The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact: A Sharp $430 Impulse on X570
by Gavin Bonshor on October 25, 2019 11:30 AM ESTBoard Features
The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact is one of two small form factor motherboards from ASUS and is the bigger of the pair with its slightly larger than normal PCB. Using the mini-DTX form factor allows ASUS to feature its ROG SO-DIMM.2 slot which allows users to install two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 drives with cooling support provided by the inclusive heatsink. Other storage options include four SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. The Impact features an Intel I211-AT Gigabit ethernet controller and an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface; this also offers users BT 5.0 connectivity. Onboard audio is handled by ASUS's familiar SupremeFX S1220 HD audio codec and also includes an ESS ES9023P DAC. This adds three 3.5 mm audio jacks which are illuminated, as well as a single S/PDIF optical output on the rear panel. The implementation of the onboard audio is interesting as it's on an add-on card which is plugged into the PCIe 4.0 M.2 slot just beneath the full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot.
ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact DTX Motherboard | |||
Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
Product Page | Link | ||
Price | $430 | ||
Size | mDTX | ||
CPU Interface | AM4 | ||
Chipset | AMD X570 | ||
Memory Slots (DDR4) | Two DDR4 Supporting 64 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-4800 DC UDIMM Support |
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Video Outputs | N/A | ||
Network Connectivity | Intel I211-AT 1 G Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax |
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Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC1220 ESS ES9023P DAC |
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PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 | ||
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | N/A | ||
Onboard SATA | Four, RAID 0/1/10 | ||
Onboard M.2 | 2 x PCIe 4.0 x4/SATA (SO-DIMM2) 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4 (Audio) |
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USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 5 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel |
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USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Type-A Header 1 x Type-C Header |
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USB 2.0 | 1 x Type-A Header (2 x ports) | ||
Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8pin CPU |
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Fan Headers | 1 x CPU (4-pin) 1 x Water Pump (4-pin) 1 x System (4-pin) 2 x System (4-pin) SO-DIMM.2 |
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IO Panel | 5 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-C 2 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A 1 x Network RJ45 (Intel) 3 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (SupremeFX) 1 x S/PDIF Output (SupremeFX) 2 x Intel AX200 Antenna Ports 1 x PS/2 Combo Port 1 x Clear CMOS Button 1 x USB BIOS Flashback Button 1 x Reset Button Q-Code LED Debug |
On the rear panel are five USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 G2 Type-C port, and two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports. A further two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A, one USB 3.1 G1 Type-C, and two USB 2.0 ports can be added through the front panel headers. Clear CMOS, USB BIOS flashback and reset buttons are also located on the rear panel, and a two digit Q-Code LED debugger makes up the rest of the space. The memory support on the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact is very impressive with support for up to DDR4-4800 and the two slots allow for users to install up to 64 GB. The 32 GB UDIMMs can be used, as well as the double-height, double capacity DC memory is also supported.
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.
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 Crosshair VIII Impact (BIOS 1001- ABBA) | ||
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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Holliday75 - Friday, October 25, 2019 - link
Been a bit disappointed in Zen2, X570/PCI4 boards in general and fans certainly do not help. Bleeding edge for sure, but bleeding edge issues as well. My I7-3770k (longest lasting CPU I ever had) is going to have to last another year. Hoping Zen3 things settle down and the tech is mature enough to jump on board.hansmuff - Friday, October 25, 2019 - link
On any decent board you can set a fan curve and effectively silence the fan. On my Gigabyte X570 it never runs at all even in intense benchmark or gaming sessions. I do agree that having fans back on motherboards is just crap and should have been avoided. I can only guess that there are edge cases that made AMD demand this level of cooling, I just haven't found it yet.Korguz - Friday, October 25, 2019 - link
all these people complaining about the chipset fan.. the 2 fans for my cpu cooler would probably drown it out, and is probably louder, let alone the other 6 case fans i have in my case...PeachNCream - Saturday, October 26, 2019 - link
Concerns from most people are about fan longevity and not noise, although I will readily admit that after using several low end laptops that rely purely on passive cooling and eMMC or other form of solid state storage, the silence is difficult to give up in exchange for what feels like a archaic, non-portable box filled with fans. That's really where I'm at in computing these days. My needs, even gaming, are met by passively cooled, tiny laptops and I really see no reason to go back to desktop computers, dedicated GPUs, and systems that need cooling fans.Korguz - Saturday, October 26, 2019 - link
i have fans from 5+ years ago, spinning 8-10 hrs a day, that still work just fine, i even booted up an old A64 fx60, with an Asus board, that has a chipset fan, and it still works just fine. so i dont get the longevity aspect..sorry PeachNcream, but you always comparing a desktop vs a notebook, kind of makes your view moot. a desktop will, for the most part, always be louder then a notebook, and the fact that you use passively cooled ones on top of that, further makes it moot
you needs may be met by such a laptop, but, what games do you play???????? that's the key, my guess, nothing that was released in the last few years if they run fun on such a laptop, or facebook type games. i have some old games, that i bet, would make your laptop cry, and on the one i have, to get them to play, its medium graphics or less. but each use case is different, but also, cant compare them, equally.
PeachNCream - Saturday, October 26, 2019 - link
Your older motherboard is a sample size of one.TheinsanegamerN - Sunday, October 27, 2019 - link
I have a nforce 2 motherboard running windows xp, and it has had its chipset fan replaced several times before getting a large heatsink upgrade to be rid of that annoyance.I vividly remember my pentium II/III PCs getting new fans every year, because those tiny fans would gum up and become rattly garbage.
I still replace laptop fans on the regular that are 3-4 years old and are used on a daily basis.
There is a reason so many people have an aversion to tiny fans. They are junk.
Oliseo - Sunday, October 27, 2019 - link
If you've no interest, why read the articles, let alone argue with people in the comments.AshlayW - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
No one cares that you use a passive mobile potato for your Facebook gaming needs. This website is about hardware enthusiastsPeachNCream - Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - link
Ah, I understand now. Because I don't use a computer in the same way you do and my opinion threatens yours, it's clearly the case that we need to make up rules here at Anandtech that disallow somone from reading an article until they can prove that it is directly relevant to the computing choices they currently make.What a flawed method of arguing -- of all things, over the presence of a small cooling fan. Feel threatned about a couple of 30mm fans that might fail? Defend the lack of noise! On wait, it's isn't about noise?! You're not allowed to be here arguing in the first place with your point about fan failures!
What children you're acting like over your toys and hobbies.