[SOLVED] B550 Tomahawk ARGB Header Max Wattage!

[techsture]

Hi, recently built my gaming rig and chose a B550 Tomahawk featuring 2 ARGB Headers. First (JRAINBOW1) is used for 3 propitiatory 6-pin argb case fans (which are also connected to PSU via SATA, each fan 18 LEDs/1.8W - is all power drawn by PSU, or also by mobo?) and the second one (JRAINBOW2 )is used for (DeepCool MF150GT) 3 aftermarket propitiatory 3-pin argb fans with the specs below (don't know if these numbers are for total 3 fans of the package or for 1. Also total LEDs are 60 (20 each)

LED Connector	3-pin(+5V-D-G)
LED Rated Voltage	5 VDC
LED Rated Current	0.74 A±10%
LED Power Consumption	3.7 W

Obviously I connect these 6 total fans to the 2 headers, through 2 rgb hubs (3+3 for propitiatory connectors of 2 different brands) Now I want to add (x2 Phanteks Neon Digital RGB LED Strip M5) argb led strips from a third different brand with ''propitiatory'' 3pin connectors, tho I think I will be able to connect them to exactly the same female 3pin headers of the one already existed DeepCool hub (which ends to JRAINBOW2 where the 3 fans with the above specs are connected) These strips are 5V, total 76 LEDs (38 each) KS6812, with a maximum of 1,14A, 5,7W each (total 11,4W for 2 strips) Mobo's manual says 'The JRAINBOW connector supports up to 75 LEDs WS2812B Individually Addressable RGB LED strips (5V/Data/Ground) with the maximum power rating of 3A 5V (so 15W) In the case of 20% brightness, the connector supports up to 200 LEDs. Questions is, will I be able to safely connect these strips to my mobo, or something bad will happen? Don't know exactly what math should I do to solve this. If my mobo can't eventually handle it, is there any other way to power these strips but also to control them via mobo? Thanks in advance for every possible answer!!

 

[Newtonius]

Something like this should do the trick. Powered by SATA directly from the PSU (SATA is about 54W) and has 3 & 4 pin that go straight into motherboard for color and PWM controls. This may not be the exact controller you may want but hopefully it gives you an idea of what options are available.

 

[techsture]

Something like this should do the trick. Powered by SATA directly from the PSU (SATA is about 54W) and has 3 & 4 pin that go straight into motherboard for color and PWM controls. This may not be the exact controller you may want but hopefully it gives you an idea of what options are available.

So the solution is an extra controller like this, since the argb header is safe and it's only for rgb control, while all power to the LEDS on the controller is drawn by PSU?
If its powered by the mobo's header, what's the worst thing that could happen if it can't handle the wattage of all RGB fans/strips?

 

[Newtonius]

So the solution is an extra controller like this, since the argb header is safe and it's only for rgb control, while all power to the LEDS on the controller is drawn by PSU?
If its powered by the mobo's header, what's the worst thing that could happen if it can't handle the wattage of all RGB fans/strips?

Motherboard most likely has an overcurrent protection in-place and will simply just not turn on the LEDs if you exceed max power. This controller bypasses power needed from the mobo and simply draws whatever it needs from the PSU. You can simply plug all your fans into this one controller and everything would be in sync.

 

[techsture]

Motherboard most likely has an overcurrent protection in-place and will simply just not turn on the LEDs if you exceed max power. This controller bypasses power needed from the mobo and simply draws whatever it needs from the PSU. You can simply plug all your fans into this one controller and everything would be in sync.

Are you sure the hub in the link you posted can handle 54W? I don't see that in specs. I found this coolermaster hub and it says POWER SAFETY CURRENT: 4.5 A (Max) and RGB SAFETY CURRENT: 2.0 A (1 Port) / Total 4.5 A ( 6 Ports) That means a total of 22,5W, I mean is the coolermaster so much weaker or I don't get something here? Can't I put more than 2A in a port and why 6 ports max at only 4,5A?

 

[Newtonius]

Are you sure the hub in the link you posted can handle 54W? I don't see that in specs. I found this coolermaster hub and it says POWER SAFETY CURRENT: 4.5 A (Max) and RGB SAFETY CURRENT: 2.0 A (1 Port) / Total 4.5 A ( 6 Ports) That means a total of 22,5W, I mean is the coolermaster so much weaker or I don't get something here? Can't I put more than 2A in a port and why 6 ports max at only 4,5A?

It's not 54W for the RGB, I should've specified that I was talking only about a single SATA line is 54W, the fans draw 12v (rgb draws 5v). That controller I linked is the exact same as the cooler master one; 2A per port - 4.5A max, so get either one. If you don't think 1 controller can provide enough power then you can get another one I suppose. Though it too has an over volt limit, so if all your fans on 1 controller is too much, you'll find out at bootup.

 

[techsture]

It's not 54W for the RGB, I should've specified that I was talking only about a single SATA line is 54W, the fans draw 12v (rgb draws 5v). That controller I linked is the exact same as the cooler master one; 2A per port - 4.5A max, so get either one. If you don't think 1 controller can provide enough power then you can get another one I suppose. Though it too has an over volt limit, so if all your fans on 1 controller is too much, you'll find out at bootup.

Then I guess I have to do some good math. An idea to avoid another controller, is to do this, connect the 3pin male of the deepcool rgb hub (in which I can connect individually the 2 3pin Phanteks led strips) into a 3pin female-to- (x2) 3pin male connectors, one for the argb and the other for PSU. As you can see in the pic I can connect it to only one or the other, so I put it in mobo argb header for control. This way I can have argb signal and power draw from the psu too. Problem is I can't find such an adaptor, all I see is the opposite (3pin male-to-(x2) 3pin female.

 

[Newtonius]

Then I guess I have to do some good math. An idea to avoid another controller, is to do this, connect the 3pin male of the deepcool rgb hub (in which I can connect individually the 2 3pin Phanteks led strips) into a 3pin female-to- (x2) 3pin male connectors, one for the argb and the other for PSU. As you can see in the pic I can connect it to only one or the other, so I put it in mobo argb header for control. This way I can have argb signal and power draw from the psu too. Problem is I can't find such an adaptor, all I see is the opposite (3pin male-to-(x2) 3pin female.

If all you're plugging in here are just 6 PWM FANS with ARGB cables as well, you should be fine with the controller I sent or the cooler master variant you found. If each ARGB port uses about 3.75W then 6 of them will use exactly 22.5W. And then the Fans draw from the 12V on the other SATA pins, using all available power left. You should be fine.

 

[techsture]

If all you're plugging in here are just 6 PWM FANS with ARGB cables as well, you should be fine with the controller I sent or the cooler master variant you found. If each ARGB port uses about 3.75W then 6 of them will use exactly 22.5W. And then the Fans draw from the 12V on the other SATA pins, using all available power left. You should be fine.

I want to plug in 3 PWM ARGB fans (the other 3 are 6-pin cougar plug, that I already connect to the PSU anyways) and the 2 led strips (for a total of exactly 4,5A lol). As far as strips and the fan power we are ok but since each one of the fans RGB consumes 0,74A with a total of 2.22A (in one argb header-I couldn't individually connect them to the hub because they are 3-pin non argb, so they would connect through the DeepCool hub) which is a lil bit more than 2A per port, is it gonna be a problem? I mean they wont light at all, or just be less bright?

 

[Karadjgne]

Argb is a pwm signal. That's all that's necessary. 5v power can come from anywhere. And that's what a hub does. It provides upto 4.5A of Sata 5v to power the lights, the pwm signal just sets the address of each individual light and it's color.

So the header on the motherboard has only 1 job. Provide the pwm signal.

Given enough Sata plugs and a psu to push them, you can daisy chain upto 16x 6way hubs, or 72 fans worth of ARGB before running into pwm signal strength limits. All from a single JRainbow header.

ARGB and fan operation are 2 seperate things, 2 individual circuits, 5v and 12v. But ARGB itself is also the same, 2 individual circuits. 1 data and 1 power. They aren't combined anywhere except output to ground.

So as long as you can supply the correct voltage and sufficient amperage to the fan/strip, the only other concern is the signal from the header.

RGB is just the opposite. Where ARGB is a digital, front sided led, RGB is an analog back sided led. It gets power through all 3 filaments, ending in the 3 color wires which are grounds. Change the impedence on the ground wire and that changes the amperage through the filiment, changes the brightness of that filiment and its visible saturation.

If you think of ARGB as a pwm fan with its adaptability and limitations and a RGB as a 3pin DC fan with its limitations, you'd not be far off the truth.

 

[techsture]

Argb is a pwm signal. That's all that's necessary. 5v power can come from anywhere. And that's what a hub does. It provides upto 4.5A of Sata 5v to power the lights, the pwm signal just sets the address of each individual light and it's color.

So the header on the motherboard has only 1 job. Provide the pwm signal.

Given enough Sata plugs and a psu to push them, you can daisy chain upto 16x 6way hubs, or 72 fans worth of ARGB before running into pwm signal strength limits. All from a single JRainbow header.

ARGB and fan operation are 2 seperate things, 2 individual circuits, 5v and 12v. But ARGB itself is also the same, 2 individual circuits. 1 data and 1 power. They aren't combined anywhere except output to ground.

So as long as you can supply the correct voltage and sufficient amperage to the fan/strip, the only other concern is the signal from the header.

RGB is just the opposite. Where ARGB is a digital, front sided led, RGB is an analog back sided led. It gets power through all 3 filaments, ending in the 3 color wires which are grounds. Change the impedence on the ground wire and that changes the amperage through the filiment, changes the brightness of that filiment and its visible saturation.

If you think of ARGB as a pwm fan with its adaptability and limitations and a RGB as a 3pin DC fan with its limitations, you'd not be far off the truth.

Never actually thought of ARGB as PWM because we need 2 separate cables for such a fan to actually have adressable RGB and speed control. Also because of the different voltages. Thank you for this analysis. I am just concerned about per-port max amperage/wattage on both mobo and external hub. I must be sure any extra RGBs in my system won't come with a sacrifice. So overheading a hub argb port (powered by psu) or even a mobo argb header (self powered) by some A (2.22A instead of 2A) won't be a problem, right?

 

[Karadjgne]

An argb fan is nothing more than an argb strip glued to the fan, that's why the seperate cables. 2 different circuits. With argb its 3pin, 5v power, ground and data, basically exactly the same as a pwm fan without the speed sensor at a different voltage. So you can power that 5v from anywhere, the data wire being priority from somewhere.

The only way to really overload a hub is with splitters, where 2 fans are sharing one port of the hub for a total of 12 fans. Then some math is needed. But generally a max of 10 fans/strips is the limit for power on a single Sata from the psu.

All a hub does is share the signal and provide external power, so there's no danger at all of overloading a header.

You could easily power 11 fans from 2x 6way hubs daisy chained, you'd just need a single input signal from a header and 2x Sata. Or you could run 12 fans with 2x headers and 2x Sata. The signals from the headers all going back to the same source, the software supplying them.

But like a owm fan system, that only applies to the ARGB lighting. Non addressable RGB is entirely different, although you can find RGB hubs that use a pwm signal.