Power Phase on Mobo

[Hooptymobile]

Hello all,

I have purchased the core i7 2600k Sandy Bridge cpu on release date. Since then I've been reading as many websites and watching video reviews on youtube in order to get a throrough understanding of what to look for in a mobo.

From what I'm gathering it seems that the higher power phase (24 being highest) is something to seek when deciding on a board. Is this true? Can some of you guys give me feedback on whether I should go w/ a 24phase over a 20 in order to get the most out of overclocking my cpu to its maximum speeds. Im seeing videos of guys reaching near 5.2 ghz and perhaps beyond.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131692
(I realize this product is out of stock; not in a rush to order perse)

So will I limit my ability to OC w/ anything less than 24 phase power? Or rather will i increase my ability to OC w/ the 24 phase since the ASUS Maximum IV is capable of acheinving 5.2Ghz (having an 8power phase;cpu).

Im beginning to realize there are quite a few different factors in acheiving maxmimum overclocking (knowledge of bios settings, quality mobo, memory, etc) I realize this cannot be answered in one simple answer so I welcome all angles of discussion on this subject.

It seems the Asus has an 8+2 power phase setup (cpu/memory)

I am highly intersted in this mobo below:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-465-_-Product

( I mean it got an OC award...you guys think it will beat the Maximus IV hands down? should i take the plunge on this one? )

Thanks again for all your comments replies everyone! :sneaky:

 

[Hogan773]

Hello all,

I have purchased the core i7 2600k Sandy Bridge cpu on release date. Since then I've been reading as many websites and watching video reviews on youtube in order to get a throrough understanding of what to look for in a mobo.

From what I'm gathering it seems that the higher power phase (24 being highest) is something to seek when deciding on a board. Is this true? Can some of you guys give me feedback on whether I should go w/ a 24phase over a 20 in order to get the most out of overclocking my cpu to its maximum speeds. Im seeing videos of guys reaching near 5.2 ghz and perhaps beyond.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131692
(I realize this product is out of stock; not in a rush to order perse)

So will I limit my ability to OC w/ anything less than 24 phase power? Or rather will i increase my ability to OC w/ the 24 phase since the ASUS Maximum IV is capable of acheinving 5.2Ghz (having an 8power phase;cpu).

Im beginning to realize there are quite a few different factors in acheiving maxmimum overclocking (knowledge of bios settings, quality mobo, memory, etc) I realize this cannot be answered in one simple answer so I welcome all angles of discussion on this subject.

It seems the Asus has an 8+2 power phase setup (cpu/memory)

I am highly intersted in this mobo below:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-465-_-Product

( I mean it got an OC award...you guys think it will beat the Maximus IV hands down? should i take the plunge on this one? )

Thanks again for all your comments replies everyone! :sneaky:

From what I've read, you want to be careful in how much voltage to pump through these. Yes you can get 5.2ghz but what happens if your chip lasts 2 weeks? Is it worth it?

 

[fffblackmage]

More power phases do not guarantee better performance. Generally, more phases should make for smoother voltage output, but it is only one of several factors in the design of the cpu voltage regulator.

 

[BoozeCompany]

More phases does not mean better overclocking. The Rampage III Extreme has 'only' 8 phases and it holds the record for X58. It depends on how the motherboard manufacturer implemented the VRM.

Gigabyte always uses a lot of phases while ASUS uses less. Generally Asus is better when it comes to overclocking. So i would go for the Maximus IV Extreme

You should also remember that each phase also consumes power itself, that means more phases = more heat.

 

[IGemini]

Power phasing is more of an energy management feature than an overclocking feature. It will really only feed the CPU with as much energy as it needs, and the other power phases get turned off.

At best, power phasing might improve your upgrade choices. Perfect example was my old ASUS P5W DH that had an 8-phase power system. Decided to use that motherboard when Core 2 first came out. It was a 975X board which generally doesn't support Core 2, but the power design made it so. At the end of the day, with an updated BIOS, you could drop ANY 775 CPU in that motherboard and it would work. My guess is motherboards with power-phasing designs will be more likely (but not certain) to allow Ivy Bridge upgrades than those that don't.

 

[Hooptymobile]

Great knowledge, insight, and comments from everyones experience in pc's. Thank you again for sharing this info w/ me. Honestly Im still hung up on the Gigabyte UD7 for some reason. I dont want it simply because its the most expensive mobo out there (or I believe that is the case) but I just have feeling since they claim Sandy Bridge is the Flagship of the 1055chipset I might as well not skimp on the mobo.
Had EVGA released the P67 SLI Classified I might have been swayed to purchase their product much more so (simply for reputation sakes, etc.)

My current board is XFX Nvidia 790i ultra sli (I bought as a cpu + mobo combo deal from Fry's Electronics ; late 2008) ; core 2 quad q9400 and it has served me very well to this day ; no overclocking done whatsoever to it. Also 4gb 1066 memory sticks corsair w/ heatspreaders.

I need to learn how to make sig things w/ specs >_<

 

[Hogan773]

Great knowledge, insight, and comments from everyones experience in pc's. Thank you again for sharing this info w/ me. Honestly Im still hung up on the Gigabyte UD7 for some reason. I dont want it simply because its the most expensive mobo out there (or I believe that is the case) but I just have feeling since they claim Sandy Bridge is the Flagship of the 1055chipset I might as well not skimp on the mobo.
Had EVGA released the P67 SLI Classified I might have been swayed to purchase their product much more so (simply for reputation sakes, etc.)

My current board is XFX Nvidia 790i ultra sli (I bought as a cpu + mobo combo deal from Fry's Electronics ; late 2008) ; core 2 quad q9400 and it has served me very well to this day ; no overclocking done whatsoever to it. Also 4gb 1066 memory sticks corsair w/ heatspreaders.

I need to learn how to make sig things w/ specs >_<

I'm not an expert by any means but I get the sense that SB is so easy to OC that pretty much any board will be fine......maybe the days of the $300 mobo are numbered (unless you're just buying for a few extra features or Sata ports, or just to say you have the BEST)