Z97 VRM info

I would agree with Wirerat's experience share.

I was about to swap my Maximus VII Ranger for a Hero, instead I opted for another i5 4690K which came up on promo.

My original would top out at 4.6GHz with bios set to 1.27V, it ran too hot IMO to do some lengthy stress tests.

New is doing 4.8GHz with 1.210V in bios, stability tested with 24hrs [email protected], 54 loops (9hrs) x264, 3hrs RealBench Stress mode, 4.9GHz has also had some testing and usable as 24/7 OC IMO.

Done light windows usage for [email protected] & [email protected].

I had read all the pages of this thread before deciding to buy Ranger in Feb15 and at that decision time I was still no closer to knowing if I was making the right choice.

What swung the decision for me towards the Ranger a) review comparing Hero with Ranger b) purchase price of Ranger (£134 bundled with Asus Front Base OC panel, sold on ebay to reduce mobo price further).

Here are the relevant sentences from Bit Tech Review:-

I'll be honest though every time a Hero comes up on promo @ an etailer I feel tempted to buy! .

So far my brain overules and suggests I'd have no real gains .

Hi guys, I'm having trouble finding a good Z97 Mini-ITX motherboard. Ideally I'd get the Asus Z97I-Plus, but I can't find it for a decent price. I've checked Amazon, Newegg, Ebay, Hardwareswap, Craigslist (expanded to search as much as possible), reddit.com/r/hardwareswap, and of course the OCN Marketplace.

I'm looking to overclock a Pentium G3258 as much as possible. I'd like it not to hold back a 4690k future upgrade at all. I've read tons of threads and seen all kinds of comparisons, but really there is no up to date VRM list with mini-ITX and micro-ATX boards. I REALLY prefer Asus as they have the best UEFI and components in my experience, but I'm definately willing to try other brands if they measure up in quality with a better price (except Asrock). If the Asus Z97I-Plus is as good as it gets for the size, then I'm willing to go micro-ATX if it gets me better VRMs for the price.

Help me out here guys!

EDIT:Found an Asus Z97I-Plus for $107 shipped! There really is no better option, or anything even close! Check newegg for refurbished and open box if you can't find it elsewhere. I saw it for $128 refurbished there.

Hey!

I've been trying to find this information for a while, but I'm still not quite sure. I managed to get a new Asus Z97-AR and a 4770k for a ridiculously cheap price, and decided it was time to upgrade from my 3570k. Now, I'm very happy with the OC I managed, 4.6GHz at 1.28v, but what slightly worries me are the mobo VRM components. Apparently the Z97-AR is basically a Z97-A without VGA and DVI ports, and a black/silver colour scheme. At first I thought it had 8+2 phase power delivery, but according to these lists it's actually 4+1/4+1, so not a true 8-phase.

Am I all right pumping this much voltage through the VRM? I know it isn't THAT much voltage but I'd like to play it at least somewhat safe, at the same time not wanting to let go of the OC I got though. I do have excellent airflow around the CPU socket despite having a custom loop, and temperatures aren't a problem at all. I'd just like to hear your opinions on the matter, after all you're certainly much smarter than me on this subject.

Any advice and opinions from experts would be highly appreciated, thank you in advance!

Bit of a thread necro, but this should be the right place. Looking at Sins vrm list, it appears the Asus Maximus Z97 Ranger that I have has a "fake phase" vrm scheme. It has the exact same components as the Z97 Hero, apart from the downgraded chokes, pwm and is listed as "dual output". Why in the world would Asus put 8 Nexfets, 8 chokes with the same IR3535 driver and only use 4 phases? I can see little cost savings from just dumbing down the pwm.

i need to provide us with all vrm info for all motherboard sins hardware is too old

It's not easy to update that list. Maybe one day I will add ads and then update it.

thanks for that i really wanna know the new mother board vrm info ?

You should make it a google sheets document so so it can be searched easily and people can propose new information to add with sources - which you can check over before adding. That way this huge job for one person becomes easy because it is a community effort. Boards like the Asus Z97 Gene, Asus Z97 Pro Gamer, And MSI Z97 Gamer aren't on the list and I really wish they were because many reviewers list the VRM count incorrectly (for the last two). I think it's 6+2 not 8.

That's the issue is making it community based, the people in the community who know the least will boast the most and then you will have discussions that make anything like that worthless. You will also have vendors try and go in and change things. I will see if I can spend some time on the list everyday, I was thinking of making it a searchable database, just having one site dedicated to it.

I already realize that would be an issue, I wasn't suggesting making the chart changeable to anyone, but restricting change access only to YOU! - People can post new information in the correct format and you can then review it and add it if it's correct. It'll save you a lot of time and effort. Plus other people can help verify each others submissions too.

Google slides bro.
It's searchable and everything, you can grant anyone edit access.

Or instead of having people submit info on the forum you could have two versions of the chart, the main version that only you control, and one community version that members can submit to without approval to add info quickly in the right format. - Then you can check that info and if it's correct copy it into the main chart. All changes are tracked so edits/spam/misinformation can be reverted, etc. - I think people are much more likely to participate if they can enter it directly into the table, all you will have to do is approve what they enter and their contribution is now there for everyone!

To get more people involved, you could make a little tutorial on how to find/identify the components. (Yes I saw your existing videos, but "noob things" like how to remove and replace MB heatsinks safely aren't included and IMO they should be to lower the barrier to joining the project.)