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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Gastec - Saturday, July 13, 2019 - link
Have I been living under a rock in the last 5 years, when did the prices of motherboards doubled?Kougar - Monday, July 15, 2019 - link
Sincerely appreciate the multi-G table on the last page. Was thinking multi-gig would be more commonplace with this generation but guess I was wrong.So much useless stuff on these boards, would trade almost all of it and the Wifi in favor of just a 5G NIC. Not sure mobo manufacturers have realized just how many consumers/businesses have moved all those SATA drives out of the computer and into a NAS.
kri55 - Wednesday, July 17, 2019 - link
Can you please post a picture from the back of this motherboard? I am thinking of buying this one and I want to watercool the chipset, so I need to know how the chipset radiator is fixed. If you could measure the distance between the mounting points it would be awesome.HideOut - Wednesday, July 17, 2019 - link
Your prices apparently mean nothing. When you click no them they show much different results when you get to either neweggs or amazons sites.jamawass - Wednesday, July 17, 2019 - link
Does the ASUS Prime X570-Pro have USB 3.1 type A or Type C headers to connect to a case's USB ports?icf80 - Tuesday, July 23, 2019 - link
X570 AORUS ELITE WIFI, on the gigabyte site is says it has Wifi 5 and BT 4.2, but in the review it says it has Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface and BT 5.0. Check https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/X570-AORUS-EL...mike_bike_kite - Wednesday, July 24, 2019 - link
Can anybody summarise why you'd want an X570 board over one of the older boards ie X470? I know there's better overclocking support but, from all the reports I've read, these new Ryzens are near their max anyway. I know there's PCie4 support but does anyone own such a device? I know it has EEC memory support but why on earth do I need that? Why didn't this review tell us why we should want one of these new boards over the existing boards?I'm considering going all AMD with the 3700X 5700 though my current system (i5-3570K/1060 6GB/8GB RAM) is fairly snappy for what I do (mainly for 2D game development) but I'm just in the mood for a new PC. Smaller, quieter and more powerful would be nice and help justify the cost.
Bateluer - Wednesday, July 24, 2019 - link
The ASRock site lists the Steel Legend as having the ALC1220 chip, not the ALC1200 as noted in the AT table. https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/X570%20Steel%20Legen...enkov - Sunday, August 2, 2020 - link
To confirm from my X570 Steel legend - ALC1220 here. HWINFO64 says Audio Codec Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_1220&SUBSYS_18492223&REV_1001croc - Thursday, July 25, 2019 - link
I find it appalling that no x570 MB has more than 4 DIMM slots, and only dual channel at that. No support for more than 64 GB ram, even on the 'workstation' MB's. For around 700 US I expect better. It should also be considered 'standard equipment' by this time for the M.2's to offer raid support. Really, as a retired professional, I feel raped by these prices and lack of professional features.