ARGB VS RGB: How to choose the right lighting for your PC (2024)

When it comes to lighting up your PC, there are a couple of options. ARGB (addressable red green blue) and RGB (red green blue) will be the two main ways you could make your PC look like a disco or maybe even a Christmas tree. The thing is, at first glance, you might not be able to tell whether the lights are ARGB or RGB. While very similar, there are a couple of small differences that you should know about.

Both will get the job done, but one is going to offer you more options to control the lighting effects. Lighting up your PC has become so popular that many components now include these lights directly on them. This includes cases, fans, coolers, graphics cards, motherboards, RAM, and even some SSDs that have RGB lighting on them.

What is RGB?

Rainbows everywhere

Red, green, and blue (RGB) are the primary colors used in the LEDs that can be combined to create just about any other color, which can usually offer up to 16 million color combinations. The desired effect is achieved by adding different percentages of each color to reach the desired result. Using 100% of each color will emit a white light, while turning them all down to 0% will give a black color. Using various percentages is what will give off different colors, so you will need to play around with them to get the color you want.

The main downfall of RGB is that it doesn't offer much control. In most cases, users are left choosing whatever pre-programmed lighting effects the manufacturer has added to the product. In a lot of cases, this can be a single color with different effects, such as being static, breathing, or sometimes even blinking. Users may also be able to set it to multiple color rotations within these effects, but that is about as far as it goes, except for the full RGB effect, which rotates through all the pre-defined colors.

What is ARGB?

Gain more control over your lighting

This type of lighting is similar to RGB, but with a lot more functions. The "A" stands for addressable and is the key to allowing you more control over the lighting effects on offer. While you can still choose from pre-determined effects, you can now also control each individual LED, offering many more options and combinations.

The effects when using ARGB are pretty much limitless. You can have each LED flash a different color, have them dance in different colors to music, and much more. With this, you can also sync different products with ARGB lighting, meaning they can match colors and create some unique effects. If you wanted to, you could have a single LED change color in unison and go from your keyboard to your fans, across your CPU cooler and back. Of course, you will need to set the order of products to achieve this effect, but it can be done quite easily once you are used to everything.

Connectors and voltages

These may look the same, but they are quite different

While the connectors look very similar, there is one main difference between them. RGB uses a 4-pin header, and ARGB uses the same type of connector but with a pin blanked out, so it is only a 3-pin connector instead of 4. These connectors will also need different headers on your motherboard or control hub, and require different voltages to be used.

The RGB 4-pin header/connector uses 12V to power the LEDs. With this, all the LEDs are on the same circuit, so as mentioned, you cannot control the individual LEDs. Instead, each LED will have to be the same color and use the same effect as all the other LEDs that are attached to that connector. The four pins are for power, green, red, and blue. While the first pin powers the LEDs, the rest will control the color settings for the LEDs.

The ARGB connector is quite a bit different, with a 5V 3-pin header. The 3-pins are for power, data, and ground. This is going to allow for each individual LED to be controlled independently. Not only does this let you change the color on each LED, but this will also allow you to control the brightness, lighting effect, and anything you want.

Controlling lighting effects

Make the most of your RGB

There are a few different ways to connect and control your LEDs. In most cases, you will either connect them to your motherboard's 5V or 12V header, or you may even use a hub to connect all the LEDs. If connected to your motherboard, you can use software to control the LEDs. If you are connecting them to a hub that isn't connected to your motherboard, then there is normally a button somewhere you can use to change the different lighting effects.

When it comes to software, there are, unfortunately, loads to choose from. Most motherboard manufacturers have their own RGB software, as do peripheral manufacturers. Often, the different types of software don't place nicely together, so you will want to try and choose one to use. Not all manufacturers' software can control other manufacturers' RGB LEDs, so you may want to keep this in mind as well. There are also 3rd party solutions such as SignalRGB that aims to allow users to control all of their RGB lighting with one software.

Which is better?

When all is said and done, standard RGB is generally going to be the cheapest of the two. However, as mentioned, ARGB is going to offer a lot more control over your lighting. So, with that in mind, ARGB is going to be the hands-down winner when it comes to which is better. Considering it will allow you to control each individual LED on its own, it gives you the best chance of customizing your lighting scheme to your preferred settings.

RGB lighting, whether standard RGB or ARGB, does not affect your overall system performance, even though people like to joke and say it gives your gaming PC more FPS. Jokes aside, it does add an overall aesthetic appeal to your setup.