Abstract: Systems and methods for power conversion are described. A power converter can operate under low power mode to supply a first load current from a power management integrated circuit (PMIC). The power converter can transition from low power mode to high power mode by one of activating a tri-state mode of the PMIC prior to activating at least one phase in an external power module and operating PMIC and at least one phase of the external power module simultaneously. The external power module and PMIC can be on separate chips. The power converter can operate under high power mode to supply a second load current from the external power module. The second load current can be greater than the first load current. The power converter can transition from high power mode to low power mode by selectively deactivating phases in the external power module prior to activating the PMIC.