Sometimes I wonder what the thought process behind the gaming aesthetic was. RGB (*if tunable) itself is fine and adds a nice opportunity for personalization, but are those tacky fonts, crystal-facet enclosures, and overall showiness just tasteless or do any gamers actually prefer that look?
Even as a nongamer I appreciate the stylistic aspects of gaming computers, but tbh if I were going to buy one I’d probably put the money into better specs and a plain case.
I spent extra to not have any components with RGB. The only lighting I find tolerable are white (!) LEDs.
This is the part that bothers me the most. Why does it now cost more for no RGB? I would very happily put my components in a black metal box with good airflow, but that costs extra now. Back in the early 2000s Lian Li used to make really simple brushed aluminum cases and they were beautiful and perfect. Now everything is tempered glass and RGB, sometimes at the cost of airflow/cooling. It’s insane.
I bought RGB crap once. It stayed on while the PC was in standby mode. Never again.
We went from boring beige PC cases, that looked rather boring and were in dire need of some stylish upgrades, in the complete other direction and overshot the target by a mile. I find most modern PC stuff incredible ugly and impractical. Even just finding a tower that still has a 5.25" slot took effort, since most don’t even have them anymore. The whole idea of transparent windows on your case or putting your PC on the desk instead of below it, is complete nonsense, especially when you don’t even have room for swappable disk drives. The good old desktop PC at least went under your monitor, but modern PC cases don’t even do that.
I am kind of surprised, despite all those decades of PC gaming, we still don’t have gaming PCs as compact as a Playstation/Xbox. They do exist, e.g. the old Alienware Steam Machine was tiny, but they are far from common place and often either underpowered or overpriced.
I’ve been a PC gamer for 32 years now. I do enjoy having a clear side panel. I’ve had one for 22 years. That way you can show off whatever you have inside. I don’t use RGB or any kind of lighting. I just think clear electronics are cool, you can see how they are made.
I spent a few $1000 on the computer, I’ll spend $100 more to make it look fancy
Gamers don’t have a few $1000 for a computer. You’re an adult not a gamer.
What makes you think they are mutually exclusive?
I used to be against it, then my PC died in the early COVID days and the only (practical) way I could get a future-proofed replacement was to get a pre-built, and they all had RGB.
From there, though, it grew on me. Like so many other things I enjoy about working with computers, the learning process was just super enjoyable for me.
I read about different standards (RGB vs aRGB, 3 pins vs 4 pins, this module or that one, this software vs that), tried a few things, and got it looking like I wanted. Now I’m using OpenRGB to make my own patterns that match the room or the weather or whatever wallpaper I’ve got. Turning understanding into control and self-expression just feels good man.
Personally I don’t care for the trend that is RGB EvReyWhERe!!1!1! MoRe!1!1! Especially in what amounts to pretty normal cases. Just a box with a bunch of bolt on lights and fans. Yay?
I far more admire a computer where someone has taken the time to actually invest some customization that took skill. Bending watercool hard tubing around a hand made or modified case. Lights are fine for accent or drama, but not as a misrepresentation of uniqueness or effort.
Well there’s gamers and there’s PC gamers. PC gamers are borderline toxic, very tribal and look down at everyone
Some gamers do. Like most humans they are attracted to bright, flashy patterns of colors. (most animals actually are). But most mature gamers I know, would rather put some money in better equipment, than flashy colors. So, gamers are as different as the rest of us. Some are caught by the hype, some are not. You see it in cars too. Some like bling, som focus on the actual car.
Me? I like RGB in my keyboards backlight. I don’t like it to flash, but I like to make it an orange/reddish color, because that’s easy on the eyes, when using your computer at evenings or nights. That’s about it.
I do the same but with blue lights on everything. No patterns, color-changes, or whatever - just everything on a low, static blue
I dont care much for RGB in everything.
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Some like it and some dislike it. A lot of it can be changed or turned off anyway, so most just pick what they like.
Then there are the RBG-phobes. They talk about it like it’s the devils work and seemingly get upset if other people have it in the privacy of their own home.
I don’t care much about my case and the internals but you can pry my flowing; gradient; pink, purple, and blue-lit peripherals, with gold ripples after a key or mouse click, from my dead hands. It’s the little things that make me not want to eject out of my chair when dealing with work shit. I feel like a golden bi wizard when I’m at my desk
Im 40, I have a mortgage, a boring and safe car, a stable union government job and Ive been married for 10 years.
Having my computer make pretty lights is one tiny glimmer of my youth left in my life and if you want to make me feel bad about that, you are a cunt.
I really could care less what it looks like. It just needs to be functional/practicle
