The ASUS Pro WS X570-Ace Review: x8x8x8 with No RGB
by Gavin Bonshor on August 12, 2019 9:00 AM ESTBoard Features
The ASUS Pro WS X570-Ace sits in the mid-range of the X570 product stack with a price of $380 and combines professional features such a Realtek RTL8117 Gigabit NIC that offers hardware-level access control for server functions with the ASUS Control Center Express application; this is assisted by an additional Ethernet port controlled by an Intel I211-AT Gigabit NIC. A Realtek ALC1200S HD audio codec handles the onboard audio and includes an EMI shield and is set on a separate area of the PCB. The solid-looking 12+2 phase power delivery includes an elegant and large aluminium heatsink and draws its power from a single 8-pin 12 V ATX CPU power input. Providing power to the rest of the board is a single 24-pin 12 V ATX motherboard power input. One of the standout features comes in the way of the full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which run at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/x8.
ASUS Pro WS X570 Ace ATX Motherboard | |||
Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
Product Page | Link | ||
Price | $380 | ||
Size | ATX | ||
CPU Interface | AM4 | ||
Chipset | AMD X570 | ||
Memory Slots (DDR4) | Four DDR4 Supporting 128 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-4400 ECC Memory Support |
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Video Outputs | 1 x HDMI 1.4b 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 |
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Network Connectivity | Realtek RTL8117 Gigabit Intel I211-AT Gigabit |
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Onboard Audio | Realtek S1200A | ||
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 2 x PCIe 4.0 x16 (x16 or x8/x8) | ||
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x8 1 x PCIe 4.0 x1 |
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Onboard SATA | Four, RAID 0/1/10 | ||
Onboard M.2 | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4/SATA 1 x PCIe 4.0 x2 1 x U.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 |
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USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 4 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Header |
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USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Header (two ports) |
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USB 2.0 | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Header (four ports) |
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Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8pin CPU |
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Fan Headers | 2 x CPU (4-pin) 1 x AIO Pump (4-pin) 3 x System (4-pin) |
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IO Panel | 4 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-C 2 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A 2 x Network RJ45 (Realtek/Intel) 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Output (Realtek) |
On the rear panel is a fairly impressive selection of inputs including four USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, and two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports. A further two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A and four USB 2.0 ports can be accessed through the use of internal USB headers. For users looking to use compatible Ryzen APUs, there is also an HDMI 1.4b and DisplayPort video output. Cooling support is standard for an ATX model as the ASUS Pro WS X570-Ace has six 4-pin headers split into two for CPU fans, one for an AIO pump, and four for system fans. There are two PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots, with the top slot operating at PCIe 4.0 x4, and the second slot at just PCIe 4.0 x2. The solitary U.2 slot supports PCIe 3.0 x4, and the four SATA ports feature support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was 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, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as 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.
While we have been able to measure audio performance from previous Z370 motherboards, the task has been made even harder with the roll-out of the Z390 chipset and none of the boards tested so far has played ball. It seems all USB support for Windows 7 is now extinct so until we can find a reliable way of measuring audio performance on Windows 10 or until a workaround can be found, audio testing will have to be done at 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 Pro WS X570-Ace (BIOS 0702) | ||
Cooling | ID Cooling Auraflow 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 1903 inc. Spectre/Meltdown Patches |
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.
New Test Suite: Spectre and Meltdown Hardened
Since the start of our Z390 reviews, we are using an updated OS, updated drivers, and updated software. This is in line with our CPU testing updates, which includes Spectre and Meltdown patches. We are also running the testbed with the new Windows 10 1903 update for AMD's Ryzen 3000 series CPUs, and X570 motherboard reviews. The Windows 1903 update improves multi-core and multi-thread performance on AMD's Ryzen processors with topology awareness meaning previous issues in regards to latency have been known to affect performance. As users are recommended to keep their Windows 10 operating system updates, our performance data is reflected with the 1903 update.
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PeachNCream - Tuesday, August 13, 2019 - link
It's a stylistic choice. It's difficult (pointless) to debate the merits of someone's feelings about how something looks since that sort of thing boils down to opinion and taste. No matter which direction you go, those preferences are not rooted so much in attainment of functionality. Where the frustration begins is within a fairly large segment of the potential market for high end consumer and prosumer computing equipment has no desire to purchase gamer-styled products that typically feature RGB lighting. That segmet's demand is unsatisfied because manufacturers are not catering to them for various reasons and therefore there will be some that speak out in the small hope that a company will acknowledge the unmet demand and sell a suitable product. There's nothing childish about what's happening. You're just seeing economic forces and personal tastes at work.Canam Aldrin - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
No thunderbolt 3, no 10GbE. That really holds it back from being a serious workstation board. I couldn’t use it.haukionkannel - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
Then msi creation could be suitable to you. Very well done IO section in that board. It seems to miss the ecc memory though... but if all that is needed the upcoming threatripper solutions could ansver that too!Dug - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
I agree. When looking for a new system board, this wouldn't do.I checked their site and there is no mention of thunderbolt support anywhere.
hubick - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
I agree. And the second M.2 at only x2 is disappointing, as that basically ruins it for RAID 0/1.I like AMD for PCIe 4.0, but I want I/O, not x3 GPU, so I was looking at the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme, which has x16/x8/x4, ECC, 10GbE (Aquantia boo), triple x4 m.2, and 6 SATA ports (enough for a ZFS raidz2 array). I'll probably wait and go Rome or new Threadripper instead to get more lanes though.
mjz_5 - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
If you use the third m.2 slot it disables two Sata portshubick - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
Uhg, that sucks. Thanks for the tip though. In advance of a new system, I grabbed a couple Corsair MP600 I'm running in RAID 0 for my OS now, on PCIe 3.0 though, which is mainly what I'd want the first two slots for - but I'd really like a third to house a ZFS slog device. All the more reason to wait for Threadripper/Rome I guess.mjz_5 - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
Wonder why they included a U.2 port. Would rather have another M.2 port or at least run the second one at full X4haukionkannel - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
U2 is defacto in workstation environment. M2 is more towards the normal consumers.DanNeely - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
To an extent I think it's like Sata-Express a few years ago; the multi-year lead time on board design means they need to guess what adoption will look like a few years in advance of selling the product.U.2 does have a presence in the highest end enterprise segment; but I suspect that if they knew it was going to be MIA in the prosumer market they probably would've switched its lanes with an onboard m.2.