Question 1

do you have to use the control panel or can you just plug the strip directly into the molex?

Accepted Answer

In order to plug it direct to a molex connector you would have to first see if the LEDs are connected in series or parallel then solder in a resistor or several depending on how it's wired. If your willing to go to put that much effort to ditch the not so cool looking control board but O so convenient might i add, then i would recommend just making your own light strip from scratch. It's extremely easy and cheap to do.  If that's something your interested in Google "ledcalc"  it will tell ya all you need to know about led and how to correctly power them.

Question 2

What does it plug into and can i use it as underglow for PC?

Accepted Answer

As mentioned above, its a simple molex connection, so any standard power supply should be fine. The card itself is able to be installed into the back of your case. However, I didn't have room, so I just put it at the bottom of my case and ran the light string from there. If you had a hole in the back or bottom of your case, this would feed through no problem for underglow.

Question 3

Can you use this without the control panel and just plug it directly into the molex?

Accepted Answer

Not exactly, the power goes through the control panel so you kinda need it but it really doesn't take much space at all. If you really need it off you could remove the mounting bracket on the control panel from the circuit board and leave the circuit board with the on/off and brightness controls just hidden in your case somewhere with your desired settings, but I don't know how hard it would be to take the circuit board off the bracket so personally If its that Important I would just hide the whole mounting bracket in there. An empty hard drive bay or expansion slot on the front side should hide it well enough. Hope this helps!

Question 4

Is it difficult to change the brightness and turn it off, seeing that it is on the back of the case?

Accepted Answer

If you have your desktop sitting up on your desk like I do, absolutely not. If you hide your desk down somewhere (you should move it up on top of your desk for dust reasons), yes it will be.

Question 5

Does this come with a 4pin molex connector or do you have to buy that additionally?

Accepted Answer

it comes with it (a male end, need the female end from your PSU obviously)

Question 6

What's the power draw on these lights?

Accepted Answer

I didnt save the package or notice the power usage, but I can tell you the led uses very little so I would not worry about this.

Question 7

Would you be able to split the connector coming off the control board to add in an extra strip? People say daisy chaining is difficult, but what about having separate strips?

Accepted Answer

Technically that's not daisy chaining; however, you should be able to. I don't see a reason you shouldn't be able to. Then again, I haven't done that. The board is just a controller so you should be able too is my answer

Questions & Answers