H115i Pro - RGB and Pump Settings Without Link?

I'm trying to decide on a 240/280mm AIO for a 8700K build, and the H115i Pro is one of the options I'm looking at. However, I'm under the impression that it relies on Corsair Link for most of the customization and control settings. While there seems to be a lot of dissenting opinion on how good the software is, that's actually completely irrelevant for me, as this system is going to be a Hackintosh (macOS running on non-Apple hardware) so using Link is literally just not an option.

As such, my question is what amount of control will I have over it w/o using Link? For the fans I can of course just plug them into the MB and let it be PWM controlled that way, which I assume will work fine, but what about the RGB lighting? Does it have a default color/brightness/whatever that it will stay at if not being controlled by Link and can't be changed? Or would I be able to temporarily boot into Windows and change the default and have it stay even when no longer running Link under Windows? Is there a hardware switch to disable it altogether?

And for the pump, would I be able to rely on the motherboard's PWM control for pump speed? Or, again, would I be able to change the default profile from Windows running Link and have it remain?

If anyone could give me some information on how it works w/o Link, it'd be much appreciated.

You can use Link to configure the settings that you want and the save them as the default settings for the cooler. To do this, go to SEttings ... Devices. You'll see the H115i Pro in there and click the "Use current settings as default". This writes your current configuration to the onboard flash. One note: the source temperature for the fan curve must be the pump temperature. This is the appropriate temperature anyway so that shouldn't be a problem.

You will not be able to use the motherboard's PWM controllers to control the fan or pump speeds. You should use the cooler's onboard fan controller as well ... not motherboard fan headers ... as this will work with the saved configuration and allow you to control you fan speed based on coolant temperature - as mentioned previously.

I also encourage you to take a look at the Cooler FAQ. It won't cover everything but it'll tell you quite a bit.

Final thought: The "dissenting opinion" ... I assume you mean the complaints on the forum? Yes, there are. But folks that don't have issues don't post on the forum. And compared the the number of coolers sols, there really aren't a whole lot of "dissenting opinions" ... just sayin'/

Well, the whole idea of having to install and run a program for it is something that not everyone likes, and I tend to fall into that category.

But anyway, it's good to know that the settings are saved in onboard flash and I can change it, so that take pretty much takes care of my concerns.