it's a brand new month which means it's time for another episode of
cool tech but in this video we're going to be focusing on cool tech on their 50
for your setup so if you guys are on a tight budget and you still want to spice up your setup
you're going to love today's video let's get started
if you guys want to pick up a fresh windows 10 pro cd key then make sure to click the link below and
visit yourcdk.com you guys can grab one for less than 15 using my code ts20 at checkout
so most of what you see in this setup cost less than 50 dollars aside from the obvious things
like the monitor keyboard mouse and of course the sick custom built all-white pc which i did
a build guide on and i'll leave a link below if you guys want to check it out so let's start off
with the lighting in the setup specifically the led bar i have going across the edge at the desk
i'm using the gobi led strips in combination with the muzada led channel system to help diffuse the
lights i see so many people put the naked rgb strips on their setup or on their wall without
diffusing them properly and it just looks tacky in my opinion well with these led channels you can
now properly diffuse the lights so that they look better these channels are specifically designed
with a frosted cover to help spread the hot spots across the entire channel for a more balanced and
even lighting obviously it doesn't completely remove all the hot spots and this depends mostly
on what rgb strips you're using too but it's a huge difference without using one so there are
two different muzada channels that you can go with the flat ones look the cleanest but they don't
diffuse the lights as good the taller ones are the best at diffusing the lights but they are taller
and stick out more than the flat ones mounting these are really easy and there are two ways
of doing this method one is the permanent way using the provided mounting brackets they come
with a set of screws and base plates which are needed to secure the raceway to your desk or wall
simply attach the base plate using the provided screws and then you can snap on the raceways
afterwards you just stick the rgb strip inside and close it off using the frosted covers personally i
don't like this method because it's permanent and i don't like drilling holes into things
in case i need to move things around or upgrade my setup later on so i use method number two
the tech source method i simply use these very thin double-sided 3m tape and i attached
them directly behind the raceway this not only eliminates the need to drill holes into things
but we don't need to use the mounting bracket as well so overall it just looks much simpler
and clean anyways once you run your rgb strip through the raceway you can close it off with
the frosted shield and then close off the corner with the provided covers if you have a large desk
or surface then follow the same steps for any additional raceways you want to install however
you will have to cut off the excess so make sure to mark the cutoff point with a pencil or marker
and use a metal cutter i picked up a jigsaw from my local hardware store which easily cut through
the raceway like butter you are also going to have to cut off the frosted cover as well so once again
make sure to mark the cutoff point and you can use scissors to cut these off since they are plastic
the result is this beautifully diffused lighting that doesn't look like it belongs to a 12 year old
who plays fortnite unfortunately the gobi strips i'm using are way too bright and it gets washed
up on camera so i can't really show you what they look like at peak brightness but let me just say
they look amazing compared to before you really have to look at these in person to understand
what i'm talking about next up on the list are these super simple yet awesome light bars from
a company called tizumi they only go for 10 each so even with both of them together the total is
still under 50 bucks these are a super cheap and easy way to add a bit of lighting to your setup or
space you can position these two ways using the circular base that it comes with either vertically
just like how i have it in my setup or you can put them horizontally now these do come with remotes
however they only control that specific light bar so if you have multiple light bars you're going to
have to switch the colors individually between all the remotes which can be quite annoying but
luckily they do have an app so i sync both the lights together and i can control them at the same
time which is way more convenient plus it has way more features on the app compared to the remote
for example i can set a schedule for the lights to turn on and off on certain times i can also
have the lights react to music from my phone and there are even effects that you can choose from
i wasn't expecting much from these lights when i saw the price but i was pleasantly surprised
on how great they are the only caveat on these are the cables so first off they're usb powered
so they're gonna take up an additional usb port from the back of your pc unless you're
using like a usb hub or something second these cables are annoyingly short i think they're like
less than three feet or something i had to buy two usb extensions just to plug these
into the back of my pc but again ten dollars i can't really complain i do recommend these for
anyone that wants to add a bit of lighting on their setup that's also on a super tight budget
speaking of lighting up next is a fully customizable led numpad this is perfect
for those who use 60 or small form factor keyboards i'm someone who uses numbers a lot
especially when i'm editing videos the numpad comes in really handy with those shortcuts
but i do prefer smaller keyboards in my opinion they look so much cleaner and they don't take
up much space from the desk so i found a better alternative to get the best of both worlds a fully
customizable dedicated numpad i pull it out when i need to use it and tuck it away when i'm finished
the cool thing about this numpad is that it's fully customizable you can select the layout of
the numpad the switch type and even the colors for both the underglow and the switch itself
there are three kits that you can choose from on the website kit 1 has mostly gatoron and
kill switches while kit 2 has cherry switches and then you have the option of doing just bare bones
by selecting kit 3. in this case they just send you the case pcb and the screws you would have
to install your own switches keep in mind that these don't come with any keycaps which i actually
prefer because then you can use any keycaps you want that way matches your current keyboard
i originally opted for kl red switches with white back lighting and a red underglow which
looks amazing in my opinion however i'm going to swap the switches to some aspirations that i
recently picked up for my custom keyboard later this year the numpad does come with a braided
usb-c cable but i ended up swapping it with a white one so that matches the setup's colors
speaking of cables we have some beautiful double-sleeved coil cables i featured some
of these in my last cool tech video if you guys remember but these are from another company called
tes cables and in my opinion they are much better cables than before the braiding on these
are noticeably better and you get nicer colors to choose from i personally love the soft blue cable
and the white connector combo the most but they do have a pretty sweet vaporwave purple option
as well plus with these you get an aviator cable as well coil cables are a really easy way to add
a bit of customization to your keyboard and i have mine hooked up to my ghost k1 keyboard
all right let's talk about the monitor riser this is the jelly comb adjustable monitorizer and they
come in three flavors black white and mint green a modernizer has many use cases in a setup for
starters it raises the monitor to your eye level this means a more comfortable viewing angle
and less neck strain having to look down in addition to that it also frees up extra space
underneath the monitor for storage as you can see i took advantage of that extra space
to store my chromebook a couple of journals and my custom numpad so the riser has two adjustable
options 16.5 inches by default which still has enough space to store a 15-inch laptop but if
you have a larger display you can expand the legs increasing the total width to 20.5 inches
i would say it's big enough to comfortably support up to a 24 inch monitor but you can probably get
away with a 27 inch as well if you don't mind it hanging off the sides a bit the monorizer
also comes with some pretty cool features like a pull out phone stand and a tiny pencil drawer
i mean it's not deep enough to store a bunch of things but it's very useful for thin
objects personally i like to keep all my essentials in here like a microfiber cloth
a flash drive and the ub keep also a funny story i thought this small gap over here was for storing
pens or pencils but it turns out it's actually a tablet stand i don't own a tablet so i'm just
going to use my phone as an example i like using a mono riser to multitask by playing raid shadow
legends on my phone while i'm gaming on the pc or if you're a twitch streamer with a single
monitor you can have a tablet or your phone on either of the stands to rechat as you're playing
i think this is a really cool modernizer that provides a lot of functionality to your setup
Sponsored by Yubico
cool tech item from today's video this tiny little key acts as a form of two-factor authentication
for my accounts usernames and passwords sadly aren't enough to protect yourself these days
especially if you have a lot to lose in my case my entire life no big deal the first thing i did was
add the key to all of my gmail accounts including my youtube account this means anytime someone
tries to log into my account they will not only have to put the password in but they also have
to have the physical key as well this means no one can hack into my accounts not even the most
skilled hacker in the world because they will need the physical key with them in order to get access
it's also perfect for travel since it has a keychain option and it doesn't require any
batteries to use lots of applications actually support these keys and if you're someone who
values their security i strongly recommend picking one up i'm currently using the usb-a option but
they do offer different keys for different devices once again links will be down below
if you guys been looking for a solid pair of headphones for less than 50 dollars then buckle up
because i'm about to save your day the legendary cost ur 40s are hands down the best sounding
headphones i have ever heard for this price range i'm no audiophile by any means but damn the sound
quality that comes out of these dinky headphones is impressive the only reason i even came across
these headphones in the first place was through the cool tech section of my discord i don't even
know how i haven't heard of these before these are super lightweight open back headphones that
provides good mid-range and treble and compared to other headphones within this price range
they do punch a little more on the low end i mean there are people comparing the sound
quality of these to pricier headphones and you can check the reviews out for yourself if you want
so the build quality is definitely more on the flimsy side which makes sense i guess looks like
they spend most of the budget on the actual sound quality than the build quality and because of how
lightweight they are it doesn't even feel like you're wearing headphones to be honest and with
the open back design you can still hear everything around you this means no sound isolation or
canceling feature with these headphones they do collapse making it perfect for travel however it
doesn't come with a carrying case but it does come with a quarter inch adapter if you decide
to use it with a dac or amp i have the headphones sitting on a cheap aluminum stand i picked up from
amazon for only 10 bucks if you guys are looking for some kick-ass headphones for around 30 dollars
you gotta at least try them out and you'll see why the headphones aren't the only source of audio for
the setup i also use a tiny bluetooth speaker that i keep under the monitor it's nothing special just
a good looking portable bluetooth speaker that i use if i don't feel like putting on headphones
last but not least let's talk about the acoustic panels on the wall these are the deckaroo acoustic
panels you've probably seen these in a previous episode of setup wars but i decided to buy them
and test it out myself to see if it's actually worth the money for starters they come in a pack
of 12 with several different color options to choose from to match your setup's color scheme
as you can see i went with a tri-color setup for mine with a mix of blue gray and white i
was kind of disappointed to find out that they don't come with any installation materials
unfortunately that's something you have to buy separately installation however was very easy
i was able to use a single double-sided 3m square right in the center of the panel which was all it
needed to stick to my wall but of course this will depend on your wall and the type of coating it has
in terms of soundproofing does a decent job like i wasn't blown away by any means but i did only use
about 12 foams after all and the room already had some sound absorption present like i had
a huge couch in there with carpet flooring so the difference with acoustic panels were very minimal
i think these would be more effective if your room has a lot of echo and reverb to begin with
and if you use up all 12 of the panels otherwise you're just buying these for aesthetics which
isn't a bad thing either i think this is a really cool way of not only improving the look of your
setup but also soundproofing your room as well so that is all the cool tech i have for you
this month if you guys enjoy the cool tech series consider dropping a like before you head out and
if you're picking something up from this video let me know in the comments section down below
also if you guys are new here consider subscribing because i do cool tech series every single month
and if you're bored consider watching some of my previous cool tech videos thank you
guys so much for watching as always and i'll see you very soon in the next one