Understanding max voltage on the motherboard.

I have been doing a lot of reading about different aspects of motherboard and CPUs, and here is my question (which may be a no brainer to you guys):

When it comes to overclocking what is the main limitation on the board?

a) The amount of voltage it can provide to the CPU

b) The amount of clean voltage (before it begins throttling)

c) or something else

1. The reason I ask is understanding at what point board begins to lock up and throttle, I do understand it's more than this, Phase (4-1, 6-1, 8-1, etc), the quality of VRM chips, chokes, etc.

2. Another HUUUUUGE reason is I don't want to fry the board, I do believe it shouldn't fry the CPU, because it would not supply enough voltage to the CPU if you overload the board and board would go first.

Or am I wrong here?

I have been following the advices of people that overclocked before when it comes to voltage so I never exceed the recommended amounts on CPU, but my question is more about the motherboard itself.

And I'm talking about in general, not just my board that I currently have in my rig.

Thanks guys

What are you trying to do, exactly?

Without knowing more, I'm going with C - something else. you can most definitely fry your CPU on demand if you do something stupid like set your Vcore @ 1.7v. the motherboard will more than likely survive the insta-toasting of your CPU if you do that.

Voltage regulators are very simple, and robust, when compared to the billions of transistors in your CPU. they will more than likely not be the first to go.

With that out of the way, you're probably asking the wrong question. it's not "how much voltage" can your board supply, but "how much current" can your board supply. 16 phase power circuitry will (in theory) allow for cleaner power, and more of it, than something with 4 phases.

When it comes to overclocking, the number 1 enemy isn't generally insufficient voltage / cleanliness of power, but rather heat. if you keep everything cool, you can do some really fun stuff. whatever component you neglect to cool adequately is likely to be the one that causes you most of your problems.

Quote:

Originally Posted by u3b3rg33k

What are you trying to do, exactly?

Without knowing more, I'm going with C - something else. you can most definitely fry your CPU on demand if you do something stupid like set your Vcore @ 1.7v. the motherboard will more than likely survive the insta-toasting of your CPU if you do that.

Voltage regulators are very simple, and robust, when compared to the billions of transistors in your CPU. they will more than likely not be the first to go.

With that out of the way, you're probably asking the wrong question. it's not "how much voltage" can your board supply, but "how much current" can your board supply. 16 phase power circuitry will (in theory) allow for cleaner power, and more of it, than something with 4 phases.

When it comes to overclocking, the number 1 enemy isn't generally insufficient voltage / cleanliness of power, but rather heat. if you keep everything cool, you can do some really fun stuff. whatever component you neglect to cool adequately is likely to be the one that causes you most of your problems.

Click to expand...

Just simply overclocking, cooling on CPU is adequate (well below the max), and voltage is well below as I said.

What really implies "cleaner power" though? More consistent without voltage drops, or something else.

Considering the voltage on CPU is set within the limits of the chip, what do you need to do to protect the motherboard from frying and understanding where the limitations lay.

Is it component quality (not talking about CPU) ?

If so what is the most important source of the limitation separating let's say an $80 board or $180 board.

I understand the basis of having two 4 pin jacks, and simple stuff such as VRM, Northbridge, Southbridge cooling, yet I want to understand where you would hit the limitations on any board besides of phase.

Not worried about all that extra stuff such as USB3s, SATA III, or any of the jacks such as audio. Talking about general limitations of the chips such as Chokes, VRMs, etc for overclocking purposes.

When does the board officially begins to throttle is usually extremely important, as just because you have CPU cooled adequately doesn't mean that you are actually maxing out its' performance when it comes to gaming in CPU extensive games such as Battlefield 4 or heavy CPU applications that require lots of rendering compared to more expensive boards. What justifies the difference in price between the boards is the quality of components, question is what is trully improved there?

As if the board is not as good (question is why) it will begin to throttle and FPS will start dipping, or performance will be affected in a jerky motion rather than consistent delivery on your side.

What is really improved in $180 board, and how can you maximize the lower quality board performance in general. As not everyone can afford to spend $200 on just the motherboard.