What are these?

[0o0]

I'm looking at the little square things where the mosfets are on other mobo's. Are these pwm/digital versions? Which other mobo's feature them? How they compare to traditional vrm's?

Picture credit goes to bjorn3d.com

[_dangtx_]

perhaps a linkie like this might shed some light on them chokes?

[bojangles]

Those look like chokes to me. VRMs are below the heatsinks. Same as FETs.

[0o0]

they look different than the regular ones which are taller, are these special? I just wanted to know if this has any advantages over the usual chokes that we see on mobo's. I don't think it's mentioned in the article by Hardwaresecrets.

[_dangtx_]

they could probably do a better jobbe if they're high(er) end. i cant tell you the difference, in practicality. on paper man ya thing can be king, but put it to test and it may not be so much much better :)

[Jackquelegs]

Might be of a different design/spec. Not every choke looks the same..

[Zero82z]

They might be higher quality chokes. Either way, it doesn't make any significant difference. And on boards with VRM heatsinks, MOSFETs are always underneath them, not exposed on the top side of the board.