ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87 Motherboard

Voltage Regulator

The CPU voltage regulator circuit of the ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87 has eight phases for the CPU. The voltage regulator is controlled by an ASUS DIGI+ ASP1251 chip, which uses a digital design. Each phase is driven by two NTMFS4937N MOSFETs, which provides a maximum RDS(on) of 6 mΩ.

Figure 12: Voltage regulator circuit

Figure 13: Voltage regulator circuit

The ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87 uses high-end solid Japanese electrolytic capacitors, from Nichicon, on its voltage regulator circuit (a.k.a. “10K Black Metallic Capacitors”). According to ASUS, these capacitors have a lifespan five times longer than regular Japanese solid capacitors, and have a higher temperature tolerance (between -55° C and +105° C, making them military-grade components). This allows you to use liquid nitrogen on your CPU without damaging the capacitors.

All coils used on this motherboard are ferrite-core models.

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