Motherboard RGB Header

[PolygonGTC]

I'm new to RGB and my MSi X399 Gaming mobo has a 4-pin addressable RGB header. I'm using an Enermax Liqtech II which uses a 3-pin. Obviously I can't plug that into the mobo so I have to use the crappy controller which has proved difficult sticking to one color.

Looking at the pinout it seems that the only difference is that the 4-pin has a clock pin where the 5v on the 3-pin is and the 5v on the 4-pin has been move to the blank pin.

So... if I were to make a custom cable removing the clock pin and moving the 5v back to pin 1 could I use that to hook the cooler up to this header so I can control it with the mobo?

 

[VanGoghComplex]

Without knowing exactly how addressable RGB works in general, but knowing some digital circuitry basics, I'm gonna guess that this will not work.

I'm guessing the clock signal is generated to properly slice time-division multiplexing sent over the data pin, so each individual addressable LED knows which set of data belongs to it.

Whatever standard the Enermax unit utilizes, it doesn't require a CLK signal. The motherboard header expects the attached LEDs to coordinate their data multiplexing according to the clock signal it sends. I'm betting the Enermax LEDs respond to some kind of serial protocol over the data pin utilizing stop bits.

The above is largely guessing on my part. I think best case scenario, your colors are random hot garbage, and worst case is that your damage your header or your LEDs...