How do I control my EK RGB?

[Grim5]

In my loop, all the EK RGB stuff plugs into the motherboard. The board is asus, there is also a couple lighting strips

So far the only way I've managed to get it not just show rainbow vomit is to use Asus Armory Crate, but that software is quite rubbish - it won't let me change the brightness or set multiple colors

What do I do?

 

[Grim5]

Agreed, Armoury Crate isn't great. I downloaded Aura and use that instead. It's still flaky as hell and sometimes stops working for no apparent reason. I recently had to uninstall all the software and then reinstall it to get it working again. Don't get your hopes up.

Does Aura let you set multiple fixed colors on the blocks and/or light strips?

I did try various Asus software, I tried the old Aura Sync and the old Asus Aura (both these were failures, the software failed to detect any devices to control)

I also tried the OpenRGB software, however it crashes while running its device detection

 

[Grim5]

Nothing seems to work other than Armory.

I've tried a few different bits of software and all seem to have the same issues: They either crash when I try to open them or the open but cannot detect any RGB devices

 

[Grim5]

Most RGB control software from motherboard manufacturers is utter gash.
The best ones tend to be for those with standalone controllers - Corsair iCUE is pretty great and there's a lot you can do with it, but it takes a LOT of time and fiddling.
Aquasuite has very good RGB control incorporated into it, but again requires buying at least one control hub (Farbwerk, Quadro, Octo, etc) and a few 3-pin adapters for any standard ARGB devices you have.

icue is fine, but I have EKWB pumps and blocks, not corsair

 

[Grim5]

I assume you can plug them into any RGB controller.

I have very few options locally, I can get a Thermaltake controller easy though, do they work?

 

[Grim5]

I initially bought a "Cooler Master Small RGB Controller C10 with 4-Pin Ports - Easy & Quick RGB" which meant I could set the effect I wanted and forget it. Once I then had a mobo that could do 12v RGB I then started my fight with RGB software and for me, it's a combination of Armory Crate + AI Suite + Aura ++prayer.

AI Suite won't install, I'm not the only one apparently - newest windows update broke something.
Aura installs but fails to detect any RGB devices, not even my ASUS motherboard - it really is a complete mess

 

[Grim5]

I use Corsair iCUE with a Commander Pro for All my EK-ARGB and EK pump speed.

Just need to buy 3-pin ARGB to corsair ComPro cable

Can you link me to the cable you used?

is one command pro enough for the or do I need two?

1 argb ek cpu block
1 argb ek gpu block
1 argb ek flow indicator
1 argb ek pump
2 argb cable mod light strips

and which connector on the command pro do these all go into or does it not matter?

 

[Grim5]

Corsair RGB to 3-pin Standard ARGB 5v Male Adapter on the bay

Spoiler: 3-pin ARGB to Corsair

The ComPro has only 2 channels
I've used a splitter similar to this one here:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/akas...-splitter-cable-extension-50cm-cb-12u-ak.html

and then used two of the 3-pin to corsair cables.

To control thee EK pump, simply plug the PWM connector into one of the fan headers on the ComPro. Works much better if u have temp sensors for the cooling fluid

Oh ok. I want each device to have per LED light control. So it sounds like I'll need a minimum of 3 COM PRO's? - damn that's going to be expensive.

 

[Grim5]

No, you can use the much cheaper lighting node pros

I see the lighting node pro, it's only $5 cheaper for me than the commander pro. But if there isn't any feature loss that I need the ln it's fine cause it's smaller and saves space. I control my pump speed and fan speed in the bios.

So maybe two of the node pros which gives 4 channels.

 

[Grim5]

Armoury crate seemed to work ok for me, I installed it, setup the RGB (aio, 3080 and motherboard), then uninstalled it as its bloated.

Armoury doesn't let me change the color or brightness seperately for the headers - it syncs all headers and the motherboard and sets a single color and brightness for everything - and that is why i dont like it

 

[Grim5]

Ordered the razer rgb chroma controller

has 6 headers, each header supports 80 led with individual led color control and per header brightness control

Uses standard 3 pin 5v ports and software works with ekwb products

 

[Grim5]

are you sure about this? All my EKWB products are 12v DRGB not 5v ARGB...

well couple ekwb owners on Reddit said they are using it

checked the product specs again for blocks and pump, all say they use 3 pin 5v for he rgb, not sure what products you have they might be older models or something

and d-rgb and argb are interchangeable terms that mean the same thing as far as I can tell

 

[Grim5]

Um sure prev EK block 2080S I had was four pin RGB.

This one three pin so no choice but to sync with fans and LED strips.

Guess it's all syncd but that choice is removed to run it white to fit in with CPU and reservoir which are always illuminated white.

From the product page, unless it's wrong:

"D-Rgb connector standard 3 pin 5v"

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-quantum-vector-strix-rtx-3080-3090-d-rgb-nickel-plexi



but you are right they used to use 4 pin rgb and then it looks like they switched to 3 pin on all their products launched in the last year or so

 

[Grim5]

Ek now uses the standard 3 pin 5v connectors, these should plug directly into your motherboard header.

Corsair uses some custom junk, you need an adapter that converts the Corsair stuff to 3 pin 5v or 4 pin 12v if your board has both types.

He can also choose to go the reverse, install Corsair's software, get a Corsair commander pro box and wire everything through that, but he will need to buy adapters for his 3 pin ekwb stuff

Firstly I would remove the link as it's a competitor. These forums are hosted by Overclockers UK so it's not allowed to link to other sellers of the same gear

It seems the EK DRGB stuff uses the same sort of connector:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-d-rgb-6-way-splitter-cable-wc-9vx-ek.html

But Corsair usually have their custom 4-pin connectors so you may need an adapter for those.

Bear in mind that splitting the connections in this way will send the same data to each set of LEDs. So you won't be able to customise the layout of colour on each device.

Splitting or not won't matter for him, because it's gong into the Asus motherboard he will never have per device control because Asus doesn't offer software that does that - Asus will sync all your rgb devices to look exactly the same whether you use a splitter or not

That's why instead of going into the motherboard, I wire my devices into this https://www.razer.com/hk-en/gaming-...addressable-rgb-controller/RZ34-02140600-R3U1

 

[Grim5]

There's a couple of free software I have played with
They can control all LEDs on your system
Regardless of different maker
Though they may not have support for every
Piece of hardware in existence
But they did work with my ek, Corsair,thermaltake stuff
Though I removed any software like icue,aura,etc
To avoid conflict
First ones called openrgb
Quite effective though not the most intuitive to use
Second ones signalrgb much more polished software
And think it also has an option to buy version
Which has game profiles and possibly ambient light control
There's a third software but can't remember that one

open rgb is a bit buggy so think

it refuses to recognise my ekwb rgb stuff that's plugged into the motherboard even after uninstalling all asus rgb software