r/pcmasterrace • u/S1LV3R_S1LVIC • 1d ago

Meme/Macro Unified front panel connector all the way

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8.0k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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558

u/Own_Perspective4825 1d ago

Convenient to plug in but it's nice to be able to leave the HDD activity light unplugged without cutting any wires.

343

u/archlich 9975WX|PRO6000 1d ago

Who unplugs the hdd light. It’s great for figuring out if you have a system lock or just really slow and shitty soft lock.

221

u/LoanDebtCollector 1d ago

All the RGB guys need to get rid of the blinking HDD light that is distracting them. /s

79

u/XH9rIiZTtzrTiVL 1d ago

I don't really want to see any lights. A perfect PC would make no sound or light. Hide it behind an opening panel if you like, that's fine.

45

u/A3-2l 1d ago

Bro likes his black box

28

u/Veryegassy 1d ago

Black box best. Buy black box, barely bright

4

u/IntentionQuirky9957 All kinds of junk 1d ago

I have a black box with red lights. RGB? Set to red.

2

u/Dull-Computer-324 22h ago

TIL I'm a bro...

5

u/Greyburm 1d ago

Totally with you on this, wireless key and mouse or other controllers then make the pc something you can connect to the main living room tv without your partner leaving.

3

u/definitivno-ne-troll 1d ago

I like to hear the individual fans and drives so I know what's being used.

3

u/LiteratureLow4159 I9-12950HX, 64GB CAMM DDR5, 15GB RTX A5500, 2.5TB 1d ago

I heard my hdd from across the room before it died

3

u/NegativeGrocery8684 1d ago

trauma dumping

2

u/LiteratureLow4159 I9-12950HX, 64GB CAMM DDR5, 15GB RTX A5500, 2.5TB 1d ago

Nah it was a seagate and had nothing important on it, just a blank win10 install

2

u/NegativeGrocery8684 1d ago

lol @ seagate

1

u/houseoftrees_ 1d ago

Definitely trolling

10

u/Afferbeck_ 1d ago

I haven't used the HDD activity light in like 20 years. I don't even know if they work for SSDs. The only thing I plug in is the power switch.

7

u/Countlesshrs Linux, Fury X, 6700K, 16GB 1d ago

You plugin the power switch, I just short the pins on the mobo whenever I wanna use my pc.

6

u/grantrules Debian Sid - Ryzen 2600/1660 super/72tb + 5600x/7800xt 1d ago

You short the pins, I wait for cosmic radiation to bitflip a WOL magic packet.

1

u/MonMotha Threadripper 7960X | 256GB DDR5 ECC 1d ago

Funny. I also use stochastic natural phenomena to generate a WOL magic packet through bit flips, but I use butterflies. Manipulating cosmic radiation directly never occurred to me.

19

u/NouZkion 1d ago

Who unplugs the hdd light.

People who don't care for lights flashing at them constantly. Troubleshooting is cool and all, but I rarely have to do any of that, so I want the light to stay off.

0

u/GoldSrc R3 3100 | RTX 3090 | 64GB RAM | 23h ago

Yeah, it's all fun and games until some shady windows service starts to read your drive, and without that light you'd never know.

3

u/Dull-Computer-324 22h ago

Where is this magical light located? I've never had an hdd light on any of the 3 pc's that I have built, and I never sought to avoid one.

1

u/GoldSrc R3 3100 | RTX 3090 | 64GB RAM | 22h ago

The light should be on your case, some manufacturers do remove it and instead give you only a single light you can use for anything. Be it a light to show you the PC is on, or be the drive activity light. Depending where you plug it in.

Sometimes I'd be using my PC normally, only to suddenly see the drive activity remain on for a long time. Then I look at task manager and see some stupid background download for visual studio downloading crap.

It's faster to look at a light, than to feel or suspect that something going on.

Now. If the only light you get is a bright blue one, then I would understand the need to have it removed.

1

u/Dull-Computer-324 22h ago

I see. The only lights on my cases have been the power light. Maybe there is a way to configure it to show drive activity instead but I wouldn't be interested in doing so.

1

u/_T_N_D_ 5h ago

Something is always reading on the OS drive when the PC is used. The light offers no benefit.

1

u/GoldSrc R3 3100 | RTX 3090 | 64GB RAM | 23m ago

Not sustained for more than 10 seconds.

Especially if you're not doing much.

If the light is on, and you know you didn't ask the PC to read or write to the drive, you need to check.

14

u/9okm 1d ago

I unplug all lights on most systems, lol. If my PC is locked up, I can tell because of the way it is.

5

u/shogun77777777 Linux 1d ago

in both cases my solution is to turn the computer off and on again though

7

u/Anomynus1 13700f & RTX 5070 1d ago

I have mine unplugged because on my case its an obnoxiously bright blueish white led and i dont need it strobing on and off all the time, my pcs good enough anyway where if it freezes i know its locked up for good until a restart or blue screen

3

u/Ok-Pomelo-1298 1d ago

It might not work correctly on modern systems. I have 4 NVMe SSDs, and the light stays on 99% of the time, it only turns off for a fraction of a second every now and then.

2

u/vertigostereo RTX 3060, AMD 5700X, & RGB! 1d ago

You ever have the room dark, except for a solar-bright, front-panel LED? I put tape over it like a blinking VCR.

2

u/mekwall 1d ago

laughs in Linux

0

u/archlich 9975WX|PRO6000 1d ago

Someone hasn’t compiled video drivers and wonder if the system is booting before.

3

u/mekwall 1d ago edited 1d ago

Like 15 years ago, sure. Why would I compile them now when I already get them optimized from the CachyOS repos?

Edit: Also, Linux TTYs run kernel drivers so if your display driver dies you can usually still access another TTY.

2

u/Novotus_Ketevor Ryzen 9900X | RTX 5060 Ti | 128 GB DDR5 1d ago

Who has hard drives in 2026?

2

u/archlich 9975WX|PRO6000 1d ago

Do you not have an ssd? Net boot everything?

1

u/Novotus_Ketevor Ryzen 9900X | RTX 5060 Ti | 128 GB DDR5 1d ago

I've got plenty of SSDs. But my HDD's are all in a NAS. I stopped using activity lights because my gaming PC is all SSDs and the light would just be constant.

1

u/CP_Rail_8514 12h ago

Anyone who has run out of organs to sell for SSD's.

1

u/OpenCatPalmstrike 11h ago

Anyone who missed the SSD boat. The most sold storage device for PC's right now is a 4TB 5400RPM drive.

1

u/_T_N_D_ 5h ago

The most sold storage device for PC's right now is a 4TB 5400RPM drive.

It's not. What are you talking about? Everyone gets a SSD.

2

u/bill_cipher1996 i7 14700k | RTX 4080 FE | 32GB RAM 19h ago

Doesn't really work when you have 4 different drives

1

u/Fiendalways R7 5700X3D | RX6800 | 32GB 3200MHZ 1d ago

Some cases have a very obnoxious one

1

u/jjwhitaker 5800X3D, 4070S, 10.5L 1d ago

Media/HTPC but for every light.

1

u/gK_aMb 16h ago

I can tell my system is locked when my system is locked.

1

u/_T_N_D_ 5h ago

It's completely useless.

1

u/The_Blue_DmR R7 5700X3D 32gb 3600Mhz RX 9070Xt 47m ago

I got kinda bad Internet, so if I download a game overnight I'd rather not have a massive lightshow blinking at me when I'm trying to sleep

-2

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

2

u/MaximusCartavius 1d ago

It's looking for any OS disk read/writes

It doesn't matter if it's HDD or SSD

1

u/Medium-Sized-Jaque 1d ago

Honest question does the HDD light reflect M2 SSD activity?

1

u/rmyworld 1d ago

Yes it does

25

u/DuckWhatduckSplat 1d ago

My god man. How do you cope without seeing hdd activity?

6

u/Tommynwn FX8350 / RX590 1d ago

This guy is why laptops don't have HDD light anymore

16

u/CosmoKrm 1d ago

I’d prefer to cut it if that was necessary

10

u/Tsambikos96 3800x | RX 7900 GRE | UWQHD 144Hz 1d ago

Pop the pin and hide it in between all the other cables wtf why cut a cable?

5

u/sampat6256 PC Master Race 1d ago

Its 100 steps forward, 1 inch back

2

u/BooHorde 1d ago

It shows the inhenrent issues with a standardized connector, instead of just puting the onus on motherboard manufactuers to include their own easy to use adapter, you're forcing everyone to use a single standard that doesn't fit everyones needs now or in the future.

5

u/madjoki X870E Nova Wifi | 9800X3D | 64GB DDR5 | RTX 5080 1d ago

Pretty sure you can press and pull te get it out 

4

u/9okm 1d ago

Yup. Helps to have a toothpick/pin or something, but it's pretty easy.

2

u/Moscato359 9800x3d Clown 1d ago

The entire set only needs power sw

2

u/EatenPotatoisok 1d ago

Then unified front panel connecters except HDD LED wire?

2

u/Tsambikos96 3800x | RX 7900 GRE | UWQHD 144Hz 1d ago

You can pop the pin bro

2

u/joliet_jane_blues 1d ago

My case doesn't have a disk activity LED so I connected the power LED to cable to the disk activity pin.

1

u/_T_N_D_ 5h ago

So now you have a flickering power LED?

6

u/TruckTires 1d ago

Spot on, HDD LED is outdated and depending on the case and internal lights, I leave the power LED unplugged also. Hell, I haven't even used my reset switch in years, that one can stay unplugged too. Gimme just the power switch and I'm good.

8

u/Travisx2112 1d ago

"outdated" 😂😂

1

u/TruckTires 1d ago

Useful 3 decades ago when hard drives were mega slow so you knew the PC wasn't locked up. You really need a blinking light for your NVMEs?

8

u/Travisx2112 1d ago

Not everything is going to be lightning fast all the time even with SSD's

0

u/_T_N_D_ 5h ago

So? How is that related to what he wrote?

1

u/TTechnology R7 5800X3D / 9070XT / 4x8GB 3600MHz CL16 1d ago

My Lian Li Lancool III has unified panel, but no HDD leds, so win win situation here

1

u/CocoNot1664 PC Master Race 1d ago

I feel like I've seen connectors that kinda clip onto their neighbours to form a solid connector, they'd be nice here. Modularity and ease of use all in one.

1

u/Disastrous_Olive_920 21h ago

fyi you can unplug the one wire with a tweezer instead of cutting it.

how to video

1

u/_Kodan 7900X RTX 3090 1d ago

Why do cases still come with that silly thing anyways? It's *SO BRIGHT* on my O7S

1

u/AeneasVII 1d ago

The 90s called, they want their HDD back