How to deal with RGB fans in gaming PC?

[Appletax]

This is a long post. I have a lot of questions about RGB fans as I have almost no experience with RGB. Hope you guys can help me understand it better.

Client gave me his custom gaming PC to work on. He and a buddy started the build over a year ago and never finished it. He wants help finishing the wiring - mainly connecting some fans and RGB.

There are 6 RGB fans total - 3x Corsair LL RGB case fans in front [model: C0-9050072], 2x Cooler Master CPU heatsink fans [model: SickleFlow 120], 1x Fractal case fan [model: Fractal Aspect 12 RGB] on the rear. They are all sending air backwards.

Today I learned that there's one color RGB and individually addressable RGB (ARGB).

I looked up the fans to see which they are. Looks like they are all ARGB. The Corsair fans came with a Lighting Node Pro. They also have a Corsair RGB hub that I'm assuming must have been a separate purchase.

Is this correct?: The Lighting Node Pro is powered by the mini USB cable plugged into it that is plugged into the motherboard's USB_E12 header at the bottom of the mobo. The RGB hub is powered by a SATA connector. The Lighting Node Pro can be used by itself with up to 2 fans, or it can be plugged into a hub or two to support up to 6 fans with one hub or 12 fans with two hubs. The client definitely needed the RGB hub to manage the RGB on his three Corsair fans as the Lighting Node Pro only supports up to two.

I think the Corsair fans are good-to-go. The disconnected CPU fans and rear fan are my problem.

The Cooler Master and Fractal fans have the same RGB connector that is very different from the Corsair fans' and hub's RGB connectors. Are the Corsair connectors proprietary and the others non-proprietary?

The three disconnected fans can be plugged directly into the mobo, whereas the Corsair fans cannot, which means that a Corsair hub is required to fully use the Corsair fans.

The mobo has three headers to connect to RGB devices. (2) +12 GRB headers labeled RGB_HEADER1 and RGB_HEADER2, as well as (1) +5V ADD GEN 2 header.

My understanding is that the +12 headers [4 physical pins] are for one color RGB LEDs and the ADD GEN 2 header [3 physical pins and 1 blank pin] is for ARGB LEDs.

That means I need to plug all three disconnected fans to the ADD GEN 2 header. I can't plug them into the +12 headers since they have a blank pin that's sealed off and does not allow a pin to go through it.

I connected all three fans' to each other. Since they are different brands, will this cause any problems? Do I need to get an ARGB header splitter to keep them separate?

The left Master Cooler CPU fan is plugged into the ARGB header. The left CPU fan is connected to the right CPU fan. The Fractal rear fan is connected to the right CPU fan. They are all joined together and share the ARGB header.

Will the system have a meltdown if I powered it up in this configuration? I have not once plugged in the computer.

Then there's the issue of controlling RGB on 6 fans from 3 different manufacturers. Can the Asus mobo control all the RGBs? I know Corsair uses iCUE.

The Fractal case has a small round button at the top that changes the RGB. Wonder how that would work in this situation.

Lastly, the Fractal rear fan needs to be plugged into a CHA_FAN header (the CPU fans are connected to CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT). There are no CHA_FAN headers available. All three Corsair fans are using all three CHA_FAN headers. I will have to order a CHA_FAN splitter as I don't have any. Will there be an issue with the splitter connecting to a Corsair fan and a Fractal fan? Perhaps I should just split the header between two Corsair fans.

The Fractal fan's main power connector splits out to a second power connector, which has one cable ripped out of the main connector. It's not needed. Can I put electric tape over it and it'll work fine? I am out of electric tape right now so in the meantime perhaps I should put something else over it.

Pics:




Mobo manual:

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/ROG_STRIX_B550-F_GAMING_WIFI_II/E18592_ROG_STRIX_B550-F_GAMING_WI-FI_II_UM_WEB.pdf?model=ROG%20STRIX%20B550-F%20GAMING%20WIFI%20II

Specs:

Operating System	Unknown
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Graphics Chip	Gigabyte 3070 Gaming OC 8GB VRAM [Model: GV-N3070GAMING OC-8GB Rev. 2.0]
RAM/Memory	32GB (2 x 16GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro SL DDR4-3200MHz [2 of 4 Slots Filled] [Model: CMH32GX4M2E3200C16, Timing: 16-20-20-38]
Storage	1TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus Solid State Drive [NVME]
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming Wi-Fi 2 [AM4 Socket]
Networking	Intel 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, Wireless 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master RGB Air Cooler [Model Unknown]
Power Supply	SeaSonic Focus GX-750 Fully Modular 80 Plus Gold [Model: SSR-750FX]
Optical Drive	N/A
Case	Fractal Pop Series XL Air [Model: FD-C-POR1X-06]
Fans	3x Corsair LL ARGB Case Fans on the Front [Model: C0-9050072] 2x Cooler Master CPU Fans [Model: Sickle Flow 120 ARGB] 1x Fractal Fan on the Rear [Model: Fractal Aspect 12 ARGB] [All Fans Push Air Backwards]
Video Ports	HDMI 2.1 x2, DisplayPort 1.4 x2

Big thanks to anyone that can help me understand this better.

 

[Sky-Knight]

This is a mess, and I don't have time at the moment to really dig into it.

I will just tell you this...

You're right about the lights. There are fans that just light up when you apply power, and there are fans with addressable RGB that can be customized via a light controller. HOWEVER you need to be careful, because there are two dominant standards on these addressable RGB assemblies that use completely different voltages. They will cook each other if you get them wrong! AND you cannot get a controller that does BOTH.

My son's rig has configurable RGB on his mainboard that cannot control his case as a result.

You'll need a fan / light controller that supports the stuff in the unit, possibly two which are in turn USB devices with their own software to manage them all.

 

[Appletax]

This is a mess, and I don't have time at the moment to really dig into it.

I will just tell you this...

You're right about the lights. There are fans that just light up when you apply power, and there are fans with addressable RGB that can be customized via a light controller. HOWEVER you need to be careful, because there are two dominant standards on these addressable RGB assemblies that use completely different voltages. They will cook each other if you get them wrong! AND you cannot get a controller that does BOTH.

My son's rig has configurable RGB on his mainboard that cannot control his case as a result.

You'll need a fan / light controller that supports the stuff in the unit, possibly two which are in turn USB devices with their own software to manage them all.

Thank you for your reply. Yea, this thread is too long, I should have broken it up into chunks.

The ARGB header on the mobo is 5 volts (+5V ADD GEN 2). What's the other option's voltage that you mentioned? Must be 12 volts.

The Cooler Master fans have an RGB Rated Voltage of 12 VDC. Yikes

Spec sheet: https://www.coolermaster.com/en-global/products/sickleflow-120-rgb/?tab=tech_spec

The Fractal fan says it has an LED rated voltage of 5 V. Good

Spec sheet: https://www.fractal-design.com/app/uploads/2021/05/Aspect-RGB_Product-Sheet_EN.pdf

So, I should be able to plug the Fractal fan into the ARGB header by itself, but what to do about the Cooler Master fans?

Having fans from different companies sure adds some complexity. Hope the client will be able to keep them all in sync somehow.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Yes 12v is the other type I've seen, but there could potentially be more! But the two ARGB configurations I've seen most are 5v and 12v as you've noticed.

So you too have this mixture, which requires either a dual voltage capable fan controller OR two separate controllers. Though some of my research indicates all of them use a 5v rail for the communications bus.

Still, you're in the electrical engineering space now, and that's a place you can't make a mistake without frying something... so I try to avoid that and use components that do that lifting for me.

 

[sapphirescales]

RGB is complete crap. Even if you get the lights to work, the software that controls them is fricking terrible. It doesn't matter what software you use. They all suck. When we build gaming systems, if we do RGB we use a case that comes with RGB fans and has a dedicated button on the case to cycle through the lighting colors and effects. We also install some cheap RGB strips with a physical remote control so clients can control it. We no longer mess with RGB software and I don't have time to entertain the idea of 47 different standards for connecting and controlling RGB lighting. The reason why the computer industry works is because everyone agrees to ONE standard. When you buy fans, you don't have to worry about whether they're going to be compatible with your motherboard. When you buy a motherboard, you don't have to worry about whether your case will support it (other than the physical size, which again, are standardized). People should refuse to buy RGB garbage until these companies sit down and agree on a standard. I admit it's better than it was before with RGB headers on the motherboard now but the software still sucks and frequently fails to work after a Windows update.

 

[GTP]

RGB is complete crap.

This ^^ I agree 100%
Of all the gaming/home PC's I built with added RGB and all the laptops with flashing keyboards etc that I've sold with RGB lights for clients I think I could count on the fingers of one hand how many are still operational with RGB on.
The biggest gripe by far that I heard from clients was/is that they are sooooo distracting and they couldn't stand them after a few days.

 

[frase]

Unforunately some users [gamers] want all the lights to signal an alien civilization and five thousand fans, enough to turn the pc into a drone.
This one looks like a complete overhaul if it was me, total rebuild and purchase some dedicated fan controllers which run off their own dedicated software such as corsair or thermaltake etc. It would send me insane trying to fix this mess. I probably would try and avoid it and say I was busy or something as would take up too much of my time for little. Or if the customer wants to be charged at the rate per hour, ok with me. This would take less time simply removing everything and starting from zero. That way I would have more control over the build in regards to placement and cable managment and airflow , I despise working on others attempts. I would mention to the client that it would have to be a total rebuild and go from there, hopefully they avoid it and it set's you free lol.

 

[Rigo]

Are you going to be compensate for your time tidying up this?
Even if you take it as a learning experience, how many of these are you going to be doing for your investment?
Sometimes we get requests to help sort out some concepts that looked good on YouTube done by someone who doesn't say the insane amount of time they've put into making their thing to work.
Being the eggsperts we're supposed to just click the fingers and it all works, save them time and "money", on our time
Just had a call about repairing a laptop kboard plastic rivets, he's done the replacement himself but the thing is loose, "can you fix it?"

 

[Appletax]

It appears that I looked up the wrong Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 fan - there's a plain RGB version that I first found with an RGB rated voltage of 12 VDC, and then there's an ARGB version with an RGB rate voltage of 5 VDC.

Spec sheet: https://www.coolermaster.com/en-global/products/sickleflow-120-argb/?tab=tech_spec

Now this is starting to make sense. In my research, I kept seeing that Digital/Plain/Non-Addressable RGB is always 12 VDC, and Addressable RGB is always 5 VDC.

So, I can daisy chain ARGB from (1) Fractal fan to the (2) Cooler Master fans. They can definitely share a single 5 VDC ARGB mobo header.

The Cooler Master fans are plugged into CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT for power.

The Fractal fan is plugged into CHA_FAN for power.

Hooray!!!

Now, how will managing the ARGB work when there's fans from three different companies?

When we build gaming systems, if we do RGB we use a case that comes with RGB fans and has a dedicated button on the case to cycle through the lighting colors and effects.

This PC has a Fractal Pop Series XL Air [Model: FD-C-POR1X-06]. It has a small round button next to the power button that can change the RGB.

I bet all of these physical RGB buttons out there can only do plain RGB, not ARGB. So, it will probably just change them to a single color.

Looks like I can try different software to control the ARGB LEDs - Asus Aura, Corsair iCUE, SignalRGB, Cooler Master MasterPlus+.

Sure would be nice if every fan in the system were from the same company and all used one hub.