ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z Motherboard

Voltage Regulator

The CPU voltage regulator circuit of the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z has eight phases for the CPU main voltage (Vcc a.k.a. Vcore) and four for the CPU VCCSA voltage (integrated PCI Express controller and memory controller). Therefore, it uses an “8+4” configuration, using a digital design.

Figure 15: Voltage regulator circuit

This motherboard uses military-grade components, including solid ferrite-core coils, which present less energy loss than iron-core coils (i.e., they improve efficiency), solid capacitors, and high-end, low RDS(on) transistors (i.e., higher efficiency).

While most motherboards use a two-phase design for the memory voltage regulator, the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z uses a three-phase design.

If you want to learn more about the voltage regulator circuit, please read our tutorial on the subject.