RGB Fan 3 Pin to 4 pin. HELP

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Jack Baker

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Ive just purchased a Cooler Master Mastercase which comes with 2x 200mm RGB fans which your supposed to be able to connect to your rgb header on your motherboard but the 3 pin connection from the fan is something i haven't seen before, i have no idea to to connect that to the 4pin RGB header, i even purchased the Coolermaster rgb extension cable which is supposed to be for that exact purpose. i have added pictures.
Kzdf6IK.jpg
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The four-pin RGB headers are for use with the 5050 style RGB lighting systems. Those pins are a common +12 VDC supply line, and three Ground lines, one each for the three LED colours in the system, and controlled by the mobo header - connection of a Ground lead to an actual Ground lights that group of LED's.

The 3-pin RGB headers are used with Addressable RGB lighting systems. Although the header pin layout looks similar, as OP has found one of the holes in the connector is blocked off so you can NOT plug it into a 4-pin header by mistake. In that system, 2 pins are for +12 VDC supply and Ground. The third pin carries a control signal from the header to an actual controller chip in the lighting device, and that is what controls the...
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Jack Baker

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the missing hole is replaced with a plastic block so there is no way of attaching it to the normal 4 pin i have shown.
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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...and how many individual wires lead to it? Post a pic of them if possible.
 
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Jack Baker

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just 3.
nivkEoB.jpg
 
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Jack Baker

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exactly my thought, both fans are the same. its the Mastercase 500M. supposed to be asus aura compatible, even says it in the instuction book that it can be plugged into a RGB header on a motherboard, but with that connection from the fan its impossible.
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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What is the connector in the first pic you are holding? The 4-pin one.

Do the odd-ball connectors from the fans match up with any of the headers on the back of the case. I'm wondering if the Modual on the back of the case needs a feed from the motherboard's RGB header to sync up with the fan RGB system.

Plus, it appears that the missing pin may be the green (depending on which way you were holding the connector). That would leave red and blue for blending; kinda like the colors shown on the case advertisement.
 
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neilgorham

Sep 10, 2018
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From my recent research the 4 pin goes on the rgb header 12v and the three pin goes on the addressable rgb header . If your mother board is like mine you can see the male ends from mother boards match your plugs . If u don't have a add rgb port than it seems u have to get a controller or hub
 
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onvanrooyen

Sep 12, 2018
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I have the same issue and this the best answer I could find:

Non-addressable RGBs, the whole strip/array of RGB LEDs displays one colour at any time. This colour can transition, shift, breath/pulse, etc, across the entire RGB LED colour spectrum - and AURA provides a variety of snazzy themes/effects - but every RGB LED is always exactly the same colour as all its neighbours at any given instant, the whole strip is "all or nothing".

Addressable RGBs, each RGB LED (or segment/block of RGB LEDs) can display a different colour and intensity than its neighbours. Some could be lit in one colour or lit in another or more intense or less intense while others are simultaneously displaying something else. Everything that non-addressable RGB does but more fancy animation/striping/chasing effects are possible. Higher cost and complexity.

Each of these little LEDs uses a tiny amount of electrical power when lit and they all add up, there are limits to how many you can daisy chain or branch off each motherboard header.

Source: https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?94271-Addressable-vs-Non-Addressable-RGB-Header
 
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Paperdoc

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The four-pin RGB headers are for use with the 5050 style RGB lighting systems. Those pins are a common +12 VDC supply line, and three Ground lines, one each for the three LED colours in the system, and controlled by the mobo header - connection of a Ground lead to an actual Ground lights that group of LED's.

The 3-pin RGB headers are used with Addressable RGB lighting systems. Although the header pin layout looks similar, as OP has found one of the holes in the connector is blocked off so you can NOT plug it into a 4-pin header by mistake. In that system, 2 pins are for +12 VDC supply and Ground. The third pin carries a control signal from the header to an actual controller chip in the lighting device, and that is what controls the lighting effects in that unit.

The ASUS Aura Sync system is a means of motherboard control of LED lighting effects via software, and can be applied to either type of RGB device. The "trick" is that some of their motherboards have only ONE of those two types of headers on them and thus can be used only with that particular type of lighting device. Other ASUS mobos come with BOTH types of headers, so you can use either or both types with that mobo design.
 
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