Asus Motherboard Specific Guide

This guide is written specifically for NZXT Gaming PCs using Asus branded motherboards.  You can confirm your motherboard model in the motherboard UEFI BIOS, in the System Information app, or by checking System Specs in the NZXT CAM software. Screenshots were captured on the PRIME X870-P WiFi and Z890 MAX GAMING WIFI7 motherboard.  Instructions may vary from product to product.

Many Gaming PCs will feature RGB Lighting as an option for adding a bit of self expression to your setup.  Depending on specific hardware in your PC, the exact steps to control this will require different software and setup.  For systems featuring the following Asus branded hardware, you will need to use the Asus Armoury Crate software.

Installing Armoury Crate

Before starting you will need to make sure that Armoury Crate is installed on your PC.  This can be downloaded from the link above.

When downloading Armoury Crate you may be prompted to choose either the Lite package or Full installation package.  For this guide, we generally recommend the Lite package.

After starting the installer you'll be prompted to select which software to install.  For this guide we recommend Armoury Crate (required) and Aura Creator (optional).  Aura Creator will allow you to create more advanced lighting profiles along with Armoury Crate.

Armoury Crate will automatically launch after installation is complete and prompt you through a few choices for setup.  At the Feature Library option be sure to select Playground to install the RGB Lighting controls.

If you skipped past the Feature Library option, you can install the Playground feature at any time from the left sidebar.

Finally you'll be prompted to approve User Account Control permission to Armoury Crate.  This is necessary for the software to properly operate.  Click I understand to continue and choose Accept or Yes at the following screen.  

After a few minutes Armoury Crate will prompt you to Restart the system.  Click Reboot System and re-launch Armoury Crate after logging back into the PC.

Updating Armoury Crate Components

Before using the Armoury Crate software to control your system RGB, it is highly recommended to make sure all necessary components are installed and up to date.  In particular the following components must be installed and up-to-date in order to properly control the RGB in your system:

• Aura Service
• AURA lighting effect add-on
• ASUS HAL Central
• Motherboard (refer to your motherboard model)
• Addressable LED Strip (for RGB Fans & Kraken Core coolers)
• Memory

Using Armoury Crate

To adjust your RGB lighting, select Aura Sync from the left sidebar.

On the Sync devices we can select any detected devices that we want to control.  This will include the Motherboard (by default), Memory, and an Addressable LED Strip option.

Where is my Kraken Core and RGB Fans?

The Kraken Core, as well as any RGB Fans connected via 5V ARGB do not report their model back to the Armoury Crate software.  Because of this, they will be counted as an Addressable LED Strip for the purposes of this software.

On the Aura Effects screen we can select from a collection of pre-configured lighting effects.  For more advanced effects, you'll need to use the Aura Creator option.  

Aura Creator

Aura Creator is an advanced tool provided by Asus that allows greater control over connected RGB devices. It offers deep RGB customization for those who want to take a deep dive, however for this guide we will stick to simply adding control for individual components.

Once you have opened Aura Creator, you should see your Motherboard, as well as any Sync devices you had selected earlier such as RAM and Addressable LED Strips.  If you do not see your PC components on the first load, make sure that it is set to PC components view (1).  You may also have some devices that will show partially or off to the side, to re-arrange these parts click the Arrange devices button (2).

To set up lighting for a device, we'll need to first create a Layer.  This can be easily done by clicking an object or clicking and dragging through multiple objects in the view (1) to select them, then click Set as layer from the top bar.

On the left-side of the window we have our Effects list (1) that can be applied to the layers below.  To add an effect, click and drag the effect from the sidebar to the Layer timeline (2) below.

On the right-side of the window we have the Effect Control (1) where we can adjust the parameters for the effect.  This can be things like adding a gradient to lighting effects, setting an animation angle, adjusting the speed, or even some special effects like reversing the flow of the animation.  Once everything is set, click the Save & apply (2) button to save and name the profile before closing the Aura Creator window.

To use the effect you created, select the profile from the Advanced Effects drop-down.

For more information on Aura Creator, check out the Asus support article linked below:

AURA Creator Introduction | ASUS Official Support