Purely Aesthetics Question for PC Build

MelissaGTMelissaGT Posts: 2,603
edited July 2021 in The Commons

I'm working on buying stuff for my new build, and I've gotten stuff narrowed down to the models I'm going to get...however, I was hoping to get some help on black or white pieces. Sadly, I can't ask my husband because he'll look at me like I'm insane. 

So...I'm getting this case - Lian Li O11D XL (click links for pictures).

It's a gorgeous case and I can't wait...but it's black and white...mostly white. The interior is white with black grommets. The GPU I got, the EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra (click link for pictures - mine doesn't have the red lips), is black (with RGB). The motherboard I'm getting, the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero, is mostly black with RGB accents. Ok, so now I have some black components. But what about the rest? The cooler I'm going to get, the Lian Li Galahad 360, comes in white and black. That's going to be mounted at the top. I'm also going to be getting Lian Li case fans for the front/side, bottom, and back...those I'm thinking are best to be white. But what about the cooler? White with white tubing? Or black with black tubing? I'm honestly at a loss. Opinions are welcome or if anybody has any builds in this case or similar builds that mix black and white components would be appreciated!

Note - I get that some people don't care about pc aesthetics and would rather not even see the stuff inside, but...I do. Kthanx!

Note - I'm really not looking for suggestions on what I should do instead. To add to my above note...I totally get it that some of yal'll don't like bling. But. I'm getting THIS. SPECIFIC. CASE. Kthankx!

Post edited by MelissaGT on

Comments

  • takezo_3001takezo_3001 Posts: 1,914
    edited July 2021

    melissastjames said:

    Note - I get that some people don't care about pc aesthetics and would rather not even see the stuff inside, but...I do. Kthanx!

    You do you, there is nothing wrong with a bling'd out PC, not in the least... for me personally mine is a black windowless Thor V2 which is fine for me, so I would never fault anyone for their PC style, so RGB it up to your heart's content!

    That's a magnificent case and if I weren't such a clumsy ox, I'd get one just like it... but all black!

    Post edited by takezo_3001 on
  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,890
    edited July 2021

    I also don't like seeing the mess inside a PC, even a meticulously cabled PC, or the flashing lights.

    That's why I bought this: Thermaltake Versa H17 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (CA-1J1-00S1NN-00) - PCPartPicker. It's as plain jane as they come and when I build my computer at the end of 2019 I was amazed I didn't cut my hands in the PC case interior not even once! Before PCs became a big thing, slicing your hands on razor sharp PC case interior was normal and unwanted. And all the parts were comparitively easy to plug in this new PC case. The only problem was getting my big hands to put those tiny wiring plugs to the PC case ports' prongs and doing that while the light inside the PC case was dark and the little prongs on the motherboard were blocked from view by my hands trying to plug that stuff in.

    Also, my new case is so easy to clean and quiet too.

    Post edited by nonesuch00 on
  • AscaniaAscania Posts: 1,838

    Meh! Not enough woodgrain.

  • MelissaGTMelissaGT Posts: 2,603

    nonesuch00 said:

    I also don't like seeing the mess inside a PC, even a meticulously cabled PC, or the flashing lights.

    That's why I bought this: Thermaltake Versa H17 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (CA-1J1-00S1NN-00) - PCPartPicker. It's as plain jane as they come and when I build my computer at the end of 2019 I was amazed I didn't cut my hands in the PC case interior not even once! Before PCs because a big thing, slicing your hands on razor sharp PC case interior was normal and unwanted. And all the parts were comparitively easy to plug in this new PC case. The only problem was getting my big hands to put those tiny wiring plugs to the PC case ports' prongs and doing that while the light inside the PC case was dark and the little prongs on the motherboard were blocked from view by my hands trying to plug that stuff in.

    Also, my new case is so easy to clean and quiet too.

    Thanks, but I wasn't really looking for suggestions for something else. I want the case I want.  

  • j cadej cade Posts: 2,310
    edited July 2021

    Is the tubing going to mostly be in front of the white case or the black components? If the case, I'd go black and if components I'd go white. But I like contrasty things.

     

     

     

    I just wish computer aesthetics had more options in between between "boring sad box" and "I only drink monster energy" (I think your case choice does a pretty good job of splitting the difference fwiw, but how cool would it be if it had some different color options or something?)

    Post edited by j cade on
  • MelissaGTMelissaGT Posts: 2,603
    edited July 2021

    j cade said:

    Is the tubing going to mostly be in front of the white case or the black components? If the case, I'd go black and if components I'd go white. But I like contrasty things.

    There will be tubing for the AIO, so from the radiator at the top down to the pump housing over the CPU. The white Lian Li AIO cooler has a brushed aluminum cap, but the base of the pump housing is white, so it would be a nice contrast against a black motherboard. The tubing would be white. 

    The GPU will have three thick sleeved 8-pin cables, so I'm thinking black for those. 

    The only other thick bunch of cables to wonder about would the main power cables to the motherboard. I know I've even seen those come with RGB, but that might be excessive. 

    I'm also curious about the RAM dims...as white dims would be a nice contrast against the black motherboard. 

    Believe me, I don't want there to be rave music playing from the case, lol. But that white case totally screams storm trooper to me, and some tasteful RGB to go with it would be noice. I mean, I could go with white lighting, or when I'm feeling some Dark Side days, I could go with red lighting, or any combination. That's why I like RGB stuff, because you can change it depending on your mood. My current setup has some understated black light-esque purple lighting going and it's really tasteful and not overly bright. 

    This is actually a really nice look - 

    Another example, but this one has more black with the black fans - 

    Here's one with a little unicorn poobles thrown in with the color...but it has a black pump and white fans on the side and bottom - 

    Post edited by MelissaGT on
  • MelissaGTMelissaGT Posts: 2,603

    takezo_3001 said:

    melissastjames said:

    Note - I get that some people don't care about pc aesthetics and would rather not even see the stuff inside, but...I do. Kthanx!

    You do you, there is nothing wrong with a bling'd out PC, not in the least... for me personally mine is a black windowless Thor V2 which is fine for me, so I would never fault anyone for their PC style, so RGB it up to your heart's content!

    That's a magnificent case and if I weren't such a clumsy ox, I'd get one just like it... but all black!

    The XL model doesn't come in black...just the one option. The smaller Dynamic model does come in black or white.  

  • MegonNoelMegonNoel Posts: 377

    I think I'd go white fan and white tubing for two reasons - One, because black is a pretty standard color for computer components you're probably going to end up with a lot of black in the case so anything you can get in white will help with the black and white aesthetic. The second reason is because of light reflection. While black will make the RBG lighting 'pop', white components will reflect the colors and make it look like there are more of them. 

    I'm basing this solely on lighting a photography experience, not on computer case experience so take it as simply a different perspective to think about. If it applies to how you are setting up the case, awesome, if not then just ignore me laugh

    Best of luck with your new project. That case is beautiful! I'm one of those people who loves it when you can see in the case and see all the pretty lighting heart

  • DaventakiDaventaki Posts: 1,621
    edited July 2021

    I like the contrast also.  The first picture you posted I like the best.

    I really like that case. Very interesting compared to the standard cases.

    Post edited by Daventaki on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,050

    I like the white. It is unusual and eye catching.

  • rrwardrrward Posts: 555

    Ooh, that's purdy. I'm too lazy to worry about what my system looks like. Airflow and cooling? Yeah, I'm into worrying about that. Purdy? Not so much. But part of that comes from using pre-trashcan Mac Pros for years. About all you can do with those is take them to a auto painter and have flames painted on them.

    Anyway, as others have said, you do you and enjoy your computer. :)

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,890
    edited July 2021

    Well any computer case you buy is trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

    So given that a computer case that sits on your desk and that a thin monitor slides and attaches to the biggest side of the case would both look the best and be the most accessible. The thin monitor could overshoot the computer case edges. I mean there are computers crammed into the back end of monitors so I don't know why there couldn't be a monitor that slides on the wide side of a ATX computer case. Too practical I guess.

    Post edited by nonesuch00 on
  • takezo_3001takezo_3001 Posts: 1,914
    edited July 2021

    melissastjames said:

    j cade said:

    Is the tubing going to mostly be in front of the white case or the black components? If the case, I'd go black and if components I'd go white. But I like contrasty things.

    There will be tubing for the AIO, so from the radiator at the top down to the pump housing over the CPU. The white Lian Li AIO cooler has a brushed aluminum cap, but the base of the pump housing is white, so it would be a nice contrast against a black motherboard. The tubing would be white. 

    The GPU will have three thick sleeved 8-pin cables, so I'm thinking black for those. 

    The only other thick bunch of cables to wonder about would the main power cables to the motherboard. I know I've even seen those come with RGB, but that might be excessive. 

    I'm also curious about the RAM dims...as white dims would be a nice contrast against the black motherboard. 

    Believe me, I don't want there to be rave music playing from the case, lol. But that white case totally screams storm trooper to me, and some tasteful RGB to go with it would be noice. I mean, I could go with white lighting, or when I'm feeling some Dark Side days, I could go with red lighting, or any combination. That's why I like RGB stuff, because you can change it depending on your mood. My current setup has some understated black light-esque purple lighting going and it's really tasteful and not overly bright. 

    This is actually a really nice look - 

    Another example, but this one has more black with the black fans - 

    Here's one with a little unicorn poobles thrown in with the color...but it has a black pump and white fans on the side and bottom - 

    Ok, you just GOTTA  show us what your rig is going to look like when it's done as that looks fkcuin' bad azz!

    Post edited by takezo_3001 on
  • Jason GalterioJason Galterio Posts: 2,562

    One peice of advice I can give from personal experience... However you end up, make sure you still have access to power switch beyond the case power button.

    A lot of the LEDs will be constantly on even when the computer is off. That is, unless you take the time to configure every set, which can be very time consuming. The LEDs are usually bright enough to illuminate an entire room.

    I've taken to flipping the main power switch on the back of my PSU. I just didn't have the patience to configure the LEDs for the video cards, fans, USB peripherals. It's been much easier to just flip the single switch.

  • MelissaGTMelissaGT Posts: 2,603
    edited July 2021

    Ok, so I was wrong...the case does come in black, and I will be getting that. I'm still going with a black and white contrast build, but primarily black. Because of this. Yes, this. It's built in the smaller version of the case, but I can still do something similar...

    But OMG I'm in love. And on alternating days I can go from Darth Vader to Darth Maul themes. Yussss. 

    Post edited by MelissaGT on
  • MelissaGTMelissaGT Posts: 2,603

    Jason Galterio said:

    One peice of advice I can give from personal experience... However you end up, make sure you still have access to power switch beyond the case power button.

    A lot of the LEDs will be constantly on even when the computer is off. That is, unless you take the time to configure every set, which can be very time consuming. The LEDs are usually bright enough to illuminate an entire room.

    I've taken to flipping the main power switch on the back of my PSU. I just didn't have the patience to configure the LEDs for the video cards, fans, USB peripherals. It's been much easier to just flip the single switch.

    I typically don't shut down my computer for any length of time, unless there's a big storm or something. But when I do, all the RGB's turn off (at least in my current build). With the new build, I'm hoping that all RGB will either be controlled by Lian Li's proprietary software (that's the brand of fans I'm going with), or by the ASUS Aura Sync software (if any peripherals are A-RGB I'm making sure they're compatible with Aura Sync).  

  • nicsttnicstt Posts: 11,714

    I don't care what it looks like; if it ends up looking good that is a bonus.

    1) It needs to have the performance I require.

    2) It needs to be easily accessible and upgradeable.

    3) If looking good costs more and offers no benefit to 1 or 2 - don't buy it.

     

  • GatorGator Posts: 1,268

    melissastjames said:

    Jason Galterio said:

    One peice of advice I can give from personal experience... However you end up, make sure you still have access to power switch beyond the case power button.

    A lot of the LEDs will be constantly on even when the computer is off. That is, unless you take the time to configure every set, which can be very time consuming. The LEDs are usually bright enough to illuminate an entire room.

    I've taken to flipping the main power switch on the back of my PSU. I just didn't have the patience to configure the LEDs for the video cards, fans, USB peripherals. It's been much easier to just flip the single switch.

    I typically don't shut down my computer for any length of time, unless there's a big storm or something. But when I do, all the RGB's turn off (at least in my current build). With the new build, I'm hoping that all RGB will either be controlled by Lian Li's proprietary software (that's the brand of fans I'm going with), or by the ASUS Aura Sync software (if any peripherals are A-RGB I'm making sure they're compatible with Aura Sync).  

    Your build will be similar, I have an Asus Dark Hero board with the 3090 FTW3 Hydro.  My EVGA has an RGB connector for extra fans, and the Asus board does as well.  With the EVGA, installing their Precision X1 gives you control of the RGB.  Asus of course connected to the Mobo, and the Lian Li software if you choose for the fans (I am not sure but you could probably contral them with the Asus software).  If you need extra RGB ports there are cheap splitters on Amazon.

    Those Lian Li builds look really nice!  I like the white built out a lot more than I thought I would.

  • takezo_3001takezo_3001 Posts: 1,914
    edited July 2021

    melissastjames said:

    Ok, so I was wrong...the case does come in black, and I will be getting that. I'm still going with a black and white contrast build, but primarily black. Because of this. Yes, this. It's built in the smaller version of the case, but I can still do something similar...

    But OMG I'm in love. And on alternating days I can go from Darth Vader to Darth Maul themes. Yussss. 

    Wow, even cooler! That is much more chiaroscuro than just simply black and white, which I find really compelling to look at, if I had a build like this I would be staring at it for hours!

    EDIT: In fact, this is my new wallpaper!

    Post edited by takezo_3001 on
  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 13,189

    My wife got a custom cooling system and got white tubes and installed an LED strip with remote  so it flows with color. You can set it to one color or multi different colors. I don't remember the exact colors she has but it's a lot. You can put it on a setting that changes the colors every so often however you set it up. Is really cool. Me personally I prefer an enclosed Cooling system that way there is no risk at all of it leaking or a tube breaking, but I am getting a custom on my next one cause I love her so much. If your gonna stick with that case you made a good choice gegtting a Full tower. You will have all the room in the world to bling it out, lol. I would go with the white tubes personally and light em up.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,517
    edited July 2021

    melissastjames said:

    j cade said:

    Is the tubing going to mostly be in front of the white case or the black components? If the case, I'd go black and if components I'd go white. But I like contrasty things.

    There will be tubing for the AIO, so from the radiator at the top down to the pump housing over the CPU. The white Lian Li AIO cooler has a brushed aluminum cap, but the base of the pump housing is white, so it would be a nice contrast against a black motherboard. The tubing would be white. 

    The GPU will have three thick sleeved 8-pin cables, so I'm thinking black for those. 

    The only other thick bunch of cables to wonder about would the main power cables to the motherboard. I know I've even seen those come with RGB, but that might be excessive. 

    I'm also curious about the RAM dims...as white dims would be a nice contrast against the black motherboard. 

    Believe me, I don't want there to be rave music playing from the case, lol. But that white case totally screams storm trooper to me, and some tasteful RGB to go with it would be noice. I mean, I could go with white lighting, or when I'm feeling some Dark Side days, I could go with red lighting, or any combination. That's why I like RGB stuff, because you can change it depending on your mood. My current setup has some understated black light-esque purple lighting going and it's really tasteful and not overly bright. 

    This is actually a really nice look - 

    Another example, but this one has more black with the black fans - 

    Here's one with a little unicorn poobles thrown in with the color...but it has a black pump and white fans on the side and bottom - 

    ...I was going to ask about fans.  Nine, that is pretty impressive I have 7 and thought that was a lot. 

    Yah I'm pretty much of the "plain and boring" school.  When I built my system 9 years ago it was either that or a case that looked like it would transform into some sort of killer robot when my back was turned (there were some really outlandish cases back then). 

    Never could quite get into the clear side panel thing to show off the guts (my cable management is functional but not "stellar" thanks to having a poor grip and loss of fine manipulation) as I always felt it was kind of like putting a transparent bonnet on your car to show off the motor.. Rather have a big intake fan instead right by the GPU (like my trusty old P-193 has).

    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • MelissaGTMelissaGT Posts: 2,603
    edited July 2021

    frank0314 said:

    If your gonna stick with that case you made a good choice gegtting a Full tower. You will have all the room in the world to bling it out, lol. I would go with the white tubes personally and light em up.

    The local builder who will be assembling everything (because I'm too lazy to do it myself) recommended I go with the standard o11D model rather than the XL. The standard size is pictured in that Star Wars setup I linked to. He said the XL is entirely too big and agreed that it would end up looking a bit sparse inside because there will be excess room that won't be taken up by the huge radiator kits liquid cooled setups use.  

    Actually, the first group of setups I linked to are all in the XL model and they are definitely more sparse looking. 

    Then again, I might still go with the XL because I am reading a lot lot lot of comments all over about how the 3090 FTW3 has trouble fitting into the standard o11D. 

    Post edited by MelissaGT on
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,517
    edited July 2021

    ...I opted for a big case as I built my own and the extra room is very welcome.  If I wanted and could afford one I could easily fit a 3090 into it.  It can also take an extended ATX MB.  The P-193 (no longer produced) was advertised as a "mid tower" but it's more in between that and a full tower.. 

    ...and the forums have been drinking.

    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • IceCrMnIceCrMn Posts: 2,103

    melissastjames said:

    Ok, so I was wrong...the case does come in black, and I will be getting that. I'm still going with a black and white contrast build, but primarily black. Because of this. Yes, this. It's built in the smaller version of the case, but I can still do something similar...

    But OMG I'm in love. And on alternating days I can go from Darth Vader to Darth Maul themes. Yussss. 

    I just finished replicating this build for my little sister(well she's in her 40's but she's still my little sister).She loved it!

    btw, the kraken z73 pump head screen can use animated gifs also.

    The Lian Li SL fans are the easiest I've ever worked with.They slide together on the ends like puzzle pieces.So you only have 1 set of wires to connect that will run up to 4 fans in a "string".

     

     

    Here's pics of my current build.I went a slightly different route with mine.

    That's the K100 RGB keyboard from Corsair with matching mouse.

    Phantecs Enthoo 719 case

    MSI 360mm MAG CoreLiquid AIO.Bought this one just for the dragon and the in radiator pump design.

    20210410_115709.jpg
    4032 x 1960 - 2M
    20210410_120033.jpg
    4032 x 1960 - 2M
    20210410_115953.jpg
    4032 x 1960 - 2M
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,517

    ...is that a French Press on the side there?  Very important accessory. 

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,712

    LOL, my Win7 has lit fans, I hate them as it's in my bedroom.

    each to their own for sure. cheeky

    My Win10 with a perspex side window looks into a void of darkness devil

    Good thing I cannot build PC's though little as diorama with little figurines, Cyberpunk style neon signs etc among the cables would probably be my ascetic.

  • IceCrMnIceCrMn Posts: 2,103

    kyoto kid said:

    ...is that a French Press on the side there?  Very important accessory. 

    Yes, it is :)

    And I agree, very important.Indispensable actually.

  • IceCrMnIceCrMn Posts: 2,103

    WendyLuvsCatz said:

    LOL, my Win7 has lit fans, I hate them as it's in my bedroom.

    each to their own for sure. cheeky

    My Win10 with a perspex side window looks into a void of darkness devil

    Good thing I cannot build PC's though little as diorama with little figurines, Cyberpunk style neon signs etc among the cables would probably be my ascetic.

    That's actually a thing for lot's of custom builders.

    I've seen some very clever ones with dragon and anime figurines.

    Small screens inside the case that play short video clips, show technical details(temps, FPS, etc,etc) are also popular.

  • MelissaGTMelissaGT Posts: 2,603
    edited July 2021

    IceCrMn said:

    melissastjames said:

    Ok, so I was wrong...the case does come in black, and I will be getting that. I'm still going with a black and white contrast build, but primarily black. Because of this. Yes, this. It's built in the smaller version of the case, but I can still do something similar...

    But OMG I'm in love. And on alternating days I can go from Darth Vader to Darth Maul themes. Yussss. 

    I just finished replicating this build for my little sister(well she's in her 40's but she's still my little sister).She loved it!

    btw, the kraken z73 pump head screen can use animated gifs also.

    I think I'll be going with the Lian Li Galahad cooler. I have a Kraken on my current build and though the performance has been great, the CAM software that is needed to control the pump is absolute garbage. For almost the past year the software has been causing random freezes that require a hard shutdown...it's definitely a known issue (there is a huge thread on LinusTechTips where even NZXT reps have posted admitting to the problem) and it's still not fixed. I couldn't deal with the risk of that problem moving forward into a new build. 

    I found a site that makes stickers for pump heads that react to RGB behind them...not sure how I feel about putting a sticker on the pump head.  

    Post edited by MelissaGT on
  • fred9803fred9803 Posts: 1,558

    The only RGB thing in my build is (was) my MSI GUP. Turned it off... just bling.

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