It’s no secret that there’s a diverse set of opinions on the topic of RGB. Some might express support and admiration, others outright disdain. But love it or hate it, someone must be buying all the best RGB accessories, and that someone is me.
You might be wondering who would take the time and spend the money to put a bunch of unicorn barf inside a PC. It’s not like RGB lights will actually make your PC faster. (Or will they?) So, I set out on a voyage of discovery, to pimp my PC. As a first-semester college student with a limited budget, my journey had its ups and downs. I also learned a few things, like the fact that I have little self-control when presented with shiny objects.
Starting down the RGB path
Before heading off to school, I sold my trusty gaming PC to help cover future expenses like books and food. I downgraded and ended up with a cheaper and perhaps questionable old mining rig, What could possibly go wrong with a PC that at one point was cranking away on cryptocurrency calculations 24/7? But the hardware was reasonable, with a Core i5-7600K, Z270 motherboard, and an RX 480 graphics card. The real problem is that it was an aesthetic nightmare.
I’m almost ashamed to even show you the PC, but I do have this image sent to me by the seller. View at your own risk, and don’t blame me for your nightmares. For those that don’t dare look, the PC was packed into a skinny Zalman case, with an ugly PSU and a $5 boxed Intel cooler, and the RX graphics card was on its last leg. Literally. It mostly died within a month of my starting college, probably with blown VRMs.
I won’t be getting any cool friends at college if my computer looks like it was sitting on a Best Buy shelf for the last five years. Something had to be done, so I collected my spare change and set about sprucing it up.
The first step to improving my standing in the PC community was to get a new case and cooler. These are two simple upgrades that have an immediate impact. I…
