). It's called "mod/smart" and I get it from CandCCentral but I'm in UK.

LiveOrDie · Jan 8, 2012

There a guy over on the evga forums that does this also Extensions you want be able to view his page if you dont have a account with more than 50 posts but here the link http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1346369&high=sleeving

here some images for people that cant view the page he does a pro job but there not cheap :ohwell:

jsfitz54 · Jan 8, 2012

bbmarley said:
black marker pen?

What, no one else likes the black Sharpie, as a solution?

I would have tried the pen first to see how it looked...minimal effort.

The sleeving looks good. Just saying.

System Name	My Surround PC
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard	ASUS STRIX X670E-F
Cooling	Swiftech MCP35X / EK Quantum CPU / Alphacool GPU / XSPC 480mm w/ Corsair Fans
Memory	96GB (2 x 48 GB) G.Skill DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s)	MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim X 24GB
Storage	WD SN850 2TB, 2 x 512GB Samsung PM981a, 4 x 4TB HGST NAS HDD for Windows Storage Spaces
Display(s)	2 x Viotek GFI27QXA 27" 4K 120Hz + LG UH850 4K 60Hz + HMD
Case	NZXT Source 530
Audio Device(s)	Sony MDR-7506 / Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Power Supply	Corsair RM1000x 1 kW
Mouse	Patriot Viper V560
Keyboard	Corsair K100
VR HMD	HP Reverb G2
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	Mellanox ConnectX-3 10 Gb/s Fiber Network Card

Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 7600
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling	Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
Memory	Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-5600 16GBx2
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Gaming OC AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB
Storage	TEAMGROUP T-Force Z440 2TB, SPower A60 2TB, SPower A55 2TB, Seagate 4TBx2, Samsung 870 2TB
Display(s)	AOC 24G2 + Xitrix WFP-2415
Case	Montech Air X
Audio Device(s)	Realtek onboard
Power Supply	Be Quiet! Pure Power 11 FM 750W 80+ Gold
Mouse	Logitech G304
Keyboard	Redragon K557 KAIA RGB Mechanical Keyboard
Software	Windows 10

System Name	My Surround PC
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard	ASUS STRIX X670E-F
Cooling	Swiftech MCP35X / EK Quantum CPU / Alphacool GPU / XSPC 480mm w/ Corsair Fans
Memory	96GB (2 x 48 GB) G.Skill DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s)	MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim X 24GB
Storage	WD SN850 2TB, 2 x 512GB Samsung PM981a, 4 x 4TB HGST NAS HDD for Windows Storage Spaces
Display(s)	2 x Viotek GFI27QXA 27" 4K 120Hz + LG UH850 4K 60Hz + HMD
Case	NZXT Source 530
Audio Device(s)	Sony MDR-7506 / Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Power Supply	Corsair RM1000x 1 kW
Mouse	Patriot Viper V560
Keyboard	Corsair K100
VR HMD	HP Reverb G2
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	Mellanox ConnectX-3 10 Gb/s Fiber Network Card

Processor	Intel i7 920
Motherboard	ASUS RAMPAGE II Extreme
Cooling	CM v10
Memory	Corsair 3 x 2GB TR3X6G1866C9DF
Video Card(s)	Nvidia XFX 8800GT Stock
Storage	Seagate ST3500320AS, 2 x Samsung HD103UJ
Display(s)	2408WFP
Case	Corsair 800D
Power Supply	Corsair HX750W

System Name	Erakith \|\| AsRock NUCS
Processor	AMD ThreadRipper 2990WX ES (32c/64t 3.5ghz@1.02v) \|\| Intel i7 1360P Raptor Lake-P
Motherboard	MSI X399 MEG Creation \|\| AsRock OE
Cooling	EK Supremacy TR4 Full Nickel, D5 w/ EK Top, 2X EK-CoolStream XTX 360 & Photon 270 Res \|\| OE
Memory	32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance PRO RGB DDR4 3000\|\| 2x16GB Corsair DDR4
Video Card(s)	Vega 64 EK FC\|\| Intel Iris Xe
Storage	250gb WD Black NVMe & (2) 2TB Intel 660p NVMe \|\| 2TB Corsair MP600 Pro
Display(s)	34" Dell Ultrasharp U3415W
Case	CaseLabs Merlin SM8 \|\| Aluminum Unibody
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000
Mouse	Corsair Harpoon Wireless RGB
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe RGB w/ Cherry MX Silent
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64 \|\| WIndows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	WCG & F@H Only

How to recolor SATA cables

The Von Matrices

entropy13

The Von Matrices

Yin

theonedub

habe fidem

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

bbmarley

radrok

The Von Matrices

radrok

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

The Von Matrices

de.das.dude

Pro Indian Modder

AsRock

TPU addict

micropage7

scaminatrix

LiveOrDie

jsfitz54

System Name	BY-2021
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard	MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling	Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory	2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s)	Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case	Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply	Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse	Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard	Tesoro Excalibur
Software	Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.

Processor	2500k
Motherboard	Asrock Extreme3 Gen3
Cooling	CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory	16G Corsair Vengence
Video Card(s)	XFX 390 DD BE
Storage	OCZ Agility3 / F1 1tb
Display(s)	Hazro HZ27WC 2560x1440 / x3 BenQ G2222HDL Eyefinity - 5760x1080
Case	Fractal Design Define XL
Audio Device(s)	Onboard / Edifier RT1600
Power Supply	Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 700W

Processor	8700k Intel
Motherboard	z370 MSI Godlike Gaming
Cooling	Triple Aquacomputer AMS Copper 840 with D5
Memory	TridentZ RGB G.Skill C16 3600MHz
Video Card(s)	GTX 1080 Ti
Storage	Crucial MX SSDs
Display(s)	Dell U3011 2560x1600 + Dell 2408WFP 1200x1920 (Portrait)
Case	Core P5 Thermaltake
Audio Device(s)	Essence STX
Power Supply	AX 1500i
Mouse	Logitech
Keyboard	Corsair
Software	Win10

System Name	EVA-01
Processor	Intel i7 13700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling	ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory	PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage	Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s)	Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply	be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse	ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard	ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software	Windows 11

System Name	Monke \| Work Thinkpad\| Old Monke
Processor	Ryzen 5600X \| Ryzen 5500U \| FX8320
Motherboard	ASRock B550 Extreme4 \| ? \| Asrock 990FX Extreme 4
Cooling	240mm Rad \| Not needed \| hyper 212 EVO
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 Corsair RGB \| 16 GB DDR4 3600 \| 16GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX6700XT 12GB \| Vega 8 \| Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB
Storage	Samsung 980 nvme (Primary) \| some samsung SSD
Display(s)	Dell 2723DS \| Some 14" 1080p 98%sRGB IPS \| Dell 2240L
Case	Ant Esports Tempered case \| Thinkpad \| Antec
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z333 \| Jabra corpo stuff
Power Supply	Corsair RM750e \| not needed \| Corsair GS 600
Mouse	Logitech G400 \| nipple
Keyboard	Logitech G213 \| stock kb is awesome \| Logitech K230
VR HMD	;_;
Software	Windows 10 Professional x3
Benchmark Scores	There are no marks on my bench

Processor	AMD 3900X \ AMD 7700X
Motherboard	ASRock AM4 X570 Pro 4 \ ASUS X670Xe TUF
Cooling	D15
Memory	Patriot 2x16GB PVS432G320C6K \ G.Skill Flare X5 F5-6000J3238F 2x16GB
Video Card(s)	eVga GTX1060 SSC \ XFX RX 6950XT RX-695XATBD9
Storage	Sammy 860, MX500, Sabrent Rocket 4 Sammy Evo 980 \ 1xSabrent Rocket 4+, Sammy 2x990 Pro
Display(s)	Samsung 1080P \ LG 43UN700
Case	Fractal Design Pop Air 2x140mm fans from Torrent \ Fractal Design Torrent 2 SilverStone FHP141x2
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V677 \ Yamaha CX-830+Yamaha MX-630 Infinity RS4000\Paradigm P Studio 20, Blue Yeti
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime TX-750 \ Corsair RM1000X Shift
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei wireless \ Steelseries Sensei wireless
Keyboard	Logitech K120 \ Wooting Two HE
Benchmark Scores	Meh benchmarks.

System Name	Benny
Processor	Phenom II 1055t @ 3.3GHz; 300x11; 1.380v; NB 2700; HT 2400
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (2002 BIOS)
Cooling	Thermalright TRUE 120 Black + 2 Xilence Red Wing PWM 120mm (push/pull) + polycarbonate fan holders
Memory	8GB GeIL Ultra 2133MHZ C9 running at 1600MHz @ 7-7-7-21 1T 1.5v
Video Card(s)	MSI Twin Frozr II GTX470 @ Stock w/CPU fan cable-tied on, as one of the GPU fans broke.
Storage	60GB OCZ Agility3 (OS);500GB WDC Grn; 1x1TB WDC Blk (Backup)
Display(s)	ASUS PA823Q
Case	Silverstone Raven 2 (all cables custom sleeved with velcro mod on side panel...)
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi (Onboard) + Harmon Kardon HK6100 amp powering JVC HA-RX700's with Zalman mic
Power Supply	Corsair HX650W
Software	Win7 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	No benchies so making this space useful! Corsair M90, Logitech G19. Phobya FlexLight LED's (gawjus)

Processor	Intel Core i9 10980XE @ 4.7Ghz 1.2v
Motherboard	ASUS Rampage VI Extreme Omega
Cooling	EK-Velocity D-RGB, EK-CoolStream PE 360, XSPC TX240 Ultrathin, EK X-RES 140 Revo D5 RGB PWM
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z RGB F4-3000C14D 64GB
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 OC WC
Storage	M.2 990 Pro 1TB / 10TB WD RED Helium / 3x 860 2TB Evos
Display(s)	Samsung Odyssey G7 28"
Case	Corsair Obsidian 500D SE Modded
Power Supply	Cooler Master V Series 1300W
Software	Windows 11

Processor	Intel i7 970 // Intel i7 2600K
Motherboard	Asus Rampage III Formula // Asus P8P67 Deluxe
Cooling	Zalman CNPS9900MaxB // Zalman CNPS11X
Memory	GSkill 2133 12GB // Corsair V 2400 32GB
Video Card(s)	ASUS GTX1080 // MSI GTX1070
Storage	Samsung 870EVO // Samsung 840P
Display(s)	HP w2207h
Case	CoolerMaster Stacker 830se // Lian Li PC-9F
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Seasonic X 850w Gold // EVGA 850w G2
Mouse	Logitech G502SE HERO, G9
Keyboard	Dell
Software	W10 Pro 22H2