The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTASUS Pro WS X570-Ace
The ASUS Pro WS X570-Ace is one of the more interesting models from the launch day X570 models. Firstly it's aimed primarily at professional and workstation users, which is signified in the model number (WS). What makes the ASUS Pro WS X570-Ace so interesting is that its X570 chipset fed bottom full-length PCIe 4.0 slot is wired at x8, and not the conventional PCIe 4.0 x4 as seen on other X570 models. The WS X570-Ace also includes dual Gigabit networking, a premium Realtek ALC1220A HD audio codec, and a PCIe 4.0 U.2 port.
The ASUS Pro WS X570-Ace follows a different design from the rest of its motherboard line-up, with straight angled finned heatsinks, following a uniformed black design with the horizontally placed fins. Compared with the other ASUS X570 models, the overall feature set is a little thin due to its workstation focused design. One of the main focal points of the ASUS WS X570-ACE ATX motherboard includes three full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which operate at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/x8, with that last x8 coming from the chipset. with a single PCIe 4.0 x1 slot also present. For most X570 models announced, this is one of the only models to optimize all three full-length slots at a minimum of x8.
Storage options on the Pro WS X570-Ace consist of two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots with a single U.2 port and four SATA ports that feature support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. As with other ATX sized ASUS X570 models, the Pro WS X570-Ace has four memory slots with support for a total capacity of up to 128 GB. Users can also have the option to use either ECC and non-ECC memory which is dependant on the processor installed.
The two Ethernet ports on the rear panel are controlled by an Intel I211-AT and Realtek 8117 which are both Gigabit NICs, while the onboard audio is powered by a Realtek S1220A HD audio codec; this provides five 3.5 mm audio jacks and a S/PDIF optical output. Super fast connectivity is strong with four USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, and two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports. For users looking to utilize compatible Ryzen APUs, ASUS has included a pair of video outputs consisting of HDMI and a DisplayPort.
The ASUS Pro WS X570-Ace has an MSRP of $380 and shifts focus directly on users looking to create a Ryzen 3000 powered workstation. Its subtle and straight-forward design also makes this a good option for users looking to avoid the more gaming-themed RGB splattered models, and create a somewhat elegant looking system.
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isthisavailable - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
The industry needs to make up its mind when it comes to USB C. Laptops are launching with only USB C and meanwhile $700 motherboards only have 1 USB C port and 8+ "outdated" USB A'sThe_Assimilator - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
It's almost like there's a huge amount of peripherals with USB-A connectors that people who use PCs expect to continue to work when they upgrade! Isn't backwards compatibility a funny feature?Meanwhile, the only peripherals that laptops generally use are docks, hubs, and storage devices - all of which have USB-C versions out the wazoo.
naris - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
Why are memory speeds and channels show & discussed when talking about chipsets when the memory controllers are in the CPUs? Memory controllers have not been in chipsets for many years now!halfflat - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
ECC support can be hard to verify for mere mortals; collating (or even better, verifiying) ECC capability on these motherboards would be an extremely useful addition to the article.ishkatar - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
Does any of the boards support Raid 5? I only see 0, 1 and 10.Zibi - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
You don't want to use RAID 5 without proper RAID Controller with cache.That means dedicated card.
Actually from performance / security perspective RAID 10 is pretty OK.
The_Assimilator - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
AMD dropped RAID-5 support upon introduction of the AM4 socket (remember, chipset functionality like RAID is now a CPU function). I don't have an issue with that, since -5 is a very uncommon use-case in consumer workloads and if you want to do -5 right, you really want a hardware RAID card with a BBU.But -5 is pretty much dead anyway due to ever-increasing drive sizes - the rebuild time on anything over 1TB is horrendous, what you really want in such a scenario is RAID-6, and no consumer motherboard every has or will support that.
And please don't tell me you're using RAID-5 for data integrity, because invisible corruption is a thing that I have experienced personally. If you want *actual* data integrity, use Windows Storage Spaces or RAID-10, and as a last resort RAID-6.
Arbie - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
There must be something you left out of this roundup. Whatever it was, please go back and put it in, and next time get it right. Thanks.Korguz - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
huh ????Gastec - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
That $700 must be an error right, perhaps of judgement?