[SOLVED] Need help with ARGB with 4 pin headers

VenXxx

Commendable
Feb 8, 2020
6
0
1,510
Hello,
I need help and explanation on how to use this ARGB headers with 4 Pin headers(FANS).
my case is MSI FORGE 100R and it comes with 2 argb fans(1 argb header and 4 pin header(the PWM)) and one ordinary 120mm fan(4pin) and a argb controler without 4pin**.
(I have seen Tecware Forge M with OmniHub. "Omni Fans" so called ARGB-sync and **PWM-Sync) and my motherboard is B660M DS3H AX(it has 1-CPU fan and 3-Sys_Pins for the 4pin header)

and my question is Do I need to plug the 4pin headers to the system fans to power it? and what if, I need to add some fans and I'm gonna run out of Sys_pins for it?
Do I need to buy another controller? Please educate me, its my first time with this argb.(because I'm poor)
And if i need to buy another controller. can you give me some recommendation?

Thank you.
 

Paperdoc

Polypheme
Ambassador
You are being confused by use of the labels "3-pin" and "4-pin". Unfortunately BOTH of those labels are in common use for two VERY different and separate things! No wonder you are confused!

Lighted fans are really two devices in one unit: a fan MOTOR and blades, and LIGHTS in the fan frame. Each of these has its own separate cable for connections, as you see in your two front fans.

Fan MOTORS come in two main types now. The older design uses a 3-pin connector on its cable that is about 3/8" wide with 3 holes and two ridges running down one side. This plugs into a mobo fan header that has a plastic finger sticking up beside the pins, and the ridges fit around the finger. There is only one way to plug in. The newer design uses a very similar (slightly wider) connector but with FOUR holes, and this type is called a 4-pin fan or PWM fan. Designers of these deliberately made them as similar as possible to the older type, so you CAN plug any 3- pin OR 4-pin fan into any 3-pin or 4-pin mobo male header (with pins). So today on mobos ALL fan headers have 4 pins, and there are options in fan header configuration in BIOS Setup to set the header for which fan type you have plugged in. I believe all your fans have 4-pin MOTORS, so their cables all will have 4 holes.

LIGHTS in the frames now also come in two varieties, and their electrical characteristics are so different you can NOT mix the two types on one circuit. The simpler type are called plain RGB lights, and they use a connection system with FOUR pins in the mobo header (4 holes on the cable end) that supply a common +12 VDC power line and three separate Ground lines, one for each of the three basic colour LED's in the light strip. The header for this (and the cable female plug) are wider than a fan motor connector. The more complex system is called Addressable RGB or ADDR RGB or ARGB or Digital RGB. Its connector has THREE pins (looks like the 4-pin one, but missing one pin) that provide common +5 VDC and Ground lines and a single digital Control Line. Your two front fans, OP, are this latter ARGB type with connecting cables that have THREE holes.

Your case comes with those three fans and includes a small Hub unit. This particular Hub is for the LIGHTS only and actually is a simple Controller for those lights. So you plug into two of its output ports the LIGHTING cables with 3 holes from each of the front fans.That Hub also has two other cables. One connects to the case's top panel LED button. The other probably goes to your mobo's only ARGB header - unfortunately your case manual does NOT make this clear at all. Specifically, this second cable should have a connector on its end with THREE holes - looks like it had 4 but one blocked off. See p. 4 and p. 21 of your mobo manual. The ARGB header with THREE pins you need is labelled D_LED at bottom middle - do NOT try to connect to the 4-pin LED_C header right next to it. Note that this Hub is NOT the same as the OmniHub you cited.

SPECIAL NOTE: Your case manual is not clear on this connection. The cable going from one end of the Controller board to a lighting header may actually have FOUR wires and may have a connector on the end with FOUR holes. If that is so, post back here for more detailed instructions and do NOT plug that in until we get this clear.

The lighting controller board in your case operates this way. IF you had no ARGB header on your mobo to use, the Controller allows you to change the light displays in the front fans using the button on top of the case. But since you DO have the required ARGB header and can connect the cable to that, now you can hold down the case button for at least three seconds and it will turn over control of those lights to the mobo header. THEN you install and use the MSI utility Mystic Light to configure your lights.

Now, back to your fan MOTORS. The cooler for your CPU should be plugged into the mobo CPU_FAN header near the top front. The MOTOR cables from the three case ventilation fans (2 front with lights, and one rear no lights) should go to the three SYS_FAN headers - see mobo manual p. 18 (key no. 4) and 20. In BIOS Setup just configure all three of these headers the same way so all of them operate the same.
 
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