Question Help with connecting RGB fans please ?

[theusernamealreadyexists]

My niece wanted me to change her PC tower case as she wanted a white one and white RGB fans. I wish I’d never offered to help…

I got her a CORSAIR 3000D RGB case with three AR120 RGB fans. Each of the new fans has two leads, one I presume is power and the other RGB lights. I’ve managed to get a splitter to take power from the motherboard and split it four ways to power the three new fans at the front and another fan at the back which I moved over from the old case. The CPU fan has its own power feed. But I’ve no idea how to get all the lights on the fans to power up. There is a socket on the motherboard called LED or the like and has four pins, and that does light up the lights on the fan at the back of the PC which connects to the motherboard with a socket which accepts all four pins from the motherboard.

Can I get a splitter which goes from the motherboard to all four RGB fans?

It needs to be, as far as I can tell, have one female socket to accept four pins the motherboard end (left in attached image), and four male sockets the other end (right socket in the attached image). The motherboard is: Gigabyte H610M S2H DDR 4

Thanks. It seems overly complicated for my simple brain and I can’t see anything like what I need online which makes me wonder if I’m doing something wrong. I can find female sockets with three pins (5v I presume), but everything I have needs four pins.

James

 

[Aeacus]

My niece wanted me to change her PC tower case as she wanted a white one and white RGB fans. I wish I’d never offered to help…

Should've made topic here before buying any hardware and not after.
But i digress.

Can I get a splitter which goes from the motherboard to all four RGB fans?

Sadly, the technologies are different between the two and you can't combine them.

On the regular +12V RGB header (4-pin), all LEDs of a primary color (R, G, B) are chained together and act simultaneously depending on the input signal. This makes individual LED addressing impossible.

Pinout:
pin #1 - +12V
pin #2 - G (green color)
pin #3 - R (red color)
pin #4 - B (blue color)

On the +5V RGB header (3-pin), there is LED driver control for each RGB LED package that translates the serial information coming in through the data pin into a specific output for that LED package it is attached to. That method makes single LED addressing possible.

Pinout:
pin #1 - +5V
pin #2 - data
pin #3 - empty (no pin)
pin #4 - ground

Plugging the 3-pin RGB connector to the 4-pin RGB header fries the LEDs since you'd be feeding more than twice the voltage to them (12V vs 5V). And even if the addressable LEDs somehow survive the initial power up, there's no data pin in the 4-pin RGB header to control the LEDs.

AR120 RGB fans.

These fans have addressable LEDs in them and based on your picture, also have proprietary connector for LEDs. Meaning that you have to use ARGB control unit that accepts 3-pin +5V ARGB connector, to control the LEDs. The ARGB adapter is already included with the PC case.

Cooler Master has one such ARGB control unit,
specs: https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/coolers/rgb-accessories/argb-led-controller/

 

[Paperdoc]

Aeacus is right (above). But there's another wrinkle. Corsair uses non-standard connectors on the LIGHTING cable from each fan, so you need an adapter if you want to connect them to a common mobo 3-pin ARGB header. I believe that case came with that adapter cable, but that only helps if your mobo HAS a 3-pin ARGB header to use! From your post I suspect it does not, but post back here exactly what maker and model is your mobo.

Assuming it does not, you need a third-party ARGB Controller to power and control the displays of those fans' lights. Cooler Master makes one as Aeacus said. Corsair also sold one, the Lighting Node Core, and it has output ports WITH the non-standard connector type so you can plug your fan lighting cables into them directly. Web page here

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/p/amb...ing-controller-cl-8930009#tab-packagecontents

I found one available through Amazon, although others may have it. Not sure if it still is being made.

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-RGB-...ix=Corsair+Lighting+Node,aps,101&sr=8-29&th=1

That calls it a "Fan Hub", but it actually does NOTHING for fan MOTORS. It is ONLY for the ARGB LIGHTS in Corsair fans. Installation video here

https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042572531-How-to-Install-a-Lighting-Node-Core

As you see it connects to a SATA power output connector from the PSU for power, and to a mobo USB2 header. Then the fan lighting cables plug into ports, starting from Port #1. You must download for free and run the Corsair utility iCUE which uses that USB connection to communicate with the Lighting Node Core unit. It does NOT make ANY connection to a mobo lighting header, so you can't plug it into the wrong one!

 

[theusernamealreadyexists]

Thanks.

This is the mother board: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/H610M-S2H-DDR4-rev-10#kf

The code on the power lead from the new fans reads: Corsair RWF0093 and the label says they are 12v.

 

[Paperdoc]

I find it frustrating that the Corsair website does not recognize that number Corsair RWF0093. The do show different product codes on their web pages, but not one formatted like that. However, I'm pretty sure all Corsair ARGB fans use the same connectors.

Thanks for the mobo detail. Its manual confirms it has only one lighting header, and it is the OTHER design - the 4-pin (12 VDC power ) plain RGB system - not the newer ARGB system. You DO need a Controller to use those lights.

In addition to the Lighting Node Core unit I linked to from Amazon, I found these on eBay. Both claim to be new and sold / shipping from locations in the USA. First one is US$18, free shipping within the USA.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/305383531783?epid=16042977359&hash=item471a46e507:g:VSMAAOSweARjIPc8&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAA8B5MelBdckjDimOaAaB4JHRVvNWSSwF5JmMh6NlpGb5tdRYCRiHr2JzIQV8J15Q6l67nLTizhzlzTUesVARbRWdfJQjvdIqWLunOAtBCy2J3X7GtRlBg1NH2XfFISXm8S/02fPeLAS8nMnSWq6vuFQUQTgd/oVHCai36BBkhaLYt0Ay8BtgSUe4EDqni2etDMgWTz7Q3G/0f+EFcnHzEFCzZ14Dty58Zt5Eluv7urf8aURabE2CXALMMBdbl2b21JQWkErcb27gKuH7VX0CPIq+2sC/zyGtV6Hc+IuzELTne7pjZTPxNPy2HOIcD6S1eIA==|tkp:Bk9SR8z0zvOzYw

Next is much higher asking price, but "or Best Offer". Price asked is US$50 plus $5 shipping.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/313781660366?hash=item490ed82ace:g:mNgAAOSwk8hgVxor&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAA8HtYbymRy5rmzN7jXJ8EKM2quGS3ZZmL9GdN27b0WU3Ku2ejytWY9jTxmg5SmgCGwNz3Ljy2yaEt7NyIkHPff1MOlAZ77auTPOOy9osQs62WxSwlZw/Dj4PLm6bjjN/9AGnjNyOtnABJONEWQ4403oJu9EMqfTlVA0lXU4X3nI9CU/iFklCD7S/G0+IMupsVuZziKDZqiisf9v40CDiRPLaM64QMxjOhkGtThcqij4g+lesZeTIar5gTQl4rhCg0C6b6E5R5Rc+85EJKeEs7LjnpTExpB97dbWZdZ1Dztjvsy8RjzeQqWvyFKBmoq0HNjw==|tkp:Bk9SR8z0zvOzYw

The one I linked earlier from Amazon was new, of course, priced at US$34.99 if you choose Fulfilled by Amazon themselves, but that is JUST under the "free shipping" limit so you'd pay a bit more than that. ALL of this assumes you are in the USA and shipping would be priced that way.

Do NOT buy the Lighting Node Pro - it is an earlier product design and NOT a Controller. Note that the more recent Commander Core XT is a more complex unit that also handles fan MOTOR controls and you don't need that one.

 

[Aeacus]

However, I'm pretty sure all Corsair ARGB fans use the same connectors.

Corsair has made a change with their ARGB fans and connection methods.

Old design is the 4-pin proprietary connector, that works with Lighting Node Pro and Commander Pro. OP's fans are of old design. So are: LL120, SP120, QL120.
New design is called "iCUE LINK" and uses completely different proprietary connector, that works with new iCUE LINK. Like: iCUE LINK QX120.
The new controller box: https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/p/pc-...9011116-ww/icue-link-system-hub-cl-9011116-ww
And full list of new iCUE LINK hardware (including cables): https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/c/icue-link-components?page=1&pageSize=36

I find it frustrating that the Corsair website does not recognize that number Corsair RWF0093.

RWF0093 is AR120 ARGB fan.

Found installation manual,
link: https://device.report/manual/8970854

And if you do page search there to look for the RWF0093 code, you'll find it to be listed under "Decleration of Conformity" towards the bottom of that page.

 

[Paperdoc]

Aeacus, thanks for that heads-up! So Corsair now has a new power-and-control system for several of their accessory devices. It is designed for daisy-chain connections among units, and is basically a data and power bus system. Corsair has continued to update their designs. First it was single-function units and sometimes you needed two or more of them for a whole job. Then they combined some units into single boxes with several functions. All these were done in the Hub-and-Spoke system of wiring. This daisy chain bus system is a new direction for them. But it necessarily means their new devices and cables do not fit directly into other makers' systems. That's not a big problem since the Corsair design concept has their equipment take over from mobo services to do all power and control of Corsair devices in this product family. The only link to mobo services is the USB2 connection for the iCUE LINK software to communicate with their Hub.

As you say, this does not pertain to OP's needs in this thread, but it WILL be important to others, and me.