Cold Cathode, Neon lights, or LEDs?

[robo555]

Hi, thinking of doing a case mod sometime in the future. And just got some questions about the sort of lighting options available.

Out of cold cathode, neon, and the LazerLED, which one is the best? Which one lasts the longest, is heat an issue for any of them, and how hard are they to install?

I always thought cold cathods were the expensive ones, but I just checked, and found Neons to be more expensive, and cold cathods are the same price as LEDs, can someone please explain this?

 

[ApacheXMD]

considering LEDs cost about 2cents a piece. I'd say they're the cheapest of all, although you probably need a few of them to light up anything significant

-patchy

 

[robo555]

Not with the LazerLEDs that were designed for casemod...they light up the whole case, and they cost similar to other lighting materials as well.

http://www.pccasegear.com/category6_1.htm

Think the price on that site is AUD

 

[robo555]

Anyone got any opinions of cold cathodes?

 

[HouRman]

I have a black case with 4 feet so it's raised off the ground... I just saw fast and the furious with those green civics with neon green glows underneath.

Thanks for giving me a future project 🙂

 

[Dan]

Cold cathodes are very nice because they are very bright (brighter than neon) and yet heat from them really isn't an issue.

I actually have all three options in my Enlight 7237:

red cathode tube from pcmods
red neon lights from AutoZone
blue LEDs from Hosfelt Electronics (6000 mcd 5mm Ultra Bright BLUE LED's: replaced power and hard drive LED's.)

Pics

 

[TheYetiMan]

All neon lights are "cold cathode".

So what seperates the lights sold as 'cold cathode' and those sold as 'neon' ???

 

[mchammer187]

neon run hot



u can get cold cathodes for $7 + $7 for an inverter from somewhere i got one and it is the exact same thing as what they give u at pcmods.com - no protective sheeth over the cathode tube but u can buy those from any arts and crafts store

makes me 🙁 i paid $40 for the cathy kit from pcmods.com

 

[Floydian]

From what I've read, cold cathodes are warmer than neons, despite their name. I think cold cathodes are flourescent lights (like those white ones) while neons are neons 😀 Mostly I've heard cold cathodes are brighter, or at least the same brightness. The red cold cathodes are more pinkish if you were getting one, the neons being regular red.