Gigabyte X570 AORUS Pro Motherboard Review

AORUS X570 Pro The latest range of Ryzen 3rd Gen CPUs are here at last, joining a bank of motherboards with the X570 chipset, PCIe 4.0, and even new 7nm graphics cards from AMD too. That means today, we have a huge wave of epic reviews for you to absorb, such as the X570 Pro you're reading, right now! The AORUS X570 Pro is a high-end solution, no doubt about that. However, with models like the MASTER and the XTREME sitting above it, it's somewhere in the middle of the very high-end solutions. Could this be the sweet spot of "expensive" but also "worth it"? Well, I certainly think so, at least if previous generations "Pro" motherboards are anything to go by. It may not be the top dog, but it's hardly lacking in features. With a 12+2 Phases VRM, armoured DIMM and PCIe lanes, and a couple of super-fast M.2 PCIe NVMe slots thrown in too. Of course, with high-end audio from the ALC1220-VB Enchance audio chipset, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.1 Gen2, HDMI 2.0 and so much more, it's packing all the connectivity you could desire for a high-end gaming build. Features Supports AMD 3rd Gen Ryzen™/ 2nd Gen Ryzen™/ 2nd Gen Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Vega Graphics/ Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Vega Graphics ProcessorsDual Channel ECC/ Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4, 4 DIMMs12+2 Phases IR Digital VRM Solution with PowIRstageAdvanced Thermal Design with Fins-Array Heatsink and Direct Touch HeatpipeDual Ultra-Fast NVMe PCIe 4.0/3.0 x4 M.2 with Dual Thermal GuardsALC1220-VB Enhance 114dB(Rear)/ 110dB(Front) SNR in Microphone with WIMA Audio CapacitorsIntel® Gigabit LAN with cFosSpeed Internet AcceleratorRGB FUSION 2.0 with Multi-Zone Addressable LED Light Show Design, Supports Addressable LED & RGB LED StripsSmart Fan 5 features Multiple Temperature Sensors, Hybrid Fan Headers with FAN STOPFront & Rear USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C™ Header & HDMI 2.0 supportIntegrated I/O Shield ArmorQ-Flash Plus update BIOS Without Installing CPU, Memory and Graphics card CPU Support Please keep in mind that Ryzen X570 motherboards only support Ryzen 2nd Gen and 3rd Gen CPUs. Despite being AM4 sockets, they do not currently work with Ryzen 1st Gen processors. Furthermore, for those wanting to use the full PCIe 4.0 functionality, you'll also need to use the latest 3rd Gen CPUs. Preview and Unboxing Last week we brought you a preview of this motherboard here. Because we did the preview, we've already been over the features on this motherboard like we would in our "A Closer Look" section. So that has been replaced with a "photo gallery" on this review; we don't need to tell you everything twice! Show me More We've got a LOT of new reviews to show you today, check out the entire list of motherboards, CPUs and graphics cards below; Gigabyte X570 AORUS Master Motherboard ReviewGigabyte X570 AORUS Pro Motherboard ReviewASUS RoG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard Review ReviewMSI MEG X570 GODLIKE Motherboard ReviewASUS TUF Gaming X570-Plus (WiFi) Motherboard ReviewASUS ROG STRIX X570-E Gaming Motherboard ReviewMSI MEG X570 ACE Motherboard ReviewGigabyte X570 I AORUS Pro WiFi Motherboard ReviewGigabyte X570 AORUS XTREME Motherboard ReviewASRock X570 Motherboard ReviewASUS PRIME X570-Pro Motherboard ReviewAMD Radeon RX5700 & 5700 XT Graphics Cards ReviewAMD Ryzen 7 3700X & Ryzen 8 3800X Processor Review Photo Gallery How We Test Here at eTeknix, we endeavour to disclose vital information regarding the benchmarking process so that readers can quantify the results and attempt to replicate them using their hardware. When it comes to our benchmarks in our reviews, the benchmarks are pretty self-explanatory although there are a few exceptions. Remember that your choice of motherboard, the silicon lottery, and other factors can yield different numbers, and there’s always a margin for error when using any software. Therefore, your experience may vary. Testing Your Own System Links are provided below, as well as the settings we use. We encourage you to not just look at how one product compares to any other, but how it compares to your own. If you’re looking to build a new system, you should benchmark your current PC using our benchmarks and settings where possible. You should then look at the percentage improvement from your current hardware to the hardware we tested to give you a ballpark figure of how much an upgrade this will provide you with. Intel Testbenches Z390 Motherboard – Changes Per ReviewCPU – Intel Core i9-9900KRAM – Crucial 32GB (4 x 8GB) 3000 MHzCPU Cooler – Noctua D15SGraphics Card – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TiPower Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 WattMain Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GBChassis – Lian Li T80 Test BenchOperating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit Z370 Motherboard – Changes Per ReviewCPU – Intel Core i7-8700KRAM – Crucial 32GB (4 x 8GB) 3000 MHzCPU Cooler – Noctua D15SGraphics Card – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TiPower Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 WattMain Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GBChassis – Lian Li T80 Test BenchOperating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit X299 Motherboard – Changes Per ReviewCPU – Intel Core i9-7900XRAM – Crucial DDR4 2400MHz Quad-Channel 32GBCPU Cooler – Noctua D15S with dual fansGraphics Card – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TiPower Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 WattMain Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GBChassis – Lian Li T80 Test BenchOperating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit B360 Motherboard – Changes Per ReviewCPU – Intel Core i7-8700KRAM – Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) 2666 MHzCPU Cooler – Noctua D15SGraphics Card – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TiPower Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 WattMain Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GBChassis – Lian Li T80 Test BenchOperating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit AMD Testbenches X399 (Threadripper) Motherboard – Changes Per ReviewCPU – Threadripper 1950XRAM – Crucial 32GB (4 x 8GB) 3000 MHzCPU Cooler – Noctua D15SGraphics Card – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TiPower Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 WattMain Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GBChassis – Lian Li T80 Test BenchOperating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit X570 Motherboard – Changes Per ReviewCPU – Ryzen 9 3900XRAM – G.Skill 3400MHz Dual Channel 16GBCPU Cooler – Noctua D15S with dual fansGraphics Card – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TiPower Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 WattMain Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GBChassis – Lian Li T80 Test BenchOperating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit X470 Motherboard – Changes Per ReviewCPU – Ryzen 7 2700XRAM – G.Skill 3400MHz Dual Channel 16GBCPU Cooler – Noctua D15S with dual fansGraphics Card – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TiPower Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 WattMain Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GBChassis – Lian Li T80 Test BenchOperating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit X370 Motherboard – Changes Per ReviewCPU – Ryzen 7 1800XRAM – GeIL DDR4 2977MHz Dual Channel 16GBCPU Cooler – Noctua D15S with dual fansGraphics Card – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TiPower Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 WattMain Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GBChassis – Lian Li T80 Test BenchOperating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit B450 Motherboard – Changes Per ReviewCPU – Ryzen 7 2700XRAM – G.Skill 3400MHz Dual Channel 16GBCPU Cooler – Noctua D15S with dual fansGraphics Card – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TiPower Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 WattMain Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GBChassis – Lian Li T80 Test BenchOperating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit Games and Settings Used All games are tested on a 60 Hz display with V-Sync off for all tests. Rise of the Tomb Raider (Steam)DX12 Medium PresetPure Hair OffDeus Ex (Steam)DX12 Medium PresetGhost Recon: Wildlands (Uplay)Medium PresetTurf Effects OffFar Cry Primal (Uplay)Normal Preset Software Used 3DMark Fire Strike (download)FireStrike (1080p) BenchmarkUnigine Superposition (download)1080p Extreme BenchmarkPCMark 10 Professional (download)Express BenchmarkWPrime (download)32M and 1024MPower usage recorded at 1024M 50% complete, thermals recorded at 75% completeCineBench R15 (download)CPU MultiCPU SingleCineBench R20 (download)CPU MultiCPU SingleHandbrake (download)Custom MP4 to MKV 4K conversion (details below)AIDA64 Engineer (download)CPU-Z (download)HWMonitor (download) Handbrake To stress processors to their absolute limit and accurately judge their performance in video editing workloads, we transcode a 7.7GB compilation of gaming footage; this particular file is freely available from here. The captured footage is 22 minutes and 12 seconds long, it has a bit rate of 50.1 Mbps, and it uses the Advanced Video Codec. Additionally, the video runs at a constant 30 frames-per-second and opts for a 3820 x 2140 (4K) resolution. Once loaded into Handbrake, we then transcode the 4K MP4 to an MKV file using the “normal” profile. Other Notes A rest period of 2-5 minutes is observed between each piece of software allowing the system to return to its idle power usage and temperatures. Background services like Windows Update are checked to not be running during the testing period by setting WiFi to Metered Connection. Updates All games, graphics card drivers, BIOS, Windows and everything else is always kept up to date with the latest available. Older benchmarks may not be retested until stated otherwise. However, all hardware will be tested with the best and latest firmware and software available to that hardware at the time of review. As of 1st of May 2018, all hardware was retested on their latest drivers. Anything after this date will again be using their most recent versions available to them. Thanks Thank you to Noctua, Crucial, ASUS, Gigabyte, Lian-Li, be quiet!, OCZ, for providing the hardware that helps makes these tests possible! Synthetic Benchmarks Scores 3DMark – 23444Unigine – 5841PCMark 10 – 7603WPrime – 2.539/56.529Cinebench R15 – 205/3177Cinebench R20 – 501/7212Handbrake – 80.4 3DMark Firestrike Unigine Superposition PCMark 10 Express WPrime Cinebench R15 CineBench R20 Handbrake MP4 to MKV Conversion 4K Gaming Performance Scores Rise of the Tomb Raider – 205.1Deus Ex – 95.2/128.3Ghost Recon – 121.1/133.25Far Cry – 102/132 Rise of the Tomb Raider Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Ghost Recon Far Cry Overclocking With X570 being a brand new platform, we have chosen to put the overclocking testing on hold. We've tested around ten motherboards with the overclocked CPU settings and honest, the results were broadly the same. For now, I refer you to our CPU reviews, which feature the overclocking results of the X570 chipset. I'll also include the links on the first and last pages of each motherboard review. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X & Ryzen 8 3800X Processor Review We're waiting for the platform to mature, get the launch out of the way, and we'll then take a deeper dive into overclocking on X570 with Ryzen 3rd Gen. Not only do we think this will be more useful to you, we think we'll also be able to get even better results to differentiate the motherboards when we do. Sit tight, it's coming, and we're sure it'll be worth the wait. Power ConsumptionS How Much Does it Cost? Unfortunately, at the time of writing, we didn't have up to date pricing information for the AORUS X570 Pro Motherboard. However, you can check the latest prices here in the UK or here in the US. Although, from what we have heard, this is a mid-range solution and is expected to drop in at around $250; don't quote me on that. Overview The AORUS X570 Pro Motherboard is far from the most high-end one we've reviewed today, but then again, it's going to be priced to reflect that too. Given that top models are set to cost North of £700, having some sub £300, even sub £200 boards are no bad thing for the bulk of consumers. Don't be fooled though, this isn't a cheap and cheerful solution. The AORUS X570 Pro packs a lot of great features for the enthusiast. It still features a mighty 12_" Phases power stage and chunky heatsinks that'll have it dealing with the flagship Ryzen 9 with relative ease. Build Quality Like any other X570 motherboard, the AORUS X570 Pro features a robust design. This includes the thicker PCB, and it features twice the amount of copper to deal with the increased demands of the new chipset. It does have the active fan on the chipset though, as does pretty much every other X570 motherboard. However, you do also get dual M.2 Gen 4 mounts with their own heatsinks. There's also integrated I/O shield, and armour on the DIMMs and two of the three full-size PCIe lanes. Like I said, mid-range it may be, but there are plenty of premium features to be found. Performance So it's not the fastest of the X570 bunch we've tested today, but it's far from the most expensive either. That being said, when it came to Unigine and PCMark, it really held its own against the competition. Even managing to score the second highest score in PCMark 10, which was a surprise. It's clearly no slouch though, and easily competes with the rest of the X570 range, so for those building a new AMD gaming system, I think you're going to be more than happy with the price to performance ratio here. Added Value This motherboard is pretty straight forward with its features, nothing too crazy, but still ticking all the right boxes. You get dual M.2, each with support for the latest Gen4 drives, as well as older generations. You'll find excellent on-board audio with the ALC1220-VB chipset, as well as a bank of WIMA and Nichicon Fine Gold capacitors. Plus, a wide range of ARGB headers, USB 3.2 Gen 2 and 1 GbE networking. Should I Buy One While it is designed to be more affordable, especially compared to the current flagship X570 motherboards, the AORUS X570 Pro still has a lot of impressive features that make it worthy of your time. They have gone for a robust VRM design, and armoured all the important components to give you a fantastic quality motherboard. Gigabyte X570 AORUS Master Motherboard ReviewGigabyte X570 AORUS Pro Motherboard ReviewASUS RoG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard Review ReviewMSI MEG X570 GODLIKE Motherboard ReviewASUS TUF Gaming X570-Plus (WiFi) Motherboard ReviewASUS ROG STRIX X570-E Gaming Motherboard ReviewMSI MEG X570 ACE Motherboard ReviewGigabyte X570 I AORUS Pro WiFi Motherboard ReviewGigabyte X570 AORUS XTREME Motherboard ReviewASRock X570 Motherboard ReviewASUS PRIME X570-Pro Motherboard ReviewAMD Radeon RX5700 & 5700 XT Graphics Cards ReviewAMD Ryzen 7 3700X & Ryzen 8 3800X Processor Review