Question Looking for RGB strip that I can control with Motherboard/software instead of remote (Help)

EpicSurvivor

Golden Member
Aug 14, 2012
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So I want to get an RGB strip that I can control with the Motherboard or Aorus Software instead of having a small receiver box and having to use a remote control with the RGB colors on it. Can anyone make any suggestions?

Thanks
 

Paperdoc

Platinum Member
Aug 17, 2006
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To start with, tell us your mobo maker and exact mobo model number. The type of physical RGB header (4-pin plain RGB or 3-pin ARGB) you have will determine which type of lights you can use with it.
 

EpicSurvivor

Golden Member
Aug 14, 2012
1,044
48
91
To start with, tell us your mobo maker and exact mobo model number. The type of physical RGB header (4-pin plain RGB or 3-pin ARGB) you have will determine which type of lights you can use with it.
Not 100% about the headers I don't have the manual in hand but its an Aorus Z390 PRO board
 

Paperdoc

Platinum Member
Aug 17, 2006
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You can download the mobo manual from here


There are two types of RGB lighting systems. The plain RGB system uses a 4-pin mobo header that supplies a common 12 VDC pin and three separate Ground lines, one for each of the three LED colours (Red, Green, Blue). By manipulating the three Ground lines it can generate a huge range of colours. Along the strip ALL of the LED locations show the same colour, so the whole strip is one colour at any given moment.

The more complex Addressable RGB (ADDR RGB, ARGB, Digital RGB) uses a 3-pin header (looks like the 4-pin one with one pin missing) that contains common +5 VDC and Ground pins and a digital Control Line that carries addressed info packets. Along the strip the LED's all are in Nodes, with each Node containing one LED of each of 3 colours plus a control chip that listens to that Control Line. When it gets an instruction addressed to it, it does that display with its three LED's. Thus at any given moment all of the Nodes along the strip can be different colours, and you can see more complex displays like a rainbow that chases itself along the strip.

Because both the Voltage supply and the display control methods are so very different, you can NOT mix lights of the two different systems in one circuit on a header.

YOUR mobo has two header of EACH of these types. There is one of each type at top right, and one of each at bottom closer to the rear (See p. 15). the plain RGB ones are labelled LED_Cn, and the Addressable ones are labelled D_LEDn. It also has an uncommon feature to accommodate a version not very common any more: each D_LEDn header has an associated set of jumper pins labelled DLED_V_SWn. It has a jumper you must set to select the voltage supply on the D_LEDn header, and this allows use of a (now rare) version of addressable RGB that did use 12 VDC. Set yours to the 5 VDC setting.

The headers on your mobo use a pin pattern that is now VERY widely used so many consider them "standard". Most commercial light strips (and fans that contain RGB or ARGB lighting in their frames) have this type of connector on them. However, some companies who got into this market early used different connectors on their units (even though, electrically, they all are the same) and have not changed. For these, it is common now that they may include with their lighting units an adapter cord to allow you to plug their "non-standard" lights into a "standard" mobo header. Keep an eye out for this when buying. MANY lighting "kits" designed for use with mobos that do NOT have any RGB headers include lights and a controller box and maybe a remote control unit, and the connectors on all of the system are non-standard so you can only use the parts in their system. Very often you can NOT connect these to a "standard' mobo header.

To help you recognize connectors, here is an extension cable for the plain RGB (4-pin) system


Note that it has female (with holes) connectors on both ends, and comes with a little gender-changer adapter to plug into ONE end to convert it to male.

Here is a corresponding one for a 3-pin ADDR RGB system.


See the difference?

NOTE that, on a 4-pin system, each connector has one end of it marked as the 12 VDC line (you can see that in the link above), and there is a similar mark on the pins of the mobo header. Because it is possible to plug it in either way around, YOU must be SURE to align the marks when you make any connection. On the 3-pin ADDR RGB system you cannot plug it in backwards because of the pin arrangement.

If you need more than two headers of one type to allow several lighting units, you can get plain RGB (4-pin) or ADDR RGB (3-pin) SPLITTERS that convert one header into two or more (up to five?) outputs. The limit here is that most mobo headers of this type can supply up to 3.0 A max load, so you need to know the max current required by the LIGHTS ONLY in whatever device you plan to plug in. (For example, in a "RGB Fan", the current for the fan MOTOR (which has its own separate power cable) is NOT part of the lighting load of that unit.)
 
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EpicSurvivor

Golden Member
Aug 14, 2012
1,044
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You can download the mobo manual from here


There are two types of RGB lighting systems. The plain RGB system uses a 4-pin mobo header that supplies a common 12 VDC pin and three separate Ground lines, one for each of the three LED colours (Red, Green, Blue). By manipulating the three Ground lines it can generate a huge range of colours. Along the strip ALL of the LED locations show the same colour, so the whole strip is one colour at any given moment.

The more complex Addressable RGB (ADDR RGB, ARGB, Digital RGB) uses a 3-pin header (looks like the 4-pin one with one pin missing) that contains common +5 VDC and Ground pins and a digital Control Line that carries addressed info packets. Along the strip the LED's all are in Nodes, with each Node containing one LED of each of 3 colours plus a control chip that listens to that Control Line. When it gets an instruction addressed to it, it does that display with its three LED's. Thus at any given moment all of the Nodes along the strip can be different colours, and you can see more complex displays like a rainbow that chases itself along the strip.

Because both the Voltage supply and the display control methods are so very different, you can NOT mix lights of the two different systems in one circuit on a header.

YOUR mobo has two header of EACH of these types. There is one of each type at top right, and one of each at bottom closer to the rear (See p. 15). the plain RGB ones are labelled LED_Cn, and the Addressable ones are labelled D_LEDn. It also has an uncommon feature to accommodate a version not very common any more: each D_LEDn header has an associated set of jumper pins labelled DLED_V_SWn. It has a jumper you must set to select the voltage jumper supply on the D_LEDn header, and this allows use of a (now rare) version of addressable RGB that did use 12 VDC. Set yours to the 5 VDC setting.

The headers on your mobo use a pin pattern that is now VERY widely used so many consider them "standard". Most commercial light strips (and fans that contain RGB or ARGB lighting in their frames) have this type of connector on them. However, some companies who got into this market early used different connectors on their units (even though, electrically, they all are the same) and have not changed. For these, it is common now that they may include with their lighting units an adapter cord to allow you to plug their "non-standard" lights into a "standard" mobo header. Keep an eye out for this when buying. MANY lighting "kits" designed for use with mobos that do NOT have any RGB headers include lights and a controller box and maybe a remote control unit, and the connectors on all of the system are non-standard so you can only use the parts in their system. Very often you can NOT connect these to a "standard' mobo header.

To help you recognize connectors, here is an extension cable for the plain RGB (4-pin) system


Note that it has female (with holes) connectors on both ends, and comes with a little gender-changer adapter to plug into ONE end to convert it to male.

Here is a corresponding one for a 3-pin ADDR RGB system.


See the difference?

NOTE that, on a 4-pin system, each connector has one end of it marked as the 12 VDC line (you can see that in the link above), and there is a similar mark on the pins of the mobo header. Because it is possible to plug it in either way around, YOU must be SURE to align the marks when you make any connection. On the 3-pin ADDR RGB system you cannot plug it in backwards because of the pin arrangement.

If you need more than two headers of one type to allow several lighting units, you can get plain RGB (4-pin) or ADDR RGB (3-pin) SPLITTERS that convert one header into two or more (up to five?) outputs. The limit here is that most mobo headers of this type can supply up to 3.0 A max load, so you need to know the max current required by the LIGHTS ONLY in whatever device you plan to plug in. (For example, in a "RGB Fan", the current for the fan MOTOR (which has its own separate power cable) is NOT part of the lighting load of that unit.)
Wow thank you for the detailed reply.
 

EpicSurvivor

Golden Member
Aug 14, 2012
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You're welcome. Good luck planning your system.
Hey question. This picture (Below) is from the listing of the item I want to get. It shows that it comes with 2 sperate connections you can pick from to power the LED strip. The top connection on the screenshot says its for Gigabyte Motherboards and the bottom one is used for different manufacturers. However upon inspection of my Motherboard I noticed that the 5v 3pin connection on my motherboard is not the one labeled as Gigabyte Board (RGB Fusion) but instead is the second one from the screenshot used for other motherboards. I am worried if I use the 3pin connection used for the other brands (None gigabyte) that it could short my Motherboard. Any thoughts?
Here is the actual link to the RGB strip https://www.amazon.com/Extended-Com...ds=rgb+led+strip+for+pc&qid=1607906981&sr=8-8
RGB.JPG
 

EpicSurvivor

Golden Member
Aug 14, 2012
1,044
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Here is a picture (thumbnail) of the actual 3 Pin header on my motherboard for reference. As you can see it does not look the same as the one they label on the listing to be used for Gigabyte Motherboards will I have any issues?



131208591_10159119037091979_9199228648080573862_o.jpg
 
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Paperdoc

Platinum Member
Aug 17, 2006
2,459
353
126
You will have no problem. Most mobos that have a 3-pin ARGB header now use the type you have. There were a few others around and many have disappeared. Gigabyte may still use the type shown in the instructions, but the only difference is in the pin layout. Electrically all ARGB systems are the same. The light set you plan to buy comes with adapter cables so you can plug into either type of 3-pin mobo header.

Regarding electrical load, you need not worry. Just FYI, the LED units in a strip like that consume at max 20 mA (0.020 A) per unit. Those strips contain 21 LED units per strip, so 42 in total for the two strips. That's a max load of 0.84 A. The header normally can supply up to 3.0 A - check details in your mobo manual if you like.
 

EpicSurvivor

Golden Member
Aug 14, 2012
1,044
48
91
You will have no problem. Most mobos that have a 3-pin ARGB header now use the type you have. There were a few others around and many have disappeared. Gigabyte may still use the type shown in the instructions, but the only difference is in the pin layout. Electrically all ARGB systems are the same. The light set you plan to buy comes with adapter cables so you can plug into either type of 3-pin mobo header.

Regarding electrical load, you need not worry. Just FYI, the LED units in a strip like that consume at max 20 mA (0.020 A) per unit. Those strips contain 21 LED units per strip, so 42 in total for the two strips. That's a max load of 0.84 A. The header normally can supply up to 3.0 A - check details in your mobo manual if you like.
Thank you appreciate the help again. I just ordered the LED strip. Going to give a try but I am pretty certain it should work fine.
Thank you!