The ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming Motherboard Review
by Gavin Bonshor on January 25, 2021 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- Asus
- ROG
- AM4
- Ryzen 3000
- X570
- Strix X570-E
- Ryzen 5000
- X570-E Gaming
Board Features
The ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming is an ATX motherboard with a very solid feature set and sits just below its premium ROG Crosshair series. It uses a lot of the benefits available from the X570 chipset, including eight SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays, as well as two PCIe 4.0 x4/SATA M.2 slots. There is plenty of PCIe support which includes three full-length PCIe 4.0 slots operating at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/x+4, with a further two PCIe 4.0 x1 slots. A total of four memory slots allow support for up to DDR4-4400 memory, with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB. For cooling, ASUS includes six 4-pin headers for cooling, with two dedicated for CPU fans, one for AIO pumps, one for conventional water pumps, and two for regular chassis fans. All of the 4-pin headers available can support PWM controlled fans.
| ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX Motherboard | |||
| Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
| Product Page | Link | ||
| Price | $330 | ||
| Size | ATX | ||
| CPU Interface | AM4 | ||
| Chipset | AMD B550 | ||
| Memory Slots (DDR4) | Four DDR4 Supporting 128 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-4400 |
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| Video Outputs | 1 x HDMI 2.0b 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 |
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| Network Connectivity | Realtek RTL8125-CG 2.5 GbE Intel I211-AT Gigabit Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 |
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| Onboard Audio | SupremeFX S1220A | ||
| PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 2 x PCIe 4.0 (x16, x8/x8) | ||
| PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4 2 x PCIe 4.0 x1 |
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| Onboard SATA | Eight, RAID 0/1/10 (B550) | ||
| Onboard M.2 | 2 x PCIe 4.0 x4/SATA | ||
| USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 7 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Header (1 x port) |
||
| USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 1 x Type-A Header (2 x ports) | ||
| USB 2.0 | 2 x Type-A Header (4 x ports) | ||
| Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8pin CPU 1 x 4pin CPU |
||
| Fan Headers | 2 x CPU (4-pin) 1 x AIO pump (4-pin) 1 x Water pump (4-pin) 2 x System (4-pin) |
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| IO Panel | 7 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-C 1 x Network RJ45 2.5 G (Realtek) 1 x Network RJ45 1 G (Intel) 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (SupremeFX) 2 x Intel AX200 Antenna Ports 1 x Q-Flash Button 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 Output 2 x HDMI 2.0b Output |
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ASUS has stacked the rear panel with USB 3.2 G2 connectivity including seven Type-A ports and a single Type-C port, all conforming to the 10 Gbps specification. The board also has a premium networking configuration including a pair of Ethernet ports with one controlled by a Realtek RTL8125-CG 2.5 Gb NIC, with the other by a Gigabit Intel I211-AT controller. Wireless connectivity is provided via an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 interface which also allows support for BT 5.0 devices. ASUS also provides a Q-Flash firmware update button with a designated Type-A port highlighted on the rear panel, along with a pair of video outputs including HDMI 2.0b and a DisplayPort 1.2 output. The onboard audio is handled by a SupremeFX S1220A HD audio codec which adds five 3.5 mm audio jacks and one S/PDIF optical output.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard released during the socket’s initial launch and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS. Most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users and industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
| Test Setup | |||
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 3700X, 65W, $329 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 3.6 GHz (4.4 GHz Turbo) |
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| Motherboard | ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming (BIOS 3001) | ||
| Cooling | ID-Cooling Auraflow 240 240mm AIO | ||
| Power Supply | Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU | ||
| Memory | 2x8GB G.Skill TridentZ DDR4-3200 16-16-16-36 2T | ||
| Video Card | ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (1178/1279 Boost) | ||
| Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
| Case | Open Benchtable BC1.1 (Silver) | ||
| Operating System | Windows 10 1909 | ||
Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.
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46 Comments
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pradeepsekar - Tuesday, January 26, 2021 - link
Correct.Just sharing my experience -
I got a 5950X and Corsair 3600 C18 RAM from the QVL. Loaded up the latest BIOS 2802 and them boom - error and the board would not boot. Had to take it to the ASUS service center, and wait for over an hour. The engineer assigned was super helpful though. He had me wait for some time, and tested the board with a lower processor. He downgraded the BIOS to the next lower stable version, and it worked well when I got it home. Now I am on 3001 and everything continues to work fine. It occasionally greets me with multiple beeps, but ends up booting into Windows anyways... Need to investigate that more but it is not replicable... Anyways, I will stay away from the beta BIOS versions :-)
I agree about the placement of the chipset and the graphics card - they are right next to each other. I am on a NVIDIA Founders edition card. It blows all the warm air out of the chassis and not into it. So for the moment I have not seen high temperatures (yet). The chipset fan looks like a tiny fragile thing one would see on a laptop - with a lot of potential to make a noise when it gets running at a high speed...
Coming from a much older version the menus took some getting used to. All options are present and laid out neatly, as I realized later - with several options that I do not understand fully, and hence do not intend touching till I know better! Just got the RAM running with the XMP (DOCP) profile. I do not intend to overclock the processor - a crazy thought perhaps, but my rig is already screaming fast at everything I throw at it...
Spunjji - Tuesday, January 26, 2021 - link
Beaver M. could learn a lot about what a persuasive, measured post looks like from this one. Cheers for sharing your experience.Knightworld - Wednesday, January 27, 2021 - link
Try running 3200 MHz for the RAM XMP profile. That's what the highest the CPU can handle while being stable without OC. That's the recommended by AMDKnightworld - Wednesday, January 27, 2021 - link
Well of coarse there will be BIOS updates. This is quite an old board in terms of computer standards. Lots of chipset optimisations to accommodate Zen 3 ryzen.Knightworld - Wednesday, January 27, 2021 - link
Also the chipset placement is pretty standard in all boards. Be it ASUS and MSI or Gigabyte or any other MoBo manufacturer. The chipset doesn't ramp up in boost or anything so it usually remains at a constant temp. And using the second slot for main GPU cause more strain on the chipset, since the second slot connects to the chipset and not the CPU. Also with the new GPU from Nvidia, the 3000 series your chipset shouldn't have any issues with the cooling since the special GPU coolers help with that. Tho that is only if you upgrade the GPU.Oxford Guy - Monday, January 25, 2021 - link
'Both the CPU and SoC are Teamed together, which allows the power delivery to run cooler and it improves transient response with quicker bursts of power without the drawbacks of phase doublers.'What drawbacks?
Oxford Guy - Monday, January 25, 2021 - link
'This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS. Most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds'1. Reviews expensive enthusiast board, where we literally are told about what specific VRM components are present.
2. Makes claims above.
3. Facepalm.
nils_ - Monday, January 25, 2021 - link
I saw this in another benchmark article as well. Know your audience Anandtech, of course we care about this. Most people don't build their own computers, so why even benchmark individual components?Spunjji - Tuesday, January 26, 2021 - link
I'd go as far as to say this is the first instance where I've seen this particular criticism being levelled and haven't been inclined to immediately dismiss it. That text doesn't really belong in this article.Oxford Guy - Monday, January 25, 2021 - link
1. Most users aren't going to use POV-Ray so don't include it in the article.2. Most users aren't going to worry about what VRM components are on the board so don't include it in the article.
3. Most users aren't going to use a RAID array so don't include information about RAID in the article.
4. Most users aren't going to use ethernet that's any faster than gigabit so don't including info about that in the article.
How long should this post be? It's the exact non-credible argument used to test at JEDEC. Now that AMD is rating, officially, for 3200 (which means even the lowest-quality AM4 board will support it), the problem isn't as severe as it was but it's still stupid since everyone has known that 3600 was the sweet spot for the previous round of Zen, not 3200.