Is a 6+2 digital power phase like the one on the M5A99X Evo better then a 8+2 "analog" power phase of the GA-990FXA-UD3? Because the are the same price on newegg.
Design and
implementation of the two systems is for the average user the better design criteria. There are design features of digital regulation that could easily allow the general term 6+2 VRM power phases to be the equal and better than 8+2 analog VRMs.
The situation was for a great while that most boards used analog VRMs and almost without fail, the entry level and not really for overclocking boards might have 3+1 and 4+1 Power Regulation. It was fairly easy to just say the better board for overclocking would have 8+1 or 8+2 VRM circuits because everyone was using analog circuit VRMs. That has changed now with the move toward Digital Power Regulation circuitry in many applications.
I think the key is that digital regulation is the
direction of movement. I can remember that DFI was using a form of digital VRMs years before it was seen on other motherboards. I still believe that was a factor in DFI's overclockability before other manufacturers caught up.
With the faster processors there is certainly a need for a fast, clean and efficient regulation circuit that the newer digital voltage processing can fit quite well.
There are motherboard makers that lived in the past without UEFI bioses until forced to go with UEFI by Intel. There will be motherboard makers that tend to remain with 'analog' VRMs because there is an engineering learning curve for digital voltage regulation.
I have tried to respond in terms not so deep or more deep than the average user might need. The question of which is better 8+2 Analog vs 6+2 Digital VRMs is just about apples to oranges from an engineering perspective. The old way in which we told users to go for the MOST phases they could get, no longer holds naturally true, because the digital VRM can be more effecient, can be more precise and can respond quicker to demands put on the VRM circuit.
In the long run it seems with the design of cpus where they have many power states today and the cpu itself is responding to loads and temps to determine how much speed the cpu puts out, well that seems a perfect place to see digital VRM circuits come on the scene.
You are now returned to your regularly scheculed programming.
RGone...ster.
