Why I don't like Gigabyte's new DES technology.

[VirtualLarry]

Taken from one of my posts in another thread:

That's why, IMHO, that more power phases are better, because the individual load (and temps) on each phase will be lower. Lower temps == better longevity. This is the case with the P35-DQ6. It's also the reason why I don't like the new dynamic energy saver technology in Gigabyte's new EP35 boards. I would rather "waste" the slight difference in power, running MORE phases constantly (but at lower loads individually), than save a tiny trickle of power, but overtax (in the long term) a smaller number of active power phases.

 

[VirtualLarry]

bump for comments

 

[lopri]

What exactly has changed from the old ones to the new ones?

 

[LOUISSSSS]

yea whats the diff between the EP35-ds3p? board and the regular P35-ds3p?

 

[VirtualLarry]

The EP35 boards are rev 2.1 of the P35 boards, and they sport a new Intersil VRM chip that controls the power phases. It can dynamically shut down power phases, so that you only have the minimum number of power phases needed active at once, slightly improving power efficiency.

However, this puts a greater load on those active power phases, compared to if the load was spread out over more phases. I prefer a smaller load on a greater number of phases, this should theoretically improve the longevity of the mobo.

 

[lopri]

So it's like the A8N32-SLI with 8-phase VRM? There was a rumour in the past that the board only uses 4-phase if a single-core CPU was detected, and all 8-phase when a dual-core is detected.