Which x299 motherboard have better VRMs ?

[Marko9111]

Hi there,I'm planning on buying x299 because I need more PCI lanes...and I will pair that motherboard with i9 7900x CPU.
But,I'm having trouble deciding which motherboard to buy...I like Aorus x299 gaming 9 and Asus rampage VI extreme/apex...
My main concern is VRMs build and CPU powers connectors.Every reviewer of rampage extreme call that mobo the best x299,but my main concern is that it have only one 8 pin EPS and one 4 pin CPU power connector..
Aorus seems that have a lot cramped up in ATX format,and that for me looks like a potential problem...So I must ask experts and people with more experience to share their thoughts on this subject.Thanks in advance for your replay.

 

[Darkbreeze]

There are no single CPU motherboards that use more than one 8 pin EPS connector that I'm aware of.

Either of those boards are great. Anything higher than the X299-A is going to be good quality. I think you are overthinking the problem, and that actually there is no problem to begin with.

What CPU are you planning to use and do you plan to do some major overclocking of the CPU?

 

[Marko9111]

There are no single CPU motherboards that use more than one 8 pin EPS connector that I'm aware of.

Either of those boards are great. Anything higher than the X299-A is going to be good quality. I think you are overthinking the problem, and that actually there is no problem to begin with.

What CPU are you planning to use and do you plan to do some major overclocking of the CPU?

well,as I said,i9 7900x will be used CPU.But ,when I read reviews of this processor i9 7900 Oced non OCed at full load pulls over 300W!And than I read about these asus boards only to have one 8 pin eps and 1x4 pin eps...How is that even possible? wouldn't that excessive load cause the melting of the CPU power connectors?
I will be running custom loop ofc,OCing in plan are around 4,6-4,8Ghz.
some of the x299 motherboards do have 2x8pin EPS connectors...

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, you're right. There are a couple of them with dual EPS12v connectors but only single sockets.

If you plan to overclock one of these monstrosities then, I REALLY recommend a high end board as you yourself have already indicated. Very much a good idea.

So far as I can see, the Aorus gaming 9, Asus rampage extreme and Aorus gaming 7 are the best options, but the ASRock x299 OC looks pretty good too. The ASUS and ASRock only have an 8+4 EPS connectors, but I don't think that makes all that much difference. Some of these boards only have a single 8 pin, so the extra connector is only for added OC voltage.

Further, the Aorus gaming 7 looks to be exactly the same as the gaming 9, with same power phase and same 2 x8pin EPS, only difference is slightly lower quality sound, so unless you're seeing something I'm not, I think THAT would be the board to go with.

 

[Marko9111]

Yeah, you're right. There are a couple of them with dual EPS12v connectors but only single sockets.

If you plan to overclock one of these monstrosities then, I REALLY recommend a high end board as you yourself have already indicated. Very much a good idea.

So far as I can see, the Aorus gaming 9, Asus rampage extreme and Aorus gaming 7 are the best options, but the ASRock x299 OC looks pretty good too. The ASUS and ASRock only have an 8+4 EPS connectors, but I don't think that makes all that much difference. Some of these boards only have a single 8 pin, so the extra connector is only for added OC voltage.

Further, the Aorus gaming 7 looks to be exactly the same as the gaming 9, with same power phase and same 2 x8pin EPS, only difference is slightly lower quality sound, so unless you're seeing something I'm not, I think THAT would be the board to go with.

I was pondering my brain last night about this issue...and I have come to conclusion....There is no way in hell that a
single i9 CPU can draw isolated continuous 400-500W to CPU socket....All the reviewers of i9 7900x never actually say that CPU alone draw that much of power....(they measure the pull from the wall,not the CPU alone),because 4pin and 8 pin connectors will start to melt around 380W, even 2x8pin will hit their thermal limit at around 460W...as when I watched my Kabylake under prime95 with avx on,my total system power consumption(Corsair Link app) with 1080ti was around 300-400W....But,when I checked power consumption (in core temp app)of the CPU it was 72-75W at 5,0Ghz at 100%!
I tend to ignore small companies like Asrock and MSI because they are typically on lower end build quality .
I think I will be buying ether rampage extreme VI or aorus gaming 9(better sound quality than aorus gaming 7)-even though gigabyte annoyed me with release of their designare x299 and aorus gaming 7 pro mobo that have better VRM design with more power phases than their flagship model aorus gaming 9!

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is this system going to be used for, gaming? Mining? Professional applications? Just wondering what it is you think is going to benefit from such a major overclock that you need to be THAT worried about the maximum current draw through the CPU AND need additional PCI lanes for?

Our systems tester Crashman was only able to achieve a 4.8Ghz stable overclock on any of the several i9 models he tested with and at 4.8Ghz that CPU was only pulling ~280w, which is certainly significant, but is nowhere near the 400-500w you are talking about. Even at 280w it needed some kind of motherboard cooling though otherwise there were overheating issues around the voltage regulation and LGA interface components.

 

[Marko9111]

What is this system going to be used for, gaming? Mining? Professional applications? Just wondering what it is you think is going to benefit from such a major overclock that you need to be THAT worried about the maximum current draw through the CPU AND need additional PCI lanes for?

Our systems tester Crashman was only able to achieve a 4.8Ghz stable overclock on any of the several i9 models he tested with and at 4.8Ghz that CPU was only pulling ~280w, which is certainly significant, but is nowhere near the 400-500w you are talking about. Even at 280w it needed some kind of motherboard cooling though otherwise there were overheating issues around the voltage regulation and LGA interface components.

Well,I need more Nvme storage capacity,a lot more.This PC will be used for prof app 50%,gaming 20%,the rest light workload...And yes,I was talking about the same thing you just mentioned.Most reviews didn't put actual CPU power draw on their review articles..just whole system power draw and sometimes they didn't even mentioned that is the whole PC power draw..That was confusing me ,that's why I was afraid about those power cpu connectors...
Do you think waterblock monoblock will be enough to cool all overheating components?CPU will be delided and applied with liquid metal

 

[Darkbreeze]

I think you'd be fine even without the monoblock as long as you have

a)A very good motherboard, say, in the top 10%

b)Very good air or water cooling. I tend to like air better because it does offer some beneficial airflow by way of residual cooling to the VRMs and memory components, but certainly if you are going to do an advanced open loop then who am I to knock that? Air also has the added benefit of not risking your very expensive hardware due to leakage. And don't think it can't happen.

Even though the designs have gotten much better, even the best open loop hardware, installed by highly skilled water cooling enthusiasts, can still have failures. Recently one of our moderators had a leak on some EK hardware that took out his motherboard, memory and graphics card. I also recently came across a forum thread over on Overclockers where a guy who has many custom loop builds under his belt lost almost the whole setup, including CPU, motherboard, GPU card, power supply and two 1TB SSDs all in one shot due to a leak.

First rule of electronics says to keep them away from water. I agree. Water cooling will never find it's way into any system of mine.

c)Have superior CASE airflow. Many people think that an open bench design offers the coolest option, but it does not. Engines without hoods, air compressors that are not enclosed and a variety of other industrial or mechanical equipment all benefit from direct airflow when it comes to keeping components cool and computer hardware is no different.

Especially if you will be running a high end/high TDP CPU, high TDP graphics card, multiple NVME PCI drives AND are packing them all in an enclosure, there is certainly a very good argument to perhaps spend a lot more on case cooling than the average enthusiast might.

In fact, the Noctua PPC industrial fans might be a very good idea. They offer MUCH higher airflow and static pressure due to the very high quality and design, but are no louder than many of the Corsair SP fan models. Being black, they are also unlikely to badly contrast the design or color scheme of your build unlike their traditional line of fans.

Picking a case with a great cooling design that removes obstacles from the path of airflow and offers a lot of case fan locations, along with the right fans, can dramatically decrease the thermal gradient for most internal components including those NVME drives and the motherboard components.

Delidding doesn't hurt either.

 

[Marko9111]

I think you'd be fine even without the monoblock as long as you have

a)A very good motherboard, say, in the top 10%

b)Very good air or water cooling. I tend to like air better because it does offer some beneficial airflow by way of residual cooling to the VRMs and memory components, but certainly if you are going to do an advanced open loop then who am I to knock that? Air also has the added benefit of not risking your very expensive hardware due to leakage. And don't think it can't happen.

Even though the designs have gotten much better, even the best open loop hardware, installed by highly skilled water cooling enthusiasts, can still have failures. Recently one of our moderators had a leak on some EK hardware that took out his motherboard, memory and graphics card. I also recently came across a forum thread over on Overclockers where a guy who has many custom loop builds under his belt lost almost the whole setup, including CPU, motherboard, GPU card, power supply and two 1TB SSDs all in one shot due to a leak.

First rule of electronics says to keep them away from water. I agree. Water cooling will never find it's way into any system of mine.

c)Have superior CASE airflow. Many people think that an open bench design offers the coolest option, but it does not. Engines without hoods, air compressors that are not enclosed and a variety of other industrial or mechanical equipment all benefit from direct airflow when it comes to keeping components cool and computer hardware is no different.

Especially if you will be running a high end/high TDP CPU, high TDP graphics card, multiple NVME PCI drives AND are packing them all in an enclosure, there is certainly a very good argument to perhaps spend a lot more on case cooling than the average enthusiast might.

In fact, the Noctua PPC industrial fans might be a very good idea. They offer MUCH higher airflow and static pressure due to the very high quality and design, but are no louder than many of the Corsair SP fan models. Being black, they are also unlikely to badly contrast the design or color scheme of your build unlike their traditional line of fans.

Picking a case with a great cooling design that removes obstacles from the path of airflow and offers a lot of case fan locations, along with the right fans, can dramatically decrease the thermal gradient for most internal components including those NVME drives and the motherboard components.

Delidding doesn't hurt either.

You are so right!
Yes,I already have thermaltake view 71 case(which have great air flow and great airflow is necessity for watercooling),I also have 1x420mm 60mm thick rad on top with noctua NFa14 PWM fans. and one in the middle 280mm rad 3x120mm fans NZXT Aer in the front and one at back 140mm.Here is my current loop https://imgur.com/a/AWInj
PSU is completely shut off the watercooling loop,and I used triple distilled sterilized water with EKWB coolant.(this thing is nonconductive-did tested with test pc)
Also for the x299 build,there will be inside one 360mm/60mm thick rad and one 360mm/30mm rad in the middle ,and one exhaust fan at the back .Honestly,I understand the risks,if anything happens,I will just build it again.
And yes,I must say these Noctua fans may be ugly as hell,but all that falls in the water when you see them in action,whisper quiet,moves tons of air and easily fan speed adjustable .

 

[Darkbreeze]

Agreed, the NF-A14 fans are very good, I use them a lot and actually took the NF-A15 fan OFF my NH-U14S CPU cooler and replaced it with an NF-A14. My cooling performance was better, dropping about 3°C under stress testing.

For something much more intense like your build though, you really should look at the Noctua PPC fans. Not just for the case but maybe also for your radiators. The Noctua PPC 3000 PWM industrial fans move almost double the CFM that the A14 fans move and have more than three times the static pressure. Even the PPC 2000 PWM fans move 25CFM more than the A14's and have slightly more than double the static pressure.

Since free air CFM doesn't really tell you much about how much air you can get through a restriction like a radiator, the static pressure rating is crucial and a fan with 2 to 3 times the static pressure, that ALSO has a much higher CFM, is going to do a lot better job of transferring heat away from radiators than one with lower capabilities. The more air you pass through a radiator, the more heat that radiator is going to be able to conduct out of the loop.

https://noctua.at/en/products/fan

 

[Marko9111]

Agreed, the NF-A14 fans are very good, I use them a lot and actually took the NF-A15 fan OFF my NH-U14S CPU cooler and replaced it with an NF-A14. My cooling performance was better, dropping about 3°C under stress testing.

For something much more intense like your build though, you really should look at the Noctua PPC fans. Not just for the case but maybe also for your radiators. The Noctua PPC 3000 PWM industrial fans move almost double the CFM that the A14 fans move and have more than three times the static pressure. Even the PPC 2000 PWM fans move 25CFM more than the A14's and have slightly more than double the static pressure.

Since free air CFM doesn't really tell you much about how much air you can get through a restriction like a radiator, the static pressure rating is crucial and a fan with 2 to 3 times the static pressure, that ALSO has a much higher CFM, is going to do a lot better job of transferring heat away from radiators than one with lower capabilities. The more air you pass through a radiator, the more heat that radiator is going to be able to conduct out of the loop.

https://noctua.at/en/products/fan

hm,interesting choice of fans,but my radiators are thick and relatively low density fins so I dont think I need those high speed fans...But nevertheless,I still can put those at around 800RPM which would be like those already inside.Quite frankly,I'm getting sick of the RGB fan craz.... They just look good and that's all.performance wise they are trash.
in what config would you put fans in my top mounted radiators?They are now in pull config-they pull air trough rads in my case,and I'm not sure if that is a good solution..Got it,look always for SP fans,will do that for 360mm rads..

 

[Darkbreeze]

For top mounted radiators, I think a high static pressure fan is still needed when they are in a pull configuration, because unless they are mounted outside the case, they still have to push air through the restriction of the case grillwork on top of having to pull it through the radiator fins.

And, regardless of whether or not you have a high fin density, it is still a significant restriction to airflow. Even the grillwork (And the grill design) on a case, which is not nearly as restricted as the fins of ANY radiator, present a significant restriction to airflow. This not only has an effect on airflow but also on the bearing life of the fan. Unless a fan is mounted outside the case with no restrictions to the PATH of airflow, it can, and should, be considered that there is some level of restriction. I look for fans with high static pressure ratings for ALL applications, because they are generally better constucted with higher quality and will tend to last longer regardless of how they are used.

I agree, RBG is out of hand. Lighting is one thing, I have a set of NZXT Hue+ LEDs in my case and my motherboard has a single row of small LEDs along the I/O side of the board, and my current fans which were only installed for testing purposes (Aerocool DS140's) have a couple of LED's on them, but looking like the Las Vega strip from 10,000ft up is pathetically overkill. I personally think more lighting looks a lot worse than minimal lighting, and tends to clash badly or result in nullifying the exact contrast you should be looking for.

 

[Marko9111]

For top mounted radiators, I think a high static pressure fan is still needed when they are in a pull configuration, because unless they are mounted outside the case, they still have to push air through the restriction of the case grillwork on top of having to pull it through the radiator fins.

And, regardless of whether or not you have a high fin density, it is still a significant restriction to airflow. Even the grillwork (And the grill design) on a case, which is not nearly as restricted as the fins of ANY radiator, present a significant restriction to airflow. This not only has an effect on airflow but also on the bearing life of the fan. Unless a fan is mounted outside the case with no restrictions to the PATH of airflow, it can, and should, be considered that there is some level of restriction. I look for fans with high static pressure ratings for ALL applications, because they are generally better constucted with higher quality and will tend to last longer regardless of how they are used.

I agree, RBG is out of hand. Lighting is one thing, I have a set of NZXT Hue+ LEDs in my case and my motherboard has a single row of small LEDs along the I/O side of the board, and my current fans which were only installed for testing purposes (Aerocool DS140's) have a couple of LED's on them, but looking like the Las Vega strip from 10,000ft up is pathetically overkill. I personally think more lighting looks a lot worse than minimal lighting, and tends to clash badly or result in nullifying the exact contrast you should be looking for.

Yeah, at 140mm all fans that size loose on static pressure because there is no deeper than 25mm 140mm fans,but what is better in your opinion? Pull config or push config,I think that maybe would be easier for fans to pull air out of the case trough radiator at the top than to push fresh air in trough hot radiator inside?Or?
Now,I have disabled most of my RGBs cuz they were making me sick ..Also I have Hue+ for Aer RGB fans,turn them off,and left only the mobo LEDs and two LED strips just to give like you mentioned contrast to UV coolant and it looks so much better...

 

[Darkbreeze]

Push for front intakes, pull for top exhausts. IMO.