MSI MEG X570 ACE Motherboard Review

MSI MEG X570 ACE There's a massive wave of new motherboards to review today, and we've got around ten of them on eTeknix, at least at the last count while I write this review. If that's not enough, AMD are launching their new Ryzen CPUs, as well as their new Radeon GPUs too. Wow, we're truly spoilt this month! One thing worthy of your time, however, is the MSI MEG X570 ACE. This premium solution isn't even their flagship, despite having more than enough features to satisfy that part of the market. The ACE offers a lot of features without the absolutely top end price tag for the budding enthusiast. So where do we begin? How about the amazing connectivity? PCIe 4.0 throughout, including 3 x Gen4 M.2 mounts with Frozr. Then you have Turbo USB 3.2 Gen2, Dual LAN (2.5Gbps + 1Gbps), AND WiFi 6 for flagship wireless connectivity. Oh my! Throw in some luxury features like a special infinity mirror, boatloads of RGB and ARGB, ESS DAC audio, and much more and you're well on your way to building the PC of your dreams. Still though, I think one of the most dramatic features of this motherboard is how nice it looks. Black PCB and hardware, gunmetal grey heatsinks, with chrome and gold trim. It's easily one of the best looking motherboards out there right now, no doubt about it. Features Supports 2nd and 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ / Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Vega Graphics Desktop Processors for AM4 socketSupports DDR4 MemoryMystic Light Infinity: Customize and set up your own colour scheme with MSI Mystic Light, combining exclusive mirror reflection to generate the special endless light effects, the ACE makes your system come alive and infinity.Lightning Fast Game experience: PCIe 4.0, Triple Lightning Gen4 x4 M.2 with M.2 Shield Frozr, StoreMI, AMD Turbo USB 3.2 Gen2.Dual LAN with latest Wi-Fi 6 solution: Onboard 2.5G plus Gigabit LAN with gaming LAN manager, combining latest Wi-Fi 6 solution which supports MU-MIMO and BSS colour technology, delivering the best online gaming experience.Frozr Heatsink Design: Designed with the patented fan and double ball bearings to provide the best performance for enthusiast gamers and prosumers.Extended Heat-pipe Design: Enlarge the surface of heat dissipation, connecting from VRM heatsink to chipset heatsink.Audio Boost HD: Isolated audio with dedicated processor combining ESS audio DAC with amplifier, deliver the breathtaking, game-changing sound to create the most exciting gameplay.Pre-installed I/O Shielding: Better EMI protection and more convenience for installation 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. 4K 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 – 24008Unigine – 5834PCMark 10 – 7508WPrime – 2.513/56.229Cinebench R15 – 209/3117Cinebench R20 – 507/6922Handbrake – 81.9 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 – 198.85Deus Ex – 96.6/129.7Ghost Recon – 108.24/133.06Far Cry – 101/131 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, we don't have the pricing on most of the X570 motherboards launching today, but I will update this as the information becomes available. This one is going to be on the "ouch" side of expensive though. Albeit it won't hurt as much as the £777 you can expect to pay for the MSI GODLIKE model. This won't be far off it though, it's an extremely well equipped motherboard and you'll pay for that privilege. You can check up to date pricing in the UK here and in the US here. Overview I've been reviewing 11 X570 motherboards this week, and I must admit that all of them look fantastic. However, the robust and aggressive design of the MSI MEG X570 ACE is hard to ignore. It looks savage, and comes packed with stunning features that are sure to put it firmly on the radar of any AMD enthusiast; albeit those who can afford it at least. Build Quality The MSI MEG X570 ACE is exceptionally well put together. It features a robust PCB that deals with the increased demands of PCIe 4.0 from the X570 chipset. However, that is complemented by a powerful VRM and cooling configuration. It does feature the active chipset fan like many X570 motherboards. However, there's plenty of chunky heatsinks and heatpipes to help maintain the performance too. Armour is a big deal here also, with armoured memory slots, armoured PCIe slots, and those lovely armoured M.2 Gen 4 heatsinks. Performance While not the fastest it's far from the slowest too. It benched some impressive figures in 3DMark, Unigine and PCMark 10 without breaking a sweat. One of the most impressive has to be the WPrime score, where it clocked an impressive 56.229 seconds for 2014m, the second fastest for X570 and our fourth fastest overall. That was reflected in CineBench R15, where it gave us our best single core performance for the Ryzen 9; 209 points. Added Value Much like the MSI GODLIKE, it's not so much added value as it is pay more to get more. However, if you want a lot of impressive features, the MSI MEG X570 ACE has plenty to shout about. One of my personal favourites is the ESS DAC amplifier, which supports DSD audio and features Nahimic3 processing. Plus with both 1 GbE and 2.5 GbE LAN paired up with the latest WiFi 6, your connectivity options are fantastic too. Should I Buy One For the MSI range, the MEG X570 ACE is basically the 2nd from the top model. However, if you don't need the 10 GbE and RAID card of the GODLIKE model, this is hardly a second rate motherboard. It has stunning features, exceptional build quality and aesthetics you can be proud of. Plus, when it comes down to it, it's hardly lacking in raw performance either. 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