The AMD X570 Motherboard Overview: Over 35+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Gavin Bonshor on July 9, 2019 8:00 AM ESTMSI MEG X570 Unify
The MSI MEG X570 Unify combines sleek and uniformed all-black aesthetics without the swathes of RGB LEDs which some users find garish. With similar specifications to the MSI MEG X570 Ace which we reviewed at launch, the MEG X570 Unify takes a more direct approach with some very interesting features. Not only has MSI dropped all of the fancy plastic on the rear panel cover and removes the integrated RGB LEDs, but the power delivery heatsink is incorporated into the large aluminium rear panel cover to create a massive and robust cooling solution for power users; the X570 Unify is using a 14-phase power delivery design and two 8-pin 12 V ATX connectors for power. The Unify is more focused towards enthusiasts and represents MSI's higher-tier of X570 models.
Looking at the core feature set, the MSI MEG X570 Unify includes three PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots which each come with individual heatsinks for improved cooling performance when used with NVMe based drives. Also included four SATA ports and for the networking, included is a Realtek RTL8125 2.5 G NIC with an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface. On the rear panel, there is a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec with three USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. Also present is a clear CMOS button, a Flash BIOS button, and a PS/2 combo port. There are three full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which operate at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/x4, as well as two PCIe 4.0 x1 slots. Supported memory speeds allow for DDR4-4600 and up to 128 GB to be installed.
Everything about this model screams enthusiast, but without all of the bells and whistles of the MEG X570 Ace. The MSI MEG X570 Unify even managed to push a Ryzen 9 3900X to 5857.01 MHz which is the current highest frequency for this processor on HWBot. That sends a very clear message that this model is suited for overclocking, but still provides users with the same premium desktop motherboard features as other competitive models in its product segment. At present, there is no pricing information available, but it's likely to cost around the same as the MSI MEG X570 Ace ($370).
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Tunnah - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
I really love how advanced motherboards are nowadays. I can pick up the most "basic" model and it'll cover everything I need, and even include stuff I won't. Gone are the days frantically trying to find a motherboard that ticks all the boxes for even the most basic of needs.Plus having such a competent board as my soon-to-be secondary system means I can leave all my drives in that and put it in a nice quiet place. I'm fairly certain the 8 HDDs in this one are what caused my tinnitus :/
Jansen - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
The ASUS Pro WS X570-Ace has officially validated ECC support. This is a really big deal, as Ryzen has usually only had unofficial ECC support. It opens up a whole other revenue steam for AMD that Intel has deliberately cut off in order to drive Xeon sales.Micron is ramping up its 16GB 3200MHz DDR4 ECC modules MTA18ADF2G72AZ-3G2 specifically for this market.
JoeyJoJo123 - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
I'd much sooner get a Ryzen platform for their value and unbuffered ECC support for an upgrade for my NAS box running FreeNAS, but it's well documented that FreeBSD still has teething issues with Ryzen chips, scheduling, and overall reliability... FreeBSD is what powers FreeNAS OS.So I'm kind of stuck with Intel workstations/server CPUs and ECC ram for a FreeBSD machine (assuming I don't want to do the legwork of trying to get it stable first, and even so, I may not always have the same stability that mature FreeBSD+Intel support...)
I'll very likely be moving to Ryzen for my main PC, though.
quorm - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
I agree with the general sentiment. Core i3 is another option if you don't need a lot of cpu power.teldar - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
I used a ryzen 1600 for my bad. Rock solid after updating board bios.danjw - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link
I built a file server on Ubuntu Server. You might try that.BillC - Saturday, October 31, 2020 - link
You might want to check out Open Media Vault which uses Debian Linux for the OS, it can be installed as a NAS only installation or on top of the full Debian OS.spikebike - Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - link
Wow, pricey board. Sad that AMD handles ECC in such a half assed way. Intel's price premium for low end servers is approximately $0. Xeon E3's were priced very similarly or even cheaper to the similar desktop parts. In particular the cheapest hyperthreading E3 was often cheaper than the cheapest i3/i5/i7 with 4 cores/8 threads. Similar with the HEDT, the intel premium for a better socket/additional memory busses is much less than the low end Eypc/Threadripper.So you either have the luck of the draw trying to buy a reliable AMD with ECC (not just physically compatible, but actually corrects memory errors), or you pay a substantial price premium.
Aikouka - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
ASRock Rack has a Ryzen motherboard that officially supports ECC and also has IPMI support (X470D4U). They're also developing a Threadripper variant of their Epyc server board that has IPMI support, but it uses the X370 chipset.cascadehealthcare - Tuesday, August 13, 2019 - link
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