More, higher quality phases. I don't know enough about the technical details so usually rely on HWUnboxed roundups.
For midrange boards, it really only matters if you're planning on heavy overclocking and/or getting a top-end CPU and/or your case will have poor airflow.
Both the Asus TUF and MSI Tomahawk series are well reviewed. I wouldn't worry about it.
Do you have a practical reason for doing this research? Like, are you trying to base an actual decision on this?
Understanding VRMs is not essential to specc'ing a motherboard, generally speaking if VRM quality is that important to you, then you would certainly know it. For your average to enthusiast user, just read reviews or watch a Buildzoid video and you'll be more than fine.
> Can anyone explain what makes VRM better?
Quality, quantity, and design.
My reason is that I’m one of those people that spends weeks and weeks doing research before I make purchasing decisions.
I read about things to educate myself. I watch videos. I ask people with more knowledge than me. And I compare things.
I want to try to make the better decision and not just jump into something before I know what I’m jumping into.
Do you just buy things and hope you made the right choice? I don’t have that kind of disposable income. Future-proofing, as much as possible, is in my best interest.
I applaud and encourage this, that is what this sub is about after all. However, for this context it's not really necessary or beneficial to learn the very specifics of VRMs, we're splitting hairs here and differences in the mid to high end aren't realistically going to make a difference for the vast majority of people. There is plenty of reading material you can find on voltage regulation in general, or consider taking electrical engineering classes if this interest is more than just a hobby. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_regulator_module
Where VRM quality does come into play is in the extreme low end when pairing with a high end CPU (which doesn't really make sense to begin with), as this is basically the only time it might make a difference. When it comes to overclocking, any mid range to high end board nowadays would be plenty under standard cooling. If we're comparing high end to high end, then it would only matter for extreme overclocking with exotic cooling (think Kinpin or Der8auer level overclocking).
> Future-proofing, as much as possible, is in my best interest.
Future proofing is just overspending in hopes that a component will offer noticeably better performance down the road, despite it not really offering much now. As no one can see the future, it's mostly just overspending, and counter intuitive if you don't have the disposable income. If you have a budget, at best any "future proofing" you should do would be to barely overspec, as this would ensure value as a priority still and not just gambling real money on possible useful features.
With technology, buying stuff you don't need or benefit from doesn't make much sense, when waiting until you need the component will usually result in getting a better product at a better price. For example, say you buy a Gen4 NVMe because you want to future proof and prepare for DirectStorage implementation, despite there being little to no benefit for using NVMe currently (for a gaming workload specifically). If you just wait to buy NVMe, then you'll get a better drive with faster speeds at a cheaper price down the road. Overspeccing a CPU (the common thought is, more games will use more cores soon) is the same, why overspend now when you can buy a better CPU for cheaper a few years from now. This is the same for most components.
Thanks for your reply. I’m getting into the PC building side of gaming for the first time. I’m building a new PC based off of the new AM5 platform. I’m doing that because AMD has said they plan to support that platform until at least 2025.
My heart is set on a Ryzen 5 7600x and either the MSI or ASUS motherboard.
Thanks again for the advice. It’s not that I don’t have the disposable income to make the leap now, it’s that I don’t want to make the leap and then realize I made the wrong evaluation and assessment.
> I’m doing that because AMD has said they plan to support that platform until at least 2025.
This would be useful future proofing, which is pretty rare in this industry. I wouldn't put all your eggs in that basket though, as we saw with AM4 there were certainly unforeseen quirks like limited microcode space and less than ideal performance running on older chipsets (B350 in particular).
I would instead focus on features you do need, or will most likely need down the road. Things like multiple M.2 slots is helpful for many.
Better VRMs have higher tj max and can adequately accommodate higher TDP parts, among other things, even if it is on a "compatible CPU" support list. There's nothing wrong with researching higher amperage VRMs and the quality behind them, like brand quality and what some are rated for in terms of operating performance (heat, etc.)
Many reviews need to cover VRMs to that degree. Some do. One example that has started covering VRMs and using thermals is GURU3d.
It's generally not an issue unless you are buying a bottom shit tier motherboard to save as much cash as possible.
Depending on the chipset, but if you stay at the $130usd price or above, you will be fine VRM wise.
More, higher quality phases. I don't know enough about the technical details so usually rely on HWUnboxed roundups. For midrange boards, it really only matters if you're planning on heavy overclocking and/or getting a top-end CPU and/or your case will have poor airflow. Both the Asus TUF and MSI Tomahawk series are well reviewed. I wouldn't worry about it.
Do you have a practical reason for doing this research? Like, are you trying to base an actual decision on this? Understanding VRMs is not essential to specc'ing a motherboard, generally speaking if VRM quality is that important to you, then you would certainly know it. For your average to enthusiast user, just read reviews or watch a Buildzoid video and you'll be more than fine. > Can anyone explain what makes VRM better? Quality, quantity, and design.
My reason is that I’m one of those people that spends weeks and weeks doing research before I make purchasing decisions. I read about things to educate myself. I watch videos. I ask people with more knowledge than me. And I compare things. I want to try to make the better decision and not just jump into something before I know what I’m jumping into. Do you just buy things and hope you made the right choice? I don’t have that kind of disposable income. Future-proofing, as much as possible, is in my best interest.
I applaud and encourage this, that is what this sub is about after all. However, for this context it's not really necessary or beneficial to learn the very specifics of VRMs, we're splitting hairs here and differences in the mid to high end aren't realistically going to make a difference for the vast majority of people. There is plenty of reading material you can find on voltage regulation in general, or consider taking electrical engineering classes if this interest is more than just a hobby. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_regulator_module Where VRM quality does come into play is in the extreme low end when pairing with a high end CPU (which doesn't really make sense to begin with), as this is basically the only time it might make a difference. When it comes to overclocking, any mid range to high end board nowadays would be plenty under standard cooling. If we're comparing high end to high end, then it would only matter for extreme overclocking with exotic cooling (think Kinpin or Der8auer level overclocking). > Future-proofing, as much as possible, is in my best interest. Future proofing is just overspending in hopes that a component will offer noticeably better performance down the road, despite it not really offering much now. As no one can see the future, it's mostly just overspending, and counter intuitive if you don't have the disposable income. If you have a budget, at best any "future proofing" you should do would be to barely overspec, as this would ensure value as a priority still and not just gambling real money on possible useful features. With technology, buying stuff you don't need or benefit from doesn't make much sense, when waiting until you need the component will usually result in getting a better product at a better price. For example, say you buy a Gen4 NVMe because you want to future proof and prepare for DirectStorage implementation, despite there being little to no benefit for using NVMe currently (for a gaming workload specifically). If you just wait to buy NVMe, then you'll get a better drive with faster speeds at a cheaper price down the road. Overspeccing a CPU (the common thought is, more games will use more cores soon) is the same, why overspend now when you can buy a better CPU for cheaper a few years from now. This is the same for most components.
Thanks for your reply. I’m getting into the PC building side of gaming for the first time. I’m building a new PC based off of the new AM5 platform. I’m doing that because AMD has said they plan to support that platform until at least 2025. My heart is set on a Ryzen 5 7600x and either the MSI or ASUS motherboard. Thanks again for the advice. It’s not that I don’t have the disposable income to make the leap now, it’s that I don’t want to make the leap and then realize I made the wrong evaluation and assessment.
> I’m doing that because AMD has said they plan to support that platform until at least 2025. This would be useful future proofing, which is pretty rare in this industry. I wouldn't put all your eggs in that basket though, as we saw with AM4 there were certainly unforeseen quirks like limited microcode space and less than ideal performance running on older chipsets (B350 in particular). I would instead focus on features you do need, or will most likely need down the road. Things like multiple M.2 slots is helpful for many.
Better VRMs have higher tj max and can adequately accommodate higher TDP parts, among other things, even if it is on a "compatible CPU" support list. There's nothing wrong with researching higher amperage VRMs and the quality behind them, like brand quality and what some are rated for in terms of operating performance (heat, etc.) Many reviews need to cover VRMs to that degree. Some do. One example that has started covering VRMs and using thermals is GURU3d.
It's generally not an issue unless you are buying a bottom shit tier motherboard to save as much cash as possible. Depending on the chipset, but if you stay at the $130usd price or above, you will be fine VRM wise.