Help lighting a case

koolpc · 2 Jul 2020 at 18:18

My daughter wants a new case for her pc with a window.

We both like:

NZXT Black/Red H210 Mini ITX Windowed PC Gaming Case

Can i get some help regarding lighting the inside of the case please?

She likes red. We already have some decent 120mm fans which are really quiet. How can i introduce red lighting in the case / best solutions? I dont mind changing the 3 fans we have (CPU, INTAKE, EXHAUST).

Any help would be great. Ra

ttaskmaster · 2 Jul 2020 at 18:39

I would suggest an Addressable RGB solution. Probably lighting strips. RGB, because she's bound to chop and change her mind as to the colour later on!

Best solution, IMO, is the Aquacomputer Farbwerk 360:

It doesn't need a motherboard with either RGB header types, as it connects directly to the USB header. Powered by a single Molex.
It comes with two strips, 30cm long with 15 LEDs each, which is enough to light the inside of most full tower cases. However, you can always buy more and daisy-chain them. The strips have an adhesive backing, but are also magnetic so you can change them around and relocate them.
It has four channels, and each channel can handle up to 90 LEDs, for a total of 360.... which is **** loads of lights!!!
It is controlled by the (free) Aquasuite software and has probably the widest range of patterns of all the RGB software (unless you have the weeks of time to give up when making them in iCUE). You can also have the strips do things based on all sorts of internal sensor data (temperatures, HDD activity, etc etc etc) from teh motherboard, HWInfo, AIDA64 and all that stuff.

Basic Farbwerk360 package costs about £35.
Extra strips are about £8. Extra daisy-chaining cables are a couple of quid, in 4cm, 10cm, 30cm or 50cm.

OCUK sometimes have these in stock, or you can order through Aqua Computer's own website (in German, so click the little British flag up top).

Failing that, another set I recommend, which has a lot of the same basic features, is the Cablemod range. Bit more expensive though and starter kit only has one strip.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cablemod-widebeam-magnetic-rgb-led-kit-60cm-30-leds-cm-13a-cm.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cablemod-widebeam-magnetic-rgb-led-kit-30cm-15-leds-cm-139-cm.html

koolpc · 2 Jul 2020 at 18:44

Thanks...still confused. Guess i need to see a walkthrough on them...

momo56 · 3 Jul 2020 at 03:11

koolpc said:
Thanks...still confused. Guess i need to see a walkthrough on them...

Why not get the H210i which has an integrated light strip ?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/nzxt...-case-black-red-tempered-glass-ca-1a1-nx.html

You can control the colour etc using a software called CAM.

koolpc · 3 Jul 2020 at 06:49

momo56 said:
Why not get the H210i which has an integrated light strip ?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/nzxt...-case-black-red-tempered-glass-ca-1a1-nx.html

You can control the colour etc using a software called CAM.

Too much for me. I can get the H210 for £69..

Bickaxe · 3 Jul 2020 at 11:45

Some basic Red LED fans will be fine, get a fan splitter and away you go.
I wouldn't recommend red led strips as it will completely wash everything out in red light. Try white as it will highlight everything else. Full ARGB is your best option. A lot of these run from either molex or sata power

iCue has a lot of preset options but I can see how it can be complicated to set up with the hardware as its quite selective (Same fan type, you can't mix fans so go for Corsair types). I have a complete set up and there are A LOT of cables involved.

What mobo does your daughter have?
What are the current fans / set up?
Whats the PSU?

ttaskmaster · 3 Jul 2020 at 12:59

koolpc said:
Thanks...still confused. Guess i need to see a walkthrough on them...

Plug in power connector. Plug in strips. Put strips wherever you want them. Turn on PC.
Only thing to watch is that you don't plug them in backwards. There are arrows to indicate the correct way round.

The Aquacomputer one uses software, while the Cablemod one just has a remote control. Take a bimple through the options, set the colour, brightness and any patterns you like, give to daughter and then go down pub.... or let her do the messing about with the colours and get another couple of pints in!

koolpc · 3 Jul 2020 at 13:50

Bickaxe said:
Some basic Red LED fans will be fine, get a fan splitter and away you go.
I wouldn't recommend red led strips as it will completely wash everything out in red light. Try white as it will highlight everything else. Full ARGB is your best option. A lot of these run from either molex or sata power

iCue has a lot of preset options but I can see how it can be complicated to set up with the hardware as its quite selective (Same fan type, you can't mix fans so go for Corsair types). I have a complete set up and there are A LOT of cables involved.

What mobo does your daughter have?
What are the current fans / set up?
Whats the PSU?

I think nice quiet LED fans would suffice for now. Any idea on good ones that are quiet?
Not sure on mobo. Its ITX and prob 5 year old now.
Fan set up at mo is one at front, one at back and one at the top.
PSU is 550 Bquiet modular.

Daughter likes the case in my first post which i am going to get for her. She loves red!

I may change fan on the CPU too. Needs to be quiet

All fans are 120mm (new case accepts 120mm too).

SonicSW20 · 3 Jul 2020 at 14:09

There are some projects (Jacknet for example) that are working to provide a cross-brand way to control RGB lighting, but its all still early development stages and support is stilll limited. Some manufacturers offer limited support for other brands from within their software, or with motherboard specific solutions like MSI Mystic Light etc. It's a bit of a minefield when looking at cross-brand stuff. For that reason its generally easiest to stick to a single brand for it all. You don't want to end up with 3 different control softwares that don't talk to eachother to manage it all.

I went Thermaltake in mine (different case), the hardware is very nice but the software needs improvement. It works, but its buggy. I originally made the mistake of having multiple brands and it was a major annoyance.

At some point I'd like to replace the rear fans and radiator fans with "Trio" fans like the top ones.

Bickaxe · 3 Jul 2020 at 14:34

koolpc said:
I think nice quiet LED fans would suffice for now. Any idea on good ones that are quiet?
Not sure on mobo. Its ITX and prob 5 year old now.
Fan set up at mo is one at front, one at back and one at the top.
PSU is 550 Bquiet modular.

Daughter likes the case in my first post which i am going to get for her. She loves red!

I may change fan on the CPU too. Needs to be quiet

All fans are 120mm (new case accepts 120mm too).

I'm going to make some assumptions here until you can confirm the mobo model such as the number of fan ports on the mobo

With that case, it looks like you can't see the fans from the front so move the one at the back join the one in the front (use fan splitter).

In regards to quiet, it shouldn't matter too much unless the speed is ramped up to maximum. I'd just go with some 120mm Corsair Red Led fans

Whats the CPU cooler?

koolpc · 3 Jul 2020 at 14:38

Bickaxe said:
I'm going to make some assumptions here until you can confirm the mobo model such as the number of fan ports on the mobo

With that case, it looks like you can't see the fans from the front so move the one at the back join the one in the front (use fan splitter).

In regards to quiet, it shouldn't matter too much unless the speed is ramped up to maximum. I'd just go with some 120mm Corsair Red Led fans

Whats the CPU cooler?

Sorry for lack of info.

CPU cooler is a low profile one. Again, cant rem the name. Its a great cooler though. All the fans are really quiet.

I been looking at these fans:

Corsair AF120 Triple 120mm Red LED 3pin Cooling Fans 2018 Edition

Quiet is very important when it comes to fans. Can hardly hear anything coming from the case.

Bickaxe · 3 Jul 2020 at 14:51

Those the ones?

You can add LED strips later if they are needed but IMO they wouldn't be.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Corsair AF High Airflow Low Noise Red LED Cooling Fan - 120mm - Triple Pack= £28.99
2 x Akasa AK-FY320 3 Pin Fan cable splitter (AK-FY320)= £1.49
1 x NZXT H210 Mini-ITX Gaming Case - Black/Red Tempered Glass= £84.95

Total: £116.92 (includes shipping: £0.00)

koolpc · 3 Jul 2020 at 15:09

Bickaxe said:
Those the ones?

You can add LED strips later if they are needed but IMO they wouldn't be.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Corsair AF High Airflow Low Noise Red LED Cooling Fan - 120mm - Triple Pack= £28.99

2 x Akasa AK-FY320 3 Pin Fan cable splitter (AK-FY320)= £1.49

1 x NZXT H210 Mini-ITX Gaming Case - Black/Red Tempered Glass= £84.95

Total: £116.92 (includes shipping: £0.00)

Those are decent fans?

I suppose i could use one on the CPU but obviously it cant be monitored / controlled? (Have to turn off CPU fan monitor in bios?).

I can get the case for £69 elsewhere

ttaskmaster · 3 Jul 2020 at 18:06

SonicSW20 said:
Some manufacturers offer limited support for other brands from within their software, or with motherboard specific solutions like MSI Mystic Light etc.

Aquacomputer also do 3-pin adapters, so you can add anything from another brand that uses standard 3-pin ARGB headers (male or female).
They also have an add-on that will specifically do RGB fans with Corsair's and NZXT's proprietary connectors.

momo56 · 3 Jul 2020 at 21:26

koolpc said:
Too much for me. I can get the H210 for £69..

Considering the added cost of the fans, the H210i at £100 isn't too far off since you wont need new fans.

There's also the H200i for £79.99. Looks extremely similar and has an integrated light strip too. Lights and fans can be controlled with software and uses the usb header on the motherboard.

HoneyBadger · 3 Jul 2020 at 22:24

momo56 said:
Considering the added cost of the fans, the H210i at £100 is too far off since you wont need new fans.

There's also the H200i for £79.99. Looks extremely similar and has an integrated light strip too. Lights and fans can be controlled with software and uses the usb header on the motherboard.

It's essentially the same case, except that it doesn't have USB Type C on it being the main difference.

koolpc · 4 Jul 2020 at 00:12

momo56 said:
Considering the added cost of the fans, the H210i at £100 isn't too far off since you wont need new fans.

There's also the H200i for £79.99. Looks extremely similar and has an integrated light strip too. Lights and fans can be controlled with software and uses the usb header on the motherboard.

H200i looks interesting

Think i will stick with my original choice of case. And get some decent LED fans...