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 |
||
Video Outputs | N/A | ||
Network Connectivity | Intel I211-AT 1 G Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax |
||
Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC1220 ESS ES9023P DAC |
||
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) |
||
USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 5 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel |
||
USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Type-A Header 1 x Type-C Header |
||
USB 2.0 | 1 x Type-A Header (2 x ports) | ||
Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8pin CPU |
||
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 |
||
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) |
||
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.
59 Comments
View All Comments
Dug - Friday, October 25, 2019 - link
I also don't get the non uefi post time. Does anyone use legacy when setting up a new system these days?lipscomb88 - Thursday, October 31, 2019 - link
For x570, only asrock has gotten their tb3 cert through at this time. So you can k ow for now that only asrock boards will have tb3 this Gen. But I agree this ibfonwoikd be nice for all boards reviews going forwards since it will be a possibility for all platforms.hanselltc - Saturday, October 26, 2019 - link
Kinda wanna see the Strix X570 I. It is apparently just a mini Impact in terms of VRM.abufrejoval - Sunday, October 27, 2019 - link
I am baffled by these prices. With Ryzen being a SoC the added value of the x570 is little more than a hybrid IF/PCIe/USB/SATA switch, perhaps a $40 value, especially given that it's twin is already included on the CPU die carrier.So where does the rest of the money go? Can't be the gold on the slot contacts, because $80 mainboards have those, too.
In a day and age where you can get 6 4GHz cores at $200 and 32GB of RAM at $100, I completely fail to see why the mainboard should cost more than both.
That is the price of a dual socket Xeon server mainboard like the Intel S2600CWTSR!
Makes me afraid of where TR boards will launch... What good are cheap CPUs, SSDs and RAM when motherboard vendors get greedy?
just4U - Sunday, October 27, 2019 - link
12+4 power phases are one reason, Most of the upper end X470s had that but not Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-fi 6.0 2.5GHZ Nic PCI 4.0 etc..abufrejoval - Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - link
Well the power distribution it must be, because WiFi 6 and BT 5 is a $12 upgrade as M.2 and I doubt the RealTek 2.5GBit chip is even that much for OEMs: It's very similar to the 1Gbit commodity cousin that everyone sells at practically zero extra cost and even as a USB3 or PCIe x1 variant is $40 in low-volume retail today.But even if you take your entry level x570 mainboard for $150 (ASRock X570 PHANTOM GAMING 4) and add the other to at retail, that leaves $230 for... power delivery?
I guess I value energy efficiency over the ability to pump 200Watts into a CPU that can't convert that into compute. It's the reason I keep eying the Ryzens to replace Xeon E5.
And I *would* pay extra to have two bifuricated PCIe 4 x8 lanes switched into four PCIe 3 x16 slots to gain some workstation type flexibility in a full ATX form factor, since I have plenty of PCIe v3 hardware, I want to keep using (e.g. RTX 2080ti) and nobody yet offering anything PCIe v4 that I find attractive.
Even a classic 8+4+4(+4) lane setup would be ok, assuming that native PCIe v4 adapters will come for faster fabrics.
AMD wants to sell TR in that space, but those will have Xeon E5 prices again.
Korguz - Sunday, October 27, 2019 - link
abufrejoval, you seem to know so much about how much a motherboard should cost, how about you break down how much EACH and EVERY part on the board costs, as well as the PWB costs to make, right down to the design, and manufacture of the board itself ?? ryzen isnt really a SoC, those have A LOT more in them then just the cpu cores, memory controller, and some IO.TheinsanegamerN - Sunday, October 27, 2019 - link
Why dont you justify why these boards are so stupid expensive? The crosshair VIII costs $110 more then the VII did, and all it brings to the table is a single PCIe 4.0 slot and wifi 6. Wooo?gamer1000k - Sunday, October 27, 2019 - link
I'm kind of disappointed with all the motherboard manufacturers effectively ignoring micro-ATX. There's all kind of awesome features being shoved into mini-ITX and now DTX boards, but these boards are then limited to only 2 RAM slots and the need for riser cards to fit all the features.MicroATX isn't all that much bigger (especially compared to DTX) and a lot of mini-ITX cases are growing to micro-ATX proportions for improved cooling and ATX is overkill for most use cases now with the downfall of multi-GPU for gaming and 5.25" drives, so why are manufacturers avoiding this form factor?
NanakiEmi - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
Most Micro ATX boards are considerably wider compared to ITX and DTX. They are still a very different class.