How they look

All of the neon tubes, fans and cables were very easy to install. Getting good pictures of light however, seemed to be a different matter to a digital camera newbie like me, but I think most came out fine.

Other than the CCFL fan, which I couldn't fit into my case's due to the type of fan mounting system Chieftec use's, I have pictures of all the rest of the items within my Antec PlusView-1000AMG, a case that Bacata also distribute. You can have a look at that case HERE.

A couple of other things to note, the pictures I have aren't of a particularly neat case. The cables for the neon tubes were kept in check, but I didn't tie them down or use any of the sticky pads, Velcro or anything else as these samples are all going back. So you'll be able to do a far better job than I've done in those area's.

On to the pics:-

Some overall case pictures to start off with I think.

(Click for larger images)

The picture on the left highlights the very thing that always becomes a problem with having your main neon tube on the base of your case, your graphics card!!
As you can see pretty clearly, the top half of the case above the card, is barely lit. That's why in my opinion you should try to mount your neon tube down the side of the case, so some of the neon is above and below the level of the graphics card, or for that matter any PCI cards.
The picture on the right is of the UV neon and the string only, and with the room lights on. I hope this show's that although they obviously look very cool at night, you will be able to see the light and the general effect during the day aswell should you want to show off to friends or just have them on for no reason other than the coolness factor. It doesn't look like it in that picture, but that's 3x60W overhead lights, so not bad going.

The picture on the left is actually fairly accurate of how bright the main blue neon is. It really floods the area in blue and looks very nice. I used to have a cheap £10 cold cathode in the same place and it wasn't anywhere near as bright or as nice a colour.

(Click for larger images)

Two more overall shots for you. The one on the left show's that the string is quite bright, and will highlight anything you want to at all. It also throws out enough light for under keyboard lighting but not really enough to see hardware behind the string. I put in the USB neon tubes on top of the case for, well, no reason whatsoever. But they do look very cool, and can be put absolutely anywhere you want. The picture on the right of my initially untidy case, I've included that just so you can see what can be hidden by keeping the lights to one area of the case. The main reason for that mess is my hard drive cage that normally covers it, has grown legs and run off. You might Interprate that as I've managed to lose it.

A couple of pictures to establish the comparative size of the neon's, and light/dark comparison shots. I couldn't include the blue large neon tube as it was just to bright, my camera does not like that neon, and it drowned out the light of the others somewhat. However I personally love the blue glow it threw on my room.

Another image to show the cable's when reacting to the UV light. You can see from the darkness of the surrounding area's that the UV blacklight will let you add some nice effects to your case while still being somewhat subtle, if that's what you'd prefer.

At night none of the neon's stopped me from falling asleep. Though I wouldn't recommend you leave them on at night, a surefire way to attract those flies during the summer months.

For some reason my camera just wouldn't focus fully on close up shots, so this is the best I could do. Hopefully you can see that the Neon tube of the CCFL fan sticks out further than normal. AS you will see from the blue fan, there is a small plastic clip that holds the fan in place, there is one on the opposite side too. This is what would prevent this fan being fitted to any Chieftec/Antec case of this style. Not a Boogie Bug fault at all, I only mention it as the Chieftec case's are quite popular, and many of you might run into the problem. I've had the same problem with a few LED fans where the thickness of the wires around the fan prevent it slipping past the clip into place properly.

Introduction continued

Conclusion