# The Absolute BEST x570 motherboard



## Hellfire (May 13, 2020)

Hi guys, 

So I currently have the Asus Crosshair VIII Formula which I am having to RMA, I think once it comes back I am going to give it to my kid for his build, that along with I don't want to be without my system I wait for the RMA means new Motherboard, YAY

So replacing it, I use the Formulas onboard VRM/Watercooling and I do like it, The RMA is only because Asus Sync & the RGB slots have NEVER worked since day one. but I can't find the Formula board in the UK for less than £580 except with one retailer (£450) which I have fallen out with due to sending unsealed products. (see my other thread they just delivered a new Formula VIII which I am returning.

So what are my other options, I need at least 2x NVME slots for Raid, ideally USB C front and USB 3.1, Crossfire compatible due to running x2 Vega64's (My system specs on the left are current)

I'm happy paying the money for the best, if it had built in water cooling for VRM's that's a bonus, but not overly worrisome I can monoblock it or just run VRM's on air. I do Overclock (running 4450 all core currently)

I know some of the bigger high end boards are:
Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme
&
MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE

I've read some reviews and will keep doing so but it's hard to know if your review is unbiased or not these days. so hoping TPU can help


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## las (May 13, 2020)

For the price, not much comes close to this






						MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI | RETURN TO HONOR
					

Military style with Pre-installed IO shielding, tuned for better performance by Core Boost, DDR4 Boost, M.2 Shield Frozr, Wi-Fi 6, Frozr Heatsink Design, Lightning Gen4




					www.msi.com


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## Hellfire (May 13, 2020)

las said:


> For the price, not much comes close to this
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Bit on the low end, surely something like the MSI Godlike will have better components.


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## las (May 13, 2020)

Hellfire said:


> Bit on the low end, surely something like the MSI Godlike will have better components.



Paying an absolute premium for a motherboard is never worth it tho. You gain pretty much nothing. Money down the drain.


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## R0H1T (May 13, 2020)

You want the best, I'd argue this is the best ~













						The ASRock X570 Aqua: A $1000 Ryzen Halo Motherboard Reviewed
					






					www.anandtech.com
				



Of course limited edition so I'm not sure if they're still available or not?


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## Hellfire (May 13, 2020)

Yeah no stock anywhere in UK for that board, shame as it looks awesome.


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## Woomack (May 13, 2020)

"The best" is a matter of personal preference. For me, the best is Crosshair VIII Impact


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## Chomiq (May 13, 2020)

Word around the block is that godlike is the best when it comes to memory OC.


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## TheLostSwede (May 13, 2020)

Hellfire said:


> Bit on the low end, surely something like the MSI Godlike will have better components.


Except when you read the fine print and realise MSI is cheaping out on their boards. This is the Tomahawk obviously.
2x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots
1x HDMI 1.4 port (kind of irrelevant, I know, but most boards have HDMI 2.0 for Ryzen APUs)

Define best. I'm very happy with my Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master, but a couple of people have had problems with those too and have had to RMA them.


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## puma99dk| (May 13, 2020)

@Hellfire if you are looking for best VRM on X570 check out Buildzoid he analyzes VRM for overclocking on his YT Channel called Actually Hardcore Overclocking.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrwObTfqv8u1KO7Fgk-FXHQ


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## Hellfire (May 13, 2020)

TheLostSwede said:


> Except when you read the fine print and realise MSI is cheaping out on their boards. This is the Tomahawk obviously.
> 2x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots
> 1x HDMI 1.4 port (kind of irrelevant, I know, but most boards have HDMI 2.0 for Ryzen APUs)
> 
> Define best. I'm very happy with my Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master, but a couple of people have had problems with those too and have had to RMA them.



Hey, I only said Godlike as I was comparing a MSI (mid range) with their high end.

For me I'd want the best components, high-end caps, chokes, vrms, quality build parts and decent support, Aesthetics is second for me. Obviously reliability also important in these cases. Better sound codecs and chips the kind of things you'd expect from the high end, Of course boards that can help push performance also is ideal.


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## TheLostSwede (May 13, 2020)

Hellfire said:


> Hey, I only said Godlike as I was comparing a MSI (mid range) with their high end.
> 
> For me I'd want the best components, high-end caps, chokes, vrms, quality build parts and decent support, Aesthetics is second for me. Obviously reliability also important in these cases. Better sound codecs and chips the kind of things you'd expect from the high end, Of course boards that can help push performance also is ideal.


That still doesn't explain what best is. What are the best components? The chipset is the "same" on every board, as far as what we can pick anyhow. Is 2.5/5/10Gbps Ethernet something you want? As for better audio, I can highly recommend any board with the ESS DACs on, as they sound fantastic, but note that it's only used for the headphone jack on the front of the case in most designs.

Reliability is impossible to gauge, as these products have been out for less than a year. As I said, I've had zero issues with my Gigabyte Aurous Master (UEFI/AGESA not withstanding in the beginning), but at least two other guys here have had their boards fail without any indication as to why it happened.

I think someone is always going to have issues with one or another product from every board maker out there, so based on your criteria, it's hard to recommend anything. All of the higher tier boards look good on paper this time around imho.
There are a couple of guys here that work in computer shops that might have some advice. However, a lot of people have a brand preference, which makes it even harder. 

I will say this much, based on the loaner system I'm using right now (as I'm stuck at home, away from home), MSI's UEFI is a pile of crap. Never seen something so confused and all over the place. It's hard to find simple settings and you have to use a mouse to navigate it, which is a big no-no to me.


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## Hellfire (May 13, 2020)

TheLostSwede said:


> That still doesn't explain what best is. What are the best components?



I'm looking for the best quality components, those which offer the best possible performance.



TheLostSwede said:


> The chipset is the "same" on every board, as far as what we can pick anyhow. Is 2.5/5/10Gbps Ethernet something you want? As for better audio, I can highly recommend any board with the ESS DACs on, as they sound fantastic, but note that it's only used for the headphone jack on the front of the case in most designs.



Chipset I was referring to the audio chipset, , ESS DAC sounds good if you think they're worth it. I use headphones often (decent headphones too), the Asus Audio (ROG SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC S1220) seems pretty good and happy with that. 5G Lan is a must for future upgradeability. however, I am only wired for gigabit at present I do have plans to introduce CAT6 wiring into the house when I redo the electrics soon.



TheLostSwede said:


> Reliability is impossible to gauge, as these products have been out for less than a year. As I said, I've had zero issues with my Gigabyte Aurous Master (UEFI/AGESA not withstanding in the beginning), but at least two other guys here have had their boards fail without any indication as to why it happened.



I agree with that, I think one of the reasons I stayed with Asus MB's for years is because for me they've ALWAYS been reliable. However the failure rate of the boards aren't massively high so I think reliability for the big names is generally pretty good.



TheLostSwede said:


> I think someone is always going to have issues with one or another product from every board maker out there, so based on your criteria, it's hard to recommend anything. All of the higher tier boards look good on paper this time around imho.
> There are a couple of guys here that work in computer shops that might have some advice. However, a lot of people have a brand preference, which makes it even harder.



I agree it's hard with brand loyalty, I've always been brand loyal to Asus and the main reason of this thread was to make sure before I jump into another Asus (since I am RMA'ing my X570 board) I open my eyes a bit and see what's out there.

I love the Asus for the built in block, Ideally, I'd want one with built in VRM and/or Chipset cooling. the ASROCK Aqua looked amazing but clearly not available. However, if the right board is suggested that blows the comp away without built in cooling then I'd look at a mono block (I have a CPU block so no need for built in CPU block but will take it if it's there.

MSI Bios I've heard things about before, sounds like you echo that. I think Bios usage is important but with Ryzen master it is less of an issue for Overclocking.  

Sounds like they are all pretty close together and unlike previous gens where one brand has had an advantage over other brands of boards then it looks like it so I may not get an answer to my question


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## oxrufiioxo (May 13, 2020)

Probably the best overall is the aorus extreme as it's the only board with a true 16 phase voltage controller and no chipset fan.


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## Hellfire (May 13, 2020)

oxrufiioxo said:


> Probably the best overall is the aorus extreme as it's the only board with a true 16 phase voltage controller and no chipset fan.




Oh is it, No doubling components like the Asus is a 14+2 with a 7 Phase VRM doubled via doubling parts.


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## oxrufiioxo (May 13, 2020)

Hellfire said:


> Oh is it, No doubling components like the Asus is a 14+2 with a 7 Phase VRM doubled via doubling parts.



No it has 16 distinct phases. I'm actually sorta shocked z490 boards aren't using it given their price.


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## TheLostSwede (May 13, 2020)

Hellfire said:


> Chipset I was referring to the audio chipset, , ESS DAC sounds good if you think they're worth it. I use headphones often (decent headphones too), the Asus Audio (ROG SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC S1220) seems pretty good and happy with that. 5G Lan is a must for future upgradeability. however, I am only wired for gigabit at present I do have plans to introduce CAT6 wiring into the house when I redo the electrics soon.


The ESS DAC is still connected to a Realtek 1220, it just makes for a lot better audio for headphones.



Hellfire said:


> I agree with that, I think one of the reasons I stayed with Asus MB's for years is because for me they've ALWAYS been reliable. However the failure rate of the boards aren't massively high so I think reliability for the big names is generally pretty good.


I would say so, yes.



Hellfire said:


> I agree it's hard with brand loyalty, I've always been brand loyal to Asus and the main reason of this thread was to make sure before I jump into another Asus (since I am RMA'ing my X570 board) I open my eyes a bit and see what's out there.
> 
> I love the Asus for the built in block, Ideally, I'd want one with built in VRM and/or Chipset cooling. the ASROCK Aqua looked amazing but clearly not available. However, if the right board is suggested that blows the comp away without built in cooling then I'd look at a mono block (I have a CPU block so no need for built in CPU block but will take it if it's there.


There's always this, if you want to throw stupid money on a motherboard.





						ASRock X570 AQUA
					






					www.asrock.com
				






Hellfire said:


> MSI Bios I've heard things about before, sounds like you echo that. I think Bios usage is important but with Ryzen master it is less of an issue for Overclocking.
> 
> Sounds like they are all pretty close together and unlike previous gens where one brand has had an advantage over other brands of boards then it looks like it so I may not get an answer to my question


I just hate wasting 10 minutes finding all the settings in the UEFI every time, due to poor logic with regards to the UI/UX.

I think most of the board makers really stepped up their game with their X570 boards, but the prices of the boards also reflects this. That said, I think as long as you're getting something for over $250 or thereabouts (yes, I know you're in the UK, but US$ is the MSRP pricing) you're not very likely to get a total lemon. Once you go over $350, it's minimising returns on what you get for your money.



oxrufiioxo said:


> No it has 16 distinct phases. I'm actually sorta shocked z490 boards aren't using it given their price.


You'll have to wait for Z590 for that  
In fact, if they can squeeze it in, you might get more.


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## oxrufiioxo (May 13, 2020)

TheLostSwede said:


> You'll have to wait for Z590 for that
> In fact, you if they can squeeze it in, you might get more.



Sadly that's what it looks like.... Still drooling over the new Formula though which is better than the x570 version in just about every way while somehow being cheaper.


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