thunfischbaum Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Hey everyone, I'm knew to this forums and to RGB modding in general. I have a question. I started looking for RGB Stripes and found the Corsair RGB LED Lighting Pro Expansion Kit product. So I started researching.... My Board is a MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC and it features some corsair headers (See attachment). I was wondering if I need the Fan Hub or any Corsair lighting controller for it to work. Am I able to controll my RGB Stripes out of MSIs Dragon Center without a corsair lighting controller? I searched a little more in the manual of the mainboard, but I could only find instructions regarding to RGB fans... Cheers, thunfischbaum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertD83 Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 I'm sorry to say, I don't believe the expansion kit will work with your motherboard. All of the different companies are trying to force people into their own ecosystem so most rgb products only work with devices from the same brand. As far as the expansion kit, that's just more strips to add to an existing corsair strip/controller setup. It will require a controller like the lighting node pro or whatever they're selling these days and then it will only be controllable through icue, apart from any other msi software you run for your motherboard. It's really a terrible situation especially with the money they're upcharging for rgb. I will say icue has much more in different profiles and options to control things and the (very limited) aura compatibility got a lot of people's hopes up. The actual result has been pretty lackluster though and if you own several different rgb systems you have to run separate software for each ecosystem and hope that a 3rd party program will tie them all together (ie. Jacket rgb sync). I know this isn't the answer you wanted to hear but it's all there is for now. I keep hoping they'll wise up and see how much people want a single solution and work together on a standard, but it's been several years and I think any actual chance for that is gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevBiker Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 The Corsair Strip Expansion header will work with the JCORSAIR header on the MSI motherboards. There are adapters available from third parties for other motherboards that use the Aura-style 3-pin 5050 header. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertD83 Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 The Corsair Strip Expansion header will work with the JCORSAIR header on the MSI motherboards. There are adapters available from third parties for other motherboards that use the Aura-style 3-pin 5050 header. I stand corrected. At least my wrong answer billie the thread and got the correct one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunfischbaum Posted October 3, 2020 Author Share Posted October 3, 2020 Thanks for all your replies! I ended up with a Lightning Node Pro by Corsair. Since I did not plan to add any RGB for the future. However, I find this RGB Connector Topic highly complicated, as you described already. It is also quite frustrating. Because, this would be a perfect oppurtunity to create a world wide standard. But it is how it is I guess... Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevBiker Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 And whose standard? The thing is - individual vendors (like Corsair) developed their own addressable RGB devices and systems before the motherboard vendors did. The "standard" (and I use that term very loosely) for motherboard RGB is about the worst connector out there, period. Before ARGB got into computers, JST-SM was the most commonly used connector out there. But that has a couple of issues that make it less than ideal for computer systems. There are adapters available and folks that can help (like here) that know this stuff inside and out. But now, with their latest devices, Corsair seems to be shutting down the adapter route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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