Computex 2019: MSI unleashes full range of X570 motherboards

AMD kicked off Computex 2019 with the launch of 3rd Gen Ryzen and the X570 chipset. With that in mind, it is no surprise that much of the news this week has centred around upcoming X570 motherboards. Today, we are putting MSI in the spotlight, going over the new X570 GODLIKE, Ace, Gaming Edge, and Prestige motherboards.

We shall start off with the MEG X570 Godlike, which is MSI's flagship motherboard. This is an E-ATX board with 18 power phases, the maths there gets a little funky but as Leo explains in our MSI showcase video, the IR3599 VRM controller makes this possible. As this is a high-end board, you would also expect high DDR4 memory overclocking speeds, which the Godlike delivers on, with certification for up to 4600MHz.

All of the on board cooling is supplied by MSI's Frozr technology, which we'll dive into a bit more later in this article. Other key specs for the X570 Godlike include WiFi 6 support supplied by the Killer AX1650 chip, Killer E3000 2.5G LAN + Killer E2600 Gigabit LAN, 2-way SLI or 4-way Crossfire support, three M.2 SSD slots and 5x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports + 6 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports.

The MEG X570 ACE is the next step down and is a standard ATX board. This one has DDR4 overclocking support for speeds of up to 4533MHz. It also supports WiFi 6 but instead of Killer, the Ace uses Intel's AX200 chip. The LAN ports are different too, with wired networking coming via RTL8125-CG 2.5G LAN + Intel i211AT Gigabit LAN. You still get three M.2 SSD slots but multi-GPU support is dropped to 2-way SLI or 3-way Crossfire.

The MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WiFi, X570 Gaming Edge WiFi and X570 Gaming Plus fill up a similar category. All three are standard ATX and use the same on board audio chip, support the same DDR4 memory speeds (4400MHz), support the same number of multi-GPU configurations (2-way crossfire only) and have two M.2 SSD slots. The key difference is found in the power phases, with the Gaming Pro Carbon utilising  a 10+2+1 design, while the Edge and Gaming Plus use an 8+2+1 design.

The Gaming Pro Carbon is also the only board in this sub-group to use Intel WiFi 6. The Gaming Edge instead uses an Intel Wireless-AC 3168 chip, while the Gaming Plus does not include on-board WiFi.

One theme of Computex this year has been a push towards appeasing the ‘content creation' market. We have seen this with Nvidia's RTX Studio initiative and Intel has been pushing in this direction with Intel 9th Gen. MSI will be supplying motherboards geared towards this market segment too, with the Prestige X570 Creation and X570-A PRO motherboards.

The Prestige is an E-ATX board and uses the same power phase design as the X570 Godlike. It does differ in other areas though, with support for up to 4533MHz DDR4 RAM OC speeds, two M.2 SSD slots and support for 2-way SLI or 3-way Crossfire. For networking, you are looking at Intel WiFi 6 or AQC107 10G LAN + Intel I1211AT Gigabit LAN. This motherboard is also packed with USB device support, with 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports and 14 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports.

The X570-A PRO is the ATX version, with support for 4400MHz DDR4 OC speeds, 8+2+1 power phases, two M.2 slots, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, eight USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and two-way Crossfire multi-GPU support. The X570-A Pro is also the only motherboard on this list to not include any RGB LEDs on board.

Common features:

As noted earlier, each motherboard on this list uses MSI's Frozr Heatsink design. This includes active cooling provided by a propeller blade fan, extended heat-pipes, M.2 heat shields to keep SSDs from overheating etc. The included motherboard fans work to keep the motherboard cool but also provide extra airflow for any M.2 SSDs you might have plugged in.

The propeller fan uses a patented design with arched edges and grooves on the blades which create a higher airflow range and helps with directing air to the right place. The rounded edges on the propeller fan help reduce any noise and double ball bearings are in place to ensure a long life span.

Zero Frozr technology is also in place, which is essentially an AI assisted fan tuning system that monitors chipset temperatures and allows the fan to power down during low-load moments. Users can manually adjust the motherboard fan as they see fit though.

Three of these motherboards also use an extended heat-pipe design. As you would expect, this feature is included on the three high-end boards- X570 GODLIKE, X570 ACE and X570 Prestige Creation. This extended heat-pipe runs through the VRM heatsink and down into the chipset heatsink to redistribute and dissipate heat more efficiently.

Moving away from cooling, each MSI X570 motherboard announced today also share similar BIOS technologies, including DDR4 Boost. This uses a reserved PCB section with an isolated memory circuit and an optimised layout to allow DDR4 speeds to boost up as high as they can while the PC is under load. MSI Core Boost is also present, which smooths out power delivery to the CPU.

Finally, every motherboard with the exception of the X570-A PRO has RGB LEDs with support for MSI's Mystic Light tool, giving you the opportunity to create custom colour combinations or use different lighting effects.

KitGuru Says: There are seven new MSI motherboards coming in time for AMD's 3rd Gen Ryzen launch. Its an exciting time all around and we'll be looking forward to getting on with reviews in the coming months. 

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