Hiro Protagonist

Australia, Core XTs are around the same price as the Pro (give or take $5-10) so really the only benefit of the Pro for me would be to run some old DC fans that I still have from the current case. I'm not seeing any real need for USB passthrough either (apart from if I was going to daisy-chain the AIO control off the CoPro/CoCoXT) and there's no way in hell I'm considering LED strips etc (even RGB fans is a bit of a stretch for me). If I got to the point where I was needing significantly more fan control (due to a bigger case, I'm pretty much going to be maxing out the O11 Mini Air as it is) at which point I'd be upsizing to a full ATX mobo (which removes some of the USB header restrictions) and have a standalone fan controller for everything other than the AIO.

Thanks, I've pretty much come to the same conclusion after a bit more reading/pricing, I'm still up in the air as to whether I'll run the RGB fans on the Capellix (and match them in the case) or replace the lot with plain fans to save some money (chances are I'd just run the RGBs as a solid white anyway). The 7th fan on the rear 120mm I'll probably just leave or run off one of the CPU headers just as a general case exhaust fan rather than tying it back to a controller, otherwise all exhaust will be going through the top-mounted AIO. This way I can do without a CoCoXT and just run everything through the AIO CoCo without splitters etc. Mobo/CPU choice is pretty much nailed down now too, i7-11700F and B560M Aorus Pro

So I'm looking at doing a long overdue mobo/CPU upgrade (moving from an i5 6600 to either an i7 11xxx or i5 12xxx), which means new case time. Whilst I'm not looking at moving away from a Corsair case (cue pitchforks and torches) I do plan on maintaining my use of Corsair AIO and case-fan products (new, not re-used). This will be my first time trying to control everything together using a PWM fan hub/controller (previous builds have just used the mobo headers), but I'm unsure as to whether the AIO pump USB and fans connect to the Core XT (I know the Capellix AIOs come with the Core and the 24-pin plug but I'm mainly looking at the mid-range AIOs) or if the AIO has to connect straight to the mobo (and the Core XT only controls the case fans). I've never been an RGBophile (haven't seen the point on cases without glass side-panels etc) so the lighting connections aren't that critical, but nice to have the option if I do ever decide to upgrade the fans. Every video I find online is either on how to connect just fans (with no mention of AIOs) to the Core XT, or how to connect the AIO just to the mobo, or how to install the Capellix/Core combo (not the XT with non-Capellix AIOs). Nothing seems to mention if the AIO USB connection can run off the Core XT USB expansion/daisy-chain, or if the AIO fans can be removed from the pump and plugged in to the Core XT Component plans H100i or H115i AIO (NOT Capellix, so just the basic LED stuff on the pump head) 2x ML AIO fans (either 120 or 140, depending on AIO obviously) 4x additional ML140 PWM case fans, _maybe_ a 5th 120mm fan on the rear exhaust (but I'll probably run out of inputs this way without splitters) Note that mobo isn't locked down yet as I'm still comparing options (size, price range, features, CPU etc) so capacity of USB/fan headers etc OR should I just bite the bullet, get the Capellix (and turn the RGBs off as I prefer a mostly stealth build) which then negates the need for the Core XT (and the total price ends up about the same) and plug the case fans in to the Capellix-included Commander Core? Will iCUE see everything correctly and will I get full PWM control over the case fans?