How to get some nice case illumination

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

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Joined
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Birmingham
Hello all,

I'd like to illuminate my case with some quality, sophisticated lighting. Not sure how best to go about it or even whether my setup has the necessary requirements to make it look really good.

I don't want to just stick a load of background LED strips in... I want to get the really bright sophisticated look that you see on pro builds, but can this be done without having all the watercooling pipes etc?

This is mostly a boredom project so I don't want to spend loads replacing things that don't need replacing. I already spent quite a lot of effort making my current set up well cooled and having good open airflow and I don't overclock so temps are fine. This is purely a looks thing as my case is very dark and dingy.

My case is a Phanteks P400. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-eclipse-p400-midi-tower-case-black-window-ca-041-pt.html unfortunately mine is the windowed version rather than having the full glass side panel.

I have two Phanteks 140mm fans at the front blowing into the case. A large Alpenfohn tower cooler with a single 120mm fan and at the rear a single 120mm exhaust fan. There are no fans on the top mesh section as I allow heat to rise out naturally from here. The PSU is in a separate compartment at the bottom with its own fan sucking from underneath and exhausting out the rear. I have a single MSI GPU with the twin frozr fans. This has a bit of lighting on the side but nothing very bright.

Here is a picture of the side. You can make out the GPU but everything else is so dark.

fh6C9cH.png


Front panel off showing fans. The panel is not meshed so you cant see these with the front on.

XO0X7kd.png



I'm concerned that by just fitting RGB fans or some RGB strips, that all I will get is background illumination rather than that pro look. I want to make it more like this which I found a few pages back on the gallery (credit B5NBM). What I like about this and others similar is that you can pick out individual elements, rather than just having everything background illuminated.

FRTgxUb.jpg
 
Im thinking of getting a modular power supply and then making some of my own braided cables. I can see OCUK sell some DIY stuff but I'm not sure what I need.

If I wanted to make a motherboard ATX power connector, would this 17 gauge wire be sufficient?
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/mdpc-x-17-awg-black-wire-1m-cm-06z-md.html

And then I would need a connector?
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/bitf...4-pin-atx-connector-pack-black-cm-319-bx.html

Some pins (male and female?)
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/mdpc-x-crimp-terminal-atx-male-cm-05e-md.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/mdpc-x-fan-crimp-terminal-female-10-pack-cm-05l-md.html

Some of these cable retention combs:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/techforge-24-slot-cable-comb-small-3mm-black-cu-00m-tf.html

Then a pin removal tool:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lamptron-deluxe-modding-tool-kit-silver-cm-051-lp.html

and a cable stripper/crimper:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/alphacool-eistools-cable-sleeving-crimping-kit-wc-09b-ac.html

Then finally some braid (does the diameter need to match the cable size?):
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/mdpc-x-sleeve-xtc-italian-red-uv-1-metre-cm-07c-md.html


Do you make a cable which goes all the way back to the PSU or do you make an extension that uses the existing PSU cables then just fits on the end for the visible section?
 
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Hi all. Im going to get some new RGB fans for my system. Should I go with white or black? Currently I have black, but ive noticed a lot of the pro builds do use white fans, and white components also. Does RGB show up better if you use white? i guess the really bright, clinical look would look better in white, and its true that white photographs better than black as well.

How is the RBG on the fans controlled? I have an Asus motherboard, which has a single RGB header, and a Phanteks case which has a controller on it where you can attach a LED strip but thats it.
 
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evohicks said:
Does your motherboard have onboard RGB lighting already? if it does then there is a chance that you could plug in addressable (ARGB) fans and have the motherboard control the lighting, otherwise a controller is needed.
Click to expand...

It has a single 4 pin RGB header. There is a tiny bit of RGB lighting near the audio section of the board, but that's it. Ive never tried controlling it.

Maybe its best not to spend any money on this and wait until I can get a better case and some watercooling gear and do it properly.
 
I decided there is no point trying to polish a turd, as it were.

Now dreaming about a brand new setup. Its a lot to spend just to get RGB though, but it would look impressive.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,986.54 (includes shipping: £14.70)
FG00PTT_189597_105x105.jpg
FG00PTT_189597_105x105.jpg




Is that case cheap for what it is or is everything else getting more expensive :eek:​
 
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That looks very nice but I think what really brings it out is the pastel orange water in the loop. Its enabled you to have a subtle white background colour and then for the orange to take focus. Going for a full loop is a step too far for me so in the absence of that, I would need to make something else the focal point i.e more fans, or the AIO unit, or the RAM.

I would like to have definition within the case, which I don't think is possible without having specific RGB enabled components.
 
Here is one I found on google images that is using a fully illuminated fan:

ReWU913.png


And here is one that is using a fan with a ring design:

3Xhll68.png


The second one does look a little washed out, aside from the fan rings there is little distinction there.

The first one does appear to have more distinction Im not sure why though as the fans themselves dominate more than the second one. Perhaps its the use of the white case that's doing it, reflecting more light around?
 
Hmm a lot to think about. Another problem might be, if I went for a case like the Lian Li, that it might look very empty without the watercooling stuff in it.
 
Blimey RGB stuff gets expensive quick doesn't it.

A handful of fans are costing more than the case!


@Jay85 on your pics just up above, how come you haven't filled the reservoir all the way to the top?
 
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