ASRock X570 Steel Legend motherboard review. Functioning Tool

Continuing to study products based on the AMD X570 chipset, today we will consider a variant from the mainstream market segment. Boards from the newest Steel Legend series from ASRock have already appeared on our resource, we can say that the line has become permanent, it harmoniously fits into the company’s assortment, joining the more familiar products of the Pro and Phantom Gaming series. Today we have, at first glance, quite a decent voltage stabilizer, equipped with a set of massive cooling structures. We are considering a model without a pre-installed wireless network adapter, but there is a version with it on store shelves, M.2 of the Key E type is used for this purpose, and here, if necessary, you can install your own card yourself. Thus, the network interface is only one, it is wired, and there are no more hardware bonuses here.

We will get to know the nodes in more detail below, but for starters, I propose to study the list of key parameters according to the table:

The general idea of ​​building products based on the X570 was considered in the course of acquaintance with the ASUS Prime X570-Pro.

Packaging and equipment

As always with ASRock, a black glossy box of huge dimensions is hidden behind the false cover. Inside, a board is fixed on an insert made of foamed polyethylene, and under it there is a set of accessories.

The main attention in the description was paid to the details of the hardware component. There is a photo of the board, a table with a list of features, a schematic image of the rear panel with input-output ports.

Due to the absence of a wireless network adapter in this version, the set of delivery elements is actually basic:

• multilingual quick installation guide;
• UEFI and A-Tuning manual in English;
• disk with drivers and proprietary software;
• company logo sticker;
• postcard with the emblem of the series (there is a place for the stamp);
• four SATA 6Gb / s cables, two of which have an L-shaped connector on one of the ends;
• three mounting screws and two racks for M.2 devices.

Appearance

The dimensions of the board correspond to the ATX standard, there are ten holes for mounting in the case. There are two power sockets for the processor voltage converter. There are no buttons or switches.

All structural elements use a screw fastening method. There are electronic components on the back side, so it is better to be careful during installation.

Illumination is built into the hinged visor above the I / O ports of the rear panel and into the central common radiator. Three additional platforms are provided for third-party LED equipment.

A heavy plate will cool a pair of M.2 form factor drives and help dissipate heat from the hub.

Its contact with the dedicated heatsink under the X570 occurs with the participation of a very tenacious thermal pad, it will not be easy to separate the parts from each other. Difficulties will also be created by a four-wire cable for lighting needs, leading from the board to it. The fan uses a three-wire connection. The chip-cooling blank looks a little like a heatsink, the air will move both up to the memory slots and down, literally blowing just a couple of fins; together with two walls we get three conditional ventilation ducts.

The upper seat for the SSD provides for a length limit of 80 mm, and SATA lines have not yet been connected here, with the lower one we managed to avoid such nuances: the maximum length is 110 mm, there is support for both SATA and PCI-E x4.

Prepared eight classic longitudinal ports for connecting drives.

For case USB cables, there are two platforms with a 3.2 Gen1 interface and a couple more classic 2.0, all of them are transverse. There is no support for 3.2 Gen2 balanced output; on a similar board, it will appear on the lower right corner, which here turned out to be literally empty.

Closer to the socket, there is an additional platform for four pins for the USB output from the CPU cooler; if you really want it, you can use it for other purposes. Organization of divisions of 16 PCI-E lanes in this model is absent, all of them are immediately connected to the shielded slot. Therefore, the remaining four elements are connected to the hub.

The sound subsystem here is without any frills: an older codec from Realtek, an auxiliary op-amp, a set of five capacitors. There are no shielding or protective elements, as well as backlighting.

The PCI-E line hub, which works like a switch, was found a little unexpectedly next to the hub, although it has a huge number of lines. Most likely, it is necessary for the M.2 Key E landing pad and will be inactive without the adapter installed.

The height of the heatsinks on the power circuits is not a threat, but the proximity of the first PCI-E slot to the socket can create a problem for overall cooling structures.

For some reason, the PWM controller was chosen from the Intersil line, this is the ISL69147 model (seven-phase), which means that, most likely, problems with voltage stability cannot be avoided. It is assisted by four ISL6617A line doublers, thereby obtaining eight channels for stabilizing the CPU voltage. Two more, without auxiliary elements, will work for the needs of SOC Voltage, as a result – 8 + 2 channels or 4 + 2 “phases”. The assemblies are drawn from the product range of Vishay Intertechnology – SiC634, there are eight of them, and two more – SiC632A.

There are no comments on the pre-installed thermal pads.

The ports on the rear panel provide all the expectations from a board of this level, there are: two video outputs, various kinds of USB, gold-plated audio jacks, S/PDIF. Two holes for antenna outputs act as a blank for a possible expansion of the PC configuration. The dismantling of the plate is carried out by unscrewing a pair of screws from the back of the device.