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.
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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.