The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4
The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 is the more value orientated model of the three Phantom Gaming branded X570 models at launch. Retaining a lot of similar features from the other models, the X570 Phantom Gaming 4 focuses more on offering value for money with a mix of good quality components, simple yet effective aesthetics, and represents its mid-range gaming inspired option. The overall design consists of a black and grey themed PCB, with a black and grey actively cooled chipset heatsink, and a grey power delivery heatsink which is designed to keep the CPU VCore area cool.
On the bottom half of the board is two full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which operate at x16, and x16/x4. This is due to the Ryzen 3000 series processors driving the top lane at x16, while the bottom full-length PCIe slot is driven by the X570 chipset. There are also two PCIe 4.0 x1 slots, as well as two M.2 slots with the top slot supporting PCIe 4.0 x4, and the bottom M.2 slot allowing for both PCIe 4.0 and SATA SSDs. Also featured are eight SATA ports which support RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. ASRock's U.2 adapter kit which is available separately is also supported on the X570 Phantom Gaming 4. The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 also uses a 10-phase power delivery with a single 8-pin 12 V ATX CPU power input, and also includes support for DDR4-4066 memory with four slots available and allowing for a maximum of 64 GB.
The rear panel includes a mid-range offering of connections including two USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, six USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports, as well as a pair of video outputs consisting of a DisplayPort 1.2, and an HDMI output. There is no USB Type-C featured on this model, but there are an Intel I211-AT Gigabit Ethernet port and three 3.5 mm color coded audio jacks powered by a Realtek ALC1200 HD audio codec. Finishing off the rear panel is a PS/2 combo port, and three antenna ports on the IO shield itself due to the inclusion of an M.2 Key E 2230 slot for users to install their own wireless interface.
Overall the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 represents a more modest option with a Gigabit Ethernet port, a slightly cut down Realtek ALC1200 HD codec (compared to the ALC1220), and two full-length PCIe 4.0 slots. This model caters to the entry-level gamer with a price that is currently set at $155.
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The_Assimilator - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
Nope, I really do need that many USB ports! In the past I've used various add-in cards and hubs to achieve this, but my experiences with these devices, and their drivers, and compatibility has been spotty at best, and they also take up space or PCIe slots - hence why I'd much prefer if it was all just integrated on the board.Just to be clear, I don't need 10 USB 3 ports - 8 USB 3 and a pair of 2.0 would be perfect. Considering almost all of these boards have a pair of USB 2.0 headers for 4 ports in total, but cases today don't offer more than a single USB 2.0 front-panel connector - plus that these boards' IO panels have plenty of extra room - I don't see why manufacturers can't drop one of those headers and just give us an extra two rear 2.0 ports as standard.
Qasar - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
why not pick up a usb header to slot plate adapter, im sure you have unused card openings on the back of your case under the video cardDanNeely - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
More ports on the back mean fewer available headers for internal connections. x570 has 12 total USB 3.x ports; so most boards maxing out at 8 on the back and 2 headers (2 ports/header) internal seems about right. Going higher means adding either USB3 controller chips (eats PCIe lanes but gives independent ports for greater total system throughput) or on board USB3 hubs; both of which drive up costs. With making the boards PCIe4 capable already driving up costs a lot the board makers are looking to economize elsewhere.shabby - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
I noticed the cheap asrock boards have 8 usb3 ports in the back.plonk420 - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
THANK YOU SO MUCH for the VRM information! i don't even OC but i like to keep an eye on what VRMs boards are using... hopefully will help with longevity if i'm going to thrash either Vcore or SoC (keeping components like caps cooler)thomasg - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
In my opinion, all those boards are just silly.All they bring over the 2 years old X370 platform is PCIe 4.0 support, a bit more USB 3 Gen2 as well as often a second m.2 slot.
On the other hand, the southbridge fan is a ridiculous idea, especially consindering all the silly enormous heatsinks they mount to everything BUT the chipset.
And for that, they go for a premium of about 60% over X370 when it was fresh.
I paid 170 dollars for my PRIME X370-Pro day 1 (over 2 years ago), now the successor is 270 dollars.
The WS is the only board looking buyable, but then again, it also is actively cooled and doesn't even bring NBase-T.
I could forgive that, wouldn't they charge well above 300 dollars for it (while the other boards are close to MSRP in germany, the WS is already far below its MSPR).
Nope, thanks, I'm skipping X570.
Death666Angel - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
"I paid 170 dollars for my PRIME X370-Pro day 1 (over 2 years ago), now the successor is 270 dollars."Take that up with ASUS. I can get the X570 Phantom 4 from AsRock with (4x2) power stages (which means easier 3950X oc vs your x370 Pro) for 170€.
And for me, I'm starting to think that having 3 whole x4 slots (2 M.2, one x16) of 4.0 speeds is a nice addition versus the one 3.0 x4 M.2 and one 3.0 x2 or 2.0 x4 slot with another 2.0 x4 slot all the 4xx and 3xx mainboards offer. If I'm spending ~500€ anyway (32GB and 8 core), I might as well just spend another 170 on the mainboard vs 100 on a B450 (I need mATX, so only the MSI Mortar and AsRock Pro4 suite my needs).
And if you need Thunderbolt or over GbE speeds, these boards are the only way to go, frankly, since the 2.0 chipset lanes of the older chipsets are just terrible for this.
This doesn't satisfy your niche? Great, move along. That's the incredible thing about AMD supporting AM4 for this long. But no need to shit over a product that is pretty great overall, just because you don't need it's features.
thomasg - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Indeed, it doesn't satisfy my niche, I'm just complaining about the new downsides of the new X570 platform, and specifically the available implementations.I'm not telling anyone not to get one, anyone who wants to take advantage of the extras is of course free to adopt the new boards.
I think I should be able to freely "shit over a product" as I wish without you having to take personal offense.
fearby - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
Being in a hot climate I'd love to know what one has the best chipset cooling.gavbon - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
We are doing X570 chipset thermal analysis in our motherboard testing ;)