The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact
One of the biggest surprises during Computex as far as the announcement of the X570 went was the unveiling of the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact. Based on the uncommon mini-DTX form factor which is similar to mini-ITX, but with a slightly longer frame, allows ASUS to add an extra expansion slot onto the PCB without sacrificing too much on the overall size of the board. The ROG Crosshair VIII Impact is focused on performance but still offers gaming-focused features along with the rest of ROG/Strix X570 branded product stack.
Included on the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact is a SO-DIMM.2 slot for PCIe 4.0 M.2 drives, with enough space to spare to add a heatsink too. Featured is a full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot which is coated with ASUS Steelslot armor reinforcement. Also featured in addition to the dual PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots are four SATA ports. The same case with the memory as the Crosshair VIII Impact has two memory slots with support for up to 64 GB of DDR4 memory. The design itself follows a more subtle ROG theme with an-all black PCB, black heatsinks and a mesh rear panel cover which features three cooling fans to keep the X570 chipset cool within the rear panel cover. There are also multiple RGB LED lighting zones which users can customize via the ROG Aura Sync software.
Apologies about the blurry image, we will update when we receive a better one
The rear panel of the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact includes five USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, a single USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, and two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports. There are two antenna ports for the Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface, while the single Ethernet port is powered by an Intel I211-AT Gigabit NIC. Also featured is a reset CMOS switch, an LED debug, and a BIOS Flashback button. On the networking side is an Intel I122-AT Gigabit powered Ethernet port, and also includes the new Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 enabled wireless interface which features support for BT 5 devices. A Realtek SupremeFX S1220 HD 8-channel audio codec offers three 3.5 mm audio jacks and is assisted by an ESS ES9023P HD DAC which is one of the better spec onboard audio setups on the X570 chipset.
ASUS looks to have put a lot of faith in AMD's new Ryzen 3000 series processors by reintroducing a series that held so much weight in the mini-ITX desktop space. The Crosshair VIII Impact isn't likely to be cheap, however, but as it stands, there is no current MSRP at time of writing.
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TheUnhandledException - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
Why on the last page would you label a section "3 or MORE M.2 Slots". I looked up all the boards in the section to find the one with four slots. All of the boards listed have exactly three m.2 slots. It isn't 3 or more m.2 slots. It is three m.2 slots.Sychonut - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Great job Gavin!! This is impressive.umano - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Can't wait for the new threadripper platformbinkleym - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Given that several motherboards are having to remove features (RAID, graphical BIOS, user profiles) from the BIOS in order to fit the AGESA for Zen 2, it would be nice if motherboard reviews would start mentioning the size of the BIOS, so we can easily discern which motherboards are designed to be future-proof, and which ones are nickel'd and dime'd into early obsolescence.ballsystemlord - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Spelling and grammar corrections (I did not read the descriptions of all the MBs):"...with that link consuming 4 dedicated anes from each chip."
Missing "l":
"...with that link consuming 4 dedicated lanes from each chip."
"Notably motherboard vendors have said that the upcoming 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X was the baseline for which the new VRM designs were validated against."
Missing comma:
"Notably, motherboard vendors have said that the upcoming 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X was the baseline for which the new VRM designs were validated against."
ballsystemlord - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
@Gavin Could you guys start adding a column of boards that have 6 or more PCI(e) slots, it seems that they've been getting fewer and fewer since M.2 came out?Thanks!
ballsystemlord - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
I mean total slots. Not any particular size.stux - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
In your “if you want thunderbolt 3” section, you really should mention the ASRock Creator. Otherwise the choices are water cooling specialist limited edition or ITX.peevee - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
Why "DDR4 support" and "memory channels" are listed in the chipset table? These are CPU features, not chipset features.BerserkZodd - Saturday, July 13, 2019 - link
I ordered an X570 Steel Legend and a MP600 Gen4 PCIe M2 drive. My motherboard is still being shipped but it looks like the heatsink that goes over top of the M2 slots is one big piece, meaning my very expensive m2 drive wouldnt fit under that. Can anyone confirm if that is in fact one giant heat sink or does the M2 part come off separate.