Case Lighting Ideas?

[[]V[]essenjah]

Well, I'm looking at getting an acrylic case and I would like to add in some fancy lighting.

This is the case I'm looking at getting:
http://www.xoxide.com/sunbeam-9bay-acrylic-uv.html


I was looking at either doing this:

http://www.xoxide.com/logisys-15in-ccfl-uv.html

With one cold cathode on top and one on the bottom. My question is about how to get the sound sensor to respond to sound? Your PC case generally has a constant sound from the fans and the other problem is that I don't have a sub near or within my PC case so I would need a longer wire to get it close enough to a sub to create enough sound to make it worth it. A friend of mine claims that they don't produce enough light to make it worth it so you would need a ton of cold cathode lights to make it worth it.


My other option is this:

http://www.xoxide.com/logisys-jumbo-led-uv.html

The questions are: 1. Would it create enough light. 2. Where would I mount it exactly?

So, what should I go with?

[JMEaT]

I use two 4 inch Cold Cathodes to light my case (One top one Bottom). I used a bit of Velcro to attach to the inside of the case then rolled a bit around the cold cathode and it stuck.

The 4 inchers light the entire case and also my desk and makes a nice light in the middle of the night.

Here is a pic, I've upgraded everything except the case and lights since this pic was taken but it gives you an idea of what it looks like:



And about the sound sensor. Mount it at the bottom, maybe the vibrations from the desk will trigger it?

[[]V[]essenjah]

With the LED lights, I was thinking that they would probably be easier as I could set them somewhere about where the hard drives are. Not near the UPC or GPU. I'm also considering possibly a heat piped GPU and possibly CPU heatsink of some sort if possible. I am actually considering a huge fan that could vent air into the case from outside my house. Would be bad for LAN parties though. The fan I would be using for that would require a tube since if I mounted on the case, it would most likely rip apart the insides from the immense air pressure. Much more noisy too.


Do UV cathodes produce less light than ordinary cathodes? I saw a case where all they used were two 4\" cathodes to light the whole case. However, my 12\" cathodes don't really do squat inside a case such as this.


After thinking it over a bit, flashing lights could be annoying but what about a nice steady 15\" UV cathode? The LED's would probably produce less heat though. :What if I placed a single cathode along the top ridge and the LED light on the bottom of the case?

[JMEaT]

It’s my understanding that UV Cathodes produce very little light since they are designed to illuminate special chemicals in water cooling fluid and very little light is emitted to non UV components.

Kind of like a black light. I could be wrong though!

[[]V[]essenjah]

Hmmmm... the whole case is UV sensitive though. Would it just light up parts of it, or would it light the whole thing?

[fliptw]

Hmmmm... the whole case is UV sensitive though. Would it just light up parts of it, or would it light the whole thing?

if its UV sensitive, then all of it.

[Diedel]

UV light will ruin all plastic inside the computer as time goes by.

[[]V[]essenjah]

How will it ruin the plastic? Explain please.

[Diedel]

The UV rays light to chemical dissection of some components of plastic, making it hard (if it's soft), getting cracks, and crumbling. Ofc this depends on the intensity of the light. I once had UV light and UV reactive color in my water cooling circuit, and I found that the plastic tubes had become significantly harder after two years. Well, maybe my concerns are unfounded, as a UV cathode does not quite have the intensity of sunlight , but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

I am using cc's and LEDs in my case, and with a few well placed LEDs you can achieve very nice lighting effects (click here for some pics).

[JMEaT]

Plastics generally change chemical properties over time. Like my car that has plastic headlights that now have a lovely clouded yellow hue....

[Diedel]

Probably because they were exposed to daylight (-> UV radiation) a lot ...

[Top Wop]

Plastics generally change chemical properties over time. Like my car that has plastic headlights that now have a lovely clouded yellow hue....

Thats because you bought an Asian car.

[[]V[]essenjah]

LOL,


Diedel, it looks like you have more cold cathodes than LED's to me. Two in the front and two on the inside. I'm not seeing where the regular LED's are? Unless you mean the funky light on the top?

[Diedel]

My system has 4 ccs (one integrated in the top fan) and 30 blue LEDs (in the fee (4), the front grill (7), the HD activity bar in the front's top (10), in the right side (8), and the HD cooler (1)).

The ccs are simple blue ones, no UV.

[[]V[]essenjah]

Well, I don't plan on going that crazy with the lighting. I just want enough to light the UV case.


My main concern would be heat if I use 4 cold cathodes. I can't afford one of those water cooling systems, though my case does support it. On the other hand, I do have another way I plan to cool the case by using a large turbine-like fan from my Dad's workplace to pull in cool air from outside the house through a tube that runs into the back of my case instead of a 4th 120mm. I would imagine that if I mounted it directly on, it would be: 1. Very VERY noisy. And 2. It could potentially rip the internals of my case apart or blow apart the case. This is all theory though. These are used in refrigeration at the plant my Dad used to work for. I will have to be careful if I take it to a LAN party however.



I still have no clue how I would mount the LED's I mentioned above.

[JMEaT]

The cold cathodes themselves put off very little to no heat, it is the power supplies that radiate heat, and even then it's not much.

[Diedel]

M,

why do you think are they named cold cathodes, hm?

One thing about acrylic cases: They do not shield the environment from electromagnetic radiation coming from the electronic high frequency devices in your computer. I don't know whether this is none of a problem in the U.S., but in Germany this simply is forbidden, and if the authorities find out (they are having special cars measuring radiation, mainly to find ppl watching TV and not paying the fees), you have to get a metal case here.

[Krom]

In the US you can run a computer with no case at all if you want. Not that I want to get into the computers-leaking-deadly-radiation debate again... Cases are more for shielding the computer from the outside then shielding the outside from the computer. If the computer leaked that much radiation there would not be plastic cases or cases with acrylic windows on the side. It is the same as running a microwave oven without the door on it, one or two feet away from it and you can barely detect the microwaves anymore, they just disperse harmlessly and a microwave is built to emit radiation.

Though I would still recommend using a metal case on your computer for various reasons, including proper grounding, static electricity protection, and EMI/radiation concerns from both inside and outside the case.

[Diedel]

It's not about health hazards here, it's about interference with other electronic devices, like mobile phones, TV, etc.