The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTASRock X570 Pro4 & X570M Pro4
ASRock unveiled a number of its X570 models during Computex 2019: a lot of gaming-focused models, and some extremely high-end offerings, but the ATX sized ASRock X570 Pro4 and microATX X570M Pro4 looks set to offer users less bling and more functionality at a lower price point.
Starting with the design of the ASRock X570 Pro4 and X570M Pro4 models, both models use the same silver and black theme throughout, with shining silver heatsinks, and a solid looking aluminium rear panel cover which doubles up as the power delivery heatsink. Both the ATX and microATX models use the same 10-phase power delivery, with both opting to use a single 8-pin 12 V EPS CPU power input. Both have dual PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots with one M.2 heatsink, with eight SATA ports, and both also use an Intel Gigabit LAN port, and a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec.
ASRock X570 Pro4 motherboard
The primary difference aside from the form factor is the ASRock X570 Pro4 naturally has more PCB space for extra PCIe connectivity. This includes two PCIe 4.0 x1 slots on the X570 Pro4 compared to the single PCIe 4.0 x1 on the X570M Pro4, but surprisingly, both feature two full-length PCIe 4.0 x4 slots and an M.2 Key E for users to add their own Wi-Fi/BT module. Both include a DisplayPort and HDMI video output on the rear panel, and four memory slots capable of supporting up to DDR4-4066 with a maximum capacity of up to 64 GB.
ASRock X570M Pro4 microATX motherboard at Computex 2019
The rear panel on both the ASRock X570 Pro4 and X570M Pro4 are identical in terms of connections and includes a single USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, a single USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, six USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports, and a single Ethernet port powered by an Intel I211AT Gigabit controller. For audio, there are three color coded 3.5 mm audio jacks which is controlled by a Realtek ALC1200 HD audio codec.
It's clear that the X570 Pro4 and X570M Pro4 models are aimed at users with more a more professional focus; this is prevalent in the feature set and the aesthetic. There is nothing flashy about the Pro4, but it does represent a more modest offering in its X570 product stack with the X570 Pro4 priced at $170, with the X570M Pro4 coming in at a slightly higher MSRP of $186
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Tunnah - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
I really love how advanced motherboards are nowadays. I can pick up the most "basic" model and it'll cover everything I need, and even include stuff I won't. Gone are the days frantically trying to find a motherboard that ticks all the boxes for even the most basic of needs.Plus having such a competent board as my soon-to-be secondary system means I can leave all my drives in that and put it in a nice quiet place. I'm fairly certain the 8 HDDs in this one are what caused my tinnitus :/
Jansen - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
The ASUS Pro WS X570-Ace has officially validated ECC support. This is a really big deal, as Ryzen has usually only had unofficial ECC support. It opens up a whole other revenue steam for AMD that Intel has deliberately cut off in order to drive Xeon sales.Micron is ramping up its 16GB 3200MHz DDR4 ECC modules MTA18ADF2G72AZ-3G2 specifically for this market.
JoeyJoJo123 - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
I'd much sooner get a Ryzen platform for their value and unbuffered ECC support for an upgrade for my NAS box running FreeNAS, but it's well documented that FreeBSD still has teething issues with Ryzen chips, scheduling, and overall reliability... FreeBSD is what powers FreeNAS OS.So I'm kind of stuck with Intel workstations/server CPUs and ECC ram for a FreeBSD machine (assuming I don't want to do the legwork of trying to get it stable first, and even so, I may not always have the same stability that mature FreeBSD+Intel support...)
I'll very likely be moving to Ryzen for my main PC, though.
quorm - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
I agree with the general sentiment. Core i3 is another option if you don't need a lot of cpu power.teldar - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
I used a ryzen 1600 for my bad. Rock solid after updating board bios.danjw - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
I built a file server on Ubuntu Server. You might try that.BillC - Saturday, October 31, 2020 - link
You might want to check out Open Media Vault which uses Debian Linux for the OS, it can be installed as a NAS only installation or on top of the full Debian OS.spikebike - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
Wow, pricey board. Sad that AMD handles ECC in such a half assed way. Intel's price premium for low end servers is approximately $0. Xeon E3's were priced very similarly or even cheaper to the similar desktop parts. In particular the cheapest hyperthreading E3 was often cheaper than the cheapest i3/i5/i7 with 4 cores/8 threads. Similar with the HEDT, the intel premium for a better socket/additional memory busses is much less than the low end Eypc/Threadripper.So you either have the luck of the draw trying to buy a reliable AMD with ECC (not just physically compatible, but actually corrects memory errors), or you pay a substantial price premium.
Aikouka - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
ASRock Rack has a Ryzen motherboard that officially supports ECC and also has IPMI support (X470D4U). They're also developing a Threadripper variant of their Epyc server board that has IPMI support, but it uses the X370 chipset.cascadehealthcare - Tuesday, August 13, 2019 - link
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