The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTGIGABYTE X570 Aorus Elite & X570 Aorus Elite WIFI
Sitting below the GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Pro duo is another pair of ATX models, the X570 Aorus Elite and X570 Aorus Elite WIFI. Both share the same PCB and core feature set which includes a 12+2 power delivery, two full-length PCIe 4.0 slots with support for two-way AMD CrossFire, and two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots. The only difference between the X570 Aorus Elite and X570 Aorus Elite WIFI is that the latter includes an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 802.11ax wireless interface, but for a slightly higher cost.
On the boards aesthetic, GIGABYTE has gone with a subtle black and silver theme with black power delivery heatsinks, and a silver and black X570 chipset heatsink which includes a cooling fan. This model includes two full-length PCIe 4.0 slots with the top slot running at x16, and the bottom locked down to x4 which is handled directly by the X570 chipset. The GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Elite also has two PCIe 4.0 x1 slots, as well as two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, with the top slot which comes with an M.2 heatsink. For users with SATA based drives, there is a total of six SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. The 12+2 phase power delivery is running from an ISL69138 PWM controller which is operating in 6+1; this model is one of just a handful to include one 8-pin 12 V ATX CPU power input for delivering power to the processor.
The rear panel of the X570 Aorus Elite includes two USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, four USB 3.1 G1 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 ports. There's no USB Type-C available on this model, but there is a single HDMI video output, as well as an Intel I211-AT Gigabit NIC controlled Ethernet port. The onboard audio which consists of five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output are driven by a Realtek ALC1200 HD audio codec. On the rear panel of the GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Elite WIFI is two antenna adapters for the Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface and also adds BT 5.0 connectivity to the board.
The GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Elite has an MSRP of $199, while the Wi-FI 6 enabled version comes in with an MSRP of $209; that's $10 extra for the same board with an Intel AX200 802.11ax wireless interface. Both models represent a good feature set for a reasonable price, and users looking for a gaming-themed model with a seemingly decent power delivery and two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, both these models stake a good claim for good value.
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abufrejoval - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
It's amazing how quickly you run out of PCIe lanes, when you don't have switches to multiplex and translate between PCIe revisions and lanes (e.g. PCIe v4 x2 <-> PCIe v2 x8).I find myself using USB 3.x NBase-T NICs and NVMe adapters, simply because they *do* switch.
Bensam123 - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
Maybe a bit more depth on the power delivery page. I have absolutely no idea how to go about parsing what's there. More chokes is better? What denotes a power phase?A5 - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
+1. Some analysis of that information would be helpful.MrSpadge - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
+1bunkle - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
The controller column includes the total number of phases supported split between CPU cores and SoC e.g. (6+1) = 6 CPU phase and 1 SoC phase. More is *usually* better but has diminishing returns regarding tighter and tighter voltage regulation. Some controllers are better than others (can operate at high frequency e.g. 500KHz v 1000KHz, include other features to improve performance) mitigating the need for more phases.Each phase is a buck converter comprised of a low/high side MOSFET (can be integrated in a single package) and choke. Some controllers can support doubling up the PWM signal to driver more MOSFETs. Doublers can also be added as discrete components if not built into the controller.
Current rating of the MOSFET (e.g. Sic639=40A IR3555=60A) indicates the total power deliverable. MOSFETs are not 100% efficient and vary in efficiency. The more current they provide the hotter they get and the less efficient they become, with better MOSFETs producing less heat for a given current. Thus using doubles can improve temperatures and efficiency without the benefits of the tighter voltage tolerance that *real* phases provide.
Hope that’s helpful!
bunkle - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
A lot more detailed explanation: https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/voltage_regulator_mod...bug77 - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
The description for AsRock X570(M) Pro4 says "5 jack + 1 SPDIF". Unfortunately, those boards lack SPDIF and only come with 3 jacks ;)Smell This - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
I'm thinking the *ASRock Thunderbolt AIC* ...https://thunderbolttechnology.net/product/asrock-t...
would cover all your TBT peripheral needs, including optical.
DanNeely - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
Do X570 boards still need an extra chip per USB port to support USB-C reversibility?The additional expense and needed PCB space were cited as among the reasons why earlier generation boards (IIRC both Intel and AMD) almost never had more than 1 C port; but it was never clear to me if that was an inherent implementation penalty for the C port or an artifact of Intel's tech stack being stalled out and AMD outsourcing to ASMedia which built the chipsets on an ancient (55nm) platform.
DigitalFreak - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
Gavin - X370 and X470 only supported PCIe 2.0. The connection between the CPU and chipset was 3.0, but all the ports on the chipset were 2.0.