GB H97-D3H - how many power phases?

[Veseliq_Loss]

I am trying to decide between GB H97-D3H and Asus H97-PRO, and they are almost identical feature wise. But i can't seem to find any information about the Gigabyte's power phases ... I saw the Asus one has 6+2, but no info for GB 🙁

Anyone?

 

[hichkas]

base on MB chip they are use h97 you cant overclock cpu or ram .. in that order , number of phases is not important.
buy cheapest one

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The Gigabyte has 4 +1 phases I think, but as mentioned above, it does not matter much. Even if you want to overclock a G3258, 4 phases will do the business. If not, you cannot overclock anything else on those boards.

I'd use the ASRock H97 Pro 4 myself. It's cheaper. I'd even consider a mATX if it would save money.

 

[DeathRabit]

Asus H97 , H87, B85 and H81 can be OC need bios Uptade

http://www.techpowerup.com/202196/asus-enables-overclocking-on-h97-h87-b85-and-h81-series-motherboards.html

 

[Veseliq_Loss]

Well, i am not planning any overclock ... The processor will be i5 4460, so OC is a no-go. But i was thinking that more phases = better power distribution to my components? I know i can go cheaper with B85 now, but i just like to have the options in case i need them in future. And chose those two MB because of Intel Lan and better audio(not that it matters much, but still ...). I am opting for a more like balanced build.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Unless they are complete rubbish, power delivery for H series boards makes almost no difference. I would not use power phases in a decision, except perhaps to break a tie, and there would be a lot of other things ahead of it. Going for better LAN or better audio is certainly a good reason. What are the prices of those two boards for you?

 

[Veseliq_Loss]

They are almost identical price-wise:

GB H97-D3H = 116$

Asus H97-PRO = 119$

I see a few other differences:

- GB audio chip is better
- GB has shielding on VRM area and Asus doesn't - does it matter at all if i am not OC-ing? I will be housing my components in Define R5 probably ... or Arc midi 2 ... haven't decided yet but probably both will be cool enough. My only concern is the r9 280 ...
- Asus has DIGI+ VRM (I am not sure is it much better than Gigabytes or not?)
- About Asus south-bridge ... i think GB's one might be better ... but i am not such an expert to be sure about it ...

 

[DonkeyOatie]

VRM shielding does not really matter,

DIGI+ is a hybrid Digital/analog power delivery.
-gives a mobo a bit more flexibility and stability for extreme overclocking.
-cost less than a equivalent analog VRM
-sounds good for marketing!
-saves a bit of energy in real world test
-is useless for average user!

For your needs, you are agonizing over details that I almost never even consider.

LAN controller matters
Audio codec may matter
Color may matter
Overall board/part quality may matter
Arrangement of PCI-e slots may matter if you plan to add a PCI-e WiFi card

They are both decent boards (neither of which I use) ASUS should be a little more robust, and Gigabyte should be a little bit better featured. The difference in robustness would not influence my decision.

If you get them in the USA, they can be obtained significantly cheaper.

 

[Veseliq_Loss]

You are right ... i tend to look too much into details. A friend of mine even jokes that i live in a very sad world lol.

Jokes aside:

- For DIGI+ i figured so ... i work in advertising and marketing business for about 10 years, so i figured that one out. But still had to ask given i am not a pro in electronics.
- I will be using a Kingston Cloud headphones, so i hope i can benefit from the better audio on GB. They are not a pro headphones, but sound quality is nice.
- Exactly the robustness part is one of the things that turned me away from Asrock(H97-PRO4).
- I like Asus BIOS/UEFI more.

So in the end most probably the better audio will be the stone that turns the car.

I know about the prices, but i live in Bulgaria(small european country) and hardware is more expensive here. For example a build that costs me 700$ in USA, here will be more like 900$+. Nothing i can do about that

Thank you very much for your time. You helped a lot!

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Good luck. Let us know how it works. I use ASRock boards on almost all of my personal and school builds and they have done well for me, however, your money, your choice.

Nothing wrong with being detail oriented, especially when the cost is high. You will probably not be using the UEFI/BIOS much.