[SOLVED] ARGB case fan and motherboard combo

[davidbenpark]

I'm struggling to plan out a build as I don't quite understand how to get a simple mobo/case combo that will play nice together.

My aim is to have a case with 4 ARGB fans where the fans aren't always running full throttle, and cannot easily be turned off entirely (it's for an 8 year old).

My plan is to:

• Buy a cheapish B450 mobo, either:
  • without an ARGB header (e.g. Tomahawk Max, Mortar Max)
  • with an ARGB header (e.g. Gigabyte B450 Aorus M or Msi b450 gaming pro carbon max Wifi)
• Buy a cheapish case with ARGB fans and it's own fan hub, like one of these:
  • Gamemax Black Hole: http://www.gamemax.uk/index.php/products/cases/black-hole-argb-mid-tower/
  • Gamemax Kamikaze Pro: http://www.gamemax.uk/index.php/products/cases/kamikaze-pro-argb-mid-tower/
  • CiT Raider: https://www.cclonline.com/product/2...-Spectrum-RGB-Fans-Aura-Sync-Support/CAS3451/

I'm trying to make life as easy as possible and not worry about 12V, 5V, 3 PIN, 4 PIN combinations as it's proving a little too complicated for me.

What would be a nice, simple mobo and case setup to achieve ARGB fans with simple speed control?

Sorry if the question is a bit vague but I'm totally confused! Any help would be really appreciated.

 

[Myst_8362]

You need a ARGB header so get whatever’s cheaper and see if it is compatible
p.s that kid is lucky

 

[Jacozeelie]

What is your budget and what monitor resolution is needed?

 

[davidbenpark]

What is your budget and what monitor resolution is needed?

Hey Jacozeelie.

Bolded the important bit below in case tl;dr.

Budget for build is ideally £450 ($620). I'm thinking for other than the mobo and CPU:

• Case with ARGB fans: £50 ($70)
• RAM 16GB 3200Mhz: £60 ($80)
• SSD: £50 ($70)
• PSU: £50 ($70)

= Total £210 ($290)

So about £240 ($330) left for Mobo and CPU.

Due to the lack of CPU and GPUs right now, I'm just getting a Ryzen 5 3400G APU in a bundle with a motherboard (I can't even find the APU in stock on it's own). Eventually though, I'd like to get him a CPU and GPU upgrade for 2K gaming.

My mobo options are pretty much restricted to these (with 3400G included):

No ARGB header:

• Asus B450M-K Motherboard: £210 ($290)
• Asus TUF B450M-PLUS GAMING: £240 ($330)
• Asus B450-PLUS Motherboard: £240 ($330)
• MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX: £259 ($355)

Has ARGB header (I think):

• Gigabyte B450 AORUS M: £230 ($315)
• Gigabyte B450 AORUS PRO: £259 ($355)
• MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON MAX WIFI: £300 ($410)

I'm so close with the build, but just stuck on the whole ARGB fans thing. Not sure how to choose a case and mobo combo that are compatible out of the box and allow fan speeds to auto adjust. I think ARGB header on mobo is a must, but not sure what to look for spec wise on the case fan hub to ensure it suits the mobo fan connectors without any extra bits or fuss.

Thanks again for any help in advance!

 

[Jacozeelie]

Some mobo's only have one rgb header which means you will need to buy a rgb splitter, or a 10 way splitter controller if you want to use a few rgb fans and lights.

All mobos can auto opperate the fans on default. It is when you want your pc to stay under sertan temps when you need to do some fancurve tuning.

How many lights, fans do you intend to install in your case? What make and model is the case?

 

[davidbenpark]

Some mobo's only have one rgb header which means you will need to buy a rgb splitter, or a 10 way splitter controller if you want to use a few rgb fans and lights.

All mobos can auto opperate the fans on default. It is when you want your pc to stay under sertan temps when you need to do some fancurve tuning.

How many lights, fans do you intend to install in your case? What make and model is the case?

Thanks for helping out The cases I'm looking at all come with 3 or 4 ARGB fans pre-installed in a hub, but they all have different hub/controller setups which is what's confusing me most.

They say they work even if you bypass the mobo, but that means they either work at full throttle all the time or you need to pick the fan speeds (not ideal for an 8 year old who might just turn them off ), so I think I need to hook them up via the mobo to auto control fan speeds. I'm just not sure what to look for to make sure the case hub will work with any given mobo.

Take the Gamemax Kamikaze Pro for example. It says:
"comes with a pre-installed A-RGB hub...connect up to 6 fans to the hub and sync all to your motherboard using one 3pin AURA connection that is pre-installed." - does this mean that I literally just need one argb header on the mobo and it'll all work? But then it mentions AURA, which is ASUS specific. Would it work on a Gigabyte mobo? And then it says it has a fan controller on the case which allows you to control the speed settings, but shouldn't the mobo do that by itself anyway?

Probably super dumb questions, but this is where I keep going round in circles!

 

[Jacozeelie]

Single RGB fan connection confusion...

Hi..I am in the middle of an ongoing Ryzen build...my motherboard is an Asus prime B450M-A which has a 12v rgb header for led strips... I will be using a Corsair Carbide 175R mid tower case for the system...now the 175R comes with a single front 120mm RGB fan..the fan has 2 cables, a 3 pin fan...

www.techpowerup.com

Some is 5v and some is 12v. Double check compatablity

 

[Jacozeelie]

[SOLVED] - Motherboard and case have different RGB headers

So, i purchased a ASUS TUF B450-PLUS GAMING motherboard and a Fortron CMT340 case. You can control the RGB effects via a button on the case, but the case is advertised as AURA sync-compatible. When i wanted to plug in the RGB, i discovered that my motherboard and case have different RGB headers...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[davidbenpark]

Single RGB fan connection confusion...

Hi..I am in the middle of an ongoing Ryzen build...my motherboard is an Asus prime B450M-A which has a 12v rgb header for led strips... I will be using a Corsair Carbide 175R mid tower case for the system...now the 175R comes with a single front 120mm RGB fan..the fan has 2 cables, a 3 pin fan...

www.techpowerup.com

Some is 5v and some is 12v. Double check compatablity

Ah crap, I thought all ARGB was 5V and it doesn't specify on product listings I can see.

I'll keep digging, thank you though!

 

[Jacozeelie]

No problem