The MSI MEG X570 Ace Motherboard Review: Ace in the Hole at $369
by Gavin Bonshor on July 18, 2019 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- MSI
- AM4
- Zen 2
- Ryzen 3000
- X570
- MEG
- X570 Ace
- 3700X
- Ryzen 3700X
Board Features
The MSI MEG X570 Ace sits towards the higher end of the range of X570 motherboards with a price tag of $369. For the price though, MSI has included a premium controller set which includes a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec, a Realtek RTL8125-AG 2.5 G port and a Intel I211-AT Gigabit port, and also includes an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface; this also adds support for BT 5 devices too. Providing power to the 14-phase power delivery are two 8-pin 12 V ATX CPU power inputs, while the board and other componentry take its power from a 24-pin ATX 12 V power input. Its cooling comes from seven 4-pin PWM enabled headers which are split into three main sections; one for a CPU fan, one for a water pump, and five for case fans.
MSI MEG X570 Ace ATX Motherboard | |||
Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
Product Page | Link | ||
Price | $369 | ||
Size | ATX | ||
CPU Interface | AM4 | ||
Chipset | AMD X570 | ||
Memory Slots (DDR4) | Four DDR4 Supporting 128 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-4633 |
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Video Outputs | N/A | ||
Network Connectivity | Realtek RTL8125-AG 2.5 Gigabit Intel I211-AT Gigabit Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax |
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Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC1220 | ||
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 2 x PCIe 4.0 x16 (x16 or x8/x8) | ||
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4 2 x PCIe 4.0 x1 |
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Onboard SATA | Four, RAID 0/1/10 | ||
Onboard M.2 | 2 x PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4/x2 |
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USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 3 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Header |
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USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Header (four ports) |
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USB 2.0 | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Header (four ports) |
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Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 2 x 8pin CPU |
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Fan Headers | 1 x CPU (4-pin) 1 x Water Pump (4-pin) 5 x System (4-pin) |
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IO Panel | 3 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-C 2 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A 2 x Network RJ45 (Realtek/Intel) 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Output (Realtek) 2 x Intel AX200 Antenna Ports 1 x BIOS Flashback Button 1 x Clear CMOS Button |
One thing of note is that this model doesn't include any video outputs on the rear panel, but it does include three USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. It's always handy to have a dedicated clear CMOS button somewhere on the PCB instead of the older style jumper, but MSI has implemented this on its rear panel along with a pre-installed rear IO shield to make it easier for users to install it into a chassis. For storage, the MSI MEG X570 Ace has three PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots with two including support for SATA drives and taking its lanes directly from the X570 chipset. The CPU drove PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot doesn't support SATA drives for reference and is located just underneath the AM4 CPU socket.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
While we have been able to measure audio performance from previous Z370 motherboards, the task has been made even harder with the roll-out of the Z390 chipset and none of the boards tested so far has played ball. It seems all USB support for Windows 7 is now extinct so until we can find a reliable way of measuring audio performance on Windows 10 or until a workaround can be found, audio testing will have to be done at a later date.
Test Setup | |||
Processor | AMD Ryzen 3700X, 65W, $329 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 3.6 GHz (4.4 GHz Turbo) |
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Motherboard | MSI MEG X570 Ace (BIOS 7C35v12) | ||
Cooling | ID Cooling Auraflow 240mm AIO | ||
Power Supply | Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU | ||
Memory | 2x8GB G.Skill TridentZ DDR4-3200 16-16-16-36 2T | ||
Video Card | ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (1178/1279 Boost) | ||
Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
Case | Open Benchtable BC1.1 (Silver) | ||
Operating System | Windows 10 1903 inc. Spectre/Meltdown Patches |
Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.
New Test Suite: Spectre and Meltdown Hardened
Since the start of our Z390 reviews, we are using an updated OS, updated drivers, and updated software. This is in line with our CPU testing updates, which includes Spectre and Meltdown patches. We are also running the testbed with the new Windows 10 1903 update for AMD's Ryzen 3000 series CPUs, and X570 motherboard reviews. The Windows 1903 update improves multi-core and multi-thread performance on AMD's Ryzen processors with topology awareness meaning previous issues in regards to latency have been known to affect performance. As users are recommended to keep their Windows 10 operating system updates, our performance data is reflected with the 1903 update.
92 Comments
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Peter2k - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
FirstOne could connect the board with the front USB ports of the case
It's rare to find a case that has no frontal USB
If you're attaching some new usb thingy more permanently to the back, you could turn the case a little or something
Second
Its clear comes button is next to the wifi cable
The layout should make it clear you're not next to USB at all
Third
Those buttons are not sticking out of the I/O cover, and an USB plug is too wide to accidentally be pushed into them
Lastly, I'm not aware of any complaints from users about such buttons
It's not a new or unique feature at all
Peter2k - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
BtwYou could also save your current settings and even if you do wipe them by accident, you can load them again
DanNeely - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
Anything semi-permanently attached gets plugged in the rear to keep the cabling mess out of the way. Front ports are for thumb drives and the like.If the system's awkwardly placed such that I can't see it, I'm probably looking for ports by touch and the buttons are finger sized. A year after the last time I've seen the back I have no idea how the ports are arranged, and am generally starting from the top and working my way down, top ports are easier to access from above so I normally fill the bottom ones first and leave the top USB open for later. The cable plug isn't going back until I've found the right location. Starting by scraping a plug around until you find something big enough for it to fit into is a good way to end up with a USB plug stuck in the second ethernet socket by accident.
Mr Perfect - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
No, it's not just you. My mobotherboard has a rear panel BIOS reset and I've only pressed it twice in five years. Both times where accidental.I probably shouldn't admit to that...
FreckledTrout - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
Yeah. I always wished they would put some type of flip cover on these so you don't mess up and hit them by accident.12345 - Friday, July 19, 2019 - link
Just save a profile to local storage.peevee - Friday, July 19, 2019 - link
Way too expensive. For comparison, for that price you can buy a basic laptop with a motherboard and WiFi, but also:1) CPU with iGPU
2) Memory
3) Display
4) Battery
5) Disk
6) Case
7) Charger
Oh the times when I could buy a microATX MB for $50 and spend money on what actually matters...
HighTech4US - Sunday, July 21, 2019 - link
Agree way too expensive.I just purchased a ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard for only $74.99 from NewEgg and an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 for $199.99 and Team T-Force Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) 3200 (PC4 25600) for $39.99. Total $314.97
So I got an entire CPU/Motherboard/Memory for less than this motherboard alone.
regsEx - Thursday, August 1, 2019 - link
Agreed. The red price is $280, yet only if had 10 GbE controller and 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 controllers. If no, the $250.Daveteauk - Thursday, April 9, 2020 - link
Dan Neely - Yes, you are the only person who thinks that - it's a great help and addition to an IO plate - REALLY helpful. If you're too clumsy, or lazy to pull your case, then you shouldn't be playing around with PCs!