Asus Maximus XI Hero Z390 Really that bad?

[darkkterror]

So, I feel like I might have made a mistake. Or maybe I'm worrying too much about it. I'm not sure.

Anyway, I'm doing a new build with an i9 9900k. I purchased an Asus ROG Maximus XI Hero motherboard from Newegg to go with it. I admit I might have succumbed to a little bit of Asus fanboyism here. I bought the board without a second thought as I have had many Asus boards in the past and they always worked out great for me. I didn't really consider other options at the time. I saw the Maximus XI Hero and just bought it.

It was after I received the Maximus XI that I stumbled upon some videos from the likes of Gamer's Nexus and Hardware Unboxed about the VRM setup on this board and others. It apparently only has a 4-phase VRM (a "fat" 4-phase but just a 4-phase) compared to other similarly priced boards with 8 or even 12 phases (like the Aorus Master). Now, it seems like everywhere I look, people aren't recommending the Maximus XI due to this VRM design.

I do want to overclock the 9900k. It is going under a custom water cooling loop and I definitely want to get at LEAST 5Ghz all-core and (hoping I got a good chip) maybe 5.1-5.2GHz all core.

My worry now, after hearing the discussions around the current line up of Z390 boards, is that maybe the Maximus XI won't be able to handle that with only a 4-phase VRM? Or maybe I'm just over stressing this point.

Does anyone have any feedback or opinions on this? Is the Maximus XI still decent and it's just that other boards are better (for less money) or what?

 

[EarthDog]

Just stressing at the moment. Try it and see. Even if you are on custom water, you'll likely run out of cooling for the cpu first.

 

[maxfly]

every review ive read says its a badass z390 mb perfect for ocing the snot outta 9900ks.

 

[Woomack]

There are guys pushing it past 6.5GHz without issues (in our Benching Team too) so count 400W or something. It doesn't matter what reviews say. Reviewers are usually describing what they see in the specifications and features tabs or looking at the motherboard (from what big part of reviewers have no idea what they are looking at), and barely ever do any additional tests.
Motherboard manufacturers are rating gaming/OC series motherboards at 500W+ constant load while power design may vary and depends on many things.
Btw, in some reviews I see it has 8+2 power design. In many others it's not even mentioned how many but they say that VRM area is nicely covered
Btw2, I have Maximus XI Gene and it has 10+2 power design, it looks similar to the one on the MXI Hero so I doubt there are only 4 phases for the CPU. On the other hand I wasn't checking how it looks like in real or what components are in use. Really I don't care as long as motherboard works as I want and it works great. Also on the Gene were 7GHz+ results.

More phases are not telling everything about the motherboard. A couple of years ago, gigabyte had 24 phase motherboard which was about as good as these with 8 phases. For some reason barely anyone is using Gigabyte for competitive benchmarking nowadays (at least those higher ranked). Most users who expect high OC stick to ASUS or ASRock, some pick MSI. Gigabyte can be good but for me it's just for gaming with a lot of lighting and other things which I never use.