ASROCK x299 OC Formula vs Asus x299 Rampage VI APex

[usmc362]

I am buying one of these boards and I have been researching very diligently, but I would value your opinions in helping me choose. I have a 7960X with Evga 1080Ti in SLI and a Corsair 1200w platinum PSU. The Formula has 12 power phases but 1 8-pin ATX and 1 4-pin ATX connector. The Apex has 8 power phases but 2 X 8-pin connectors. I am going to be doing a lot of benching and heavy OC but no LN2. Please let me know what you think. Thanks in advance.

 

[EarthDog]

Either or honestly. Both are overkill for ambient overclocking.

Not all power phases are created equal...dont go by count only.

ROG Strix XE you posted about a couple weeks ago will handle it. You will be heat limited before most boards hold you back.

 

[Blaylock]

They will both do the job you ask of them. Your limit will be determined by your ability to cool not by the voltage supplied. With that said I would buy the one that has the better warranty/customer service. ASRock and Asus both have a marked history but I've personally had good success with both.

 

[trents]

As EarthDog said, not all power phase counts are apples to apples comparison. All the board manufacturers do this sometimes, but ASRock all most always uses "doublers" to inflate their power phase component stats. It's not exactly dishonest it's just misleading if you don't understand what they are and that there are other mitigating factors that make for solid power phase delivery component. You would do well to research what doublers do but here's discussion that gives a start: https://www.overclock.net/forum/11-amd-motherboards/1640051-what-vrm-doubler.html.

 

[Woomack]

On nearly all X299 motherboards, processors OC the same. Even on these cheapest can make 5GHz+ and if you won't OC on LN2 then max clock under higher load will be still below 5GHz. Even on the ITX motherboard, I had 4.9GHz on water. About the same was on ASRock X299 Professional XE, ASRock X299 Killer (with single 8 pin power connector), ASRock X299 Extreme4 or something more exotic like Supermicro. Simply your clock will be limited by cooling, not the motherboard.

@trents, no matter what ASRock uses (there is not only one design), their motherboards are usually better than anything that competition offers. I've never had issues with power section of ASRock motherboards while I killed many Gigabyte, some MSI and some ASUS boards. I guess you know that ASRock is a good option as you use it and recommend to other users

On new motherboards, power section is not really a problem. Most boards are much stronger than it's required. It's just that marketing says we need 2kW power to overclock i3 CPU and later people spread that around the forums.

The main difference between motherboards is on LN2 because of additional options like low clock boot or anything else what helps to start at low temps. Also memory is overclocking better on these higher OC motherboards but processors not really. I could still hit IMC limit on at least 4 X299 motherboards.

If I had to pick one of these 2 motherboards in post #1 then I would probably buy the APEX. These mobos are great and ASUS cares to deliver the best support for top ROG series. On the other hand I would buy it more as a toy than a motherboard which I was use 24/7 in my gaming PC. As I already said, if it's for some benching and later mostly gaming then better save some money and get a cheaper motherboard.