The best lighting kits to brighten up your PC
Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central
Best LED Lighting for PCs Windows Central 2019
A high-quality PC case goes a long way to making your desktop looking the part, but if you want to personalize it and make it look a little different to others with the same chassis, you’ll want to consider adding some light. An RGB lighting kit will include mostly what you need to achieve this. We’ve rounded up some of other favorites, including the excellent NZXT HUE 2.
Best Overall: HUE 2 RGB Lighting Kit
Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central
What makes Hue 2 worth the price is how easy it is to use and the overall experience installing it. Dishing out a full $60 will reward you with a controller module, two LED light strips, and all necessary extras to get the unit installed and running. The strips are great because not only can they be attached with double-sided tape but they have built-in magnets. That means you don’t need to use the tape and can simply attach them to the case.
The controller module itself isn’t just a white box with an ugly label. It’s a stylish black box with angled sides and looks great when showcased. If you’d rather not leave it out for everyone to see, it’s small enough to be hidden. As for the strips themselves, thanks to the magnets, it’s easy to tuck the lighting away from sight and enjoy a strong color range without being blinded by LEDs.
The only downside we came up with was the molex connector. This is the norm for lighting setups that only need the PSU for power, but it is a bummer when you’re rocking SATA drives and don’t require molex cabling. Luckily, it’s possible to pick up a SATA-to-molex adapter for next to nothing. Overall, it’s a fantastic investment and makes the job simple.
Pros:
- Cool lighting effects
- Works with CAM
- Includes all you need
- Works with most cases
- High-quality LED strips
Cons:
- A little pricey
- Molex cable?
Best Overall
HUE 2 RGB Lighting Kit
Light up your PC
NZXT offers some killer modding accessories and the Hue 2 kit is a great option for any system builder wanting to add some color to a PC.
Runner-up: Thermaltake Pacific Lumi Plus
Source: Thermaltake
Thermaltake’s first solution to take on NZXT wasn’t up to par since you needed physical access to the control module to manipulate the lighting effects, but the company’s latest iteration is much better. You get software access, though it’s not as good (and stable) as CAM, and plenty of options to switch between.
Still, if you’re already rocking a Thermaltake case or have its excellent Riing fans, you’ll want to pick up the Lumi Plus to take your connected lighting to a whole new level. As a bonus, Thermaltake’s hub works with Razer Chroma.
Pros:
- Cool lighting effects
- Includes all you need
- Works with most cases
- High-quality LED strips
- Good value
Cons:
- Software not great
Runner-up
Thermaltake Pacific Lumi Plus
Value lighting kit from Thermaltake
Thermaltake’s lighting solution comes with magnets and adhesive, and it has bright LEDs. It’s let down slightly by subpar software.
Best Budget: DeepCool RGB350
Source: DeepCool
When your available budget for case modding is tight, the RGB350 kit from DeepCool is what you’ll want to consider. Not only can you hook this hub and its connected LED strips to a motherboard, but also to the included remote, allowing you to quickly change effects and colors with but a click of a button.
It’s not quite as advanced as our other picks, reflected in the price difference, but for most PC owners, this kit will brighten up their rig without paying out for premium lighting. You won’t be able to choose from numerous effects and fully customize everything using software, unless you have RGB addressable headers on your motherboard.
Pros:
- Affordable
- Cool lighting effects
- Includes all you need
- Works with most cases
- Remote
Cons:
- Limited capabilities
- Molex
Best Budget
DeepCool RGB350
For when you’re on a tight budget
DeepCool makes some solid cooling products and the company also has the RGB350 lighting kit for budget-friendly PC builds.
Bottom line
There are numerous products available that will add some form of lighting to your PC, but when it comes to kits we feel our selection here covers the ones you’d want to consider. They can be inexpensive yet lack certain features, or they can cost a bomb but allow for incredible levels of customization. It all comes down to what you want and how much you’re willing to spend.
NZXT’s Hue V2 lighting setup isn’t cheap, but it is a great package with full support for the company’s CAM software. You also get everything you need inside the kit, including the controller, high-quality RGB strips, and cables. The only downside is you’ll need a spare Molex connector from your PSU.
Credits — The team that worked on this guide
Rich Edmonds is a staff reviewer at Windows Central, which means he tests out more software and hardware than he cares to remember. Joining Mobile Nations in 2010, you can usually find him inside a PC case tinkering around when not at a screen fighting with Grammarly to use British words. Hit him up on Twitter: @RichEdmonds.
Cale Hunt is a staff writer at Windows Central. He focuses mainly on PC, laptop, and accessory coverage, as well as the emerging world of VR. He is an avid PC gamer and multi-platform user and spends most of his time either tinkering with or writing about tech.
Richard Devine is a Reviews Editor at Windows Central. You’ll usually find him deep in hardware, gaming, both or drinking root beer for which he openly has a mild addiction.
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