Question fancy lights, glass side of case, etc.

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I'm getting ready to build a new system to replace a small form factor desktop that I upgraded last time. When I build a complete PC, I have 3 really heavy duty towers that I use. I think I bought them around 2000.

We finally got the last part we needed to put it together yesterday, and my youngest son asked me why our systems don't have flashy lights inside, or glass sides to the case. (I think he has watched some youtube videos, where people had these flashy things)

I was kind of at a loss, but then I told him because I don't see the need for flashy lights - I just want good performance, good price, and
efficient power use. Our latest upgrade will give us 2.5x as much cpu power, essentially the same video processing power as our old video card,
and allow us to do it for slightly less than half the current watts used.

Have you felt the need to put flashy lights and a glass side on your PC?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Just get him a light-up RGB Mech. keyboard and mouse.

 

[WilliamM2]

I'm getting ready to build a new system to replace a small form factor desktop that I upgraded last time. When I build a complete PC, I have 3 really heavy duty towers that I use. I think I bought them around 2000.

We finally got the last part we needed to put it together yesterday, and my youngest son asked me why our systems don't have flashy lights inside, or glass sides to the case. (I think he has watched some youtube videos, where people had these flashy things)

I was kind of at a loss, but then I told him because I don't see the need for flashy lights - I just want good performance, good price, and
efficient power use. Our latest upgrade will give us 2.5x as much cpu power, essentially the same video processing power as our old video card,
and allow us to do it for slightly less than half the current watts used.

Have you felt the need to put flashy lights and a glass side on your PC?

Back in 2000, I put my own window in an Antec SX800 case. I don't like flashy lights, just a solid color. At that time I bought purple12" neon lights for under car lighting. This was obviously before the RGB craze. I used that case until 2020 for my main rig.

In 2020 I switched to a fractal R6. I still went with a window, but no RGB, just a simple red LED strip. I don't know why, I'm the only one who sees it. And my wife, but she doesn't pay much attention to PC's. I just decided it was time for a new case.

 

[In2Photos]

I'm in my 40s and have built my own PCs since I was in high school. I always went for cases that hid the inside because I felt like there wasn't really anything to show off and cable management in older cases was non-existent. But new cases, better looking motherboards, AIOs, RGB RAM, and fans like Lian Li unifans, etc have made me want to go flashy on my next build. My son's PC that we built in January was the first PC that was nice enough to put on display on his desk. It was also fun to build, so looking forward to more of that.

 

[mindless1]

I built my nephew a flashy system like that, around 15 years ago. Had a build for myself with a windowed case, but was under a desk where I never looked inside. I didn't pay extra for it compared to a windowless case, just saw a deal on it at the time.

I'd just as soon not have the window, instead a thick metal side panel where I can cut a fan hole to blow directly across the video card, and NOT have an excessive # of fan mounts everywhere else, just lower front intake, and rear exhaust behind CPU 'sink. Granted I've not been building 1000W systems.

Light-up keyboards are nice, as long as it's just enough to see the key markings, not create a glare in a low light environment.

 

[kschendel]

...
Have you felt the need to put flashy lights and a glass side on your PC?

I haven't felt the need for flashy lights since about 1979.

Sometime around I think 1977, the time-sharing company that I worked for got its first DEC KL10. The earlier PDP-10's (the KA and KI) had all sorts of lights showing what was happening at key points like the memory store buffer, the AC bank, the TLB, etc. The KL had nothing, but did have a console PDP-11 that was supposed to tell all and be the equivalent of lights and switches. When one of the older machines froze, you could often tell at a glance was was going on and whether it looked like a hard fault or soft/OS bug. The KL just sat there daring you to guess. It took a couple years to get the hang of the best ways to use the (very poorly documented) console PDP-11 to do the equivalent of looking at the lights. (We only had one KL, and users got upset if you tried to take it down just so that you could experiment with the console!)

As for the PC's I run today? couldn't care less.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I didn't think about that - I guess I wouldn't mind a few LED's or an LCD that would show an error code.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Like W.O.P.R....

 

[prav23h]

I'm getting ready to build a new system to replace a small form factor desktop that I upgraded last time. When I build a complete PC, I have 3 really heavy duty towers that I use. I think I bought them around 2000.

We finally got the last part we needed to put it together yesterday, and my youngest son asked me why our systems don't have flashy lights inside, or glass sides to the case. (I think he has watched some youtube videos, where people had these flashy things)

I was kind of at a loss, but then I told him because I don't see the need for flashy lights - I just want good performance, good price, and
efficient power use. Our latest upgrade will give us 2.5x as much cpu power, essentially the same video processing power as our old video card,
and allow us to do it for slightly less than half the current watts used.

Have you felt the need to put flashy lights and a glass side on your PC?

Why do we need flashy lights and glass side on a PC? I do not think they are important.

 

[daveybrat]

Why do we need flashy lights and glass side on a PC? I do not think they are important.

And you are entitled to your opinion. Some of us like the look, i know i do.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I should set up an old 286 and add all sorts of flashy lights to it, just for fun when people visit......

 

[aigomorla]

The Bling Case to rule them all:

iBUYPOWER Snowblind S Case: iBUYPOWER®

iBUYPOWER Snowblind S Case

www.ibuypower.com

Amazon

Do i need to say more?

There is a X4 edition expected to come out soon:

And yes i want one... but i couldn't fit all my LCS gear in it, so its out of reach for me.
But who wouldn't want Hatsune Miku dancing on top of your RTX 4090 or Luka doing her dance near your front mounted radiator.

 

[mv2devnull]

Why do we need flashy lights and glass side on a PC? I do not think they are important.

They might not be important to you, so you can have a case with or without them.
For some the bling is important.
For some it is very important that the system has no bling.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

Maybe, EVENTUALLY, the computer itself will be made out of light.....

 

[aigomorla]

Maybe, EVENTUALLY, the computer itself will be made out of light.....

Swarovsky crystal PC for the win with lasers at special locations for ultimate RGB action.