iCUE ARGB and Third Party DRAM Lighting Support

ITT: people being mad about some little lights.

Just make yourself an adapter or buy one if don't have the knowledge. Manufacturers are not responsible for some other manufacturer's own c***** software or product line. Everyone and their mother has their own mess of a software for such a useless thing like rgb lighting. Corsair is doing the right thing keeping their stuff streamlined with their own ecosphere. If you're mad about it, just dont have fancy lights or make it work somehow anyways instead of whining in a user forum.

ITT: people being mad about some little lights.

Just make yourself an adapter or buy one if don't have the knowledge. Manufacturers are not responsible for some other manufacturer's own c***** software or product line. Everyone and their mother has their own mess of a software for such a useless thing like rgb lighting. Corsair is doing the right thing keeping their stuff streamlined with their own ecosphere. If you're mad about it, just dont have fancy lights or make it work somehow anyways instead of whining in a user forum.

 

And yet here you are: mad about some people being mad about some little lights.

 

If you're mad about it, just move on with your perfectly satisfied little life, void of any and all petty concerns, instead of whining in a user forum.

I truly think the time of single minded purpose if over. We need an universal setup for controlling RGB headers all around. A universal open source software that can be fixed on the fly.

 

I know this has not been in the plans for years but with the days of incompatibility right around the corner. Corsair would be foolish not to look at it and keep it in mind.

I don’t want to be overly critical as I appreciate the transparency of the OP regarding aiming for a closed platform. I just would like to highlight the short-sightedness of the policy.

 

iCUE is a great piece of software, it comes close to the ideal of having all your RGB and fan/temp control in one place. However, the lack of support for A-RGB, which is now a de-facto standard, is erroneous in many ways.

Having all these controls in one place, no matter how great that place is, will always be second to selecting the best components for our builds. I happen to have a bunch of Corsair products (peripherals and fans), and a commander. However not all my RGB is Corsair (GPU, CPU, etc) which means I still have to keep Armoury crate running.

 

Motherboards are already adapting to A-RGB, and their software, which is not as good, sucks less and less. If it wasn’t for the lack of RGB headers on the motherboard (and the mediocre software), I would be able to run everything with Armoury Crate.

 

And, inevitably, if not competitors, open source software will get there. Some are already out. Eventually, if we are not there already, it will get to a point where iCue alternatives become useable. That’s the point where Corsair will have to chose to either double down and close/encrypt/sue for integrating their product and keep their eco-system proprietary, or just be forced to support A-RGB. It’s a losing battle. Code, and open source especially, always finds a way. And if you manage to lock everything and force your customers to chose, a significant portion will not chose what you hope.

 

And please, although this was only partially hinted at, don’t claim some “technical” barrier. There are little or none. A hacked cable is enough to support ARGB. You could easily produce one if not update the firmware. Not supporting A-RGB is a deliberate commercial choice. Again, it's worth repeating, I am grateful the OP was transparent about this.

 

Meanwhile, with this policy, you are telegraphing to everyone that you are not confident about your products. You don’t trust that we will buy your products on their merit alone and need to create (or enforce) loyalty through an artificially closed platform. Microsoft for example (not a competitor AFAIK, I read the rules 😉 ) tried that in the past and now they let you run SQL Server on Linux. They are telling us that they are so confident that Windows Server is better that they do not need to restrict their products to it.

 

Are you confident enough of your products? Do you internally believe you have the best fans, keyboards, blocks, cases, etc? That people will buy them regardless even if they are open to other ecosystems or easily interchangeable with competitors?

 

I find it a shame, because I genuinely like Corsair products and I find this restriction unnecessary and, frankly, damaging. Speaking for me personally, and I doubt I am alone, if a Corsair product is the “best”, it will have to be a lot better than than a more universally compatible second choice.

 

Well said and agree.

Embarking on first build and was on my way to picking the 4000x, but it seem now its not going to work with my prime x570 motherboard and trident neo ram.l, after reading about this issue elsewhere.

 

It's one thing integration your SW with asus but it's a bit different when you take 100% control, but break 50% of what's already there.

 

Not sure what to do now, will need to reconsider what case I go for again.

But this highlights again the negative affect this can have for corsair, by bad implementation.

 

Maybe a mail to asus on this "integration" collaboration would also be good from anyone that has this issue or concern?

Hi everyone,

 

I am noticing a number of posts asking about ARGB support on ASUS motherboards. The current implementation is strictly to support the lighting on a compatible ASUS motherboard only, and by extension, the RGB header since it is treated as a single zone. The design and intent was always to include the motherboard into our ecosystem with other Corsair products so we can address the demand of everything in the system lighting simultaneously in the same color. I am happy to see the overall positive feedback from this feature, and we are continuing our work to see how we can extend this feature to other products.

 

However, there will be certain limitations to what we will do. First, we have no plans to support ARGB headers. While many third party products are compatible with ARGB, we first and foremost are in the interest of only allowing iCUE to control Corsair products. ARGB also brings another layer of complexity to iCUE as we would have to take into consideration how to display the sheer number of LED configurations possible into our UI, and this is something we have no plans to accomodate at this time.

 

Second, I see some of you are asking about support for non-Corsair DRAM. This is also something we have no plans to do. We are always open to new partnerships though and if these businesses would like to approach us about implementing their products into iCUE, we would definitely explore possibilities. But unless they do so of their own initiative, we don't plan on having an open ecosystem. As this is a partnership with ASUS, users who want to maintain their lighting with Aura Sync compatible products should continue to use Aura Sync or Armoury Crate. iCUE is not meant to be a replacement software for them and we want to respect their ecosystem just like they respect ours.

 

I hope this addresses some of the concerns and questions I am seeing in this forum.

 

Thanks,

James

 

Sorry but...this is just Poodle Doo.

 

All you need to do is (as you do with the RGB) link into the ASUS argb through Armor Crate. Something you already do for RGB. Yes, managing ARGB is more difficult but... if you simply convert your calls to & from the API ... problem solved. Anyway, this is the reason why I do not go for Corsair ARGB items. They may be pretty...but expensive (for no apparent reason) and closed loop as far as compatibility.....everything to keep you buying more Corsair. Once you jumped in... you are done... you can never go to another brand if someone else comes up with something interesting that is AURA compatible. This is not a technical limit decision.. it is purely a business decision.

Sorry but...this is just Poodle Doo.

 

All you need to do is (as you do with the RGB) link into the ASUS argb through Armor Crate. Something you already do for RGB. Yes, managing ARGB is more difficult but... if you simply convert your calls to & from the API ... problem solved. Anyway, this is the reason why I do not go for Corsair ARGB items. They may be pretty...but expensive (for no apparent reason) and closed loop as far as compatibility.....everything to keep you buying more Corsair. Once you jumped in... you are done... you can never go to another brand if someone else comes up with something interesting that is AURA compatible. This is not a technical limit decision.. it is purely a business decision.

 

Ill be honest the armor crate is very limited to the point that I would do without the lights if I was forced to use that software.

 

I really dont find them too expensive but I am sure that is subjective.

 

Aura is just terrible software, really. even the coding is such a mess im amazed it works.

Armor Crate IS a dreadful software by any standard. I am never going to argue this. It is limited in features, is buggy, lacks polish and everything (even the kitchen sink) you can throw at it. I am not even going to talk about AI Suite.

 

That out of the way, ASUS, MSI, GIGABYTE etc... make their systems open and available. This means that a single all-encompassing solution for controlling RGB is possible. However, Corsair does make the choice to remain proprietary rather then try and gain even more traction with other customers by supporting and even pushing a RGB standard and make themselves an option (at least for syncing RGB) with iCue.

 

If I can use iCue to sync my other products, including my RAM, here's what happens. I can move to better products gradually without sacrificing on the hard work I have put in my system.

 

Instead, Corsair goes ALL-OR-NOTHING. So, if I want to use iCue, (and keep from making a unicorn puke system), I have to change: RAM, AIO, FANS(9) and CASE all at once. Ain't happening.

 

My beef is that Corsair chooses to use proprietary plugs, proprietary RGB & ARGB protocols. Just like Apple with iEverything... Force people into ecosystem instead of providing a better alternative based on standards. Excellence through execution, not through cult adoption.

Hi everyone,

 

I am noticing a number of posts asking about ARGB support on ASUS motherboards. The current implementation is strictly to support the lighting on a compatible ASUS motherboard only, and by extension, the RGB header since it is treated as a single zone. The design and intent was always to include the motherboard into our ecosystem with other Corsair products so we can address the demand of everything in the system lighting simultaneously in the same color. I am happy to see the overall positive feedback from this feature, and we are continuing our work to see how we can extend this feature to other products.

 

However, there will be certain limitations to what we will do. First, we have no plans to support ARGB headers. While many third party products are compatible with ARGB, we first and foremost are in the interest of only allowing iCUE to control Corsair products. ARGB also brings another layer of complexity to iCUE as we would have to take into consideration how to display the sheer number of LED configurations possible into our UI, and this is something we have no plans to accomodate at this time.

 

Second, I see some of you are asking about support for non-Corsair DRAM. This is also something we have no plans to do. We are always open to new partnerships though and if these businesses would like to approach us about implementing their products into iCUE, we would definitely explore possibilities. But unless they do so of their own initiative, we don't plan on having an open ecosystem. As this is a partnership with ASUS, users who want to maintain their lighting with Aura Sync compatible products should continue to use Aura Sync or Armoury Crate. iCUE is not meant to be a replacement software for them and we want to respect their ecosystem just like they respect ours.

 

I hope this addresses some of the concerns and questions I am seeing in this forum.

 

Thanks,

James

 

Hi James-

I wanted to add some perspective here as someone who has built 100s of custom PCs a decade ago, and am now just building a new PC for myself and getting into RGB. The RGB landscape is a giant minefield, filled with incompatibility and vertical company silos forcing you to make massive compromises if you want any level of consistency/compatibility. It doesn't have to be this way.

 

With iCUE you have got the, or one of the best RGB control platforms available. We know, and you have the right to, use it to be a hook to purchase Corsair products. Fully supportive of that. But think outside the box, Corsair cannot possibly make the right product in every category for everybody. Those people may still want to use a majority of Corsair equipment. So why not enable them? If you allowed iCUE's UI and driver model to be extensible so individuals or other vendors could add their own drivers (without cost!) for non-Corsair products, you could still own THE platform for RGB. You could even monetize it by requiring some nominal fee to use non-Corsair products with your software, I'd pay it! Thinking further it could even be SAAS with a yearly subscription. I'm sure your leadership likes recurring revenue!

 

In summary, please expand your horizons beyond just using iCUE as a lever to drive your own hardware sales. The opportunity for you is so much bigger than that, and bringing the community together around your platform has tremendous benefits for customers as well.

 

Thanks,

David

Decision not to support third party argb locks me out of corsair products rather then in if you did not realize that yet.

Just had to replace 10 fans cos hydraulic bearings aren't the best choice in horizontal position could've easily gonna corsair but decided not to, as i much rather run one rgb software then 2 in the future.

I'm new to the whole ARGB world, and have a new build with Corsair Pro ARGB ram and an Asus B550-i motherboard with an argb fan header that I have connected to ARGB fans (via a controller).

 

What do I do to get things setup? I have Asus Armourycrate installed for AuraSync and AuraSync creator, and Corsair iCue. To sync up my ARGB fans with my Corsair ARGB ram, do I just ditch iCue and go full-on AuraSync?

This is indeed a disapointing stance taken by Corsair. :(

 

The biggest pain regarding RGB is the software needed to control it.

 

I was literally considering swapping my perfectly working MSI motherboard to a slightly worse spec ASUS board just so that I could control RGB in one place...

 

Or getting different and worse performing more expesnive RAM, just so it plays nice with iCUE.

 

Apart from RGB lighting, we are never forced to make these all-or-nothing choices.

 

You can match any compatible part, and resonably expect them to work.

 

Imagine if ASUS deciced that only ASUS GPUs will mit there motherboards?

And only ASUS monitors would work on those GPUs?

All because it would be "too much work" to work to a standard and allow other brands to function.

 

Its such a shame as I love Corsair hardware & support. Second to none.

Even though iCue is buggy and has many limitations, its still head and shoulders above Mystic light...

I stick to it they should least support argb, as when you have corsair rgb fans but a case with argb strip that is not supported while mainboard rgb is supported which makes no sense whatsoever the only route would be to use the broken software from mainboard brand as example or to use open rgb

I would pay for software that would control all my RGB with profiles and be able to use the button on my Corsair keyboard to switch between them. Or of course for iCue to be able to control my Asus ARGB. I had a full Hydro X build and decided I wanted a better CPU block for my 5900X so I bought a TechN block which I can control with iCue for the most part. Then I decided I wanted a better flowing D5 pump so I got a new one of those, but it has ARGB lighting on it so I can not control it in iCue and can only set it to control it with the Asus Aura software, not full Armory Crate, so I get very limited lighting and can not even do a solid white color since Auro seems to not do white for some reason. And I can not just change it easily when switching lighting/fan/pump profiles. It is very frustrating.

, so I get very limited lighting and can not even do a solid white color since Auro seems to not do white for some reason.

 

take any color and turn saturation down to 0 to get white. :idea:

This really sucks. I want to add one more item to my everything Corsair case (and externally). Corsair dont supply this one item.

 

I do actually have another LNP and LNC but i have neither a free USB header nor free SATA Power connector. Nor do i have all the room in the back of the case to expand these options. What i would have room for is an ARGB connection. Nice that the ASUS boards are supported, but again, really sucks that the ARGB header isnt.

 

Makes me wish i hadnt invested so heavily in Corsair products, feel a bit stuck here now.

The frustrating part is when corsair does not even OFFER the products needed. Compatibility and exacting specifications for different systems are highly variable, and sometimes one must go to a third-party to find RAM modules that are right for ones specific mobo-CPU configuration.

this decision of corsair stopped me from ordering the last thing left of my corsair setup: The Capellix RAMs. This makes no sense, Corsair. Why do you stop at such a necessary point. ARGB is thje new technology. Point. 

RAM lighting is not controlled via the MB D-RGB headers. This thread is specifically about bypassing the Corsair 5v RGB controllers and using CUE and the MB connectors to control non-Corsair products. 

Honestly this is one of the issues I’m currently scaling down my use of Corsair devices for. There are other companies out there that try to have basic support for as many different third party items they can, even if it’s only treated as a single zone and then try to reward you for using their own products by offering much better control and then there’s trying to strongarm your customers to use your and only your products (even if you might not even offer what we want or need). I much prefer the carrot over the stick, so… meh. I’m not giving up my Corsair PSUs though … and the non-RGB ML fans are really nice too. 

 

Seriously, treat the aRGB header on partnered boards as a single zone at least. Then it will never work as good as dedicated Corsair RGB strips hooked to a Commander… but at least it would afford a minimum control of your partnered motherboard. Then you wouldn’t look like a poor attempt of a B movie villain. You make great products, just follow it up with making great decisions too 😉

Unacceptable.  Signal can figure this out and they're a handful of guys in a garage (figuratively speaking)

Have You found any solution? I have Asus board and GPU. I bought K100, Dark Core and Virtuoso, iCue works good. But... I bought BeQuiet fans with lighiting and iCue doesnt see them - I dint check it eralier. What a stupid strategy from Corsair. If I knew eralier...

Such Aura integration is s*it not integration.

Edited December 31, 2021 by KMBakPL

Wow , stupid decision. 

Selling my Vengeance RGB pro 32GB kit along with my MP600 Gen 4 pcie !

Not buying anything else from Corsair ...that's just BS!

 

 

 

What we want is to be able to bypass the need for iCue (as it related to RGB) all together.

Put ARGB input into the corsair system and allow it to be synced to a different controller. This would allow for the ultimate flexibility. This way, you don't have to support n# of devices within iCue that are not Corsair's own but you also open up your RGB devices to a much wider audience that want their devices to be controlled externally in whatever product they see fit for their setup.

A perfect example of this working well is on PowerColor "Red Devil" Radeon cards. They have an ARGB header on them and when you set "sync with motherboard signal" in their software, it just takes whatever comes down the cable you plug into the ARGB input for that device. The Corsair fan controllers could implement similar input mechanisms and then just have an "external sync" option in the iCue hardware lighting.

On a related note,

Has anyone been able to successfully control the Polymo lighting on the Maximus Z690 Hero via iCue 4?

I have Armoury Crate installed, the motherboard and Polymo are set to Sync inside it. iCue recognises the motherboard - and its RGB header. Software and Game Integrations are on and the motherboard is checked for both Software and Games in the device list.

Also @Corsair James given Armoury Crate has the ability to sync the motherboard's Aura and ARGB headers, is there a technical or marketing reason why iCue wouldn't be able to control it all as a single zone?