argb fan ARGB Fan Compatibility with GIGABYTE B550 AORUS PRO AC Gaming Motherboard

[ahmedshaltout]

Hi. I am planning a new build in 4-6 months and saving up for it. My current PC is a very old AMD FX one from 2011 that I have been upgrading it over time till now because that's what i could afford. In my new build I would like to have ARGB, but as I kept looking at several fans I realized that I only like how the lighting looks for a select group of fans. To top that, I am in Egypt where they tend to have limited options to what I could buy locally. After a lot of research, I found out that the best motherboard for me is the GIGABYTE B550 AORUS PRO AC Gaming Motherboard. The features, price, and the amount of I/O are exactly what I need/can afford as opposed to the available Asus, MSI or Asrock boards, but I hear about several ARGB incompatibilities between gigabyte motherboards and other brands. The thing is, no matter how much I research, the information doesn't make sense to me and i can't tell if some of the information is outdated or doesn't match this specific board. For example, I like the ARGB lighting profile for Cooler Master fans, but the only ARGB fan available in Egypt for Cooler Master is the Sickle Flow 120 ARGB. I keep reading and seeing videos that those fans don't work on a gigabyte motherboard, and even the website doesn't show RGB Fusion 2.0 as supported, but when i dig deeper into why, it says that the fan headers are not compatible and that gigabyte tends to have a different header than the standard 5050 addressable LED port, but when i downloaded the manual from Gigabyte's website for the GIGABYTE B550 AORUS PRO AC Gaming Motherboard specifically, I found that this motherboard has the standard 5050 ARGB header that everything I read claims gigabyte motherboards don't have. Is the information outdated? Is there something I am missing? Does gigabyte use a 3 pin ARGB header but the spacing is slightly different than other boards? Why is that the fans that are RGB fusion ready come with a cable with 2 split headers, one labeled "Asus/Asrock/MSI" and the other labelled "Gigabyte?" Why does the header I see in unboxing videos that is labelled Gigabyte show a 3 pin header where all 3 pins are side by side while the diagram of the GIGABYTE B550 AORUS PRO AC Gaming Motherboard shows that it is the standard ARGB header with a space in the middle between 2 of the pins and the 3rd pin? Is it possible for me to just buy the Cooler Master SickleFlow ARB 120mm fans and for them to just work and plug in? Do I have to buy some kind of cooler master fan hub with RGB Fusion 2.0 support from abroad for them to work? Do the Cooler Master Sickleflow ARGB fans even work on the cooler master fan hub or is the hub only for the new Cooler Master Masterfans (Which are not available locally where I am?) At some point I thought I'd just go Corsair and realized if I imported corsair fans and got a commander pro or commander XT I could just plug it into a usb 2.0 header on the board and run through iCue, then I discover how iCue eats a good percentage of the CPU performance in comparison to if I used onboard motherboard RGB software, which made me back away from the idea. The information is not easily out there. I can't find any information regarding if certain products are compatible with that specific motherboard.

Long story short, does anyone know if the Cooler Master Sickleflow 120 ARGB fans can plug in and work on the GIGABYTE B550 AORUS PRO AC Gaming Motherboard specifically and does anyone have any experience with that? and if they don't work, are the SickleFlow Fans compatible with the cooler master fan hub so they provide an ARGB cable that is compatible with that specific Gigabyte board and/or plug it in through USB 2.0 and run it form Cooler Master's software? or is that hub ONLY for the cooler master masterfan?

and can someone explain to me the mystery that is the difference between the Asus/MSI/Asrock ARGB connection vs the Gigabyte ARGB connection?

Thank you so much <3 
 

[emosun]

1 hour ago, ahmedshaltout said:

and can someone explain to me the mystery that is the difference between the Asus/MSI/Asrock ARGB connection vs the Gigabyte ARGB connection?

TLDR but to answer this question , RGB isn't a standard , at all.

Theres no rules or format that any company has to follow with any sort of rgb system. Thus most rgb systems are not cross compatible and would never have to be cross compatible with each other. It's more common to see incompatible rgb systems than compatible ones.

[GuiltySpark_]

That was a giant wall of text with no line breaks so i'll be honest, I didn't read it. In short, those fans have 3-pin ARGB plugs and your motherboard also has a 3-pin ARGB header. 2 of them, actually.

[Chiyawa]

Okay, this may need some explaining to clear some confusion.

 

In the infancy of RGB and aRGB lighting, Gigabyte initially uses their proprietary 3 pin as their aRGB header. Even if the pin header size is different, they are, electrically speaking, compatible as they consist 5V, Data and Ground. The standard header is 2+1, which is the standard that Asus, MSI and AsRock use from the beginning, also uses the same pins with just a different layout.

 

I'm not sure the reason why Gigabyte uses 3 pin configuration instead of 2+1 pin configuration, but my guess is to not confuse user of the standard 12VRGB header which look very similar to 2+1 header but they have 4 pins instead of 3 pins and they are electrically incompatible with each other.

 

That said, those are at the past. In more recent motherboard produce by Gigabyte, they use the standard 2+1 aRGB header because most aRGB devices that uses standard aRGB header uses that connector. I use Gigabyte X570 Aorus Pro Wi-Fi and they use the standard aRGB header. I plug in Cooler Master MasterFan MF120 which has standard aRGB and PWM cable and they work well. So, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0 uses the standard 2+1 aRGB header.

 

Hope this clear your confusion a little.

 

Regards,

chiyawa

[ahmedshaltout]

1 minute ago, rickeo said:

That was a giant wall of text with no line breaks so i'll be honest, I didn't read it. In short, those fans have 3-pin ARGB plugs and your motherboard also has a 3-pin ARGB header. 2 of them, actually.

Then why do many reviews say that these specific fans are not compatible with gigabyte motherboards? when I am seeing photos of the motherboard, i am seeing a 5050 addressable led header that does look exactly like the one the sickleflow fans have, but I am curious if someone if someone has this motherboard and if they have connected these specific and and it worked for them

[ahmedshaltout]

3 minutes ago, Chiyawa said:

Okay, this may need some explaining to clear some confusion.

 

In the infancy of RGB and aRGB lighting, Gigabyte initially uses their proprietary 3 pin as their aRGB header. Even if the pin header size is different, they are, electrically speaking, compatible as they consist 5V, Data and Ground. The standard header is 2+1, which is the standard that Asus, MSI and AsRock use from the beginning, also uses the same pins with just a different layout.

 

I'm not sure the reason why Gigabyte uses 3 pin configuration instead of 2+1 pin configuration, but my guess is to not confuse user of the standard 12VRGB header which look very similar to 2+1 header but they have 4 pins instead of 3 pins and they are electrically incompatible with each other.

 

That said, those are at the past. In more recent motherboard produce by Gigabyte, they use the standard 2+1 aRGB header because most aRGB devices that uses standard aRGB header uses that connector. I use Gigabyte X570 Aorus Pro Wi-Fi and they use the standard aRGB header. I plug in Cooler Master MasterFan MF120 which has standard aRGB and PWM cable and they work well. So, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0 uses the standard 2+1 aRGB header.

 

Hope this clear your confusion a little.

 

Regards,

chiyawa

that was very useful

[thrasher_565]

58 minutes ago, Chiyawa said:

Okay, this may need some explaining to clear some confusion.

 

In the infancy of RGB and aRGB lighting, Gigabyte initially uses their proprietary 3 pin as their aRGB header. Even if the pin header size is different, they are, electrically speaking, compatible as they consist 5V, Data and Ground. The standard header is 2+1, which is the standard that Asus, MSI and AsRock use from the beginning, also uses the same pins with just a different layout.

 

I'm not sure the reason why Gigabyte uses 3 pin configuration instead of 2+1 pin configuration, but my guess is to not confuse user of the standard 12VRGB header which look very similar to 2+1 header but they have 4 pins instead of 3 pins and they are electrically incompatible with each other.

 

That said, those are at the past. In more recent motherboard produce by Gigabyte, they use the standard 2+1 aRGB header because most aRGB devices that uses standard aRGB header uses that connector. I use Gigabyte X570 Aorus Pro Wi-Fi and they use the standard aRGB header. I plug in Cooler Master MasterFan MF120 which has standard aRGB and PWM cable and they work well. So, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0 uses the standard 2+1 aRGB header.

 

Hope this clear your confusion a little.

 

Regards,

chiyawa

i be leave gigabit was the fist to add an rgb header so that's the connector they used witch is just a 3 pin dupunt. but theres a problem with being able  to plug it in backwards.  and posably  the pins bending. but atlest the connector has a name un like the 3pin 2+1 connector. i guess it probably cheaper to make and has thicker pins but i dont like it. the standerd way before strips were in pcs was the jst-sm connector witch is cheap, and locks... and there still being used today on rolls of strips and a few other sue it as well like lian li and phantec. but posably an serfis mount connector was not so cheap? i got in to rgb late in the game and from what i heard it was way worse...

 

some newer mbs may still include that 3pin connector. i even seen one that had all the connectors... rgb,rgbw,argb,argb 3pin, adjustable argb 5v 12v...now that's confusing...

 

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by thrasher_565

[Chiyawa]

5 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

some newer mbs may still include that 3pin connector. i even seen one that had all the connectors... rgb,rgbw,argb,argb 3pin, adjustable argb 5v 12v...now that's confusing...

I'm not aware that motherboard has other RGB header except the common 12VRGB and aRGB. In the past, yes, they have quite a number headers, but in recent years (from 2018 onwards) I didn't encounter one that has bizarre RGB header except for MSI mobo with Corsair connector.

[GuiltySpark_]

1 minute ago, Chiyawa said:

I'm not aware that motherboard has other RGB header except the common 12VRGB and aRGB. In the past, yes, they have quite a number headers, but in recent years (from 2018 onwards) I didn't encounter one that has bizarre RGB header except for MSI mobo with Corsair connector.

Yeah, the board in question just has the normal 3-pin ARGB and 4-pin RGB headers. 2 of each, actually.

[thrasher_565]

13 minutes ago, Chiyawa said:

I'm not aware that motherboard has other RGB header except the common 12VRGB and aRGB. In the past, yes, they have quite a number headers, but in recent years (from 2018 onwards) I didn't encounter one that has bizarre RGB header except for MSI mobo with Corsair connector.

i seen it. i dont no what ,mb it was. theres the 3pin argb, 3pin 2+1 argb, corsair argb, 12v/5v argb

then theres the 4pin rgb, 5pin rgbw,

 

ive even see 4 pin rbg before...

Edited October 16, 2021 by thrasher_565

[thrasher_565]

this is an odd header i never seen before...

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by thrasher_565

[Chiyawa]

2 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

this is an old header i never seen before...

That's what Gigabyte initially use for their aRGB header.

[thrasher_565]

3 minutes ago, Chiyawa said:

That's what Gigabyte initially use for their aRGB header.

no this i what they used

 

thats a normal 2+1 just in 3pin instead thick round pins. the vdg 3pin uses thinner square pins like i said DuPont

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by thrasher_565

[ahmedshaltout]

Thank you all for your help. This was extremely useful. The information mentioned here made me realize that there seems to be many youtubers that are not aware that several gigabyte boards come now with the more common 5050 addressable RGB header with the space in the middle. Many people still have outdated info and think all gigabyte motherboards have the old header, but I never saw any photos of the old header so I was not sure if it was a hardware or software incompatibility. The information and photos shared made me aware that all fans currently in Egypt are compatible with the motherboard I want to get and that's good to know. Thank you all again.  

Edited October 16, 2021 by ahmedshaltout
typo

[thrasher_565]

1 hour ago, ahmedshaltout said:

Thank you all for your help. This was extremely useful. The information mentioned here made me realize that there seems to be many youtubers that are not aware that several gigabyte boards come now with the more common 5050 addressable RGB header with the space in the middle. Many people still have outdated info and think all gigabyte motherboards have the old header, but I never saw any photos of the old header so I was not sure if it was a hardware or software incompatibility. The information and photos shared made me aware that all fans currently in Egypt are compatible with the motherboard I want to get and that's good to know. Thank you all again.  

ya there lots of youtube videos that dont no what there talking about. or there trying to promote a bran. when i try and look to buy tech some times it take me week of looking up reviews and many videos about something. its a pane but has to be done.

Edited October 16, 2021 by thrasher_565