Guilty as charged.

Edited to add, this is actually a slightly old picture. I have a white GPU now.

Generally I'm not a fan. Personally I like cold, unassuming industrial stuff.

Something like

OR

I would prefer basic, subtle, black. I don't want rainbows and lights. I'm very function over form.

I'd also rather play a game on medium settings where it runs flawlessly and doesn't make the fans go hard, than at high settings with worse performance.

I absolutely love the tacky gamer look. I think that most flagship tech these days has a terrible lack of whimsy which makes me a bit sad. Look at back at the old imacs compared to the laptops that apple offers today. Look at the phones of the early 2000s compared to what's currently on offer. It's all straight lines and greyscale now. I do understand that that's a classier look, but I wish there was more out there for people like me who want something that looks a bit more colourful and fun whilst still having good specs.

In my opinion, the gamer aesthetic usually doesn't go hard enough. When my PC is turned off, it's just a black rectangle. But it's the best I can get without breaking the bank or doing something super custom.

I think the industry still thinks their target audience is 12 year olds. It's evident also in the aesthetic of the games they make. That being said I am seeing a slow change for the better. If only I could say the same about the prices...

I would like it if it was subtle, maybe a few thin rgb lines around the main board like traces, and something similar on other components.

I hate the everything blaring random lights look, its like a kids attempt to draw attention, it works but when you look you wish you hadn't.

I hate it. I resent that I have to get an app to turn off the horrible lights in the computer and peripherals.

Generally yes, though I do want it to be functional foremost. My computer is essentially a toy to me. When I press a button on my keyboard and it shoots a wave across my peripherals that is cool to me, or when the lighting is synchronized with what’s happening in game, very neat. People take themselves way too seriously.

The eye grabbing lights and glass covers are fucking idiotic. My best builds are black towers, great airflow, minimal lights, and barely any noise. I'm focused on the game, not the machine.

The thing needs to be forgotten. It's not the center of attention. The monitor is.

I am but a single humble meatbag that enjoys games and can't speak for all gamers, but I generally dislike the typical "gaming rig" aesthetic. I don't want RGB lights. I don't like ostentatious looking cases or accessories. I do find it tasteless, to reuse your term.

No sleight on those that do though. If that's your style, then enjoy it!

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 started off with fan grills and led fans and cold cathode lighting way back when.

Now, my gaming PC, which is about due for its 5 yr update again, is in an old antec sonata case from 2008ish. I'll probably splurge on a new one next round, but if it's fancy, it will be one of those unassuming fractal cases with wood.

No lights if I can help it.

I kinda like RGB but not in the pulsating rainbow way how it seems to always be on marketing materials.

I like keeping it to one colour, with the intensity at half. It is nice to change it a few times a year for a fresh look.

The fonts and other stuff, I don't care that much as long as the components are good quality. Maybe subconsciously I would consider design if I had to choose between options that performed and cost relatively equally.

I'm over 30, but even when i was in my early 20s I couldn't stand the blaring lights. A HS friend built up a rig with full flashy RGB shit and I was like "why?" - He thought it was cool, possibly still does.

I mean, I'm supposed to look at the monitor, not the fan or the mouse. Keyboard blacklight is good, tho, so long as it's not red nor a dancing rainbow. Yellow or white are the best kb backlight imo

The wonders of marketing making people believe that RGB vomit is desirable.

The only LED i care about is white.

When I built my first computer I got a bunch of RGB and loved it, but by the time it was a few months old, I got bored of it and started to view changing the colors and whatnot as a chore more than anything, so when I built my second computer, I went without.

I was looking for something with a nicge natural wood finish. LED is dine but no blinking fading, just a solid line without any distraction.

I spent extra to not have any components with RGB. The only lighting I find tolerable is white (!) LEDs.

I appreciate the gamer aesthetic when scientists need to buy gear with the power to run scientific calculations for relatively cheap. The RGB lights under the case windows bring a bit of pizzazz to the laboratory.

Yep. I'm the (apparently minority) weirdo that LOVES the rainbow vomit lights. I have lights everywhere on my computer and desk and it brings me so much joy. It just feels happy to me to have the bright rainbow colors slowly shifting. I find it delightful and will pay extra to ensure devices are not only rainbow capable, but are the right type of rainbow (slow shifting) that I love. My side of our gaming office drives my husband nuts. I regret nothing!

I was into it in the early days but got over it quickly. Now I want the opposite and minimize attention my PC draws to itself. Its just pointless and kind of annoying. It was impressive back when it was new and challenging but now its just an element of marketing, and one that I've come to strongly dislike in my builds.

im for whatever is cheap and effective, only performance to cost ratio matters to me.

I have a keyboard that lights up because I like to type in the dark and my dexterity isn't what it used to be but that's about it. I would've preferred a solid color but RGB was all I found. Not a bad for $20, it's a solid steel frame

Oh, right. No the "gamer ascetic" is garish as fuck. I just want something that works.

I'm pretty sure the trend didn't come from nowhere, although like every other fashion most adherents wouldn't have necessarily chosen it in a vacuum.

Whether that makes the preference less valid is an interesting question of it's own.

i do

end of story :)

fun fact: the chinese nicknamed RGB lighting as "light pollution"

I dont care much for RGB in everything.

Personally I prefer for my computer to be an unasuming silent black box that sits under my desk. I go out of my way to remove any lights that I can. RGB for computers seems like lowering for cars. Some people like how it looks but at the extremes it gets really impractical.

I was riding the first RGB bling bling wave back in the early 2ks and after a while I got sooooooooooooo annoyed by every light my PC emitted.

Same today.

I give a frog about RGB and when I bought my actual PCs back in early 2024 I used an old Chieftec case I had standing around for the first and bought a cheap case of Amazon that has no glass.

Both stand in a way that air can circulate and the PC stays cool, but light is blocked.

I think it looks kinda cool, but it's also what everything else is. So the cool factor is a tad diminished.

I'll grab whichever option is cheapest for the specs I need to hit.

I bought RGB crap once. It stayed on while the PC was in standby mode. Never again.

My gaming computer is in an old 4 unit rack mount server case. I think there is some sort of RGB nonsense on the motherboard, but you can't see it once the computer is racked.

Fuck RGB shit.

I think it’s pretty normal for people to want their high end thing to look high end, or whatever high end looks like to them. My PC case is basically a black rectangle with a single pane of glass on one side. It has some rainbow vomit lighting inside that isn’t all customizable with Linux, but my razer mouse mat, mouse, and keyboard all glow a lovely purple, just one static color. My desk, peripherals and case all match in black, so really any color I choose to run with makes for an easy vibe change.

I think maybe a half a dozen people have even seen my pc setup, and I don’t really take visitors back there, so whatever cool looks my setup has are just for me, and I enjoy it.

That said, there is a such thing as it being too busy, too gaudy, etc, so I totally get what you’re saying. My shit is lit up but I still feel like it’s fairly subdued.

Fuck no. It's all disgusting.

I just want rainbow transparent tech back. Let me feel like I am still in the early 2000s.

I don't like the aesthetic but a lot of my stuff is "gaming" branded for functionality reasons (eg high refresh rate monitor; mice with extra buttons; the mech kb I wanted happened to be gaming branded but I would've bought a keyboard with same specs and price that was not gaming branded). The gaming aesthetic is a bit weird when you think about it.

The only RGB I run is for my keyboard and only because I sit in a dark room and everything is black, so it can be difficult to see where the keyboard is. Back when I ran a regular mouse I also had an RGB mouse for the same reason, but carpal tunnel forced a trackball so now the mouse never moves and it no longer needs RGB.

As long as the RGB is tuneable into any other color (combination) I'm okay with it. I also like white gaming peripherals more lately. I don't consciously seek gaming esthetics, but if that's the better value I pick it.

oh and someone else mentioned it's childish. good. I miss being childish. there's very little thing I have to do while AdUlTiNg that let's me being childish. so gaming will be childish for me.

Well once you add LEDs it increases the FPS 30% so yeah.