The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTGIGABYTE X570 Gaming X
Currently at the bottom of GIGABYE's gaming-focused product stack is the X570 Gaming X. With a slightly lesser 10+2 power delivery when compared to the X570 Aorus Elite with a 12+2, the X570 Gaming X includes a cheaper Realtek ALC887 audio codec, a Realtek RTL8111H Gigabit NIC, and two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots. On the boards PCB itself is a very funky and unique black and grey theme with triangle shaped accents which extends over the PCB onto the heatsinks. The X570 chipset heatsink includes a cooling fan, while the board has four memory slots with support for DDR4-4000 memory with up to 128 GB.
On the lower half of the GIGABYTE X570 Gaming X is two full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which run at x16 and x16/x4. The top slot takes its lanes from the CPU, while the bottom full-length slot is locked at x4 from the X570 chipset, while there are also three PCIe 4.0 x1 slots; this means up to two-way AMD CrossFire multi-graphics card configurations can be used. For storage, the X570 Gaming X has two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots with the top slot coming with a heatsink, and a total of six SATA ports capable of support RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. The X570 Gaming X uses a 10+2 power delivery which is driven by an ISL69147 PWM controller running at 5+2 and uses a single 8-pin 12 V ATX CPU power input to delivery power to the processor.
On the rear panel is a relatively basic set of input and outputs with no USB 3.1 G2 connectivity to speak of. What actually is there in terms of USB support is four USB 3.1 G1 Type-A and two USB 2.0 ports. There is a separate pair of PS/2 inputs for legacy keyboard and mice. Finishing off the rear panel on the GIGABYTE X570 Gaming X is a single HDMI video output for users looking to run a compatible Ryzen APU, three 3.5 mm audio jacks that are driven by a Realtek ALC887 HD audio codec, and a Realtek RTL8111H Gigabit controlled Ethernet port.
The GIGABYTE X570 Gaming X is its gaming inspired, but surprisingly natural looking entry model onto the X570 chipset. With an MSRP of $169, it sits as one of the cheapest X570 models at the launch of the Ryzen 3000 processors, and with a wallet-friendly feature set with everything needed to make use of PCIe 4.0, it's a viable option for entry-level users. The only glaring issue is that there is no USB 3.1 G2 ports at all on the rear panel, and other models from other vendors at the same entry-level price point does include some.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
225 Comments
View All Comments
DigitalFreak - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
I think the only advantage of using a 2000 series CPU with an X570 board will be PCIe 3.0/4.0 support. The X370/X470 only supported PCIe 2.0. In theory, the connection from the 2000 processor to the X570 chipset should run at PCIe 3.0 speeds.FreckledTrout - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
The x370 chipset and x470 both supported PCIe 3.0 with either a 1xxx or 2xxx Ryzen CPU. If you are not running a 3xxx CPU in the x570 board there isn't any major feature that should cause one to want to upgrade.DigitalFreak - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
@FreckledTrout - Yes and no. The interconnect between the CPU and the chipset is PCIe 3.0 on X370 / X470, but all the PCIe lanes that come off the chipset are 2.0. Running a 2000 series CPU in an X570 board would give you a PCIe 3.0 link between the CPU and the chipset, with either PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 lanes coming off the chipset (depends on if AMD drops everything to PCIe 3.0 with a 2000 series processor).extide - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
It looks like they still allow the chipset lanes to be 4.0. So you'd have 3.0 link to cpu, but 4.0 from chipset to devices.Targon - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Since you have at least one or two PCI Express slots that are connected to the CPU, not chipset, that almost becomes a non-issue. On my Asus ROG Crosshair VI Hero(X370), you have PCI Express 3.0 x16 for the first slot, or x8/x8. The third PCI Express x16 slot is a 2.0 I believe, which is still enough to get the job done for many devices. Even with the X570 board with a first or second generation Ryzen processor, the most you end up with is an extra 3.0 supporting slot. Note that many boards may have x16 slots, but they are x8 electrically, so you won't see the full bandwidth anyway in those slots.sorten - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
Thanks Gavin! This is a great resource and is exactly what I needed to help build my new system.willis936 - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
The return of the 40mm fan! Those are the most obnoxious components ever. No one has missed them in the past ten years.Kastriot - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
Buy Asrock aqua and problem solved.FreckledTrout - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
I'm waiting for the next iteration of board for this reason. I'm speculating the next round the chipset will be on 7nm.abufrejoval - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
The genious about that chiplet design is that the chipset doesn't actually benefit nearly as much from the shrink, as pure logic or SLC caches: The monolithic guys pay the 7nm overhead (e.g. EUV) for I/O while the geometry of the transistors in the I/O area is mostly determined by the need to power long motherbord or even slot traces.So while waiting is never a bad idea when your need clearly isn't overwhelming you, waiting for that shrink could turn out rather long. These days I/O heave chips might never be done in smaller geometries, because of that and because packaging has matured.