Motherboard for i9 9900K? ('Was Linus wrong?' video).

[MaximumSid]

So I watched Hardware Unboxed's recent 'Was Linus was wrong about 9900K temps?' video 

 

What he said was something I felt too, as Linus' Cinebench R15 results were lower than other reviewers, and consequently the power and temps too. 

 

I was planning to buy i9 9900k, with an Asus ROG STRIX Z390-E motherboard, which is a $250 motherboard.

 

I don't understand what VRM Phases are, and how to check that out in a motherboard (do they provide these specs?), so I don't know how to check out for a motherboard which will let the 9900K go to highest frequencies (4.7 GHz?) on all cores, unlike (allegedly) Linus' test bench. I am guessing that the strix Z390-e won't be good enough, since the '4 Phase VRM' Maximus XI wasn't (allegedly) good enough too.

 

So are there any options in the $250-ish range, that will be able to use the full power to make 9900K reach its full potential? (I got 360mm rad, so won't have to worry about temps that much).

 

PS: Not saying that anyone of these guys is wrong/right, pretty sure Linus will address that later. I just want to make the right purchase. 

[LukeSavenije]

I think you should wait with buying the 9900k, let all the reviews and corrections come first, and then buy it if it is good from those reviews. I'm not convinced yet, but others might be

[MaximumSid]

I would have definitely waited, but I need a new system now, and I already bought case, PSU, 2080 Ti, RAM, cooler. Only CPU + Mobo are remaining, and I'll do video rendering + gaming (planning a 4K 144Hz monitor in future) so the 9900K is offering the best of both worlds. 

[genexis_x]

Already stated in the pinned comment, everything is on stock settings so...

[schwellmo92]

Have a look here https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-z390-motherboards,37896.html

[MaximumSid]

1 minute ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Already stated in the pinned comment, everything is on stock settings so...

Did you watch the video? He addressed the pinned comment too. It wasn't about the settings, but about the choice of motherboards which wasn't good enough to let 9900K reach its highest freq and draw highest power. 

[leadeater]

Edit: Sorry never mind, this post is asking a different question. Unlocked.

 

@MaximumSid Check out the news topic on this, might answer some questions you have around it. https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/985797-core-i9-9900k-power-thermals-did-linus-and-oc3d-tv-get-it-wrong/

 

 

[Carclis]

I guess this is what happens when you want to advertise a high boost clock to pad your spec sheet but refuse to bump up the TDP in line with what you would expect.

56 minutes ago, MaximumSid said:

I don't understand what VRM Phases are, and how to check that out in a motherboard (do they provide these specs?), so I don't know how to check out for a motherboard which will let the 9900K go to highest frequencies (4.7 GHz?) on all cores, unlike (allegedly) Linus' test bench. I am guessing that the strix Z390-e won't be good enough, since the '4 Phase VRM' Maximus XI wasn't (allegedly) good enough too.

 

So are there any options in the $250-ish range, that will be able to use the full power to make 9900K reach its full potential? (I got 360mm rad, so won't have to worry about temps that much).

 

PS: Not saying that anyone of these guys is wrong/right, pretty sure Linus will address that later. I just want to make the right purchase. 

It's hard to judge how many VRM phases there are because despite having what appears to be a certain number of phases, some of them are not actually what constitutes a phase. You'd need the heatsinks removed to tell for sure. To be completely honest, it looks like the Z390 has proven to be an opportunity for motherboard manufacturers to cash in with inadequate motherboards and it's really all because of the conservative TDP listed in the 9700/9900k specs. I think you'll need to spend an appropriate amount of money relative to the cost of the CPU this time around if you want to get the full performance.

[MaximumSid]

Just found out that ASRock Z390 Taichi has an excellent 12 phase power delivery system with great overclocking potential for 9900K at $250-ish range.

Will go with this one if MSI Doesn't have competitive boards in this range (cuz Asus seems to have cheaped out). 

 

I am hoping ASRock boards are also as good as ASUS boards for reliability as I've only used ASUS boards till now.