I remorse shopping for into the RGB hype for my gaming PC

A PC gamer I do know as soon as stated this about RGB lighting: “When you’re in, you by no means get out,” as if happening that path initiates you right into a mysterious, inescapable cult.

That may be a tad of an overstatement however having been totally initiated into RGB once I constructed a gaming rig just lately, I can now totally relate.

Yep, the candid fact about RGB lighting and me, is that I’ve a love / hate relationship with it. Sure, it may be one of the best factor ever and add a much-appreciated additional layer of spice to my gaming classes in video games like CyberPunk 2077 and Oblivion Remastered.

However on the flipside, it will possibly additionally make me wish to throw rotten turnips at my PC case.

After constructing my rig, the thrill of the RGB have been at first very apparent. My intention for it wasn’t a lot to bounce Scottish jigs within the rainbow-colored glow of my dimly lit room, because it was to revel within the extremely sensible oranges and muted reds; to make use of it as a sort of ambient evening gentle to assist me discover my espresso mug whereas gaming.

I additionally actually preferred the thought of getting a showpiece to impress my visiting pals — and it did these two issues remarkably nicely.

“Oh, that previous factor,” I’d say nonchalantly, as pals would gawk at my gleaming fluorescent RTX 4070 by my case’s glass panel. However inside I used to be as proud as punch… My rig was really spectacular, a sight to behold, and simply what I’d at all times wished (or not less than what I’d been informed by entrepreneurs that I wished).

However that was initially. Issues shortly took a flip for the more severe once I realized I’d created a clown laptop, one whose various RGB elements have been made up of various manufacturers managed by completely different software program packages that gave me little to no capability to synchronize the colours and results between them. My graphics card, PSU, and RGB cabling simply wouldn’t play ball collectively and that was not cool.

The settings on my RGB keyboard too ought to have been simple to alter and maintain that method however they stored altering again to the default “ebb and move” impact each time I rebooted. Suffice it to say, there’s solely a certain quantity of purple gentle flashing off my show that I can take earlier than I begin seeing purple in a figurative sense.

Subsequent got here the defective bits that began to seem within the LED lighting strips. I misplaced bulbs throughout the highest size of my case, an apparent eyesore. The colours in one other strip have been problematic too, by no means actually matching the colours I’d chosen in my companion app, or that I used to be getting in different strips.

What’s extra, I discovered to my dismay that the strips inside my rig have been meddling with my PC’s efficiency, taking on important cable routes and inflicting obligatory cables to limit airflow. I figured it was one of many the reason why I used to be getting hotter-than-expected GPU temperatures.

That’s once I actually sat up and began to take discover. Having dodgy aesthetics is one factor, however no method was I going to take a seat again and let my RGB jeopardize my FPS — no siree!

It was apparent I’d made a mistake. Like a bower chook mesmerized by flashy bottle caps as a substitute of catching its dinner, I’d gone for superficial seems as a substitute of a low-maintenance setup. So, now I plan to repair it.

The issue, although, is that the RGB is in every single place. It’s threaded by my PC like a thorny infestation of blackberry hedge. I estimate I’ll need to spend $700 to interchange all of the elements for extra minimalist options that I don’t have to repeatedly preserve.

So, for now I dwell with my rig as it’s, defective RGB and all, and with the ever-present reminder of the work and price that can inevitably must be performed to proper the wrongs I created.

In my subsequent gaming rig, although, even the case will likely be RGB-free. I’m going to go for muted industrial blacks, browns, and silvers in steel or wooden — heck even rope, however with no RGB! I’m simply not ingesting that Kool-Support anymore.