Leds or cathodes

[kenga]

Another question to help me finally decide which one will give the best lighting. So cathodes or leds?

[Frakk]

depends how much you want. 1 cathode will give off way more light than 1 led. and again it comes down to personal tastes what you prefer

[jonopaul01]

Why doesn't someone do a poll.

I suppose LEDs are more Versatile but when it comes to stringing up a long line of individual LEDs it can become quite complicated. You can also buy LED modules which you just plug into a Molex connector. However I have not seen these used effectively. LEDs will also break if too much voltage is applied due to the fact that as the heat goes up the resistance goes down

Cathodes are far more easy for the average user to use and can be used for a variety of purposes easily, especially backlighting. However I have seen some pictures of a system after they have had a Cathode Explosion (on this site I think), not pretty.

I think that it all depends on what you want to do with it and the type of lighting affect you want for your case.

[prosser13]

LEDs can be more 'focused; too, you can aim 2 or 3 LEDs at say, your RAM, while a cathode just gives off light. Think of it as a stage. The LEDs are the spotlights, the cathodes are the basic backlighting.

But cathodes are much, much easier to set up and use. With LEDs, you have to solder transistors, take off your Molex connectors, while cathodes you just stick in the Molex connectors.

[Frakk]

cathodes are easier to setup because they come in ready to go kits. you can also buy the same kit with leds and it would be even easier since there are no inverters. and you dont need transistors with the leds either :D

[Aero]

LED's rock, especially if you want a lot of light from a VERY small place, like one corner. And they I believe they arn't as hard to wire as every one says, if you set them in a parallel circuit you can set several LED's easily, you just need to calculate the size of a resistor you need. To do that you can use this LED calculator:
http://metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/ledcalc/index_eng

Also, this website has a good tutorial on how to hook up LED's. http://www.lsdiodes.com/tutorial/

Or I believe there a tutorial on it in the "How to" section here, http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=642.

Personally the reason I like LED's is because they are easier to hide and controll than large Cathodes. They are also easy to use to light winodws without the entire case glowing. But if you want a cheap and very quick way of lighting everything in your case, then use a cold cathode.

[PP Mguire]

I want to use LEDs now lol, but they dont come in kits? How about LEDs in fans? i have a blue LED fan in my case (x3) and it lights it up pretty nice and my computer gloes blue. But if i can get something like LEDs and just put them in specific places but have a kit it would be alot nicer.

[timmer]

http://www.xoxide.com/lazerled.html

[PP Mguire]

awesome, do these guys ship to the US? i dont know where they are based at.

[lorddarkwolf]

yes. located in U.S.

[timmer]

they are based near philly

[Aero]

and there stuff rocks

[MrSlacker]

cathodes will give off more even light. look at people's rigs online, see what you like more.