The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTMSI MEG X570 Ace
Our full review of the MSI MEG X570 Ace is currently live with many more X570 models set to be fully reviewed and analyzed over the next couple of months.
The MSI MEG X570 Ace motherboard represents its premium MEG range and as we've seen from its range on the Intel Z390 chipset, MSI has followed the same naming structure for users to easily identify which each range signifies. The X570 Ace benefits from an Intel Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface, a Realtek 2.5 G NIC, three PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, and a 12+2 power delivery. Like all of MSI's X570 product stack with four memory slots, there is support for up to 128 GB of RAM.
The board has four DDR4 memory slots with support for up to DDR4-4600, three full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which operate at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/x4, with an additional two PCIe 4.0 x1 slots. Built into the X570 chipset heatsink is a cooling fan which uses MSI's Zero Frozr design as the X570 chipset has a rated TDP of up to 15 W. Providing power to the CPU is two 8-pin 12 V ATX power inputs, while the power delivery is using an extended 8 to 6.5 mm heat pipe which extends from the power delivery directly down to the chipset. The MEG X570 Ace has three PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, each with its own individual Lightning Gen4 M.2 heatshield which amalgamates into the boards black and gold designed heatsinks. Like the MSI MEG X570 Godlike, MSI's RGB Infinity Mirror 2 is present on the rear panel cover to allow users to customize the look of the board.
On the rear panel of the MSI MEG X570 Ace motherboard, there's a clear CMOS, and BIOS flashing button which has its own dedicated USB 3.1 G1 Type-A slot highlighted with a red outline. There are three USB 3.1 G2 Type-A ports, a single USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports, and two USB 2.0 ports. Networking capability consists of a Realtek RTL8125AG 2.5 GbE NIC with the other Ethernet port being controlled by an Intel I211-AT Gigabit NIC. This model also includes integrated Wi-Fi with an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface which also offers users with Bluetooth 5 connectivity. The five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output are driven by a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec.
The MSI MEG X570 Ace in terms of price and feature set is quite impressive and with an MSRP of $369 which makes it a highly competitive when compared with other models in its price range. The need for MSI to upgrade its networking capabilities on desktop motherboards is something they have started to implement, and the rear panel on the X570 Ace is also without video outputs so users looking to use Ryzen based APUs will need to look elsewhere.
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abufrejoval - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
PCI4 and 5, or for that matter IF will trigger rethinking motherboard layouts and form factors."The [Enthusiast] motherboard" dates back to 1981 or the dawn of the IBM Personal Computer, and physics are catching up everywhere, even on the motherboard.
Distance has a huge impact on speed, latency and power, so 'flat' and 'square' are both the first obstacles and the first who need to compromise. In the future every milimeter of distance between the die carrier and your point of interest will need to be paid for, in energy/time or extra switching silicon.
Linear extrapolations of the past have little use, when the barriers are exponential.
TheUnhandledException - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
Even if you keep the board a square moving the CPU and chipset to the center of the board and having PCIe slots on either side would cut the trace to the furthest slots in half.The_Assimilator - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
Hopefully at the same time we can ditch 12V as the rail to rule them all, so that we can bring the amperages in current systems back down to sane levels.ChubChub - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
Would be cool to see the CPU on one side of the board, and the cards on the other; would shrink those distances, but would require a new form factor, which would kindof suck (but I can picture what the dual-sided boards would look like, and I think it's a pretty neat idea having two independent sides for cooling (also, in a tower setup, a CPU sitting vertically on the board, which would be nice).Targon - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
This is why if Gen-Z gets adopted, we could have PCI Express hanging off the Gen-Z bus as a way to deal with these issues.sing_electric - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
I was thinking that the mobo costs made price comparisons more difficult. Then I remembered that AMD is still throwing in a pretty good stock cooler, while Intel makes you BYO. For MOST users, that means that your total build cost will be lower with AMD.If you're doing something exotic - say, with liquid cooling or heavy overclocking that requires a certain thermal solution - then sure, you lose those savings, but if you're spending $300 to keep your machine cool, is the price difference of the motherboard really going to sway you one way or another?
Oliseo - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
You're actually comparing the bundled CPU cooler to a $300 custom loop Intel Cooler?You're expecting people to take you seriously as well?
Targon - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Consider that for those who buy the i9-9900k, you can't get away with a 95W cooler, even if the rated TDP is 95W. So, you do need to buy at least a $30 cooler for air cooling on the 9900k, while AMD does provide a cooler to handle the typical performance of its processors. Even then, $330 for the Ryzen 7 3700X or 3800X for 8 cores/16 threads, vs. the $489 for the 9900k+$30 or $40 will still be more expensive for an 8 core/16 thread chip.What many don't realize is that if you go with AMD and get a B450 or X470 chipset motherboard(that has an updated BIOS or with BIOS flashback), you get the motherboard price you want, and the cost of ownership will still be lower. Since Intel doesn't offer PCI Express 4.0, going with PCI Express 3.0 on the AMD side won't be a big deal from the comparison point of view. Overclocking potential has not been compared between the enthusiast class X470 and X570 based motherboards from what I have seen as well, but it could make a difference for many people.
Flunk - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
I like how almost all of these boards have 2 or more M.2 slots. I had to be very careful when I bought my Z170 board to find one with 3 M.2 slots.But now there are boards with 3 slots so maybe I'll have to snag that Aorus Ultra.
drexnx - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
it's amazing how fast number of M.2 slots has become the primary thing I look for in a mobo anymore too