Case lighting

Inazuma · 12 Mar 2008 at 18:04

Hey I'm thinking about buying some lighting for my case.
I've seen photos of people's cases where there's tubes that are fluorescent/glow (I'm assuming these are called UV cathodes?) and then there's tubes that actually light up the whole case (Cold Cathodes?). Is this right?
What are inverters? What do you use to shine UV onto the cathodes to make them glow?

**Edit: Pics and mini-review further down**

naudiz · 12 Mar 2008 at 18:10

The tubes are called cathodes, you can get them in quite a vast array of colours as well if you shop around. Inverters are the power bricks that the cathodes run from, you plug power from your PSU into the inverter then the cathode into the inverter.

UV cathodes shine with a UV light (purple) and will light up any UV components you may have in your case, but unfortunately they also show dust up quite nicely :/ Hope this helps

Naud

Skeeter · 12 Mar 2008 at 19:18

naudiz said:
The tubes are called cathodes, you can get them in quite a vast array of colours as well if you shop around. Inverters are the power bricks that the cathodes run from, you plug power from your PSU into the inverter then the cathode into the inverter.

UV cathodes shine with a UV light (purple) and will light up any UV components you may have in your case, but unfortunately they also show dust up quite nicely :/ Hope this helps

Naud

Uh... yeah.... what he said.... lol

Get some pics up, there are pleanty of people on here who will offer advice on the best colour/lighting combo for your case.

OcUK Cathodes

schumi84 · 12 Mar 2008 at 19:24

I would get some pics up of my case with the 3 UV cathodes in, however i dont have a good enough camera that can take night-time pictures (my current camera comes up all blurry).
UV looks even better when combined with UV reactive watercooling, however i do like subtle lighting too.

Inazuma · 12 Mar 2008 at 19:29

Hey thanks a lot for the answers!

My current case doesn't have a side window, but I am ordering this soon:

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate

I'm thinking a red Akasa cathode and that pack of dual light blue cathodes. What do you think?

PinkFloyd · 12 Mar 2008 at 19:31

Inazuma said:
I'm thinking a red Akasa cathode and that pack of dual light blue cathodes. What do you think?

Garish colour clashing mess tbh.

The case already has hugely bright blue leds, a red cathode will be a waste of time.

So unless your going to change the fans (or unwire the leds) i wouldn't both with both red and blue neons.

megalomanic · 12 Mar 2008 at 20:46

The case already has hugely bright blue leds

indeed it does...

shot in roomlight so apear abit 'brighter' but gives u an idea.
i don't know much about case lights but too many more could make it look abit messy, especialy if both more red and blue ones.. it's all down to prefernce really. If i was to add light maybe just abit more blue around the middle part(side), but sometimes less is more.

Inazuma · 12 Mar 2008 at 20:52

You thought red and blue was bad? I was originally thinking red and green, coupled with those blue fan leds

chris74 · 13 Mar 2008 at 14:12

Just a note. Be careful if opting for red as a few look more pink hence my ones ended up in the bin.

Schnippzle · 13 Mar 2008 at 14:53

I made the mistake of buying these in hope for a red light:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CM-013-GE&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=209

They are pink, maybe a touch red.....but mostly pink.

Paolo · 13 Mar 2008 at 17:13

Get to a Florists,and grab some of that red tinted plastic stuff they use.Works a treat mate

Inazuma · 13 Mar 2008 at 18:29

I ended up getting some RC Ryans

Pictures tomorrow..

shaffaaf27 · 14 Mar 2008 at 17:21

pics?

Inazuma · 14 Mar 2008 at 18:11

AC Ryan cathodes red and blue. They're bright but not overly bright

Although the red turned out more pink... Does anyone know where I can buy red film from?

The case (Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate) is quite sturdy and light, although it's obvious where it's made compromises to keep the price down. My last case (Coolermaster Praetorian - £150) was a little less spacious, had worse air circulation and had no cable management at all - so I am quite pleased with this relatively inexpensive purchase. This case, despite it's 4 large fans, is actually very quiet. Although as you can see, I have also put a Noctua fan on the side panel because I noticed a lot of cool air was escaping through the grills. One last note: The TriCool blue LED fans are quite nice because the blue light is shone on the fans like a spotlight...seems quite posh :rolleyes:

Well that's my mini review

So does anyone know where to find some red film?

Blackhawk47 · 14 Mar 2008 at 18:34

find a craft shop and the like. most likely have it there/

CliffyBiro · 14 Mar 2008 at 18:37

I bought 2 purple cathodes from a well known auction site recently. I'm buying the CoolMaster Dominator case which already has blue led fans I believe. Should look good.

shaffaaf27 · 14 Mar 2008 at 18:59

skippi90 said:
I bought 2 purple cathodes from a well known auction site recently. I'm buying the CoolMaster Dominator case which already has blue led fans I believe. Should look good.

and with no side panel, i love to se how u view the lights

CliffyBiro · 14 Mar 2008 at 19:02

shaffaaf27 said:
and with no side panel, i love to se how u view the lights

I was going to mod the case.

schumi84 · 14 Mar 2008 at 19:03

skippi90 said:
I bought 2 purple cathodes from a well known auction site recently. I'm buying the CoolMaster Dominator case which already has blue led fans I believe. Should look good.

It has 1 blue LED fan in the front which i have left in the for the time being, may swap it out for a Yate, but will see as i am contemplating going the watercooling route.

Hope u like the case, i really like mine and with the aftermarket sidepanel it sets it off nicely.

CliffyBiro · 14 Mar 2008 at 19:04

schumi84 said:
It has 1 blue LED fan in the front which i have left in the for the time being, may swap it out for a Yate, but will see as i am contemplating going the watercooling route.

Hope u like the case, i really like mine and with the aftermarket sidepanel it sets it off nicely.

You can buy a premade transparent panel?