The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTMSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus
The MPG X570 Gaming Plus is MSI's entry-level gaming model and It's equipped with a modest feature set which includes with one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, and two-full length PCIe 4.0 slots with support for two-way AMD CrossFire multi-graphics card setups.
Firstly the aesthetic is based on a traditionally recognized red and black theme; this design extends from the heatsinks onto the PCB. The chipset heatsink cooling the X570 chip includes a cooling fan for optimal performance, while the power delivery heatsinks are separated from each other to provide cooling to the CPU VCore. There are 8-pin and 4-pin 12 V ATX CPU power inputs to delivery power to the processor, while the power delivery is running at 8+2 design with an International Rectifier IR35201 PWM controller.
Located in the top right-hand corner of the board are four memory slots which support DDR4-4400, with up to a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB. Moving down the PCB is two full-length PCIe 4.0 slots that operate at x16, and x16/x4, with an additional three PCIe 4.0 x1 slots. There are two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, with one of the slots coming with a heatsink; there are also six SATA ports present.
On the rear panel are a single USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, four USB 3.1 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. A single HDMI video output gives the capability to use an AMD Ryzen APU, while a Flash BIOS button and a PS/2 combo port are also featured. Even MSI's entry-level gaming option includes the premium Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec which provides five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output, while a Realtek RTL8111H Gigabit NIC controls the single Ethernet port.
The MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus is the entry-level model to the X570 chipset from its product stack which also has a clear gaming look about it. With a red and black design, it's a throwback to MSI of more recent times, but the board has no integrated RGB which users may find slightly disappointing. The power delivery although adequate, probably isn't the best around for overclocking aRyzen 3000 processor to its limits, but with an MSRP of $169, it's horses for courses.
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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