So after consulting this thread
I've come to the conclusion that the release motherboards are incredibly hot when run at max load. So to keep this short should I wait for new motherboards or am I making a big thing out of a little issue and should just go with what's out already?
Not all of the AM4 boards are using the same VRM design, or components. Enthusiast boards will (or at least should) employ better and more efficient designs, as they will be expected to overclock.
This OP's linked vid suggests that the ASRock boards are very well designed, indeed and that under normal operation, the VRM doesn't even require a heatsink.
I personally think Ryzen is poor overclocker and that the vrm is not quite the only issue. When you look back at the previous gens and how they overclock , Amd has kind of stepped away from one of the aspects that use to be given. Understandable
1 Like
It's not a problem actually. While I would generally avoid a board that has no heatsink at all on the VRM's, these CPU's don't draw a whole lot of power compared to the last of AMD's line of FX chips. Go for a board with a genuine 6-phase VRM setup if you plan to push your CPU as high as possible.
Other than that a 4-phase design is fine, but it should have a heatsink, and of course any system should have a bit of airflow going when it is stressed. Some tests are being run with no case airflow, and if you end up in that situation on an actual build then you're doing it wrong.
1 Like
If you grab a full atx x370 board, you'll be fine. Really any of the atx x370 boards are overbuilt for any of the current 8 core parts. Itx and mATX don't really have great offerings out yet, but the biostar itx isn't bad. Really the people in that thread really didn't know how hot is safe for components. 110-125c is the max temps you want to be seeing out of vrm components, so their 93c or whatever maximum was far into the safe range. vrms can get much hotter than the cpu or gpu they power and run completely safely at those higher temps really.
If you do want really overbuilt vrms, AsRock has some good offerings. The Taichi has a great VRM as well as the Professional Gaming. They actually have the same VRM design, but the Pro Gaming has more goodies and features than the taichi. Asus's Hero board is also built well. Gigabyte's x370 gaming boards may actually be the most efficient VRM on AM4 right now. MSI was popular early into AM4's release for their good bios's, but the field has since leveled in the bios area and as such those boards have fallen down on people's lists due to their okay, but not great, VRM design.
2 Likes
Well the amount of phases doesnt really tell the whole story.
It also really depends on the particular mosfets / powerstages that are used on the boards.
And of course all the additional components in a vrm cirquit, like the voltage controller (pwm), inductors, drivers / doublers and output capacitors.
Currentlly the best AM4 X370 boards in order wenn it comes to vrm designs,
with the highest current capabillities and efficiency.
1: Asrock X370 professional Gaming. pwm: IR35201 6+2 phase mode doubled to 12+4 phases,
powered by 40A Ti nexfets.
2: Asrock X370 Taichi. Same vrm as the professional gaming.
3: Biostar X370 Racing GT7. pwm: IR35201 4+2 phase mode doubled to 8+4 phases,
powered by 60A IR powerstages.
4: Asus Crosshair 6 Hero. pwm: IR35201 in 4+2 phase mode doubled to 8+4 phases,
powered by 40A Ti-nexfets, same fets as the Asrock Taichi and professional gaming.
5: Aorus X370 Gaming K7. pwm: IR35201 in 6+2 phase mode, with only the +2 phase rails are being doubled, which results in a 6+4 phase design.
Powered by 40A IR3553 powerstages.
6: Aorus X370 Gaming 5. same vrm as the Gaming K7.
- The vrm designs on those boards i listed above, are pretty overbuild.
And shouldnt cause any issues.
If i have to recommend a board from the list, then i would say go with the Asrock X370 Taichi or Professional gaming.
Another great option is the Asus crosshair 6 Hero.
The Aorus X370 Gaming K7 would be my third recommendation.
However i think for its price point, the Asus crosshair 6 Hero or Asrock X370 Taichi are better choices.
I'm personally also not really a huge fan of Gigabyte / Aorus biosses.
The Biostar X370 Racing GT7: this particular board blew me away wenn it comes to its vrm design.
They are using really highend IR components on this particular board,
which is pretty unique for a brand like Biostar.
This is also the only AM4 board thus far with a dual bios.
But there are 2 things i dont like about it.
- The first thing is that they choose to use only 5K graded capacitors,
which is kinda an odd choice if i look at the rest of the components used on the board.
And in compairisson to the 10K and 12K graded capacitors used by the other boards on the list.
- The second thing being that it lacks on a B-clock generator.
Also not too sure about Biostar biosses.
Aorus X370 Gaming 5: same vrm as the Gaming K7 like mentioned above.
However this particular board also lacks a B-clock generator.
I hope this helps you somewhat. 
2 Likes
Also wenn it comes to new upcomming boards.
I know that Asrock is working on 2 mini itx boards.
And i suppose that Asus maybe also comes with some additional boards,
in the future.
That is kind of just fact now. It hits a wall of around 4GHz, 4.1 is doable and 4.2 is rare.
I don't think so there, just that they hit limits that could not be overcome at the moment. They still ship all the processors unlocked, so in that respect are even better than they used to be. Every thing is there for you to play with, nothing locked away. So it is still, even more so now, a givin that they will be ready to overclock out of the box, just that they hit hard walls to said overclocking that seem to be beyond their control. I am sure they would love to be able to hit 5GHz like intel and gladly stick it to them by letting all their buyers do so on all chips, just that it is not on the cards right now. Not that they are backing away from a standard of their releases.
Wow thanks for the replys everyone, especially MisteryAngel for the detailed breakdown. I had a second question though which may help me decide which motherboard to get and that's if the 1700x provides any noticeable improvement over the 1600x in terms of system responsiveness & multitasking. Or should I only get the 1700x if I have a heavily threaded activity that I do on a regular basis? The difference for me is $140cad
In general use you will not see any difference between the 1600X and 1700X.
I would say get the 1700X if you can manage it. The thinking being that as time goes on more programs should take advantage of more cores. Future proofing (yes it does not exist I know).
But there is always the option of the 1600X now and the 1700X later.
Though being truthful If you are not doing anything heavily threaded and you know you will not in the future, you will never take advantage of the extra 2 on the 1700X so save the cash. I just go by getting the best you can if possible right now rather than potentially spend twice over time. If that makes sense any more, now that I have contradicted myself in one post.
1 Like
Also on a side note.
According to my motherboard list above,
The Aorus X370 Gaming K7 is also feuturing a dual bios.
The gaming 5 also feature dual bios. Pretty much the exact same feature set as the K7, the exception being the bclk.
I feel like AMD gets no love, been forever and yet still no solid boards. Sick of Intel being the only one that gets a good variety of actual quality boards.
1 Like
It was the board partners that collectively went from Dual BIOS on first GPUs , then on AM4 replace the BIOS Modes with 3rd party software,