# CPU phase control



## KoolGuy

What exactly does it do?


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## KoolGuy

i think my pc has 4


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## Redwoodz

It regulates the voltage to your motherboard.


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## DuckieHo

Convert +12v to about +1.3v (or whatever your Vcore is) so it can be used by your CPU... and tries to main the voltage demands as the CPU clocks change.


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## JohnDProb

its a little set of doohickies on your motherboard that changes the power it takes in ie 3.3? (i think its 3.3v anyway) and changes that for all the specific parts on the motherboard, ie your ram running at 1.5 or 1.8 or wutever and your cpu at 1.4 and onboard sound cards network cards and such, think of it as a tiny little secondary power supply on your motherboard that takes a preset voltage and changes it as required for small parts


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## AyeYo

I see you have an MSI board; I know exactly what you're refering to. For overclocking, take them all off auto and put them to off/full power. The phase control allows the BIOS to decided whether your CPU is run in 1, 2, 3, 4 (or however many power phases your board has) in order to conserve power. However, this can cause instability when overclocking, so just turn all phase controls off. Generally speaking, more phases = smoother, cleaner power delivery. However, more phases means more power wasted through inefficiency (heating up the MOSFET's) as well, which is why MSI has auto phase control.


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## KoolGuy

Damn duckie dosnt have a + rep button

I just wanted to make sure. I thought i kinda knew.. I turned that off the first day i gotthe board LOL..


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## mscir

Since cpus are getting faster and using more power power it seems like a good thing to keep an eye on when choosing a motherboard for a 4 GHz or faster cpu. Do motherboard manufacturers make this information easy to find, and if so, do you have a guide to how many *phases to look for?

*"More power phases is a good thing because then the load on each power phase is reduced. That means they generate less heat, and that's great because heat makes them less efficient and stable. And in the worst case scenario, the VRM (Voltage Regulator Module, with X number of power phases) can even overheat and be damaged."
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1762454/power-phases-motherboards.html

TIA,
Mike


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