RGB Setup

[revv]

I have Corsair Carbine Air 540 and in it, an Aorus X570 Ultra. For the longest time I've been wanting to swap out the fans that came with the case and add some RGB ones, but Corsair nomenclature for everything is very confusing.

Right now, I'd like to add 3 140mm RGB fans to the case and my motherboard has two addressable RGB headers and two RGB headers.

What's the best setup that I can get for this? I'd like to balance low noise with mid-high CFM and at a decent price.

Eventually, I would like to swap out the 2 120mm fans on my H100i v2 and maybe add some LED strips in there, depending on how it looks with swapping out fans.

I see Corsair has these modules called Lighting Node Pro or other controller. I can't tell what the difference between them is.

Any guidance is appreciated!

 

[Zepher]

The Corsair system is a closed system so you would use the Lighting Node Pro, Commander Pro, or Lighting Node Core, and Corsair's iCue software to control the Corsair RGB fans and LED strips.
you won't use the RGB headers on your motherboard if you use Corsair Fans.

The iCUE software can control 1 or 2 third party RGB systems, don't remember which one(s).

I have a Commander Pro in both of my systems, one has Corsair HD fans and the other has the LL Fans.
I went with the Commander Pro since I wanted Fan speed control as well as RGB control.


Left image has 6 LL120 fans and 2 LED strips and the right image has 3 HD120's and 2 HD140's and 3 LED strips (there is an ML140 Pro RGB on the rear and that is controlled by the AIO pump header).


this is my old Dual Xeon that I stuck in my old Air 540 case and used 3 Corsair LED strips with a Lighting Node Pro.


You can fit 3 120mm fans in the front of the 540, so I would go that route since it fills up the front better.

 

[revv]

Thanks. So Corsair's system basically works with Corsair hardware.

Given that I only have 2 addressable headers, what hardware would I need to address more than 2 (non-Corsair) fans? Is that even possible?

Based on what you say, it seems that the Commander Pro can do everything a Lighting Node Pro or a Lighting Node Core and adds fan speed control, correct? What is the difference between Lighting Node Core and Pro? Just size? Without a Commander, these fans will pretty much run at full speed all the time? You lose PWM?

 

[Zepher]

Commander Pro is basically a Lighting Node Pro with Temp and Fan control.
I don't know much about the other RGB systems that use the onboard RGB headers. I've just used the Corsair stuff.

Lighting Node Pro just has 2 RGB inputs so it can control 2 different styles of Corsair fans or fans and LED strips.
Lighting Node Core has the RGB Hub and controls one type of Corsair fan.

The fans need to plug into a hub then the hub goes to the Node Pro or the Commander Pro. The kits will come with a 6 fan hub, and some kits also come with Lighting Node Pro.

The image I posted above with the LL fans is the Corsair 465X case that comes with 3 fans and a Lighting Node Core. I got 2 of the cases and pulled the fans from the second case so I could fill up this one.
I ended up having to leave the Node Core in this case since my fan hub seems faulty, the 6th fan wouldn't light up. So the Commander Pro is only controlling the fan speed and running the LED strips.

I bought a cheap RGB fan kit for the second 465X case that my dad is using.

 

[revv]

Got it.

And why do you prefer 3x 120mm fans instead of 2x 140mm? I thought bigger fans move more air and are quieter. Is it just aesthetics?

 

[Zepher]

Got it.

And why do you prefer 3x 120mm fans instead of 2x 140mm? I thought bigger fans move more air and are quieter. Is it just aesthetics?

Just for the looks

 

[Jamie Marsala]

If you were buy a twin pack of any of the Corsair 140mm fans you will get the Lighting Node Pro and a Lighting Hub to control the RGB on up to 6 of the same type of Corsair fans, LL, ML, HD, QL, etc. So if you buy a twin pack of LL140 fans and then one single LL140 fans to get your three you will get what is needed to control all the RGB for those fans, speed would be controlled by the motherboard headers. I believe if you get the QL's in a twin pack that you get a Lighting Node core which is just a Lighting Node Pro and the Lighting RGB Hub all in one unit, one of the sets of fans comes with that now and I think it is the QL's.

 

[Zepher]

If you were buy a twin pack of any of the Corsair 140mm fans you will get the Lighting Node Pro and a Lighting Hub to control the RGB on up to 6 of the same type of Corsair fans, LL, ML, HD, QL, etc. So if you buy a twin pack of LL140 fans and then one single LL140 fans to get your three you will get what is needed to control all the RGB for those fans, speed would be controlled by the motherboard headers. I believe if you get the QL's in a twin pack that you get a Lighting Node core which is just a Lighting Node Pro and the Lighting RGB Hub all in one unit, one of the sets of fans comes with that now and I think it is the QL's.

The HD series don't come with the Lighting Node Pro, just the Lighting Hub. They come with the manual 3 or 4 button controller.

 

[Jamie Marsala]

The HD series don't come with the Lighting Node Pro, just the Lighting Hub. They come with the manual 3 or 4 button controller.

I did not realize that. I bought my two as individual fans and not a two pack, I already had two RGB hubs and two light node pro's(I only use one). When I bought mine it was for a push/pull setup on my 280mm AIO so I wanted the lighting on the back side of the fan.

 

[revv]

Ended up getting 3 140mm LL series fans and came with the Hub and Lighting Node Pro. They look great! This is what I wanted to achieve, so thanks for the input.

I might need to get 2 120mm fans to replace the stock ones on my H100i v2. If I do replace them, I plan to just plug them in to the second channel of the Lighting Node Pro. If they end up being LL fans, I might just plug them in to the Hub.

 

[Jamie Marsala]

Ended up getting 3 140mm LL series fans and came with the Hub and Lighting Node Pro. They look great! This is what I wanted to achieve, so thanks for the input.

I might need to get 2 120mm fans to replace the stock ones on my H100i v2. If I do replace them, I plan to just plug them in to the second channel of the Lighting Node Pro. If they end up being LL fans, I might just plug them in to the Hub.

If you get two more that are not LL fans then you would need another Hub to control them. That hub you would plug into the Lighting Node Pro. Sadly I do not think they sell just the Hub's so maybe you can find one on E-Bay. The fans will not connect directly to the Lighting Node Pro, only LED strips do that. So you would be better off getting two more LL if you want to control the LED's on them. They will work fine with the AIO for cooling. I made the mistake of getting HD fans to go on my 280mm AIO for a push/pull config. Luckily I already had a second Hub because one came installed in my Corsair case and I had the one from the 3 LL's I already had.

Of course now I have upgraded further and have a H115i Platinum that control the RGB on those fans, 2 RGB Hubs for the 3 LL and 2 HD fans, a Commander Pro to control the fan speed on the 3 LL and 2 HD fans(AIO controls the 2 ML on that), and on Lighting Node Pro to control my 4 LED Strips.

 

[Zepher]

If you get two more that are not LL fans then you would need another Hub to control them. That hub you would plug into the Lighting Node Pro. Sadly I do not think they sell just the Hub's so maybe you can find one on E-Bay. The fans will not connect directly to the Lighting Node Pro, only LED strips do that. So you would be better off getting two more LL if you want to control the LED's on them. They will work fine with the AIO for cooling. I made the mistake of getting HD fans to go on my 280mm AIO for a push/pull config. Luckily I already had a second Hub because one came installed in my Corsair case and I had the one from the 3 LL's I already had.

Of course now I have upgraded further and have a H115i Platinum that control the RGB on those fans, 2 RGB Hubs for the 3 LL and 2 HD fans, a Commander Pro to control the fan speed on the 3 LL and 2 HD fans(AIO controls the 2 ML on that), and on Lighting Node Pro to control my 4 LED Strips.

Corsair used to sell just the hub for $10 in the parts support area, but I haven't seen it in stock in awhile.
If you buy the kits (triple 120's or dual 140's) they will come with the hub. They also sell Single HD120's with a hub and manual controller as well.

You can find them on eBay,
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Corsair-RG...720907?hash=item3da295a40b:g:3tMAAOSwo21esDfS