Phase Power...?

[secondsabre]

Well, I'm still in the process of building this new system. Decided to go with the i5-750 (although I'd easily upgrade to the K series, if they decide to do a K of the 750), and we're shopping around for mobo's. Future-proofing is nice, but not essential, and I've pretty much made up my mind to go with the ASUS P7P55D-E series, just due to the SATA 6 and USB 3 options. One less thing to pop open the computer for later.

The real problem is that I'm stuck between the P7P55D-E Deluxe and Premium editions. Both have the exact same feature set, but the Deluxe is pegged as a 'Hybrid' board on the website. It says it's a 16+3 Phase power design, while the Premium is a 32+3.

I have some guesses, but I'm really not sure what the difference is. I assume that a higher number gives more power (ie, more constant speed, more heat), but I'm not really sure what the pro's and cons are. I'm running an air-cooled, 3-fan Anitec P180, and the computer runs pretty much 24/7, with occasional breaks here and there (run a couple fileservers and a website off of it in the background).

Could someone please explain the pros and/cons of going with a higher 'phase power'? I'm pretty geeky, but if you could put it in layman's terms, that would be fantastic.

 

[ubernoobie]

higher phase power = cleaner power but ues more power. Anything more than 16 phase shows no improvement in water or air cooling but show in extreme cooling such as liquid nitrogen. Pick the cheapest one and call it a day

 

[Lmeow]

It's mainly for more stable overclocks, I doubt unless you're pushing your i5 past 6.0 GHz on LN2 you'll ever use anywhere near 32. I'd just go for the Deluxe - even the Pro would suffice.

 

[secondsabre]

Best answer selected by secondsabre.