How do I know which motherboard has better VRM?

T

Trackr

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For instance, the Z690M AORUS ELITE has 12 chokes, each one rated at 60A.

And the Z690I AORUS ULTRA LITE has 10 chokes, but each one is rated at 105A.

Do I simply multiply the amount with the amperage to know which one would allow higher overclocks?

Thanks!
 
We have reached the point where it really doesnt matter anymore. Most decent boards now have double or even triple the amount of power that the cpu could ever pull even under LN. It has been a long time since the days of boards with only a few mosfets and no heatsinks on them where it really mattered. Dont get caught up in the new VRM wars, where companies are trying to outdo each other with extravigant sized VRMs. You will pay large amounts for something you will never use or matter.
 
Yeah, I also thought anything above 8 is overkill but then I saw how much the B660 chipset hinders anything above a 12400.

On a 6+2, you have a 20% reduction in performance with my CPU (12700k), at stock settings.

So, I figured my only option is to go with Z690.. but even the ASUS Z690M-Plus D4 which has a 10+1 VRM is said to limit OC ability.

Therefore, I'm stuck with 10 or 12. The question is, would 1050A be better than 720A?

According to the math, that seems to be correct, but it's a little odd since the 1050A board happens to be a tiny mini-ITX which is actually cheaper than the mATX.
 
Well looking at the system in your sig I can see why your worried about OCing. Things have changed a lot since then and OCing isnt nearly a thing anymore. Back in the day I used to OC the snot out of my proc and video card going back to 486/P1 days. Now I dont since most current procs will OC themselves better than I ever could, it is nearly pointless to do so. The days of processors having massive headroom to OC are pretty much over outside of people doing LN runs.
 
Sometimes buildzoid on yt examines (and rants a bit about) motherboards and their components.
 
Trackr said:
For instance, the Z690M AORUS ELITE has 12 chokes, each one rated at 60A.

And the Z690I AORUS ULTRA LITE has 10 chokes, but each one is rated at 105A.

Do I simply multiply the amount with the amperage to know which one would allow higher overclocks?

Thanks!
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It's not really the chokes that matter, but the power stages or FETs, how well they're cooled, and to some lesser extent, how well the control circuitry manages them. The physical layout of the board also matters, because the primary cooling for the power transistors is actually the board itself, and not necessarily any heatsink that's tacked on. A more spacious layout in that area allows better cooling, and more performance out of the same parts.

ITX boards tend to have really high end power designs because they're crammed full of components and intended to be used in very small cases with poor airflow. As such, while they're often rated to a bazillion amps under ideal conditions, they derate in actual use because the conditions aren't ideal.

My advice is to pick a CPU and then just buy a mid to high end board that has the features you want. Unless you intend to do competitive overclocking, or use this system under very unusual conditions, the number of power phases isn't really going to matter. If you plan on running a 12700K, you need a Z690 board, and with the possible exception of the really basic ones that don't even have a VRM heatsink, they're all perfectly adequate for that use case.

If you do intend to do competitive overclocking, then what you want is one of the boards that are made for that purpose, like the EVGA Dark, Aorus Tachyon, or Asus ROG Apex.
 
Hardware Unboxed on youtube has been doing VRM temp testing on popular boards from time to time:
I think looking at results is better and easier than trying to figure out which boards should be best from researching specs.
 
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you don't need a Z690 board unless you want to overclock the CPU at all, want more robust voltage options for RAM, or need 3+ NVME slots. The mid-range B660 boards from Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI have solid VRMs and heatsinks.
They can be a bit on the hot side with a 12900k running full load for extended periods. But that is alleviated by pointing a fan toward the VRMs.

I like Asrock, but the heatsinks on their mid-range stuff usually falls behind in cooling.
 
lukeintheo said:
So any board today would be able to take care of a "noob" OC?
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Any board on the market today should be able to run any CPU listed as compatible with it at stock settings. Nothing beyond that is ever really guaranteed, but obviously higher end boards will be more likely to deliver good overclocking results.

I wouldn't try to do much overclocking a really cheap motherboard that doesn't have cooling for the CPU VRM, but once you get past the absolute cheapest ones, you should be fine. I'd be looking at the mid-range boards myself. The really cheap ones frequently kind of suck for other reasons, and the fancy enthusiast ones get into diminishing returns pretty quickly, unless you're doing something competitive.
 
RazorWind said:
Any board on the market today should be able to run any CPU listed as compatible with it at stock settings. Nothing beyond that is ever really guaranteed, but obviously higher end boards will be more likely to deliver good overclocking results.

I wouldn't try to do much overclocking a really cheap motherboard that doesn't have cooling for the CPU VRM, but once you get past the absolute cheapest ones, you should be fine. I'd be looking at the mid-range boards myself. The really cheap ones frequently kind of suck for other reasons, and the fancy enthusiast ones get into diminishing returns pretty quickly, unless you're doing something competitive.
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Thanks for all these inputs.

A mid end board with good and solid heatsinks probably would be enough then.
 
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