Vrm x570: which is the best? asus vs aorus vs asrock vs msi

We have set out to find the best VRM X570, the new AMD platform designed especially for its Ryzen 3000 and possibly for the Ryzen 4000 of 2020? Not only will we see the in-depth characteristics of four reference plates for each of the manufacturers Asus ROG, Gigabyte AORUS, MSI and ASRock, but we will see what they are capable of doing with a Ryzen 9 3900X stressed for 1 hour.

Index of contents

New generation of VRM with PowlRstage as reference

AMD has reduced the manufacturing process of its processors to 7 nm FinFET, which this time is in charge of building TSMC. Specifically, it is its cores that arrive this lithography, while the memory controller still remains at 12 nm from the previous generation, forcing the manufacturer to adopt a new modular architecture based on chiplets or CCX.

Not only have CPUs been upgraded, but also motherboards, in fact all major manufacturers have an arsenal of motherboards with the new AMD X570 chipset installed on top of them. If there is one thing that should be highlighted about these boards, it is their deep update of VRMs, since a 7nm transistor needs a much cleaner voltage signal than a 12nm one. We are talking about microscopic components, and any spike, no matter how small, will cause failure.

But it is not only quality, but quantity, we have increased efficiency by decreasing size, it is true, but processors with up to 12 and 16 cores have also appeared, working at frequencies exceeding 4.5 GHz, whose energy demand is close to 200A at 1.3-1.4V with TDP up to 105W. These are truly high figures if we talk about electronic components of just 74 mm2 per CCX.

But what is a VRM?

What sense would it make to talk about VRM without understanding what this concept means? The least we can do is explain in the best way we can.

VRM means voltage regulator module in Spanish, although sometimes it is also seen as PPM to refer to the processor power module. In any case, it is a module that acts as a converter and reducer for the voltage that is supplied to a microprocessor.

A power supply always delivers a direct current signal of + 3.3V + 5V and + 12V. It is in charge of converting alternating current into direct current (current rectifier) ​​to be used in electronic components. What the VRM does is convert this signal into much lower voltages for its supply to the processor, normally between 1 and 1.5 V depending on the CPU, of course.

Until not long ago, it was the processors themselves that had their own VRM inside. But after the advent of high-performance, high-frequency multicore processors, VRMs became directly implemented on motherboards with multiple stages to smooth the signal and tailor it to the needs of each processor's Thermal Design Power (TDP)..

Current processors have a voltage identifier (VID) that is a string of bits, currently 5, 6, or 8 bits with which the CPU requests a certain voltage value from the VRM. In this way, exactly the necessary voltage is supplied at all times depending on the frequency at which the CPU cores are working. With 5 bits we can create 32 voltage values, with 6, 64 and with 8, 256 values. So, in addition to a converter, the VRM is also a voltage regulator, hence it has PWM chips to transform the signal of its MOSFETS.

Basic concepts like TDP, V_core or V_SoC must be known

Around the VRM of the motherboards there are quite a few technical concepts that always appear in the Reviews or specifications and that their function is not always understood or known. Let's review them:

TDP:

Thermal design power is the amount of heat that can be generated by an electronic chip such as a CPU, GPU, or chipset. This value refers to the maximum amount of heat that a chip would generate at maximum load running applications, and not the power it consumes. A CPU with 45W TDP means that it can dissipate up to 45W of heat without the chip exceeding the maximum junction temperature (TjMax or Tjunction) of its specifications. This does not have to do with the power that a processor consumes, which will vary depending on each unit and model and manufacturer. Some processors have a programmable TDP, depending on which heatsink they are mounted to if it is better or worse, for example, APUs from AMD or Intel.

V_Core

The Vcore is the voltage that the motherboard provides to the processor that is installed on the socket. A VRM must ensure a sufficient Vcore value for all of the manufacturer's processors that can be installed on it. In this V_core the VID that we have defined works, indicating at all times what voltage the cores need.

V_SoC

In this case it is the voltage that is supplied to the RAM memories. As with the processor, the memories work at a different frequency depending on your workload and the JEDED profile (frequency) you have configured. It is between 1.20 and 1.35 V

Parts of the VRM of a board

MOSFET

Another word that we will use a lot will be MOSFET, Metal-Oxide semiconductor Field-Effet, what has been a field effect transistor. Without going into electronic details much, this component is used to amplify or switch an electrical signal. These transistors are basically the power stage of the VRM, generating a certain voltage and current for the CPU.

Actually, the power amp is made up of four parts, two Low Side MOSFETS, a High Side MOSFET and an IC controller . With this system it is possible to achieve a greater range of voltages and above all to withstand the high currents that a CPU needs, we speak of between 40 and 60A for each stage.

CHOKE and Capacitor

After MOSFETS, a VRM has a series of chokes and capacitors. A choke is an inductor or choke coil. They perform the function of filtering the signal, since they prevent the passage of residual voltages from the conversion of alternating current into direct current. Capacitors complement these coils to absorb inductive charge and to function as small charge batteries for the best current supply.

PWM and Bender

These are the last elements that we will see, although they are at the beginning of the VRM system. A PWM or pulse width modulator, is a system by which a periodic signal is modified to control the amount of energy it sends. Let's think of a digital signal which can be represented by a square signal. The longer the signal passes at a high value, the more energy it transmits, and the longer it passes to 0, since the signal will be weaker.

This signal in some cases goes through a bender that is placed before the MOSFETS. Its function is to halve this frequency or square signal generated by the PWM, and then duplicate it so that it enters not one, but two MOSFETS. In this way, the supply phases are doubled in number, but the signal quality may deteriorate and this element does not make a correct balance of the current at all times.

Four reference plates with AMD Ryzen 9 3900X

After getting to know what each of the concepts that we will deal with from now on mean, we will see what are the plates that we will use for the comparison. It goes without saying that they all belong to the high-end or are the flagship of the brands and are enabled to use them with the AMD Ryzen 3900X 12-core and 24-wire that we will use to stress the VRM X570.

The Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula is the manufacturer's highest performance motherboard for this AMD platform. Its VRM has a total of 14 + 2 phases under a copper heatsink system that is also compatible with liquid cooling. In our case we will not use such a system, in order to be in equal conditions with the rest of the plates. This board has an integral chipset heatsink and its two M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots. It has capacity for 128 GB of RAM up to 4800 MHz and we already have available the BIOS update with AGESA 1.0.03ABBA microcode.

The MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE has given us a little war on the test side since its inception. It is also the brand's flagship with a count of 14 + 4 power phases protected by a system of two high-profile aluminum heatsinks connected to a copper heat pipe that also comes directly from the chipset. Like previous GODLIKE, this board is accompanied by a 10 Gbps network card, and another expansion card with two extra M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots in addition to its three on-board integrated slots with heatsinks. The latest version of BIOs available is AGESA 1.0.0.3ABB

We continue with the Gigabyte X570 AORUS Master board which in this case is not the top range, since above we have the AORUS Xtreme. In any case this board has a VRM of 14 real phases, we will see this, also protected by large heatsinks connected to each other. Like the others, it offers us integrated Wi-Fi connectivity, along with a triple M.2 slot and triple PCIe x16 with steel reinforcement. From day 10 we have the latest update 1.0.0.3ABBA for your BIOS, so we will use it.

Finally we have the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming X, another flagship that comes with notable improvements over the Intel chipset versions. Its 14-phase VRM is now much better and with better temperatures than what we saw in previous models. In fact, its heatsinks are possibly the largest on the four boards, with a design similar to the ROG, for having an integral heatsink in chipset and its triple M.2 PCIe 4.0 slot. We will also make use of its BIOS update 1.0.0.3ABBA released on September 17.

In-depth study of the VRM of each board

Before the comparison, let's take a closer look at the components and configuration of the VRM X570 on each motherboard.

Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula

Let's get started with the VRM on the Asus board. This board has a power system consisting of two power connectors, one 8-pin and the other 4-pin, which supplies 12V. These pins are called ProCool II by Asus, which are basically solid metal pins with improved rigidity and ability to carry tension.

The next element present is the one that exercises the PWM control of the entire system. We are talking about a PWM ASP 1405i Infineon IR35201 controller, the same one that also uses the Hero model. This controller is responsible for giving the signal to the supply phases.

This board has 14 + 2 power phases, although there will be 8 reals of which 1 is in charge of the V_SoC and 7 of the V-Core. These phases do not have benders, so we can not consider that they are not real, let us leave it in pseudo-reals. The fact is that they are each made up of two Infineon PowlRstage IR3555 MOSFETS, making a total of 16. These elements provide an Idc of 60A at a voltage of 920 mV, and each of them is managed using a digital PWM signal.

After the MOSFETS we have 16 45A MicroFine Alloy Chokes with alloy cores, and finally solid 10K µF Black Metallic capacitors. As we have commented, this VRN does not have doublers, but it is true that the PWN signal is divided in two for each MOSFET.

MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE

The MSI top-of-range motherboard features a power input consisting of a dual 8-pin 12V-powered connector. Like the other cases, its pins are solid to improve performance compared to those 200A that the most powerful AMD will need.

As in the case of Asus, on this board we also have an Infineon IR35201 PWM controller that is responsible for supplying a signal to all power phases. In this case we have a total of 14 + 4 phases, although 8 are the real ones due to the existence of benders.

The power stage then consists of two sub-stages. First of all, we have 8 Infineon IR3599 benders that manage the 18 Infineon Smart Power Stage TDA21472 Dr.MOS MOSFETs. These have an Idc of 70A and a maximum voltage of 920 mV. In this VRM we have 7 phases or 14 MOSFETS dedicated to the V_Core, which are controlled by 8 doublers. The 8th phase is handled by the other doubler that quadruples the signal for its 4 MOSFETS, thus generating the V_SoC.

We finished the choke stage with 18 220 mH Chokes Titanium Choke II and their corresponding solid capacitors.

Gigabyte X570 AORUS Master

The following plate is a little different from the previous ones, since here its phases if all of them can be considered real. The system in this case will be powered at 12V by two solid 8-pin connectors.

In this case, the system is simpler, having a PWM controller also from the Infineon brand, model XDPE132G5C, which is in charge of managing the signal of the 12 + 2 power phases that we have. All of them are made up of Infineon PowlRstage IR3556 MOSFETs, which support a maximum Idc of 50A and a voltage of 920 mV. As you will imagine, 12 phases are in charge of the V_Core, while the other two serve the V_SoC.

With we have concrete information about the Chokes and capacitors, but we know that the former will withstand 50A and the latter are made up of solid electrolytic material. The manufacturer does detail a two-layer copper configuration, which is also double-thick to separate the energy layer from the ground connection.

ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming X

We end with the ASRock board, which presents us with a 12V voltage input consisting of an 8-pin connector and a 4-pin connector. Therefore opting for the less aggressive configuration.

After this, we will have an Intersill ISL69147 PWM controller that is responsible for managing the 14 MOSFETs that make up the real 7-phase VRM. And as you can imagine, we have a power stage made up of benders, specifically 7 Intersill ISL6617A. In the next phase, 14 SiC654 VRPower MOSFETs (Dr.MOS) have been installed, which this time have been built by Vishay, like most of their boards except the Pro4 and the Phantom Gaming 4 that are signed by Sinopower. These elements provide an Idc of 50A.

Finally, the choke stage is made up of 14 60A Chokes and their corresponding 12K capacitors made in Japan by Nichicon.

Stress and temperature tests

To make the comparison between the different motherboards with VRM X570, we have subjected them to a continuous stress process of 1 hour. During this time, the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X has kept all cores busy with Primer95 Large and at the maximum stock speed the board in question would allow.

The temperature has been obtained directly from the surface of the VRM of the plates, since in the capture of temperatures by software, only the PWM controller is provided in each case. So we will place a capture with the plate at rest, and another capture after 60 minutes. During this period we will make captures every 10 minutes to establish an average temperature.

Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula Results

On the plate built by Asus we can see quite contained initial temperatures, which have never come close to 40 ⁰C in the hottest areas outside. Normally, these areas will be the chokes or the PCB itself where the electricity travels.

We must consider that the heatsinks of the board are two fairly large aluminum blocks and that they also admit liquid cooling, something that for example the rest of the boards do not have. What we mean is that these temperatures will drop quite a bit if we install one of these systems.

However, after this long stress process, temperatures have barely moved a few degrees, reaching only 41.8⁰C in the warmest VRM areas. They are quite spectacular results and these pseudo-real phases with MOSFETS PowlRstage work like a charm. In fact, it is the plate with the best temperatures under stress of all the ones tested, and its stability has been very good during the process, sometimes reaching 42.5⁰C.

We have also taken a screenshot of Ryzen Master during the stress process on this board, in which we see that the power consumption is quite high as might be expected. We are talking about 140A, but it is that both TDC and PPT also remain at quite high percentages while we are at 4.2 GHz, which is a frequency that has not yet reached the maximum available, neither in the Asus, nor in the rest of boards with the new ABBA BIOS. Something very positive is that at no time the PPT and the TDC of the CPU have reached the maximum, which shows an excellent power management of this Asus.

MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE Results

We go to the second case, which is the MSI range top plate. While the test equipment is at rest, we have obtained temperatures very similar to the Asus, between 36 and 38⁰C in the hottest spots.

But after the stress process these have risen considerably more than in the previous case, finding us at the end of the test with values ​​close to 56⁰C. However, they are good results for the VRM of a board with this CPU, and that will surely be much worse on lower boards and with less power phases, as is logical. This is the plate with the highest temperatures of the four compared

At times we have observed somewhat higher peaks, and bordering on 60⁰C, although this has occurred when the CPU TDC has tripped due to its temperatures. We can say that the power control in the GODLIKE is not as good as in the Asus, we have observed in Ryzen Master quite a lot of ups and downs in these markers, and somewhat higher voltages than in the rest of the boards.

Gigabyte X570 AORUS Master results

This plate has suffered the least temperature variations during the stress process. This variation has been around 2⁰C only, which shows how well a VRM with real phases and without intermediate benders work.

From the outset, temperatures are somewhat higher than the competition, reaching 42⁰C and somewhat higher at some points. It is the board that has its smallest heatsinks, so with a little more volume in them, we believe that not exceeding 40⁰C would have been feasible for it. The temperature values ​​have remained very stable throughout the process.

ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming X Results

Finally we come to the Asrock board, which has quite bulky heatsinks throughout its VRM. This has not been enough to keep temperatures below the previous ones, at least at rest, since we obtain values ​​that exceed 40 ⁰C in the two rows of chokes.

After the stress process, we find the values ​​close to 50⁰C, although still lower than in the case of the GODLIKE. It is noted that the phases with benders usually have higher average values ​​under stress situations. Specifically in this model, we have come to see peaks of around 54-55⁰C when the CPU was hotter and with higher power consumption.

	Asus	M: YES	AORUS	ASRock
Medium temperature	40.2⁰C	57.4⁰C	43.8⁰C	49.1⁰C

Conclusions about the VRM X570

In view of the results, we can declare the Asus plate a winner, and not only the Formula, because the Hero has also been shown off camera with excellent temperatures and only beating its older sister by a couple of degrees. The fact of not having physical benders in its 16 feeding phases has led to some sensational values, which may even be decreased in the event that we integrate a personalized cooling system into it.

On the other hand, we have seen that clearly the VRM with benders, are those that have higher temperatures, especially after stress processes. In fact, the GODLIKE is the one with the highest average voltage in the CPU cores, which also causes the temperatures to rise. We already saw this during his review, so we could say that it is the most unstable.

And if we look at the AORUS Master, which has 12 real phases, its temperatures are the ones that have changed the least from one state to the other. It is true that in stock it is the one with the highest temperature, but its average shows little variation. With slightly larger heatsinks it would have possibly put the Asus in trouble.

It would only remain to be seen what these plates are capable of doing with the AMD Ryzen 3950X, which has not yet seen the light on the market.