aRGB vs RGB compatibility - i am screwed!

[NaPo97]

Hello freinds,

Simply said; I am a big noob. That summarise my knowledge when it comes to building a gamer pc. And now I screwed up. My situation is this: I bought this motherboard (see link 1), and I bought this cooler to cool my CPU down (see link 2) and I bought 4 of these fans (see link 3). The reason for why I bought them is mainly because, that the colors could sync with MSI Mystic Light software. So I thought to myself that, I don't how to build it but! I will just look at some tutorials on YouTube when I have bought all parts. But then I found out this: There is something called RGB and aRGB (addressable RGB). And they both use different type of Fan Header. RGB uses 12v fan header and aRGB uses 5v fan header. And both my cooler and my fans are aRGB which means they need 5v fan headers. And the 5v fan headers were - as I understood - necessary for all aRGB items without exception. So I am really afraid that, if my motherboard only has 12v fan headers I will burn the cooler and the fans by connecting them to 12v fan headers.

So where do I know that my motherboard has 12v fan headers? Honestly, I don't know. I was reading about type of fan headers after I was taught about the RGB and aRGB stuff in an article (see link 4). And after reading that I was reading about which type of fan headers my motherboard has (see link 5). And I concluded that my cooler and my fans will burn down, because it only 12v fan headers I have. It might be a wrong conclusion, that is why I am here to get some clarification since I don't know anything! I asked someone who is more learned than me and we were reading about the specs regarding the cooler and the fans (in link 2 and 3). And he also got confused. For instance, when it comes to the SilverStone fans (link 3) they say:

"Displays any color combination by use of an Addressable RGB LED control box or capable motherboard via 5V, D, NP, G signal source". Which consists with what I said about aRGB needing a 5v fan header. But in the specs it also says: "Rated Voltage: 12V DC". That leaves me confused.

Also when it comes to the cooler from Cooler master it says in the specs (see link 2):
 

"Fan Rated Voltage: 12 VDC" and "Pump Rated Voltage: 12 VDC". 

And now there is also something about how many pins and I don't know what. Can someone help me?


Link 1: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/X370-GAMING-PRO-CARBON.html

Link 2: http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-liquid-cooler/masterliquid-ml360r-rgb/

 

Link 3: https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=799

Link 4: https://www.tweaktown.com/guides/8245/fan-control-guide-intel-z270-motherboard-edition/index2.html

Link 5: https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/8175/msi-x370-gaming-pro-carbon-motherboard-review/index2.html
 

[Gareque]

If it's the board I think it is:

 

The connections on the motherboard are:

• 1 x 24-pin (Power)
• 1 x 4-pin CPU Fan Connector
• 4 x 4-pin System Fan Connector
• 1 x 4-pin Water Pump Connector
• 1 x 8-pin (Power)
• 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector
• 1 x Clear CMOS jumper
• 1 x Front Panel Audio Header
• 1 x RGB LED connector
• 6 x SATA III - 6Gb/s
• 2 x System panel connector
• 1 x TPM Header
• 2 x USB 2.0 Header
• 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Header

This would indicate that it has 1 RGB LED Connector, which I 'believe' (don't quote me on that as gospel) can be in a standard 4-pin connector, or another type.  If it's a 4-pin, you might be ok.

 

I'd just look up what happens if you put ARGB into RGB, I don't think it does anything major, but I could be totally wrong and the difference in voltage could fry it.  I'm sure when I was looking at it though, you are just limited to standard RGB as they are not addressable.

[Gareque]

Actually, I just saw the bit on the control box.  Is that like an 8 port fan controller or something?

 

My RGB chassis fans don't use an RGB header because they route through a controller which is powered from a Molex cable.  It then has a 3-pin going in to the VDG connector (Gigabyte AORUS board, that took some digging to figure out), so it might have something similar.

[NaPo97]

Okay before replying to answer, I want to ask this. From my fans I bought (link below). There are 2 wires coming out from each fan. The first one i a PWM 4-pin connector and the second one is Addressable RGB LED connector. What is the difference between these two? If just connect the PWM 4-pin connector to the PWM fan header on the motherboard would that not be enough for both power and aRGB?

I will come back to your answer after I understand the fundemental.


https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=799

[Chiyawa]

Actually, Your fan need two wires to function properly.

First, the PMW fan header. This is the one that powers your fan.

Second, the aRGB header. This is to light the RGB of your fan, also to receive the command from the board.

So, actually, The fan of course is using 12V, the LED is using 5V, and their circuitry are separated, thus they need two different cables.

 

aRGB header uses 5V of power, where RGB header uses 12V.

To put it simple, RGB header is mostly for RGB light strip (A long chain of RGB LED light). aRGB header is mostly for devices that has its own controller built in.

 

This is the best I can come out with. Check your manual for more info.