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Fancy cases, yes or no?

H

HappyCracker

Senior member
I personally am not a fan of windows/lights/fancy fan grills or mass amounts of LEDs stuck all over the place. I was curious as to how many of you are in the same boat. I also know there are a lot of you out there who do like this stuff. I am not trying to inflame anyone, just curious. This isn't to say I've not seen some really cool looking cases, but this sort of thing isn't me. word
 
I'm split down the middle. I'm really only a fan of mods that have a direct function, such as LCD screens, all the things people do with fans, and all that sort of stuff.

The only exception is that I love painting my cases because I do a lot of spray painting, so it gives me something to paint.
 
I never would have thought of doing it myself until my chip started overheating and I decided I needed a case with a lot of fans.

So, it may as well have a fancy window in the side...

and a nice blue light would look pretty...

let me paint the front inserts red instead of bare metal silver and the components black to match the case...

Wow these ribbons take up space and those wires are messy thru that cool window. Better get some colored cables and sleeves...

Hmmm, needs more lights! And more fans! And more paint! 😀

An obsession is born.
 
cold cathodes are kewl and so are led/uv fans. why? if you have a window, u want to be able to see the stuff inside without a flashlight🙂 if ur fan dies, u can atleast see it😛 stuff like this has gone down in price so much, why the heck not🙂
 
I hate all the extra stuff (LEDS, windows etc.) It is very very tacky in my opinion. I look for a clean and elegant look, much like Lian-li offers.
 
roo you bring up a good point about windows. never thought about it that way. i like to count on my fans though. but greg, i'm with you. one case i saw i really liked was where some guy built his own acrylic and added a sweet looking lcd in the front of it. but as for a cold cathode showing, no thanks. i prefer to put my money into how the box works
 
Give me name-brand fans with known CFM/dB ratings over some clear thing made god knows where with a bunch of LED's tacked onto it! I'll hang onto my ugly black Panaflo's and smile at my temp readings......
 
I just think the computer shouldn't be at the center of the room's attention if its glowing all over the place. It is a functional accessory and complements a room's environment. Just like a microwave oven doesn't have UV Leds all over the place but is very functional and has an elegant stainless steel look instead..
 
similarly, no one's ever tried modding a printer, have they? especially them laser ones. you all know how hot they get.... imagine a cold cathode on your hp. heh
 
I don't like LED fans. I put some in the computer I built for my friend because he wanted them, and they were much louder than they were supposed to be and seemed very flimsy to me.

I like having a window and cold cathodes, it makes a nice night light 😉 The functionality of it is limited, besides seeing what's going on in there and making people ask "what the hell is that".

Everyone has their own tastes and preferences. If we didn't it would be awfully boring. It's kinda like some people like plastichrome hubcaps, and some people think they make your car look like a matchbox.
 
It depends on the system's purpose. The only lights on my main system are soldered onto the motherboard (POST code function) and drive activity lights. On my router, even those are unplugged. On my MP3 player, I felt that a blue light gives it a nice glow to give it some depth (it's in a monitor chassis) rather than a dark cavity. It's more of a show piece than the others. I mean hey, it's easily veiwable from a hallway that has the copier and already has a character LCD screen, keypad adn keyswitch for power. Might as well go all the way.

If I did LAN gaming, I'd probably make it a little bit on the pretty side too. But like cars, some people take it a little too far.

Basically:
If you're gonna be the only one to use it. I like utilitarian.
If you're gonna show it off, go ahead and make it sparkle.
 
I don't like LED fans. I put some in the computer I built for my friend because he wanted them, and they were much louder than they were supposed to be and seemed very flimsy to me.
Click to expand...


how loud did you expect them to be? compared to what? panaflos? even cheap led fans i've heard sound basically the same as normal fans. normal fans are loud😛 thats what rheobuses are for.
 
I was torn on the issue myself until I built my latest box. After all the effort to run the cables neatly and have clean airflow and a custom heatsink and cooling solution - I decided to show it off with a window and some additional lighting. My mods were relatively inexpensive and I created a cool looking system that is not too far over the top while having excellent cooling with quality parts. Sure, there are some very cheap LED fans out there, but you can get quality clear fans with LEDS for low prices. I wanted a clean, professional look with a few extras to show off the work I did on the inside without showing off too much. I have seen a few LAN Party systems that were way out there and cost several hundred dollars in mods that I didn't feel were worth it, but I don't think it is wrong to add a few inexpensive touches. I have a Lian-Li window case and added dual cold cathode lighting and clear led fans for less than $50 with another $20 for silver mesh round cables for my drives - which also improved airflow. I wanted an Antec PS anyway and the 480 TrueBlue was only a couple of bucks more than the 430. Most of this is personal preference, but many of these mods can be tastefully done.
 
Both of my cases are plain and non-attractive, mainly because my funds are very limited, and what I am able to spend on my computers is spent in purchasing upgrades and new things that I can actually use. 😱

<-- wouldn't mind a nice case and stuff if he could afford it.
 
I've seen some I liked and some I didn't like. It's your pc do what you want to to it. Like jliechty, I don't have the funds to mod my cases. I also don't have any artistic abiltiy.
 
I just think its fun stuff to mess around with in general. I think the UV reactive stuff can look neat if done right. Its like putting a CD in a microwave, it just freakin looks cool. (if you haven't done that, go grab a CD you don't mind ruining and put it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Make sure its really dark)

But one functional purpose of the window & CCFL is observing the case airflow with smoke. A few blue ccfl's and you can break down exactly what air does when it enters your case, where it enters your case, and where it comes out.
 
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
I don't like LED fans. I put some in the computer I built for my friend because he wanted them, and they were much louder than they were supposed to be and seemed very flimsy to me.
Click to expand...


how loud did you expect them to be? compared to what? panaflos? even cheap led fans i've heard sound basically the same as normal fans. normal fans are loud😛 thats what rheobuses are for.
Click to expand...

I don't recall what the rated DB level was, but they seemed much louder than that. A lot of it could have to do with the fact that they are in the front of a chieftec case. A rheobus woudln't be for him, he knows nothing about computers, and that just gives him more gadgets to play with, or break.
 
My lighted fans are just as loud as my normal black 80mm fans.

As for mods - I like simple windows and extra blow-holes as needs be. A few lights can add a nice touch if you like them.

I'm not a fan of those front displays or control panels that people put on the front. Also, those switches that people on the front
are ULTRA- tacky.

 
I think a window and a few LED fans and glow in the dark cables look pretty neat. That's just me though. I don't even have one, since I'm running a laptop, although when I'm off to college, I'll see about building a shuttle PC and modding a window into it.
 
I like a nice, subtle glow or tone to the inside of my case. I'm not a fan of, say, tri-color LED fans. I think that's just too gaudy, but hey, everyone's entitled to their own opinion.
 
My case doesn't look that great. But it's cooling is highly functional. I really like some Cooler Master and Lian-Li cases, but I'm cheap so I spend the money on faster parts. So for me performance is more important than looks.
 
Originally posted by: LyNx01
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
I don't like LED fans. I put some in the computer I built for my friend because he wanted them, and they were much louder than they were supposed to be and seemed very flimsy to me.
Click to expand...


how loud did you expect them to be? compared to what? panaflos? even cheap led fans i've heard sound basically the same as normal fans. normal fans are loud😛 thats what rheobuses are for.
Click to expand...

I don't recall what the rated DB level was, but they seemed much louder than that. A lot of it could have to do with the fact that they are in the front of a chieftec case. A rheobus woudln't be for him, he knows nothing about computers, and that just gives him more gadgets to play with, or break.
Click to expand...

they didn't come with the chieftec right? atleast with my x-pider the led fans that came with it were a joke, atleast led wise. half the brightness of a normal 1.99 dollar quad led fan. i lowered the speeds of all anyhow.
 
Most of it is crap. It is like putting a ground effects kit on a ford escort. You actually degrade the performance of the escort while making it 'look' faster to uneducated eyes.

Those lights in your case? They're using electricity, so you're generating even more heat in your case.

That plexiglass/lexan window? It's thermal properties *suck* compared to the metal you cut out.

All of those extra fans you added? You didn't balance input and output, so not only are you burning even more electricity(and creating heat because of it), you're also creating turbulence inside your case that makes it take even longer to vent hot air. Noise=innefficiency 🙂.

I judge a computer on how it performs as a computer, not how it performs as a space heating, whitenoise generating, mood lamp. YMMV.
 
All I want is rounded cables, a super bright led to shine out the front of my dragon case, and a crystalfontz display. That's fancy in my mind.
 
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