The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTGIGABYTE X570 Aorus Master
Moving down the product stack from GIGABYTE's X570 SKU list is the GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Master which has a range of high-end features such as 2.5 Gigabit LAN, three PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots, and Intel's Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface. The GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Master could be considered its flagship for general consumers without the hefty price tag attached to the higher grade X570 Aorus Extreme ($699).
Included is support for up to 128 GB of DDR4 memory across its four slots, with support for DDR4-4400 with three PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots each with its own individual M.2 heatsink, and six SATA ports. There are three full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which operate at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/x4, with a single PCIe 4.0 x1 slot. On the power delivery front, GIGABYTE is using a formidable setup with a 12+2 design with power stages rated for 50 A, and with two 8-pin 12 V ATX CPU power inputs. The boards aesthetic is focused on the outer edges with a rear panel cover with RGB LEDs which stretches down to the audio PCB. For the X570 chipset, there's an actively cooled chipset heatsink which encompasses the Aorus Falcon into the design.
The onboard audio is handled by a Realtek ALC1220-VB HD audio codec and is complemented by an ESS Sabre 9118 DAC chip to enhance the auditory quality. This equates to five 3.5 mm audio jacks with a single S/PDIF optical output. Also on the rear panel is a Q-Flash Plus button for updating the firmware, a clear CMOS button, three USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A and four USB 2.0 ports. The board's rear panel networking capabilities consist a Realtek RTL8125AG 2.5 G port with an assisting Intel Gigabit port for dual networking, as well as an Intel AX200 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface which also includes support for BT 5 devices.
GIGABYTE's X570 Aorus Master targets gamers and enthusiasts looking to push their processors further than the rated specifications, as well as offering 2.5 G and Wi-Fi 6 capable networking. The pricing reflects this with a price tag of $359 which puts it in the upper echelon of models, but the price seems fair all things considered.
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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 ;)