Custom PC – October 2019

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s thesecondmostexpensiveboard
ontest,theMSIPrestigeX570
Creationneedstojustifyitsprice,
althougha quicksiftthroughtheboxreveals
someexcitinggoodies.Yougeta beefyM.2
Xpander-ZGen4 cardthataddstwoPCI-E 4
M.2ports,completewithheatsinksanda fan,
alongwitha sturdydesktopWi-Fiantenna,
threethermalprobecables,RGBextension
cables,andcablingtohookupvariousCorsair
RGBcomponents.
TheboarditselfistheonlyE-ATXexample
ontest,andit makesgooduseoftheextra
space.It hasa hugecoolingarray,witha
heatpipeconnectingtheVRMheatsinksand
chipsetheatsink,eveningouttheheatload
andallowingthelarger-than-averagechipset
fantoalsocoolthe17-stagepowerdelivery
andVRMs.Thankfully,thefanrarelyneeds
tospinup,andit’sinaudiblewhenit does.
Themainnigglehere,though,isthat
thesingle-pieceM.2heatsinkprevents
youfromaccessingyourM.2SSDswhile
a graphicscardisinstalled.Otherwise,
thelayoutisexcellent,withangled24-pin
ATX,SATA6GbpsandUSB3 headers.You
onlygetsixSATAports,ratherthaneight,
butthat’sstillplentyformostpeople.

MSIPRESTIGEX570CREATION/£450 inc VAT

SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk

Every M.2 port and PCI-E slot supports

PCI-E 4, and you get a generous total of

nine 4-pin fan headers to take advantage

of MSI’s tweaked EFI, which now matches

Gigabyte’s efforts when it comes to fan

control. There’s also a massive count of 13

Type-A USB ports on the rear, although only

one of them is USB 3.1 Gen 2, while there’s

a Type-C port with the same speeds too.

The premium features continue with a 10

Gigabit Aquantia Ethernet controller, power

and reset buttons, a clear-CMOS switch and

LED POST code display. There are also four 1x

PCI-E slots and a smattering of RGB lighting,

with three additional RGB headers included.

The Prestige X570 Creation offered

exceptional cooling of our Corsair

MP600 M.2 SSD in its Xpander-Z Gen 4

card, although the fan is best switched

off as it’s noisy. Even the board’s own

M.2 heatsink was better than most of

the competition, but the real star in the

results was the audio performance,

where the dynamic range of 118dBA and

noise level of -118dBA are exceptional.

What’s more, it managed to get our Ryzen

9 3900X CPU to a stable 4.35GHz clock

usinga 1.425Vvcore– thehighest result

VERDICT

Asuper-premiummotherboardthat’s

beggingfora 16-coreRyzenCPU.

IRONMAN

+ Super-premium

features

+ Excellent overclocker

+ Superb cooling

IRON AGE

• Expensive


• Some features
  are overkill


• Not the best-looking
  board

LABS TEST / X570 MOTHERBOARDS

SPEC

Chipset AMD X570

CPU socket AMD Socket AM4 (Zen+, Zen 2)

Memory support 4 slots: max 128GB

DDR4 (up to 4600MHz)

Expansion slots Three 16x PCI-E 4,

four 1x PCI-E 4

Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1220

Networking Intel Gigabit LAN, Aquantia

10 Gigabit LAN, 802.11ax Wi-Fi

Overclocking Base clock N/A, CPU multiplier

23-65x; max voltages: CPU 2V, RAM 2V

Ports 6 x SATA 6Gbps 4 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x

USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 10 x

USB 3, 2 x USB 2, 3 x surround audio out

Dimensions (mm) 305 x 244

PERFORMANCE

33 / 35

VALUE

18 / 30

FEATURES

34 / 35

OVERALLSCORE

85

we’ve seen so far, while still maintaining

super-low power draw. However, due to

the variations in CPU boosting we’ve seen

so far from early EFI versions, this overclock

didn’t lead to chart-topping results.

Conclusion

If you plan on getting AMD’s 12 or 16-core

3rd-gen Ryzen CPUs, we have no doubt

MSI’s Prestige X570 Creation is an

excellent tool for the job. It’s dripping

with super-premium features and is a

match for many high-end desktop boards

we’ve seen. There are certainly cheaper

options, but if you’ll make use of some

of its cutting-edge technology and have

the funds, it’s a highly desirable board.

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