What the heck are VRMs and where do I find how many my motherboard has?

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vill4geidi0t

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Oct 8, 2018
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I recently purchased the MSI b450m pro-m2. On just about every overclocking thread and forum I visit I see mentions of VRMs and different phases with different motherboards. I have checked the specifications portion of the mother board website:

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450M-PRO-M2/Specification

and cannot find this information listed anywhere. How can I tell how many phases it has?

I don't intend on overclocking my Ryzen 5 2600 any time soon but at some point down the line I will in order to stave off the inevitable upgrade. How do these vrms and phases affect my ability to overclock my cpu and what kind of air cooler would I reasonably need in order to overclock it well? How much does overclocking reduce the life span of the cpu?
 
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VRM = voltage regulation module. It's responsible for power delivery to the CPU (and chipset and/or integrated graphics), taking the 12V from the power supply and converting it to a lower voltage.

Good VRMs are capable of delivering more current (more power), a more stable (less ripple) output, running cooler, and reacting to fast transients.

Unfortunately most motherboards don't explicitly say how many phases they have. You can sort of determine how many it has by counting the chokes (inductors) on the motherboard. They are usually small, dark, square packages arranged in lines to the left and above the CPU socket. But even that isn't a foolproof way to tell. Luckily someone has put together an AM4 VRM list here...
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TJ Hooker

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VRM = voltage regulation module. It's responsible for power delivery to the CPU (and chipset and/or integrated graphics), taking the 12V from the power supply and converting it to a lower voltage.

Good VRMs are capable of delivering more current (more power), a more stable (less ripple) output, running cooler, and reacting to fast transients.

Unfortunately most motherboards don't explicitly say how many phases they have. You can sort of determine how many it has by counting the chokes (inductors) on the motherboard. They are usually small, dark, square packages arranged in lines to the left and above the CPU socket. But even that isn't a foolproof way to tell. Luckily someone has put together an AM4 VRM list here:

https://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/f12/pga-am4-mainboard-vrm-liste-1155146.html

Overclocking responsibly shouldn't significantly affect the usable lifespan of the CPU. Overclocked or not, the CPU will probably last long enough that it'd be obsolete before it fails, and something else (e.g. the motherboard) will probably fail before the CPU does.

Ryzen CPUs aren't terribly power hungry and don't usually overclock terribly far anyway, if you just want to do a moderate overclock I don't think you need too beefy a VRM. Although that motherboard doesn't even have a VRM heatsink, so it might not be a bad idea to get one that's a little better. E.g. https://pcpartpicker.com/product/pBWfrH/msi-b450-a-pro-atx-am4-motherboard-b450-a-pro
or
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157843&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
 
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vill4geidi0t

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Wow. Thank you. That was very informative and quick. When the time comes to overclock I'll probably just stick with the current motherboard and see what I can squeeze out of it. Is there any rule of thumb as to how much more you can get out of a chip relative to phases or VRMs? What's the ideal number? Apparently mine is (4 + 2).

I'll just try overclocking the RAM for now I guess since I know Ryzen likes fast memory.
 
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TJ Hooker

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Oops, I misread and thought you where thinking of purchasing that one, not that you already had. Yeah, it should be fine.

Generally more phases is better, but not always. Having a heatsink is almost always better, as typically only low end models won't have one. There's no way to translate either of those things into a number for how high you'll be able to overclock your CPU though. Overclocking also depends on the CPU itself, as well as the cooler, so it's possible that the choice of motherboard won't even make a difference in some cases.

I think a $40-50 air cooler should be plenty for an moderately overclocked 2600. I think even the stock cooler might be good for a bit of overclocking.
 
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