View Full Version : Turn off the blue LED's in an antec 900/1200?
I'm looking at an antec 900/1200 for my next case... but I've been thinking and, while blue LED fans are great for showing off, they're not as good when the case is next to the monitor (distracting) or if you need to leave your machine on overnight (which I do regularly),
ATM the overnight thing is not a problem (PC = downstairs, me = upstairs) but I'm off to uni in 2 months, and everything I own will need to be in the same room.
Essentially, is there any way to disable the blue LEDs without disabling the fans entirely? I'll need the cooling running, but not the lights?
Options I've considered:
1 [and preferred] - the fans can run with the LED's off (unlikely?)
2 - replace the fans with something without LEDs
3 - replace internal/out of the way fans (roof, rear, middle) with non-LED fans, and turn off the side and front fans at night. I'm thinking that with a middle fan (essentially an extension to one of the front fans) intaking, the CPU and GPU coolers running and the rear and top fans exhausting, I should have enough cooling without the two main front and the side fans?
Does anyone know if these fans can have the lights disabled easily (but I want to be able to turn them on just as easily), or an alternative which does, and what's your advice on which option (or another) would work out best?
Theres no switch to turn the lights off, you would have to get your wire cutters out and get all hacky hacky with the wiring.
Much easier to buy some unlit fans.
I have slept with my computer on in my room quite happily, it lights up the room a little but its really nothing compared to the likes of a street light for example.
It would be quite easy to identify the LED wire I would have thought and give it a snip - but i concur just buy some of these >>>
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Fans%2C+Heatsinks%2C+Coolers/Case+Fans/120mm+Case+Fans/Nexus+Real+Silent+120mm+Fan+with+PWM+control+?prod uctId=30573
Yeah but I'm not sure if the LED wire is part of the same circuit as the fan rotor, snipping it might kill the whole thing.
nothing to lose i suppose if you plan on buying some nexus anyhow, SNIP IT SNIP IT NOW
That's the thing, I want the lights some of the time, just to have them off at night.
I'm thinking of just replacing some of the fans with the nexus... I can't imagine that my system will need all 6 running, plus PSU, CPU and GPU fans. It surely can't need 9 fans?
Looking at a system along the lines of:
Q6600 - OC to maybe 3ghz (nothing too extreme)
4850/9600 approximate level of GPU
2/3 HDDs
It's not cool, but nothing that throws out too much heat?
why not replace the fans and get some cold cathodes?
Why not save the planet and turn the PC off overnight?
thats an idea... i do that... come to think of it i hardly ever get chance to go on it now :(
I turn my pc off overnight, it kicks out too much heat in my room otherwise.
If I have a big torrent to download then I use my laptop which is very quiet and cool in comparison.
stick a large item which will block the light out in front of it
I don't leave it on because I'm too lazy to press shutdown... it's always doing something.
Most often it's doing video conversions (Rip the DVDs during the day, then queue them up to encode overnight), and spends the first hour or so compiling whatever I've been working on.
I set it to shut-down when it finishes (the video encoding, since it finishes last), so it only runs as long as it has to. I don't waste electricity, I use it.
Anyway - does aria sell any blue cathodes?
stick a large item which will block the light out in front of it
Might defeat the object of having the fans in the first place though :)
we do but none in stock atm 2615
wonderlust
24-07-08, 16:04
You think you've got lighting problems, try my ThemalRock Eclipse! :D
Fortunatly I can disconnect the LEDS :D
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=244&num=4
I don't leave it on because I'm too lazy to press shutdown... it's always doing something.
Most often it's doing video conversions (Rip the DVDs during the day, then queue them up to encode overnight), and spends the first hour or so compiling whatever I've been working on.
I set it to shut-down when it finishes (the video encoding, since it finishes last), so it only runs as long as it has to. I don't waste electricity, I use it.
Anyway - does aria sell any blue cathodes?
Might defeat the object of having the fans in the first place though :)
why not buy a media centre HDD enclosure. (approx £30) Download AVI's, Div'x etc
drag and drop onto media centre, watch on telly.
no hours wasted encoding etc etc
best thing I ever bought
If I do it myself I can control the quality, and there's no risk of downloading something dodgy or finding myself accused of stealing (even if I own a hard copy)
All of which is beside the point... we're taking it as fact that my PC will be running overnight; the environment doesn't come into this (most people use more CO2 on flying to their holiday each year than my entire carbon footprint anyway! I've never been on a plane, and it'd take more oil to make a media centre PC for me than would be saved by running the lower-power PSU for a few hours a night). So, hippy-ness aside, any other solutions on how to cut out the light?
My ideas:
Buy a night mask.
Replace all fans.
Modify existing fans.
Cover the case with cardboard or something. With room for airflow obviously.
Locate the PC where the light wont be a problem.
If you can put it under your bed... stick PRIME on before you go to bed... you have a nicely warmed bed all night long with no problems from the fans lol
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