Advice on upgrading case and cooling system help. newbie

MadCal

MadCal

MadCal

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24 Dec 2020
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Hi all. I'm wanting to change the cosmetics of my case to a nice "white" look. I've checked out a few cases, mainly by the looks and a few AIO systems, too.
The problem is, I'm not very clued up with compatibility, fittings and such.

If anyone has the time, i'd really love to be able to discuss with someone about what is required, what to avoid and how the hell to do it XD.

I'm getting confused over the whole RGB/ARGB/DRGB etc and quite simply just want a nice looking build to go with my i5 9400F, RTX 2060, MSI Z390-A pro.

Thanks in advance.
 
The most basic thing is that your motherboard is ATX, so you need an ATX case. Many cases are really designed for M-ATX builds, even though they can support ATX, so keep that in mind if you want an easy build process.

RGB can be offered by the case on a stand-alone basis, which usually means either the individual fans have some kind of switch, or it has an internal fan controller.

RGB can also be independent of the case, needing to be plugged into the motherboard, which can control how they display. This is usually done via a combination of hardware and software, which you install on your PC.

There are also cases or RGB fan bundles that can do both, manual control, through the motherboard or a combination of the two.

The level of control offered by RGB systems varies, depending on what you buy, the headers on the motherboard and how it is controlled (through the board, or a fan controller).

Compatibility between different RGB systems and software is a dark art, there's dubious standardisation between manufacturers and the software tends to be very buggy, so I'd check carefully before you buy.

RGB integration is possible between the fans, motherboard, graphics card and memory, but can be rather complicated to achieve.

With AIOs, you use the mounts on the case, but not all mounts are suitable, it usually says in the spec which can support radiators.
 
Hi, thanks for your reply. So what specifically do i need to check for? I'm sorry but i feel no more informed haha. My motherboard is an ATX form, but can't seem to find a straight answer on which type of connectors i need, in order to be able to sunc all fans, that i wanna buy, to a static white glow, including the cpu cooler. I seem to be bouncing from one case to another as some come with fans, and some don't. It's kinda driving me mad.

I've been looking at the In-Win 101 case, as i love the look and layout of it. I would probably look at buying 3X120mm fans for the front(side), 1 more of the same for the back, and an AIO cooler for the bottom. But i just need to make sure they are all compatible with my MB so i can sync them to static white glow, and not be limited to any particular brand.

if i'm 100% honest, I'm kinda just hoping, because I don't know much about it all, that someone would say "Here, buy these", or "what ever you buy, make sure it has a XXXX connection so you can make them all white".

Thanks.
 
MadCal said:
Hi, thanks for your reply. So what specifically do i need to check for? I'm sorry but i feel no more informed haha. My motherboard is an ATX form, but can't seem to find a straight answer on which type of connectors i need, in order to be able to sunc all fans, that i wanna buy, to a static white glow, including the cpu cooler. I seem to be bouncing from one case to another as some come with fans, and some don't. It's kinda driving me mad.
Click to expand...

If I take this specific case (Aerocool Python):

"THREE ADDRESSABLE RGB FANS INCLUDED

This Mid tower case has beautifully crafted, full tempered glass side and front panels to properly showcase the inside of your rig. Includes a 6-port hub that allows you to connect up to six 6-Pin Addressable RGB fans. The motherboard connector supports Addressable RGB motherboards: Asus Aura Sync, MSI Mystic Light Sync, and Gigabyte RGB Fusion. Comes equipped with two 20cm Addressable RGB fans in the front and one 12cm Addressable RGB fan in the rear of the case. When you spend time building a high performance rig, you want to show off its RGB lighting, and you can take full control of your Addressable RGB fans using one of two ways: RGB LED control button on top of the case or via the Addressable RGB motherboard."

So, this tells you, the case can do either manual through the integrated controller, or through the motherboard.

You'd have to check for the CPU cooler, to see what it requires.

The fan controller doesn't say explicitly (from what I can gather) if it can support a glow mode, but the manual says it can support multiple lighting modes.

MSI Mystic Light does support a glow mode, which your motherboard supports, but your motherboard only has a 4 pin RGB header, whereas the fan controller appears to only have a 3 pin ARGB header, so you'd be reliant on the case to control them.
 
Tetras said:
If I take this specific case (Aerocool Python):

"THREE ADDRESSABLE RGB FANS INCLUDED

This Mid tower case has beautifully crafted, full tempered glass side and front panels to properly showcase the inside of your rig. Includes a 6-port hub that allows you to connect up to six 6-Pin Addressable RGB fans. The motherboard connector supports Addressable RGB motherboards: Asus Aura Sync, MSI Mystic Light Sync, and Gigabyte RGB Fusion. Comes equipped with two 20cm Addressable RGB fans in the front and one 12cm Addressable RGB fan in the rear of the case. When you spend time building a high performance rig, you want to show off its RGB lighting, and you can take full control of your Addressable RGB fans using one of two ways: RGB LED control button on top of the case or via the Addressable RGB motherboard."

So, this tells you, the case can do either manual through the integrated controller, or through the motherboard.

You'd have to check for the CPU cooler, to see what it requires.

The fan controller doesn't say explicitly (from what I can gather) if it can support a glow mode, but the manual says it can support multiple lighting modes.

MSI Mystic Light does support a glow mode, which your motherboard supports, but your motherboard only has a 4 pin RGB header, whereas the fan controller appears to only have a 3 pin ARGB header, so you'd be reliant on the case to control them.
Click to expand...


OK, so i found these. Would i be able to sync them all together and control all the lights using my motherboard's software (MSI Dragon mystic lighting)?

I'm torn between 2 different set-ups:

Either
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...glass-case-white-cc-9011110-ww-ca-23n-cs.html

Then a watercooler fitted at the top.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...u-cooler-240mm-assassins-creed-hs-003-ms.html

and one of these at the back.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cool...lo-argb-led-pwm-case-fan-120mm-fg-02v-cm.html

OR

The same case, but with a single fan CPU cooler at the rear,
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ther...-in-one-cpu-water-cooler-120mm-hs-04r-tt.html

and 2 of the cooler-master fans at the top (or even 3)
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cool...lo-argb-led-pwm-case-fan-120mm-fg-02v-cm.html
 
The Corsair case has an internal fan controller which should support your requirements. I couldn't find anything about if it has the capacity to support additional fans and it doesn't seem to support motherboard control.

The MSI Mag Coreliquid appears to be 3-pin 5v ARGB, not 4-pin 12v RGB, so your motherboard doesn't support this connector. If the case fan controller has spare ARGB capacity it might, but I don't know if it does.

The coolermaster fans are 3-pin 5v ARGB, so as above.

The Thermaltake TH120 is 3-pin 5v ARGB, so as above. But, it does have a fan controller, so it is not necessary to connect the 3-pin to operate RGB.
 
So the fans on the case, would be controller solely by the controller on the case?

So, i need to find a fan and AIO cooler that has 4-pin 12v?

This at least narrows my searching down a LOT. Thanks
 
MadCal said:
So the fans on the case, would be controller solely by the controller on the case?

So, i need to find a fan and AIO cooler that has 4-pin 12v?

This at least narrows my searching down a LOT. Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, the fans on the case use the internal fan controller.

You need 4-pin 12v RGB for the fan, or AIO if you want the motherboard to control them, but the Thermaltake TH120 AIO doesn't need it, because it has an included controller.

So, if you buy the Thermaltake TH120 AIO, I only see a need for 1 RGB fan, like the Akasa Vegas X7.
 
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