8+2 vs 6+2+2 power phase?

[CooLWoLF]

What is the difference between an 8+2 power phase vs a 6+2+2 power phase? According to Asus' website, my m5a99x EVO r2.0 board uses the 6+2+2 power phase, but I have never heard of this. I have only heard of a 6+2 and an 8+2 on the higher end boards.

 

[rylt]

http://www.overclock.net/t/943109/about-vrms-mosfets-motherboard-safety-with-125w-tdp-processors
http://www.overclock.net/t/946407/amd-motherboards-vrm-info-database

should be all the resources you need. It's a good board Intel has a seperate power phase for the iGPU so it reads a bit differently, the AM3+ version would indeed be just 6+2. I see 6+2 on the Asus page it must just be a typo somwhere, confused with a similar intel mobo

 

[CooLWoLF]

Thank you!

 

[InvalidError]

Intel has a seperate power phase for the iGPU so it reads a bit differently

There isn't much of a standard for this though so the meaning can vary a lot between vendors. All those +s are for auxiliary rails and individual vendors could decide to tack a +N for the number of VRM phases they use for DIMM power, IO hub, termination voltages, bias voltages and anything else that requires its own odd voltage and we would end up with boards saying things like "8+4+3+2+2+1+1+1" phases without saying what gets how many phases.

More important than the number of phases (beyond the minimum required to safely meet power requirements) is how good they actually are.

With Haswell, a large chunk of the potential phase silliness goes away.