VRM on the new AM4 motherboards

I remember reading that when you posted it and while I don't disagree with your conclusions, it's always been the case with low-end Biostar. They're not as big a company as some of others so they don't have the resources to make a consistently solid stack. I've found from past experience that their 'best' boards were usually competitive a la http://www.overclockers.com/biostar-ta890fxe-motherboard-review/ . The caveat has always been that their low-end boards are not very good and better left to OEM's and such.

My interest is piqued. I'll happily play the guinea pig this time around as I like several boards thus far but am not overwhelmed by any. I'll try this out and see what comes out as we move forward.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undervolter 

  Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

By all means, i don't disagree. I also removed the thermal pad and posted a pic in the FX8300 owners thread and let's say that the pad wasn't in good conditions... However, i advice caution, because since Biostar is probably the most untested brand, weird things can emerge. Some BIOS settings were weird for me for sure.

Also, i bought that motherboard without any expectations for overclocking. Heck, i run undervolted. Yet, it throttled at 3.5Ghz!

Here's that motherboard, is sold from 86EUR min to 94EUR max, right now (i was an early adopter and grabbed it for 75EUR when it first landed in the first shop).

http://www.trovaprezzi.it/prezzo_schede-madri_biostar_ta970_plus.aspx

In my local Amazon, it sells for 94EUR:
https://www.amazon.it/Biostar-TA970-Plus-scheda-madre-attacco/dp/B00TWIPD9O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488011301&sr=8-1&keywords=Biostar+TA970+plus


The Gigabyte 970 UD3P, can be found at 75 EUR and it goes all they way to 4.5Ghz

http://www.trovaprezzi.it/categoria.aspx?id=29&libera=Gigabyte+970+UD3P

For 84EUR, you can find the MSI 970 Gaming, that also overclocks.
http://www.trovaprezzi.it/categoria.aspx?id=29&libera=MSI+970+Gaming

For 100EUR, you have the ASUS Aura:

http://www.trovaprezzi.it/categoria.aspx?id=29&libera=ASUS+970+AURA

101EUR in Amazon: https://www.amazon.it/Asus-970-PRO-Gaming-Scheda/dp/B01A9GLESG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488011361&sr=8-1&keywords=ASUS+970+AUra


Bottom line: I wasn't expecting any overclocking records, but what the heck, for a motherboard that is sold more than the Gigabyte 970 UD3P and currently in Amazon for 7 EUR less than the ASUS Aura, i would expect to NOT throttle at 3.5Ghz! I mean, for 7 EUR more (going by Amazon prices), the Aura is leagues above it!

Bottom line: This might be a case of bad model, where it looks better than it is. It can happen. But, since here most people like extreme overclock, the same thing can happen to more costly boards. Meaning, it may look good, but overclock lower than the competition at comparable prices. So, caution is always a good thing, in products with dubbious performance. That's all i say. I am not saying that i KNOW that Biostar AM4 will be a bad deal. They may actually be a terrific deal out of a need to make a comback to the market. I just advice caution. Let the reviewers do the legwork for you.

 

All very true. I'm trying not to take too many of my preconceptions from AM3+ in though, because in terms of quality boards across the lineup, only ASUS really shined. I think that's probably because they're the biggest vendor and thus have the most resources to expend on a socket that was considered, by vendors anyway, to effectively be DOA. We saw even MSI and Gigabyte and Asrock fail to be consistent with AM3+ so of course a smaller vendor would be even more likely to have cut a lot of corners.

I'm just bored with ASUS and the MSI Xpower Titanium just isn't inspiring me. The Taichi looks to be the best price/performance buy for sure, but since I anticipate changing boards anyway I'm personally going to roll the dice for nostalgia's sake. I'm not too worried about it as I'm not expecting the world to begin with.

To be fair, Gibbo sells motherboards. :P Later in the originating thread he talks about the MSI Pro Carbon as being a 'high-end' board and MSI is well-known for using NIKOS components on boards in that price range. This tells me that Ryzen overclocking will be limited on phase-limited boards and boards with weak-link VRM but boards with decent components and good phase designs will overclock well. It's obviously a sliding scale and the absolute best components will overclock the absolute best, but that also costs and the vendor has to either cut corners elsewhere (features, PCB quality, etc) or charge more. I haven't yet seen a board I want to spend a bundle on yet. I'm sure they'll come in time, though.

Also, there isn't any Biostar available locally. I'm getting my hands on one, but only because my sister lives in New York. Really, though, overclocking will come down to what it always comes down to. Heat and power management. Every board that isn't like a Rampage or something makes compromises somewhere. Know your caps/chokes/MOSFETS and determine whether a board can handle what you're throwing at it.