Question VRM temperatures of X570 chipset (Gigabyte X570S UD & X570S GAMING X) with 5950X (no OC)...?

thomas81br

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Oct 3, 2014
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Hello

Im looking to buy a mainboard for my 5950x CPU. I like the Gigabyte X570S and/or X570S GAMING X (they should be the same boards basically). I like them because of cheap price (in my country) and 3 x M.2 slots (all at full speed (!!) - PCIe 4.0 x4 (at least they say so on their website that all three support PCIe 4.0 x4 at the same time )):


The one thing i dont like about the motherboard is that they supposedly have HIGH VRM temps... BUT (!). Im not sure if this applies ONLY to the overclocked CPUs or even CPUs running normally, Non-overclocked. From some tests/reviews its hard to tell. Im planning to run my 5950x "on default", without any overclocking... Im planning to use air cooler DeepCool AK620. Soon im also planning to buy RTX 4090 (currently i have GTX 1070)... So the RTX 4090 should probably "add some heat" to the case and maybe (?) contribute to the temperature (incrase) of the VRMs of the motherboard...
Im judging the VRMs temps of the Gigabyte X570S UD based on these test/reviews/videos etc.:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHU7uK7hWkg&t=453s


Is says 87 c R9 3900x 3.8 GHz @ 1.15 v MLCC ... BUT (!), some issues i have regarding applying the results of the tests to me peronally:

1) AFAIK the board in the tests is NOT the same as the one im planning ( i think), its probably the
But my (planned) is: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/X570S-UD-rev-10
and they are somewhat different (even in the VRM section)...
2) These test were done with 3900x and NOT 5950x (mine); (although i care about VRM temps so im not sure if the CPU matters)...?
3) additionally i think it had increased voltage (? - @ 1.15)...?;
4) additionally it was cooled by water cooler (meaning no fans near the VRMs as is the case with "standard" air coolers)
5) additionally the case itself had no active fans (as far as i know).

My question is:

What sort of VRMs temps can i expect with the board (Gigabyte X570S UD) if i use it with None-overclocked (!) 5950x, with air cooler DeepCool AK620, with some basic case fans...
(Maybe someone here has this exact some board with similiarly hungry/powerful CPU...?)

What sort of VRMs temps should i expect...? What are "safe VRM temps"...? What if i add some additionaly few small 40mm fans on top of the VRM heatsinks...? That should help right?

Thank you
 
Those boards, that cpu. That's like stuffing a small block Chevy 350 with supercharger and NOS into a Mini Cooper. Yes it can be done. No it shouldn't be done. Those cheap *** boards were not designed to handle the full power output and ability of that cpu with any margin of error or safety. They are cheap because they use thinner copper in the traces, cheaper and lower rated mosfets, less and/or lower quality caps etc. Then they wow you with some bells and whistles like an extra m.2 slot.

You should be looking at closer to mid tier+ boards, not mid tier- boards or you'll wonder why your cinebench scores are several thousand points below most others.
 
I recommend paying a little more and getting something more powerful in terms of VRM. Under load, the processor Ryzen 5950X consumes 200+ watts. The ASUS ROG STRIX B550-XE Gaming WIFI or Gigabyte B550 AORUS MASTER motherboard is more interesting. See the AM4 motherboard VRM rating table.
 
uff... well you guys are outliers :)... in other places in the internet i was told its ok (...?)... Again.. im not planning to overclock (!). Is it really that big of a problem? What if i place those small fan coolers on the VRMs...?

also a "couple of thousands points" lower cinebench score seems a bit far fetched... (?)

Thank you

EDIT: Currently i have asrock x370 killer sli (on x370 chipset, 6 years old... (!)). I was planning to stuff the 5950x in there, but i also want to buy (in time) rtx 4090 and realized my current PC case is too small (and the PSU is not powerfull enough etc.) so i basically decided to build a completely new build... thats why im buying that "cheap" motherboard... Cause the other option was to put in the my current one (!), and thus the Gigabyte is definitelly an upgrade in this regard...
 
Overclocking as such, is dead for most consumers. Back in the days of 3rdGen Intel, you could get a 1GHz OC out of a cpu, that was a worthwhile attempt at better performance. Intel and AMD finally got around to killing that and have ramped up performance to the point where OC on large core count cpus is actually detrimental to overall performance, the cpus natural boosts doing far better by themselves. If anything, Undervolting has become the new OC, getting higher performance and better boosting because of lower voltages and resultant temps.

That's how the big cpus can work on cheap boards, they get power and temp limited, so the boosts aren't as high, but the mobo itself is pushed to capacity. A better mobo has a better ceiling, so performance can go up, but certainly the capacity is increased to the point of offering a safety buffer, so you aren't constantly pulling 50A through a 50A VRM by just gaming, but pulling maybe 60A through a 90A VRM.
 
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So, regardless of what the unwashed masses might have told you elsewhere, and yes, I'm saying that the majority of people on EVERY site know less than half of what they THINK they actually know, I'm telling you that it's a poor idea to use the most powerful 5000 series Ryzen CPU which can pull almost 200w by itself under a full load with a motherboard that is, if not the absolute lowest ranked model (X570s UD), certainly among the three models that without question sit at the bottom of the barrel.

The Gaming X is better, but not by much.

But you are right, either of these boards WILL work for that CPU, they just won't work "well". You will almost certainly not be able to enjoy the full boost potential of that CPU and you sure as hell will be likely to run into problems at some point if you decide you want to keep Precision boost overdrive enabled, which is a far better idea than trying to manually overclock on this platform, especially with these boards.

If you just want to run that CPU at the default configuration without PBO enabled and don't mind the fact that the top frequency and boost duration are likely going to be cut short compared to boards with better VRM configurations and thermal designs, then either of those boards will work. But, doing so makes it kind of senseless to go with the top CPU available from this generation. If you need to use a board like this it would make a lot more sense to go with a lower tiered CPU as well. One that doesn't pull nearly 200w under a full multicore load.

But hey, maybe that 14 year old on Reddit that told you it would be fine knows more than some other people who've been doing this for like 35 years, or more.

And the fact that you want to put an RTX 4090 in there just REALLY compounds the problem. Now you want to put the highest TDP 5000 series Ryzen CPU, AND an RTX 4090 that pulls more power than pretty much any single GPU consumer graphics card that has ever been released, on the same board, when it's a board that is fully intended for a much lower tiered set of hardware. I'm sure you're going to be very happy with it when it starts giving you problems.

Keep in mind, the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a great deal has faded away.
 

And other thing:

RTX 4090 - doesnt MAJORITY of its wattage come directly from the PSU and NOT the board, so the motherboard VRMs are not affacted...?
 
Also in addition i would like to ask, if i may 🙂:

1) I read that the audio codec of the motherboard is not really that good at all (its Realtek 887)... But if im NOT an audiophile ( my headset costs like 10 USD 🙂 )... Will I really notice a difference (while gaming or listening to music or whatever)...? Is it really a problem?

2)One of the Three 3 M.2 slots of the motherboard is located UNDER the space that will be occupied by the big (multislot) RTX 4090 Cooler . SImply the RTX 4090 (cooler) is so big that it will at least partially (if not fully, i think fully) cover one of the m.2 slots for SSD. I guess this means 2 things - Firstly - i can forget to put an SSD cooler on the SSD in this slot since it wont fit (under the RTX 4090)...? And secondly, theres quite a big chance that the SSD in this slot will thermal throttle when the RTX 4090 will be under heavy load (since the RTX 4090 will radiate too much heat onto the SSD underneath...? If not thermal throttle, the SSD will still run MUCH HOTTER because of this...?

3) In my country there are 2 "versions" of the "Gigabyte X570S UD"... One is simply "Gigabyte X570S UD" and the other one is "Gigabyte X570S UD rev 1.0"...? What does that "rev 1.0 mean"...? I cannot find it anywhere online? The website of Gigabyte also mentions only the "Gigabyte X570S UD rev 1.0" so what is the "Gigabyte X570S UD" (without the "Rev 1.0")...? (i want to buy the one without the rev1.0 because its a bit cheaper and offered by wider and better range of eshopsy in my country)... Whats the difference (if any) between the "base model" and the one with the "rev 1.0"?

Thank you
 
The M.2 slot that gets it's lanes from the CPU rather than the chipset is pretty much ALWAYS under the graphics card, on EVERY motherboard. This is likely due to problems with signal termination in much the same way that the circuits used for RAM need to be in a particular location, distance, etc. There isn't much of anywhere else it can go and still remain close enough to the CPU that there is not significant signal termination problems as there might be if it were located further away, so, under the graphics card it goes. Really shouldn't matter. The OS should go on this drive and honestly there is very little if any reason to need to have access to that drive once it is installed.

No version and version 1.0 should be exactly the same board. The no version, version, was likely from before there was a version 2.0 therefore after there was a version 2.0, if there was, they'd need to start calling the original board 1.0 to differentiate between the two versions. That would be my best guess. Might also be that they are simply marketed differently because they may have begun life as products being sold in different regions.

All modern audio codecs are pretty decent compared to years past. Some are better than others. If you are not worried about it, then yes, don't worry about it.

Yes, the 4090 gets most of it's power directly from the PSU, that is not the problem. The problem is that this is a BIG, HOT card that uses a lot of power and sheds a lot of heat, heat that is going to some degree hang around in an environment where you already have a board that isn't particularly thermally fantastic, adding to the problem, plus will also likely sink some of it's heat directly to the board by way of the PCIe slot's physical contact with the card. Not to mention, due to it's size, it's also going to act like an insulator over the top of the board and not allow at least some of the generated heat to easily rise away from the motherboard. It's not the worst of the potential problems with the configuration you intent but it IS a potential contributor.

Like I said, especially since it seems you are going to do it anyhow, one of these boards can work but you are not going to be happy with the result in the long run. It would make a lot more sense to simply wait, save a few more dollars and get a board that is at least marginally better. Even going with the Gaming X would be better than settling for the UD, if you are set on running the 5950x on there. Not to mention lower end boards tend to have more problems with some of the higher end memory configurations.

What are you planning to run in terms of memory configuration? What brand of RAM? How much RAM? What speed? How many DIMMs? These are all important considerations on Ryzen considering how problematic memory operations can be on some Ryzen configurations even with a very good board.