[SOLVED] ARGB STRIP 3 PIN WITH A 4 PIN MOTHERBOARD

[skyzosnop]

Hey,

So I have a 3 pin led strip and I would like to use it inside my computer case.
Unfortunately, my motherboard only has 1 4 pin connector...
How can I use this strip on my pc?
Can I buy some sort of adapter, or something to control the led strip?
I'd like it to work like the 4 pin led strip I had which was controlled with software, is this possible?

 

[getochkn]

No most 3pin stuff is addressable and 5v where 4 pin is 12v and each led is not addressable. Buy the right led for the right connector

 

[Paperdoc]

Well, it is possible. But you'll have to decide on what cost, convenience and performance you want.

Plain RGB (4-pin, 12 VDC power) and Addressable RGB (3-pin, 5VDC power) systems are quite different end cannot be used together on one circuit. Moreover, the displays that can be generated by an ARGB system are much more elaborate. However, you CAN buy lighting Hubs that include the abilty to "translate" the signals for a 4-pin system on your mobo (operated by mobo software) into what can drive a 3-pin system safely. These are NOT a common feature in all plain RGB lighting Hubs, but some do exist. But doing that means you do not get all the fanciest light displays that an ARGB system can do. It only can do the displays a plain RGB system can do.

So, you can spend money for a translation-capable Hub to adapt the ARGB light strip you have to work with the plain RGB (4-pin) mobo header you have, under control of the software utility supplied free with your mobo. OR you can replace the ARGB strip you have with a plain RGB strip. Either of these options will get you plain RGB light displays powered and controlled by your mobo's plain RGB header using the software utility supplied with your mobo.

OR you can not use your mobo header, and buy a small ARGB Controller to feed your ARGB strip. For this last choice you need to be careful in picking the controller. The simplest ones are small boxes with manual buttons on them and you must be able to reach them inside your case to change display settings. Then there are ones that still use manual buttons, but they come in two parts. One part inside your case feeds the light strip. The other box with the buttons is a battery-powered hand-held remote control box you use outside the case to set displays. The third type (and there are not a lot of these) is an ARGB Controller box set up inside your case that connects to a mobo USB2 header, rather than to a lighting header. It uses that to communicate with the mobo, and you get with it a software utility supplied by the CONTROLLER maker, not by your mobo. You run that to use keyboard controls to adjust the Controller box settings for the full-feature displays by the ARGB light strip.