ASRock X670E Pro RS Motherboard Product Page Goes Live

[TheLostSwede]

Slowly but surely, we're getting more and more details about upcoming AM5 motherboards and ASRock has put up a very spec light page for its upcoming X670E Pro RS motherboard. Not much has changed since the Computex reveal, but the product page did contain a couple of extra board shots as well as a look at the rear I/O. This time around the M.2 WiFi card slot is also populated, suggesting that there will be a WiFi version of this model shipping. The board has a single "Blazing" M.2 slot for a PCIe 5.0 SSD as well as what should be three PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots, of which two come with a shared heatsink and one has no heatsink at all. The final M.2 slot is limited to PCIe 3.0. As this is an X670E board, the PCIe x16 slot is of course PCIe 5.0.

Other features include Realtek's Dragon branded 2.5 Gbps Ethernet controller that has some gaming specific software. It appears that ASRock has trimmed the audio jacks to a bare minimum, with only a line out, a mic in and an optical S/PDIF being connected to the Realtek ALC897 audio codec. The board also has a single USB-C port around the back, although it's at least a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port (20 Gbps). There are a total of five USB-A 3.2 ports, of which one is capable of 10 Gbps speeds, with the other delivering 5 Gbps. There are also four USB 2.0 ports, a DP and HDMI port, as well as a UEFI/BIOS update button around the back. Other expansion options include an internal USB-C header and two PCIe x1 slots of unknown type, as well as six SATA ports and two USB 3.x type headers. This should be one of the more affordable X670E motherboards when the AM5 platform launches later this year.



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[DeeJay1001]

That is an intimidating socket. Lots of tiny little pins just waiting to get bent if you look at them funny.

 

[Tek-Check]

Why is 10 GbE still considered a premium internet port? What is the bandwidth of HDMI port?

 

[Tomorrow]

That is an intimidating socket. Lots of tiny little pins just waiting to get bent if you look at them funny.

I cant wait for people to start damaging these pins. Likely the same people who complained that the CPU gets stuck to the heatsink and rips out of the socket with PGA.
Too bad because i've always liked PGA better than LGA. Unfortunately it seems the future is LGA across all sockets.

I should also rant about the audo codec. ALC897 is still around? That thing is ancient.

 

[JMccovery]

Maybe I'm just weird, but "Blazing" sounds a fair bit slower than Ultra or Hyper.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Why is 10 GbE still considered a premium internet port? What is the bandwidth of HDMI port?

For a desktop or a laptop it is! Most peoples home switches are not even 10gb and if they do have it then it's usually only a few ports. What, you want dual fiber 100gbe? To do what with?

 

[ncrs]

For a desktop or a laptop it is! Most peoples home switches are not even 10gb and if they do have it then it's usually only a few ports. What, you want dual fiber 100gbe? To do what with?

This is a "Pro" series motherboard, so seeing it with a 2.5Gbit/s NIC is disappointing. It's not like ASRock hasn't done this before, their X470 Taichi Ultimate had a 10/5/2.5/1 NIC. Maybe Marvell acquiring AQuantia raised the prices too high?

 

[Daven]

No PS2 port…GOOD!

 

[eidairaman1]

That is an intimidating socket. Lots of tiny little pins just waiting to get bent if you look at them funny.

No different that LGA 775 or AMD Skt 1207

I guess this settles that mgpu is dead...

 

[TheLostSwede]

This is a "Pro" series motherboard, so seeing it with a 2.5Gbit/s NIC is disappointing. It's not like ASRock hasn't done this before, their X470 Taichi Ultimate had a 10/5/2.5/1 NIC. Maybe Marvell acquiring AQuantia raised the prices too high?

This is actually a budget model from ASRock.

 

[Tek-Check]

For a desktop or a laptop it is! Most peoples home switches are not even 10gb and if they do have it then it's usually only a few ports. What, you want dual fiber 100gbe? To do what with?

Even Taichi has 2.5 GbE port only. Asrock does give Thunderbolt 4 ports more often than others, but new LAN ports are disappointing.
I do not want 100 GbE, just 5-10 GbE ports to move towards mainstream. There are already 10 GbE switches with 10 GbE port for ~€100, such as Microtik. It's not a big deal.
It is true that TB4 can run at 10 GbE for network data to NAS or other PCs/laptops, but swiches do not feature TB ports.

 

[ARF]

Why is 10 GbE still considered a premium internet port? What is the bandwidth of HDMI port?

Depends on the version:

HDMI - Wikipedia

I should also rant about the audo codec. ALC897 is still around? That thing is ancient.

I would counter ask you - why do so many people still use the ancient 1920x1080 resolution on their screens?

Maybe they simply don't care about anything.

 

[Tomorrow]

I would counter ask you - why do so many people still use the ancient 1920x1080 resolution on their screens?
Maybe they simply don't care about anything.

Because 1080p is just a resolution. It could be attached to the latest 540Hz panel. Where as ALC897 is acient no matter how you put it. Besides i cant imagine motherboard makes save a ton on money buying these old chips in bulk vs using ALC1220 at the very least or the never 4000 series chip.

I could understand using a low end audio chip on A series board where every cent matters and those people really dont care. But on top of the line X670E chipset board? Makes no sense. Person buying X670E likely does care.

 

[ARF]

Because 1080p is just a resolution. It could be attached to the latest 540Hz panel. Where as ALC897 is acient no matter how you put it. Besides i cant imagine motherboard makes save a ton on money buying these old chips in bulk vs using ALC1220 at the very least or the never 4000 series chip.

I could understand using a low end audio chip on A series board where every cent matters and those people really dont care. But on top of the line X670E chipset board? Makes no sense. Person buying X670E likely does care.

No, it's simply that people don't care about the quality. If it gets sold, then it will be offered. Stop buying it and it will disappear.

1080p is a stupid old low-quality resolution..

 

[trsttte]

Weren't X670E supposed to have both m.2 slots with gen5? The hole "all pcie gen5" was just 1 m.2 and peg slog after all?

 

[Tek-Check]

Depends on the version:

View attachment 253993
HDMI - Wikipedia

Exactly! Why do vendor not explicitly publish which bandwidth their HDMI ports actually do support? It's insane.

I would counter ask you - why do so many people still use the ancient 1920x1080 resolution on their screens?

Maybe they simply don't care about anything.

Maybe, but screen resolution is always published as part of the spec. Other details are not, such as what kind of HDMI image could be pushed through the port. Is it older HDMi 2.0 with 18 Gbps, or is it newer HDMI 2.1 with 48 Gbps. This is very important for those who think about specific connections in their home systems.

Weren't X670E supposed to have both m.2 slots with gen5? The hole "all pcie gen5" was just 1 m.2 and peg slog after all?

There are 24 Gen 5 lanes to be used from CPU. Those boards could have two dedicated M.2 Gen 5 slots, in addition to x16 GPU. Also, if there are two GPU slots runing at x8, another two NVMe Gen 5 drives could be added via AIC or dedicated M.2 slots placed near that second GPU, but this is more complex to implement and practically useless. This would be too much for most people right now, but maybe not in 5 years. This is the reason why AM5 platform is really future proof.

 

[ARF]

Maybe, but screen resolution is always published as part of the spec. Other details are not, such as what kind of HDMI image could be pushed through the port. Is it older HDMi 2.0 with 18 Gbps, or is it newer HDMI 2.1 with 48 Gbps. This is very important for those who think about specific connections in their home systems.

Both the User Guide and the online specifications page state it:

• 1x HDMI 1.4 port, supports a maximum resolution of 4096x2160 @24Hz 1 2
  Support for HDMI™ 1.4 version, HDCP 1.4 & 2.3

MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI | RETURN TO HONOR (msi.com)

 

[trsttte]

There are 24 Gen 5 lanes to be used from CPU. Those boards could have two dedicated M.2 Gen 5 slots, in addition to x16 GPU. Also, if there are two GPU slots runing at x8, another two NVMe Gen 5 drives could be added via AIC or dedicated M.2 slots placed near that second GPU, but this is more complex to implement and practically useless. This would be too much for most people right now, but maybe not in 5 years. This is the reason why AM5 platform is really future proof.

I wasn't asking about the platform, I know all that. AMD said X670 EXTREME would be all gen5* (from cpu, chipset still gen4), so this one is not (and not because it has USB4, since it doesn't). So what's up with that? Or are 3 of the m.2 on the chipset and only one on the cpu?

 

[Tek-Check]

Both the User Guide and the online specifications page state it:

• 1x HDMI 1.4 port, supports a maximum resolution of 4096x2160 @24Hz 1 2
  Support for HDMI™ 1.4 version, HDCP 1.4 & 2.3

MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI | RETURN TO HONOR (msi.com)

True, but new specs on many motherboards simply list HDMI 2.1 or HDMI wihtout giving more details, like the one you mentioned. Besides, HDMI 2.1 features are optional, so something that actually has HDMI 1.4 or 2.0 port can be advertised as HDMI 2.1. It's ridiculous whatr HDMI Licensing Administrator has done and all companies behind it.

I wasn't asking about the platform, I know all that. AMD said X670 EXTREME would be all gen5* (from cpu, chipset still gen4), so this one is not (and not because it has USB4, since it doesn't). So what's up with that? Or are 3 of the m.2 on the chipset and only one on the cpu?

X670E must minimally support x16 GPU and x4 NVMe drive at PCIe 5.0 speeds, plus two chipsets Prom21. Everything else is up to a vendor.
There are currently no chipsets with Gen 5 wiring and no other peripherals with Gen 5. Those will come in a few years. That's why X670 platform is future proof.

One Gen 5 NVMe is on CPU, another one can also be on CPU at 5.0 or 4.0 (since USB4 is not there, so x4 lanes are free), and another three Gen 4 NVMe drives can go on the chipset.

 

[Nephilim666]

So X670E is just a 'premiumised' version of X670, the chipset implementation is identical? How long until someone hacks X670 bioses to give all the PCIe 5.0 speeds?

 

[AlwaysHope]

No, it's simply that people don't care about the quality. If it gets sold, then it will be offered. Stop buying it and it will disappear.

1080p is a stupid old low-quality resolution..

Except 2/3rds of Steam users still use that resolution!

 

[trsttte]

So X670E is just a 'premiumised' version of X670, the chipset implementation is identical? How long until someone hacks X670 bioses to give all the PCIe 5.0 speeds?

I think the x16 slot (the only part that changes) requires signal redrivers so not a very good idea when you won't get any extra performance anyway with current devices

In any case I don't know how many X670 boards there will be without the extra E, given the slight differences might not make a ton of sense to differenciate board to that point (thought they can also have the redrivers populatesd with jumpers and sell the non-E board for slightly cheaper, but that's such a mess of an inventory to manage, I hate it but bean counters love it so who knows)

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

This is actually a budget model from ASRock.

I kinda figured it was, the lack of audio ports suggest a weaker design. Also the limited amount of USB ports on the back just doesnt work for me, I need atleast four USB3 and that usbC looks like its removable, I know its not.

Thanks for the write up

 

[Blue4130]

I kinda figured it was, the lack of audio ports suggest a weaker design. Also the limited amount of USB ports on the back just doesnt work for me, I need atleast four USB3 and that usbC looks like its removable, I know its not.

Thanks for the write up

10 usb ports is lacking to you?

 

[bobsled]

10 usb ports is lacking to you?

I'd want at least 2, preferably 3 USB-C ports on a modern (pro) desktop board now.