Going all-out with Addressable RGB in new build.

SeanW

Hi all,

I'm hoping to build a new rig in the spring or summer assuming there's been some easing of the graphics card supply mess in the meantime. I've started experimenting with RGB in my current machine but I may want to go all in with it on my next. In particular, I'm considering possibly adding a wide variety of devices as ARGB/5V RGB components including:

1. "Gaming" shrouded graphics card.
2. CPU cooler
3. All fans
4. light strips
5. Lian Li Strimer cables for 24-pin ATX power cable, maybe a graphics card PCI-Express cable as well.

Of course, most motherboards only have 2 ports for 5V/ARGB, so obviously one device per port wouldn't work. I am also considering carrying over or buying new some 12V/4 pin RGB components to use any analog RGB ports as well.

I understand it's considerably more complicated to use digital RGB with splitters and things of that nature than with 12V/4 pin because the latter is a very simple case of the controller/motherboard sending more/less power down the red, green and blue wires to get the desired single colour.

Are there splitters or hubs you can use for running multiple ARGB devices off a single port? What complexities would I have to consider?

Spear

If you must go down this path, it'll be a miserable one.

Yes, you can get splitter cables for ARGB ports. I used one myself, a dual splitter to cover the front and back water cooling plates on my RTX 3090, from the one ARGB port on my motherboard. With just the two devices, there's no loss of power that I can perceive.

One of the bigger issues you'll have is that all RGB software is simply trash. And getting them to work together is sheer misery and confusion.

To simplify some of this, you could go for an ARGB hub, like the ones Corsair and Coolermaster make. But that means more money spent. And the Corsair ones will likely need adapters, as they have a connector called a Dupont locking connector, not the three pin ARGB one. And that means even more cost.

But a hub would centralise everything under one piece of software and one API, making game compatibility more likely, and avoiding the need for bloatware.

Inviere

I put together such a build for a family member recently - https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118409237/#Comment_118409237

It's definitely the trickiest build I've ever done, certainly in terms of cable management and understanding the fractured mess that ARGB is these days. I settled on the Corsair ecosystem for everything, and even at that, the amount of little extra controllers needed is crazy