RGB 3pin Help

Rowan88

Rowan88

Rowan88

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Hi.

Putting a build together just now. Have a Phantek P350X and MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX.

I have a 3 pin rgb cable that needs to connect to motherboard but from what i can see I only have 12v 4 pin connections.

Am I missing something?
 
So apart from buying the phanteks stuff.. if I wanted to connect my case lighting to match the MSI mystic lights of motherboard can you not get a 5v to 12v convertor adapter?

And if not then I just leave them on seperate colour profiles to change.
 
Appreciate it m8 cheers.

Got the PC built, just waiting on GPU arriving (ETA 20th) and apart from hooking up that 3pin connector the only other 2 things I could add are:

- Heatsink for M.2 (are these worth it? , mainly just cause its the only blue-ish thing in his case spoils the look :P )
- LED RGB strips (will pick a cheap set up for him to start with, then he can look into HUE and iCUE
 
Rowan88 said:
Appreciate it m8 cheers.
- Heatsink for M.2 (are these worth it? , mainly just cause its the only blue-ish thing in his case spoils the look :p )

- LED RGB strips (will pick a cheap set up for him to start with, then he can look into HUE and iCUE
Click to expand...

I didnt bother with my B450 tomahawk MAX (Sabrent Rocket m.2) I'd ask who you are building the rig for (I Assume)

These Strips work with the max & with the MSI RGB software (Ive got them): but bear in mind they will light one colour at a time.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £23.89 (includes shipping: £9.90)​
​
 
Funny enough I found two packets of older Phanteks Multicolour LED strips in my drawer but I think hes wanting the RGB rainbow effect.

That kit you linked, is that just good to go, and will give him Rainbow RGB? or when you say one colour at a time I assume you mean static?

If so what is the cheapest rainbow RGB strips?
 
After doing a bit of "shopping" is this what he would need:

Phantek P350X RGB LED ADAPTER (£3.95) which will plug into the 12V RGB slot on the Tomahawk MAX. (which not 100% if its compatible with mobo and case)
Then if we buy the PHANTEK RGB LED STRIP STARTER KIT (£13.99).

Will this allow him to have LED strips, case lights, tomahawk max all sync'd into rainbow RGB modes?
 
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The issue here is that the two LED standards aren't compatible -

Older 12V LEDs tend to be configurable to one colour all the way along. 4 wires - 12V positive and ground for each colour.

Newer 5V LEDs are addressable and can have patterns or movement configured. 3 wires, power, ground and data.

The two can't easily be cross-converted. Your case has newer addressable 5V LEDs. Your motherboard headers are 12V non-addressable. The LED strip starter kit will work with your motherboard. The adapter cable wont make your case LEDs work with your motherboard. You'll need to find a different lighting controller to drive that.
 
So as it stands the Phanteks Case lighting will need to be seperate.

The motherboard lighting will need to be controlled by software in windows seperate.

And for RGB (addressable) LED strips (without the motherboard 12V support) what is the best option for him? HUE or iCUE? Phanteks Digital? (only thing I didnt like was controller to change colours rather than software, plus is the controller outside the case?)

Looking to keep around the £40 budget "if possible". (and order today)
 
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Rowan88 said:
So as it stands the Phanteks Case lighting will need to be seperate.

The motherboard lighting will need to be controlled by software in windows seperate.

And for RGB (addressable) LED strips (without the motherboard 12V support) what is the best option for him? HUE or iCUE? Phanteks Digital? (only thing I didnt like was controller to change colours rather than software, plus is the controller outside the case?)

Looking to keep around the £40 budget "if possible". (and order today)
Click to expand...
I would certainly avoid external controllers if possible. I've heard running multiple lighting/fan control software can cause issues but haven't tried it myself.

Pretty sure the software that controls the motherboard lighting will control the RGB header that you can attach LED strips to. If he's happy with 12V LEDs as linked above that's simple.

For addressable case LEDs I've spotted this controller:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cooler-master-addressable-rgb-led-controller-fg-02q-cm.html

Which is internal and connects via USB. May be worth checking you'll have all the needed adapters, splitters or extensions before ordering.
 
Sorry trying to wrap my head around all this, dont want to order the wrong stuff and on a strict timeline.

That kit you bought says: - 1 x 1 to 3 ARGB Cable & Cable to sync MB
Shouldn't it be the 4 pin I need?

So if I buy that Coolermaster Addressable RGB LED Controller that lets him connect it to his motherboard via 12V RGB header then he just connected two addressable RGB strips to the controller.

And he can change the colour of the strips and motherboard via the motherboard software in windows?

Also does that kit you linked come with everything including the strips?
 
Sorry you're right, the Cooler Master controller only has USB for power by the looks of it.

To be clear, converting between ordinary RGB and addressable is tricky. Ordinary RGB can be set to any colour, but the entire strip will be that colour. Addressable RGB lets you set every individual LED to whatever colour you like separately, so you can have rainbows, moving patterns, gradients etc.

Does he need the strips to be addressable? The non-addressable starter kit you linked earlier would work straight off the bat. That would just leave the case LEDs.

I'm afraid I didn't find a controller that would do ARGB via software for under £30, I stopped looking about there.
 
Thanks both of you for the info,

After speaking with him yeah he wants addressable RGB (rainbow puke) lol.

So his only option is buy a HUE+ or Corsair Commander Pro kit (£49-55) and these will only function his LED strips (and additional fans he purchases)..
The actual motherboard and case lighting need to be seperate because they will connect via internal usb rather than the 4pin header.

Sound right?
 
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Sadly this sounds correct.

I'm pretty sure all ARGB are electrically the same and you could splice wires together but a) it requires skills and tools and time and b) I haven't tried it.

Hopefully you can find a solution. Maybe a halfway solution for now, and an upgrade plan for next birthday or similar?
 
Returning the Tomahawk board within 14 days, and getting a Pro Carbon which does have 5v Digital RGB (as well as normal 12v RGB), would be a bit cheaper.
 
Passed the info on.. basically told him:

Phanteks case is controlled by button on top of case
Motherboard is controlled by MSI software in windows
Gigabyte card is controlled by software in windows.
(these cannot be joined together must change individually)

As for LED strips the options were:

Phanteks RGB LED Kit - £14
This will give him the ability to change between solid colours or fading effect between colours (also uses its own controller box)

Corsair RGB Lighting Node Pro - £48
This will give him the ability to change a variety of colours and modes (inc rainbow wave) and uses a software in windows called iCue. This also will be useful if he adds additional LED fans by Corsair or Mouse/Keyboard.

NZXT Hue+ 2 - £60
Similar to the Corsair above but personally the fans on Corsair look better and Corsair have more peripherals.

Sound good?
 
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Yep. Its a PITA with these two different standards. If I knew then 3 months ago when I built my latest rig what I know now I would've bought the gaming pro carbon & made the rig build much simpler.
 
I think that's reasonable advice. Personally I hate the idea of lots of different software and would rather hack things together. But then I'm an electronic engineer and I haven't set up my own RGB rig yet, probably because it's still a bit messy! :P
 
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