Question RGB cable from front panel to Mobo

LEANGIMPY

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Aug 1, 2011
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I have a Phantec Enthoo Pro 2 case and a MSI Pro Z690-A DDR4 Mobo
The case comes with RGB pre-wired cable from front panel with twin plugs. One is 3 pin fan connecter and the other a 4 pin male connecter.
The Mobo RGB port is a 4 pin male also so neither plug will connect
I would appreciate any assistance in helping me overcome this problem.
Perhaps I may be able to get a female/female adaptor
This is the final cable to fit in my new build
 
I have a Phantec Enthoo Pro 2 case and a MSI Pro Z690-A DDR4 Mobo
The case comes with RGB pre-wired cable from front panel with twin plugs. One is 3 pin fan connecter and the other a 4 pin male connecter.
The Mobo RGB port is a 4 pin male also so neither plug will connect
I would appreciate any assistance in helping me overcome this problem.
Perhaps I may be able to get a female/female adaptor
This is the final cable to fit in my new build
The case should have been prewired or come with an adapter. If not, you'll have to buy a splitter meant for phanteks or use their controller hub.

That's why I hate proprietary connections! It locks you into their ecosystem ensuring them of greater profits. It's also why I give a hard pass to these to the offerings of Corsair and Phanteks etc...
 
I have a Phantec Enthoo Pro 2 case and a MSI Pro Z690-A DDR4 Mobo
The case comes with RGB pre-wired cable from front panel with twin plugs. One is 3 pin fan connecter and the other a 4 pin male connecter.
The Mobo RGB port is a 4 pin male also so neither plug will connect
I would appreciate any assistance in helping me overcome this problem.
Perhaps I may be able to get a female/female adaptor
This is the final cable to fit in my new build
It should hook to the front panel the case has buttons to control the lights.

Front Ports4 x USB 3.0 / USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C / Audio / LED Mode Button / LED Color Button
 
OK, here are the details.

1. For the TWO connectors on that cable from the front panel, only ONE of them is to be used. The one with THREE holes (looks like it had 4 but one is blocked) is the one you plug into a mobo header. The 4-pin male one is intended as an output to feed to additional lighted fans made by Phanteks that use a non-standard connector. Since you don't have added fans not already connected together, you do not use this connector.

2. Your mobo has TWO DIFFERENT types of lighting headers, and you use only ONE type. The 4-pin male one you note at bottom rear labelled JRGB1 is NOT to be used here. Instead use one of the two 3-pin JRAINBOW headers at front top and bottom. See your manual p. 12 and 24.

3. In your CASE manual see the notes on p. 22. There are two buttons on the front of your case for lighting control. The case has its own light controller that uses these two manual buttons. One changes the display (MODE) type, and the other changes the colour. Note the instructions for using the MODE button to turn off the front lights, and to turn off ALL LED lights. When you do that second choice, the system then turns over all control of the lights to whatever your MOBO header (you plugged into that) wants. Then you use the MSI utility Mystic Light supplied with your mobo to control the lighting display from your keyboard and screen.
 
Appreciate your response but still a little confused.
I disregarded the rainbow port as there is a caution against trying to plug RGB into rainbow due to different voltages ( P24), but did note the 3 pins in a 4 pin configuration and I thought the rainbow port was for some kind of strip lighting that could be put into the casing.
I'm using two triple CM Masterfans SF360R's with PWM controller
You mention using the 4 pin ( 3 actually) plug into the rainbow port on the mobo but both are male although the pin configuration matches. A plain female to female connecter is difficult to locate in the UK.
Would you leave this cable redundant or try to obtain a f/f to connect to the rainbow port.
As you seem well conversant with the cabling systems could you comment on the following.
My PWM fan controller install instruction says to cable to the CPU fan port on the mobo and as there is but one such port I plugged the CPU fan into the PWM controller. Is this OK?????
I thank you for responding in a most helpful way and hope you are able to enlighten me further
Regards
LeanGimpy
 
Names and labels cause confusion. The recent multi-colour lighting systems started with RGB lights (Red / Green / Blue) and use a 4-pin connection system. Then came the more complex Addressable RGB (ARGB, Digital RGB) system which contains in each light strip a string of Nodes, each with one LED of those three colours plus a tiny controller chip. Each node has its own digital address, so the instructions arriving on the digital signal line tell it which of its three LED's to light. This allows each Node in the string to be different at the same time, creating many more possible display types. This system uses three-pin connectors. The majority of the market now has "standardized" on these two design types and the connector designs. But because of differences in both voltage supplied and control signal systems, you cannot mix the two types in one lighting string. That's why you see warnings never to try to plug one type into the OTHER type of header.

It happens that MSI chose to use a slightly different label on the ARGB headers - they call them JRAINBOW, because one distinctive display that system can do is a moving rainbow of colours in one light device. Since you have the ARGB lighting type in your fans, that IS the correct mobo header.

"3-pin" vs "4-pin" can be confusing. A lighted fan really is TWO devices in one unit - a fan MOTOR, and LIGHTS. Each has its own separate connecting cable to go to different mobo headers. The fan MOTORS come in two main designs. The older ones are controlled by Voltage supplied and use three wires and 3 PINS for connection. The newer PWM design uses one additional wire and thus 4 PINS. So we talk of 3-pin and 4-pin FANS, meaning the MOTORS of those fans. THEN came the addition of lights in frames, and guess what? The LIGHTS come in two types, one using 3 pins (ARGB) and the other using four (plain RGB). So those SAME labels get used for LIGHTS also, BUT there is NO relationship between motor and light connections.

The cable from your case front panel's lighting controller has two connectors on it. While one has 4 pins (male) in a locking connector shroud as an OUTPUT to feed more Phanteks fans' lights, the other is a FEMALE connector with THREE holes. That is the one to plug into a JRAINBOW header on the mobo to get that control signal to the case's lighting control board.

You are right NOT to plug your fan MOTOR controller into the CPU_FAN header. That header controls fan speeds according to the temperature inside the CPU chip. BUT I presume this fan controller has attached to it the fans for CASE ventilation. For that purpose their speed control should be based on a different temp sensor on the MOTHERBOARD, and that is what the SYS_FAN headers use. So connect the fan motor control board to a SYS_FAN header, and use the CPU_FAN header only for a CPU cooling device (a fan, or part of an AIO cooling system).
 
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Many thanks Paperdoc. Very thorough and helpful contribution; though complex I think I understand the principles
I have plugged the CPU fan into it's dedicated port and the fan controller into one of the six system 4 pin fan ports as you recommended.
As for the RGB cable from the Phantek front panel; you confirmed that the 4 pin blanked off terminal was for use if I ever needed some kind of strip LED's but what I didn't make clear was that the other 3pin terminal was the old type fan 12 volt plug, and not the new 4 pin type and it cannot fit into any of the six system ports on the MSI Mobo; so I'm still stuck. I did contact Phantek for clarification, but as yet, haven't received a reply.
Incidentally, I note that as they supplied a 12 volt old stye fan connecter on the front panel cable, doesn't that suggest that it should connect to a 12 volt supply ????
Thanks again for your helpful advice
Regards
LeanGimpy
 
Maybe you misunderstand fan connectors. The female connectors on the end of fan MOTOR cables are VERY similar for 3- and 4-pin fans. The 3-pin version came first, and it has 3 equally-spaced holes, with two ridges running down one side. These fit around a plastic "tongue" sticking up beside the pins of the mobo male header so there is only one way to plug in. When the 4-pin PWM design came along, they just expanded the connector to add a fourth hole OUTSIDE the span of the two ridges, so the female and male connectors simply look exactly like the 3-pin ones, but with an added hole or pin beside. Th result is that you CAN plug either female connector into a 3- OR 4- pin male header. The 3-pin older one simply will not use the fourth pin. Likewise you can plug a new 4-pin female onto a 3-pin mobo older header.

This all works with one small limit when you plug a 3-pin fan into a 4-pin header. That limit MAY be an issue for your system I suspect. MOST fan HUBS are designed to work only if fed a PWM signal from a 4-pin header, and only with 4-pin fans. However, Phanteks has a very unique product in their Universal Fan Hub - it can work with both types of input signal from a mobo fan header, AND it has sets of different output ports for 3- and 4-pin fans. HOWEVER, I do not know whether that fancier item is what is included with your Phanteks case. Do you have any info on that?
 
Thanks Paperdoc. I'd looked quite carefully at the motherboard but as both of these pins on the cable from the front panel are male, as are the ports on the Mobo: thus they cannot connect to the Mobo.
Since our last communication, I've come across a post concerning ARGB fans and cables which support your statement that MSI call an ARGB port Rainbow.
It went on to say that this particular cable is redundant until you put further LED lighting in the case, So for the time being I'm ignoring it, and since then my Twin 3 fan assemblies have rotated and the RGB's are illuminated through the Fan controller but unfortunately I have further issues which I have sought help for under 'Motherboards'
Thanks a million for your useful knowledge.
Regards
LeanGimpy