RGB/fan connections

[capricorn123290]

I'm going to be redoing my Hydro X water cooled build soon. Right now I'm running 10 QL120 fans with a commander pro, 2 lighting node cores and a USB hub as I Only have 1 USB 2.0 port on my motherboard. I am also building in a lian li 011 XL case with the RGB strip on the front. Right now I have the front strip  spliced into channel 1 on the Commander Pro with a 5v converter cable to sync up the lighting and the second front USB 3.0 converted to a USB 2 connection with a  2 port unpowered hub, so I can use all the ports. 

So, RGB wise I have the corsair pump and cpu waterblock, front USB strip all connected to channel 1 and 2 on the commander. the fans all connected to two node cores. I may end up having to get a node pro off ebay as I believe I need a third rgb channel for the bitspower waterblock.

My question has to do with the RGB hub connection for the 2 lighting node cores and the commander pro. I'm getting ready to water cool my Asus Tuf GPU with a Bitspower block with RGB (Corsair doesn't make a block) and I will be splicing the 5v header the same way I did with the front RGB strip. I am trying to avoid buying another controller (node pro) but I do have a 4 port non powered USB hub I can use. How well will the node cores work with the unpowered USB hub if I connect them to that and then go to the core? 

Or, is there a way I can get all the RGB to play nicely on just two channels on the commander pro? I've been racking my brain and can't figure out how to get it to work.

'

[brucebentley]

I have a similar setup with 10 Ql fans, 4 LED strips, and internal case ARGB on the O11 Dynamic XL. I ended up just grabbing a second Commander Pro and using those with 2 of the RGB Hubs ( Node Core ) included with the QL fans.

This way I didn't have to deal with the Node Pro whatsoever.

I also picked up two of the PirateDog Corsair RGB Fan to Aura/Mystic Light ( Motherboard ) ARGB Adapters which let me plug my Lian Li Triple 8-pin Strimer, 24-pin Strimer & the RGB strip on the front of my O11 Dynamic XL ROG case.

Adapters are here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Corsair-RGB-Fan-To-Aura-Mystic-Light-Motherboard-A-RGB-Adapter-/373424713804?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

 

 

[c-attack]

On 10/10/2021 at 1:12 PM, capricorn123290 said:

I am trying to avoid buying another controller (node pro) but I do have a 4 port non powered USB hub I can use. How well will the node cores work with the unpowered USB hub if I connect them to that and then go to the core? 

The non-powered hub probably will not work and is a definite no for AMD boards that sometimes have difficulty with single direct connections. Usually what happens is the devices disconnect and reconnect repeatedly. Usually you need the powered version, but it is device and number dependent. 
 

For the most part these things are all just strips. So if the GPU LED is somehow physically added to to end of the front 30 LED strip, then it’s now 5x10 in CUE. Whether that is advantageous is another matter. You rather the gpu be connected with the cpu and pump/res, but there isn’t a natural way to put it into series with the other 2. A channel splitter would work, but it then creates some programming issues with differing LED counts on the cpu/res vs gpu. 
 

You may be able to get a 3rd party adapter to run from a fan RGB port on the LN Core. You should have one with only 4 fans. As a “fan”, the LED count is important. As long as you are less than 16 LEDs on the gpu it should work. It become a 5th QL. Stuff like heartbeat, Gate, and the other special QL effects are going to look right, but you can separate that fan into its own lighting group and choose an effect for it alone. 
 

Edited October 12, 2021 by c-attack

[capricorn123290]

I ended up ordering a 5v adapter from Pirate Dog to connect to a lighting node Pro before I realized I could use my third (unused) node core. I currently have 10 fans in my case so I only needed two of the Node Core's for the RGB. I'm also upgrading the motherboard next week and that will get me an extra USB spot to work with.

I'll test out the adapter on the commander pro that's already in the system and see if it controls the GPU strip the same as it does with the front strip before I throw the node pro in there. For some reason the front strip works with the two wire RGB extension between the front strip and commander pro even though I'm sure it shouldn't as it's a 5v connector. once I heard about the pirate dog connectors it opened up a few options. 

I have a 2 port unpowered usb hub in now to help connect everything. right now I have the commander pro connected to the USB on the MOBO, one node core to the commander and the hub connected to the commander's second usb port with the second node core connected to the hub, along with one of my front USB (3.0 converted to 2.0) to give me use of all the ports. It's an intel board ,and I'm replacing with another intel board, and seems to play well with the node cores. I did have to play with the order a bit as if the commander wasn't on the board first it didn't like it and disconnected quite a bit.

Right now it seems to work, should I consider using a powered USB hub then, and if so what one would you suggest? I'm not opposed to buying more hardware as I'm upgrading to an 11th gen intel processor anyway. It seems silly to have a commander pro, 2 node cores, and soon to be a node pro (possibly) in one case (lian li o11D-XL). I wish there was a way to cut that down to one or two devices. Corsair should consider working on that for the next step up.