White Cathodes? -need help.

[KamiKatze]

I got sick of my red LED strips and wanted to have a more subtle and neutral lighting inside my case. So I am searching for a pair of ~30 cm cathodes (white) to put into my PC.

 

I have found the logisys cathodes that Linus unboxed in an ancient video. Now they're hard to get in germany but what i found were some cathodes from Sharkoon. My problem with these is that they have too short and hiddeous cables and they have that extra bulky switch attached with an extra cable hanging off the power converter. I'd rather have a switch on the PCI cover like the logisysy ones have. In another unboxing of the sharkoons someone mentioned that you could connect the switch's cables to a fan connector and power them via your MoBo, how does that work?

 

So can anyone help me find a way to hide (but use) the ugly switch inside a Define R4 or recommend me an other pair of cathodes?

[Hans Christian | Teri]

From my experience cathodes wont give you subtle and neutral light. You should definitely go for white LED arrays in my opinion instead.

[FatalWaffles]

From the little research I've done on the cathodes that Sharkoon offers you could probably use a molex to 3-pin (or a 4-pin?) fan adapter and hook the cathodes up to a fan controller that way. I'm not sure how well it would work or if it would even work at all though.

 

I'm not sure with what you want cathodes would be a good option though. If you're looking for subtle and neutral lighting cathodes are pretty much anything but. You're probably better off getting white LED strips.

[M-ursu]

No kathodes, they are BAD! Buy white LED strips.

(I had 4-kathodes, which two of the exploded)

[chaozbandit]

There is the fear of cathodes leaking inside your rig. I've never had that issue when I used to run cathodes, and a couple of my buddies who run cathodes don't either. But your best bet would be to use an LED kit. Something like the NZXT one preferably.

[KamiKatze]

@Hans Christian | Teri

 

@M-ursu

 

@chaozbandit

 

Thanks, I just thought it would be a good alternative for low $.

 

Yeah i currently have the phobya 120 mm red. Do you guys think it is worth to buy an RGB version of those (for example) + a controller to switch colors? 50€

Or just plain white LED strips? (25€)

 

BTW phobya sells normal white ones and warm white ones. Which ones do you guys think look better for a red/black color scheme? I don't want it to be pale but not too warm either.

 

High density or low density LEDs?

 

Also ideas on what to do with the red led strip? I don't want to just throw it into the shelve and not use it. I thought about taping it to the edge of the mothboard plate's back but i might have to shorten it drastically for that. I might upgrade my fans later down the road to the enermax vegas (if i can find them) to set some red LED accents but i want to use the led strip aswell. So, ideas?

[KamiKatze]

@M-ursu

 

Damn notification doesn't work, would like your opinion though.

[chaozbandit]

-snip-

 

High density or low density LEDs?

 

Also ideas on what to do with the red led strip? I don't want to just throw it into the shelve and not use it. I thought about taping it to the edge of the mothboard plate's back but i might have to shorten it drastically for that. I might upgrade my fans later down the road to the enermax vegas (if i can find them) to set some red LED accents but i want to use the led strip aswell. So, ideas?

 

IMHO, an RGB LED system isn't worth it (take it with a grain of salt, I'm one of those guys with a fan controller). A build will look so much better with one colour for interior lighting, and you won't find yourself switching all that often. As for warm vs normal, I'd go for the normal just since it's easier to find a normal white kit across different manufacturers. Plus, they tend to maintain the colour of your other components better.

 

Medium density is the minimum. The NZXT Low density kit I have leaves too many dark, blotchy areas in the case and that's including the fact I looped the strip over itself to fill in the gaps (they give you 2 metres so why not). Personally, looking into a high density strip to finish up my custom lighting solution, but it'd reuse the NZXT PCIe controller which is why I recommended it. (In your case, I'd go for the Phobya high density kit)

 

As for the LED strip you have... I really don't know. The only thing that comes to mind would be to use it as an underglow type of ordeal. Else, just leave it be or use it in another rig (that's what I did with my old cathodes). Just a word of warning if you do use red LED fans and white LED strips. The white will 90% of the time overpower the red, making it look very dim when in reality they are quite bright on their own. I'd suggest non-LED fans if you have interior lighting; in my current rig, the white LEDs light up coloured blades much better than opaque fans with LEDs built in.

 

I've attached some example pics (both taken in dark rooms).

 

My Cooler Master CM 690 II w/ NZXT Sleeved LED Kit - White

 

My friend's SilverStone Raven RV03 w/ Logisys Cold Cathode - White (Single)

[KamiKatze]

snip

 

Thanks for the answers.

 

Those builds look awesome despite the difficult lighting situation. Dat phanteks cooler! Wanna have one some time later. I can see what you meant about high density/ low density. I'll definitley get the high ones for even lighting, and the normal white doesn't look as bad as i have expected. Good point about other manufacturers typically having normal white.

For future fans (probably with the phanteks) I'll try to find some with red frame and red blades. (i really don't like the Dark Rock 2 i currently have because of it's lack of customizability.)

[KamiKatze]

I'll complete this thread for future readers.

 

I ordered the white aswell as the warm white LED strips. I'll include pictures of my current red led, the white and the warm white, which i ghetto mounted for a quick snapshot. (note that the picture were taken in a almost dark room with a crappy Nexus 4 camera.)

 

I will keep the warm white because cold white is too pale imo. I used some double sided tape to put the red stip around the back of my motherboard plate. (last picture)