The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTGIGABYTE X570 Aorus Pro & X570 Aorus Pro WIFI
The GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Pro is offered in two versions, with and without Wi-Fi and represents its mid-range product stack with a Realtek ALC1220-VB audio codec, Intel Gigabit LAN, and an HDMI 2.0 output on the rear panel. Both models share the same PCB, aesthetics and overall circuitry, with the only difference coming in the wireless connectivity; users can sacrifice Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 and BT 5.0 wireless interface for a small price reduction. The positioning in GIGABYTE's X570 product stack slots it between the more premium X570 Aorus Ultra ($299), and the more cost-effective X570 Aorus Elite ($199 to $209).
The GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Pro uses a strong looking 14-phase power delivery which is suitable for enthusiasts looking to squeeze out some extra performance from the new Ryzen 3000 series processors; it should be noted that GIGABYTE is using the same power delivery as the more expensive X570 Aorus Ultra ($299). A total of four RAM slots with support for DDR4-4400 and up to 128 GB sit towards the right-hand side, while the bottom area is dominated by three full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which operate at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/x4. For storage, there are two M.2 slots each with their own individual heat shields as well as six available SATA ports.
On the rear panel is a single Intel I211-AT Gigabit Ethernet port with a Realtek ALC1220-VB HD audio codec driving the five 3.5 mm audio jacks and the S/DPIF optical output. In terms of rear panel USB, there is single USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, two USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, three USB 3.1 G1 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 ports. A single HDMI 2.0 video output is also present for users looking to utilize one of AMD's Ryzen based APUs, with the X570 Aorus Pro WIFI variant adding antenna connectors for the Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface; this also has support for BT 5.0 devices.
The GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Pro WIFI has an MSRP of $269 which offers users with a solid feature set, and all-in-all is a slightly cut-down version of the more expensive X570 Aorus Ultra ($299). For the $30 drop in the cost of the GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Ultra, the X570 Aorus Pro WIFI drops one of the PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, but for users looking for a model without the Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface, the non Wi-Fi enabled X570 Aorus Pro looks set to come in with an MSRP of $259.
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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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