Casemod time!
I’ve been itching to customize the hardware on my PC again for a while now. Not anything insane like I used to do - god, I cringe at some of the things I thought were cool ten years ago. Ever since just before Halloween though, I’ve been feeling orange and black for a color scheme. I found a great case I want to pick up, but finances won’t allow (and it’s rather expensive), so what can I do in the mean time?
Sabriena mentioned the other night that the flashing blue power LED from my desktop keeps her awake. I don’t want to shut my office door, because I have no fly screen on the window, so the room won’t cool down over night if the door is shut. But I can probably do something about the LED, no?
My case is old. A CoolerMaster CM 690 - the original one… right around ten years old if the review dates are accurate. it came out when blue LEDs were all the rage, and consequently manufacturers put them everywhere. Blue LEDs are fucking awful, really unpleasant to look at under any circumstances now they’re not rare. So let’s replace the blue LEDs with orange ones, for my pumpkin-king theme! (If you’d told me ten years ago I’d be ripping out blue LEDs and replacing them with orange I’d have told you you’re insane).
The power LED is a 3mm blue LED, and the blue-lit fan on the lower front of the case uses a further 4 3mm LEDs.
The place I used to buy LEDs from has ceased trading, so that sucks. I checked eBay, but they weren’t particularly cheap either even coming from Hong Kong, and considering I have the attention span of a goldfish that just wouldn’t do. In to Jaycar this morning and I found out they’ve got exactly what I need for 50c each, considering I only needed about 5 of them that’s not outlandishly expensive, so I bought 6.
I came home, and over the course of about an hour replaced the power LED and the four (one of which was non-functioning) in the shroud of the fan and I quite like the results. Not only is orange a much less harsh a colour, but LEDs other than blue and white are also much lower inensity for the same voltage leaving the entire effect rather understated. I like it.
I’ve still got more stuff that I’d like to do with the case (or I’d like to replace it eventually) but for now I’m pretty happy with the results, considering the cost and effort involved.
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