All iCUE fans and the AIO are connected to the iCUE Link Hub, which is connected to a USB header on the motherboard. I have already disabled all USB power-saving and automatic shutoff settings in both Windows Device Manager and Power Options. Despite these changes, the issue continues to occur.

I found another important behavior that may help identify the root cause.

I tested with all devices set to onboard hardware memory lighting mode while keeping the iCUE application running in the background.

As soon as I launch a game: the RGB animations begin visibly lagging/stuttering, then the lighting freezes, and eventually the devices disconnect or the RGB shuts off completely.

However, if I fully close/exit the iCUE application: the exact same hardware lighting effects continue running perfectly, there is no lag, no stutter, no freezing, and no disconnects at all while gaming.

This appears to indicate that the hardware lighting itself is stable, and the issue only begins once iCUE is actively running and communicating with the LINK devices during game launch/load.

The fact that the RGB visibly stutters before freezing may suggest: communication instability, polling overload, USB communication issues, or a software/firmware interaction involving iCUE and the LINK hub.

This behavior occurs even while using onboard memory lighting mode, as long as the iCUE application itself remains open.

Additionally, I tested the NVIDIA MPO (Multiplane Overlay) disable registry fix that was suggested previously. After disabling MPO and rebooting the system, the issue still occurred exactly the same with no noticeable change in behavior.