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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CrystalCowboy - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
Look up the specs on the Micron 9300. That should give you appreciation of what is going on in U.2.TheUnhandledException - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
Yeah it would have been nice to even have it be m.2 OR u.2 can only use one or the other. Having a half speed m.2 on a workstation board seems a bad design tradeoff. I mean I guess you could use one of those x8 expansion slots for two more m.2 but the onboard m.2 should be full speed in this segment.CheapSushi - Tuesday, August 13, 2019 - link
U.2 port is the 2nd most versatile port other than PCIe. Too many "enthusiasts" don't seem to understand it. In fact, you can connect M.2 drives to it, at x4 also. You can even use a cable to hook up 4 SATA drives to it. You can connect an actual U.2 drive too. There's so many options with it.TheUnhandledException - Tuesday, August 13, 2019 - link
You can not connect SATA drives to a u.2 port. You can connect a NVMe m.2 drive to a u.2 port with an adapter but you can also connect a u.2 drive to a m.2 port with an adapter. Given the relatively pricing of u.2 vs m.2 drives short of needing a storage server with 20+ NVMe drives there is little reason to prefer a u.2 port over an m.2 one.Hul8 - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
Writer: Please check the meaning of "phase".This is not by any means a 12 phase design. It only has 6 distinct phases on main components. Teaming only increases the capacity (per phase).
3DoubleD - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
Agreed, this bothered me too. If it is a 6+2 controller and there is no doubler, the CPU only receives 6 distinct phases, regardless of the extra chips on the other end. Mobo manufacturers make this complicated enough to sort out, I'd hope these reviews would be more accurate and transparent than the motherboard's marketing page.Whether this makes a significant difference for the intended use case is another thing. They hit the same OC on your Ryzen 3700x sample that you did with the top end x570 boards, so it seems plenty capable with 6 phases to meet the power delivery needs for this CPU, even OC'd.
bananaforscale - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
This. Go watch Buildzoid videos.Jaguar36 - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
Does the RTL8125G included with some of Asus's other X570 boards also have a similar POST time hit?TheUnhandledException - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
Nearly perfect but only 2 lanes on the second m.2. Yuck.eva02langley - Monday, August 12, 2019 - link
The price of these motherboards are getting ridiculous. They cost more than the CPUs.