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RGB does not work.

kalle321

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Oct 17, 2021
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I have a asus prime B450-Plus and I am trying to use phanteks SK PWM fans, the fans are spining fine but the rgb does not work. The rgb header on the motherboard had has a 4 pin connector but the fans did not come with a cable to connect to that header so I bought one that phanteks was selling. The problem is that the cable I got has 4 pin connectors but the fans only has 3 pin and I do not know what to do. Can anyone help?
 
I have a asus prime B450-Plus and I am trying to use phanteks SK PWM fans, the fans are spining fine but the rgb does not work. The rgb header on the motherboard had has a 4 pin connector but the fans did not come with a cable to connect to that header so I bought one that phanteks was selling. The problem is that the cable I got has 4 pin connectors but the fans only has 3 pin and I do not know what to do. Can anyone help?
Does the adaptor phantex sold you not have viable four pin connection points to plug into the motherboard? Most RGB run on three wires but have a dead pin in the end of a four pin connector to allow easily aligned connection to normal RGB board connectors.
Be very careful what you plug in where though because reversing the connection or plugging into the wrong header will kill the RGB permanently.

Post pictures of what you have, show connection points too others could help more then.
 
Does the adaptor phantex sold you not have viable four pin connection points to plug into the motherboard? Most RGB run on three wires but have a dead pin in the end of a four pin connector to allow easily aligned connection to normal RGB board connectors.
Be very careful what you plug in where though because reversing the connection or plugging into the wrong header will kill the RGB permanently.

Post pictures of what you have, show connection points too others could help more then.

The first picture is from the cable connecting to the motherboard and the other one is the fans, I downloaded aura sync because I thought there would be some instructions maybe but it only showed that the arrow should connect to the 12v pin on the motherboard. I got some other cables with the fans but none of them fit because they have blocked pin connection, and the rgb header on the motherboard is 4 and its like round pins not the like square ones on the pictures below. My friend told me that I could just connect the 3 pin into the 4 pin with worked but it did not work right only like red and green worked.
 

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The 3-pin and 4-pin with the two locks on the side is your RGB connectors. The 3-pin, without the wings, is standard fans only. The 4-pin, without wings, is obviously PWM fan.

Looks like RGB connectors are incompatible.
 
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The first picture is from the cable connecting to the motherboard and the other one is the fans, I downloaded aura sync because I thought there would be some instructions maybe but it only showed that the arrow should connect to the 12v pin on the motherboard. I got some other cables with the fans but none of them fit because they have blocked pin connection, and the rgb header on the motherboard is 4 and its like round pins not the like square ones on the pictures below. My friend told me that I could just connect the 3 pin into the 4 pin with worked but it did not work right only like red and green worked.
That sounds like you are looking to connect on the wrong motherboard header, Asus have two types argb(addressable) and drgb (normal) look in your motherboard manual for these they are not inter changeable.

You took pics of two, take pictures of every cable layed out on a desk so we can see everything you are working with, I have no experience with phantex so I'm struggling with context the ones you showed just looked like daisy chain connection points for like hardware and none would connect to the board?!

As for it working partially at some point aurasync has calibration,. Did you try it, it could have needed calibration to setup the colours right.
 
The 3-pin and 4-pin with the two locks on the side is your RGB connectors. The 3-pin, without the wings, is standard fans only. The 4-pin, without wings, is obviously PWM fan.

Looks like RGB connectors are incompatible.
I don't know what a PWM fan is but maybe they are incompatible and I am not sure what to look for or how to find one that works. The cable I use to connect to the motherboard is the first one on this message, on the other side its the 4 pin connectors that i sent in my last message.
That sounds like you are looking to connect on the wrong motherboard header, Asus have two types argb(addressable) and drgb (normal) look in your motherboard manual for these they are not inter changeable.

You took pics of two, take pictures of every cable layed out on a desk so we can see everything you are working with, I have no experience with phantex so I'm struggling with context the ones you showed just looked like daisy chain connection points for like hardware and none would connect to the board?!

As for it working partially at some point aurasync has calibration,. Did you try it, it could have needed calibration to setup the colours right.
I did try to calibrate them but nothing happened. I also looked in the manual but I could only see 1 rgb header, the on at the top.

The fourth, fifth and sixth pictures are extra cables, I did not get it so well on the picture but on picture four the left cable has a 2 pin connector or 2 holes atleast on the other side. The fifth picture I have no idea what that cable is used for.

The thing is too that the header on the motherboard is a 4 pin and the cable I got that could connect there has 4 pin on the other side but the fans only have 3 pin. They spin fine because that is through another cable.
 

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What specific model of fans do you have? Aka model number
 
Where do I find that? If you search "phanteks sk 120mm pwm d-rgb" on google it should be those i have.
Look on the fan hub itself

Or on the packaging the fans came in
 
I don't know what a PWM fan is but maybe they are incompatible and I am not sure what to look for or how to find one that works. The cable I use to connect to the motherboard is the first one on this message, on the other side its the 4 pin connectors that i sent in my last message.

I did try to calibrate them but nothing happened. I also looked in the manual but I could only see 1 rgb header, the on at the top.

The fourth, fifth and sixth pictures are extra cables, I did not get it so well on the picture but on picture four the left cable has a 2 pin connector or 2 holes atleast on the other side. The fifth picture I have no idea what that cable is used for.

The thing is too that the header on the motherboard is a 4 pin and the cable I got that could connect there has 4 pin on the other side but the fans only have 3 pin. They spin fine because that is through another cable.
so fan power wise your fine using 3pin dc fans on the 4 pin(PWM pulse width modulated speed) fan power header.

pic 4,5 look like fan wire extension cables, cable in pic1 connects to mobo rgb header.

the other end should connect to your fan rgb which can daisy chain.

the motherboard has only 1 dRGB 12Vheader.

12V/redd/green/blue pinouts.

3wire rgb on fans sound like arGB (addressable rgb)and not only are not compatible but im surprised they did work at all, im thinking you cant get it working properly with what you have unfortunately, I downloaded your manual so i looked thoroughly.

I had this issue with raintec fans.
 
Look on the fan hub itself

Or on the packaging the fans came in
This is the only things on the fans, the back side has nothing on it.

On the box there is really nothing besides over the scanner code thing it says "PH-F120SK_DRGB_PWM_3P" other than that there are no numbers or anything only measurments
 

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From the looks of it your motherboard may have come with the adapter. It should be +5V/Data/blank/Ground

is this the cable you purchased?
Screenshot_20211017-224756.png
 
so fan power wise your fine using 3pin dc fans on the 4 pin(PWM pulse width modulated speed) fan power header.

pic 4,5 look like fan wire extension cables, cable in pic1 connects to mobo rgb header.

the other end should connect to your fan rgb which can daisy chain.

the motherboard has only 1 dRGB 12Vheader.

12V/redd/green/blue pinouts.

3wire rgb on fans sound like arGB (addressable rgb)and not only are not compatible but im surprised they did work at all, im thinking you cant get it working properly with what you have unfortunately, I downloaded your manual so i looked thoroughly.

I had this issue with raintec fans.
Can I get a hub or something to make the rgb work or will it just not work?

From the looks of it your motherboard may have come with the adapter. It should be +5V/Data/blank/Ground

is this the cable you purchased?View attachment 221196
No the one I bought is the one I link here. My motherboard did not come with that cable but my fans did, the only thing is that i have no idea where to plug it into since the rgb header has 4 pins on the motherboard and the cable you sent here has 1 blocked out so that would break the motherboard.
 

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This is the only things on the fans, the back side has nothing on it.

On the box there is really nothing besides over the scanner code thing it says "PH-F120SK_DRGB_PWM_3P" other than that there are no numbers or anything only measurments
Really, man they are cheap.

Ok heres the fan specs

 
Those pictures look like the same fans in my wife's phanteks case which are actually rebranded metallic gear skirons. They are ARGB. I have 6 of them chained together then plugged into the mobo ARGB header.

On a side note, RGB, RBW, ARGB connectors are annoying as hell because companies use all different kinds of connectors so good luck finding adapters and things that actually work correctly together. Half the time when it's the wrong adapter, it fries the LED controllers. And it seems like every other time there is a Windows Update it breaks the motherboard LED firmware.
 
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Right so your motherboard doesn't support 5v RGB only 12v so no adapter cable will work
you will have to purchase some sort of hub. If you haven't blown the diodes already
 
Really, man they are cheap.

Ok heres the fan specs

Yeah I mean I had to build the whole pc did not have enough budget for something to fancy.
Those pictures look like the same fans in my wife's phanteks case which are actually rebranded metallic gear skirons. They are ARGB. I have 6 of them chained together then plugged into the mobo ARGB header.
I am not sure but I dont think my motherboard has argb.
Right so your motherboard doesn't support 5v RGB only 12v so no adapter cable will work
you will have to purchase some sort of hub. If you haven't blown the diodes already
How do I find a hub that would work?
 
Yeah I mean I had to build the whole pc did not have enough budget for something to fancy.

I am not sure but I dont think my motherboard has argb.

How do I find a hub that would work?

No i wasnt insulting your choice, just their choice of not putting a model number on the hub label
 
1 aurasync header
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It seems the motherboard header is only for led strips, and the manual doesn't go in depth to control aurasync functions through the bios.

I see my bad.

Yeah thank you, it looks like it should work
 
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1 aurasync header
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It seems the motherboard header is only for led strips, and the manual doesn't go in depth to control aurasync functions through the bios.
So this means what exactly?
 
Yep 12v 3xground that adapter I posted should convert it for use with the fans seems weird why a b450 board didn't come with 5v.
 
So this means what exactly?
It means you would either need fans that have a separate rgb line or an adapter @ThaiTaffy suggested.

And learn how to use the bios on the motherboard.

Otherwise you would need a pricier AM4 motherboard
 
Not sure how much it is there where you guys are but the $10 adapter seems the best option :D
 
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