The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTASRock X570 Aqua
Starting off alphabetically with ASRock, we open our X570 chipset overview with one of the most impressive and talked about models displayed at Computex, the ASRock X570 Aqua. ASRock's product stack is well varied with models focused on gaming, content creators, professional, and enthusiasts, the X570 Aqua certainly positions itself as high-end with a solid feature set, an elegant aesthetic which resembles that of Robocop's armor, and offers users an element of exclusivity due to that fact ASRock will only make 999 pieces of the X570 Aqua available to consumers.
The first thing that stands out about the ASRock X570 Aqua is the full-cover PCB armor covering the vast majority of the PCB and the large CPU water block. The ASRock X570 Aqua is an E-ATX board which has a large water block which is designed to keep the CPU cooled, and also extends to cool the X570 chipset. The armor, and the backplate on the rear makes the board much heavier than other premium models we've come to see in recent times.
The feature set underneath the aesthetics is equally premium with an Aquantia AQC107 10 G LAN port, with an additional Intel Gigabit port included. Its Wi-Fi 6 capabilities come due to a Killer AX1650 802.11ax interface which also adds support for BT 5. A Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec provides the onboard audio, while the rear panel also uses two Thunderbolt 3 Type-C ports. This limits the boards other USB 3.1 G2 capabilities and as a result, the X570 Aqua has six rear-panel USB 3.1 G1 type-A ports, but users can add an additional four with two USB 3.1 G1 headers, and four USB 2.0 ports with a pairing of USB 2.0 headers.
One of the main features of X570 is PCIe 4.0, and the ASRock X570 Aqua makes use of three full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which run at x16 x8/x8 and x8/x8/x4; also present is three PCIe 4.0 x1 slots. Storage includes two PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots and a total of eight SATA ports. ASRock gives the X570 Aqua some impeccable memory support which is listed as DDR4-4666.
The ASRock X570 Aqua is currently ASRock's flagship X570 motherboard in terms of features, and aesthetics. We know that the ASRock X570 Aqua will be limited to just 999 pieces worldwide, making its exclusivity one of its attracting features. The Aqua moniker signifies the targeted consumer of this board, in that only users looking to run a custom water cooled system with high-end components, will likely consider this model. This is likely to be a favorable model for case modders, or perhaps users looking to create an elegant water-cooled system with a form of exclusivity and individuality.
With an element of exclusivity, the ASRock X570 Aqua has an MSRP of $1000. This makes it the most expensive X570 model at launch, but this is expected due to the limited nature as it is limited to just 999 pieces worldwide. A heavy-set construction, the PCB covering armor and coupled with a top quality feature set make this a top option for modders, and water cooling enthusiasts.
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DigitalFreak - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
Agreed. The major differences between pricing in motherboards nowadays is how well they support overclocking, how many / what type of Ethernet ports, and how much RGB garbage they throw on there. :-)brunis.dk - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
Retarded Garbage Blinking!29a - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
RGB changes the price by pennies at the most.jrs77 - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
If it wasn't for the optical digital output I'd agree, but these seem to be rather rare and not common at all. A couple years back that wasn't the case, so I see an actual backwards trend here that comes with a lack of necessary ports. Atleast an optical digital output is necessary for me.lmcd - Friday, July 26, 2019 - link
I mean sure, but a decent number of them were completely useless from a terrible onboard chipset. Pretty sure one of my two desktops had one that maxed out at 2.0 channel over optical digital output.Silma - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
This would have been true, but for the dearth of ThunderBolt 3 ports, needed for audio interfaces for example.lso the price of most of the boards is outrageous compared to their real added value, imho.
umano - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
I agree with Silma, for example the great asrock x299 itx at launch had a price tag of 399, with 4 memory channel and sodimm slot and 3 nvme. Something's wrong, or the amd statement is false (most modern i/o), or the mb manufacturers did not get the best from x570regsEx - Friday, July 19, 2019 - link
I like it either. But back in days, top Intel's Asrock P67 Fatali1y Professional was priced at $120. For that price you were getting 16+2 phase power, cooling with a pipe 3 brand new Etron USB 3.0 controllers (USB 3.2 Gen 1), additional PCIe controller, best at the time Realtek ALC892 sound, 2 Realtek RTL8111 LAN controllers, additional Marvell SATA controller, Dr. Debug display, power and reset buttons, 3.5" front USB 3 panel, additional rear USB 3 bracket and SLI bridge in the box. That was first generation of motherboards of XMP profiles and new graphical AMI UEFI (return of graphical AMI BIOS after 15 years) etc etc. Just $120. Now to get similar set you have to pay at least $360. And for $120 you can only get some poor office board. And ASRock was cheapest of high end boards back then. Now it's most expensive.regsEx - Friday, July 19, 2019 - link
"best at the time Realtek ALC892 sound"I mean best of Realtek. Obviously there were Creative X-Fi.
Marlin1975 - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
How soon before you can test the x570 boards? Really curious how pcie 3 m.2 cards perform in them with 2000 and 3000 series cpus. Does the new chipset help performance for 2000 cpus or even 3000 cpus compared to x470 and b450 boards?And any word on future mATX boards? Only 1 so far seems weird and also a monoply for asrock.