I guess it depends on how bright you want it. I personally like the 30 leds / meter on some of the things I do. The 60 leds/meter seem to wash out some of the areas on the elements.It is totally a personal choice. Amp draw is for some another deciding factor.Without getting amp technical, for the most part you can use a full 30 leds/m @ 5 meters. with 60 leds/m you can use aprox 3 meters of a 5 meter strip if both are being used with a DSC