Yep, you're right about that. Given that a cheapo 230V 10W LED bulb gives off ~800 lumens, that would be ... bright. Let's reduce that by 25% to account for RGB being less efficient (which it is for total light output), and you'd get ... 15 000 lumens from a 250W setup. That's roughly twice what you get from a 400W halogen construction floodlight. I doubt you'd be able to see anything on your screen with that in the same room.
Not necessarily. Even my ancient PC idles at 60W, more efficient recent desktops maybe idle at 30-40W. Enough LED strips could hit 20W and than you're spending half your original idle wattage or the full wattage of a NAS on lighting. A lot of ppl leave their PCs on all the time now for remote desktoping or using as NAS or other light tasks.
What I imagine as next step would be a separate RGB processor which will take over rgb control of all the components. Of course, it will with time be faster than the general purpose processor of the system ;)
It's weird they make such offerings but I guess there's demand for it if they're doing it. IMO a gaming system should not look like a Christmas tree, instead it should be powerful enough to laugh at everything you throw at it. Replace them leds with a few more amps on the 12V rail. Why would a gamer want a glowing system, to distract them from the game?
That's my biggest issue with LED lighting, is that it's distracting. I never buy windowed cases for myself, just for the fact that if I end up with something that has LEDs as a feature I'll never have to see it so I won't be distracted by it. Well that and my god awful looking cable management.
No, you get BGR LEDs on RGB LEDs so they'll cancel each other out then divide by zero and absorb the entire Universe inside a black hole made from annoyed domestic cats that want to keep sleeping on the recliner that you want to sit on.
I think the next logical step beyond RGB would be expanding the light spectrum, say UV and IR? You wouldn't actually be able to see it, but you'd KNOW it was there. Your competition would also know it was there, and despair that they didn't have it also.
Even worse than just existing, it's an embarrassing crappy implementation. Cables with EL wire wrap illumination (i.e. actually glowing, not just clipped into an LED brick) have been around since USB2 debuted.
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17 Comments
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WithoutWeakness - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
Wow I almost called this yesterday: https://www.anandtech.com/comments/12332/hyperx-an...They should have used my idea. Maybe we'll see it next year.
DanNeely - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
How long until the RGB cancer becomes the primary power consumer in a "gaming" system, with the CPU, GPU, etc being secondary losses?Flunk - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
With the power efficiency of current LEDs? It'll happen when gaming systems are too bright to look at with the naked eye.Valantar - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
Yep, you're right about that. Given that a cheapo 230V 10W LED bulb gives off ~800 lumens, that would be ... bright. Let's reduce that by 25% to account for RGB being less efficient (which it is for total light output), and you'd get ... 15 000 lumens from a 250W setup. That's roughly twice what you get from a 400W halogen construction floodlight. I doubt you'd be able to see anything on your screen with that in the same room.webdoctors - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
Not necessarily. Even my ancient PC idles at 60W, more efficient recent desktops maybe idle at 30-40W. Enough LED strips could hit 20W and than you're spending half your original idle wattage or the full wattage of a NAS on lighting. A lot of ppl leave their PCs on all the time now for remote desktoping or using as NAS or other light tasks.Ideally, this stuff shouldn't use more than watt.
entity279 - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
What I imagine as next step would be a separate RGB processor which will take over rgb control of all the components. Of course, it will with time be faster than the general purpose processor of the system ;)Threska - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
I2C is already on most MBs.renegade800x - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
It's weird they make such offerings but I guess there's demand for it if they're doing it. IMO a gaming system should not look like a Christmas tree, instead it should be powerful enough to laugh at everything you throw at it. Replace them leds with a few more amps on the 12V rail.Why would a gamer want a glowing system, to distract them from the game?
renegade800x - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
Sorry, I thought it was an entire PSU marketed for RGB leds. Luckily it's just cables. Phewmjeffer - Sunday, January 21, 2018 - link
That's my biggest issue with LED lighting, is that it's distracting. I never buy windowed cases for myself, just for the fact that if I end up with something that has LEDs as a feature I'll never have to see it so I won't be distracted by it. Well that and my god awful looking cable management.yeeeeman - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
But, can I have RGB LED lighting on RGB LED lighting?PeachNCream - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
No, you get BGR LEDs on RGB LEDs so they'll cancel each other out then divide by zero and absorb the entire Universe inside a black hole made from annoyed domestic cats that want to keep sleeping on the recliner that you want to sit on.Beaver M. - Saturday, January 20, 2018 - link
Razer just patented it.Mr Perfect - Saturday, January 20, 2018 - link
I think the next logical step beyond RGB would be expanding the light spectrum, say UV and IR? You wouldn't actually be able to see it, but you'd KNOW it was there. Your competition would also know it was there, and despair that they didn't have it also.edzieba - Friday, January 19, 2018 - link
Even worse than just existing, it's an embarrassing crappy implementation. Cables with EL wire wrap illumination (i.e. actually glowing, not just clipped into an LED brick) have been around since USB2 debuted.Lord of the Bored - Saturday, January 20, 2018 - link
Yeah, but you can't advertize those as "RGB LED". Gotta fit them buzzwords in.willis936 - Sunday, January 21, 2018 - link
tbh RGB EL would not be too easy but could potentially be damn cool. Screw tacky nerd towers. I want that for hobbyist projects.