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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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
Authorized seller of thousands of top-quality medical products, supplies and equipment at a competitive price. We have online presence that serves the needs of Assisted Living Homes, Nursing Facilities, Hospitals, Government Agencies, Schools and Military Locations across the country. Cascade Healthcare Solutions was founded on the premise of helping our customers save money and making their buying experience as smooth as possible.Authorized seller of thousands of top-quality medical products, supplies and equipment at a competitive price. We have online presence that serves the needs of Assisted Living Homes, Nursing Facilities, Hospitals, Government Agencies, Schools and Military Locations across the country. Cascade Healthcare Solutions was founded on the premise of helping our customers save money and making their buying experience as smooth as possible.
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