MSI MPG X570 Gaming Edge WiFi Motherboard Review for Powerful Gaming PCs

The line of the most affordable MSI boards with the AMD X570 hub is headed by the current tested one, VRM can be called the key node for conditional merging into a single series. At first glance, it does not have the desired “margin” of safety, but for owners of current AMD Matisse processors, this may not be necessary. Let’s take a closer look at the behavior of this node during testing. There is also a pre-installed wireless network adapter, multi-color illumination and a combined cooler for the hub and the top M.2 slot, in a word, a number of features do not allow calling the device the simplest on the market, the niche is filled with its derivatives.

The model belongs to the subfamily of MPG gaming boards (MSI Performace Gaming) – you can count on the older codec from Realtek (ALC1220). The difference from the closest competitors lies in the approach to cooling the X570 – the fan is large, it is shifted to the bottom of the device, allowing you to avoid conflict with video cards. Everything will be discussed in more detail below, I suggest that you first study the list of possibilities according to the pivot 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

A box of medium size with a very colorful design, to match the name of the model itself.

The back side will tell about a considerable number of technical nuances. There is: a photo of the device, a small table with key features, a schematic image of the rear panel with I / O ports.

Behind the pallet with the board in the box is a set of accessories. The composition is this:

• user manual, which illustrates and describes the UEFI sub-items in detail (in English);
• multilingual quick installation guide;
• MSI Shout Out promo flyer;
• set of twelve labels for labeling SATA cables;
• disk with drivers and proprietary software;
• buyer registration card;
• a small promotional booklet with MSI products;
• MSI Gaming Series logo sticker (not shown in photo);
• pair of mounting screws for M.2 devices
• two SATA 6Gb / s cables, one of which has an L-shaped connector on one of the ends;
• extension cord for connecting LED strip (for type WS2812B);
• two compact external antennas with the possibility of fixation in three positions.

Appearance

The dimensions of the board correspond to the ATX format, there are nine holes for mounting in a PC case. The central one is initially covered by a cooler, so a rack with a guide pin in this place would be a good idea. On the surface there are no buttons, status switches, points for measuring voltages, or some other “redundant” things that are unlikely to be used in the assembled PC.

All hinged structures use a screw type of fastening. The developers have marked potentially dangerous places with white paint to avoid damage to the device during the system assembly process.

Multi-color LEDs are soldered on the starboard side in the area of ​​​​the main power socket. This is the only place with pre-installed lighting. On parts of the radiators, sections of the film with a reflective effect are glued.

The upper air outlet of the hub cooler is covered by a part from the heatsink for the SSD.

Some of the air will still pass through a small outlet (to the surface of the board). For ease of assembly from a pair of elements, two guide pins were provided, just next to them there is a pair of holes for screws.

The top footprint for M.2 devices has no length restrictions. PCI-E lines from the latest, fourth generation processor are brought here. There is a large thermal pad on the radiator.

The bottom slot for an M.2 SSD can accommodate products up to eight centimeters long. Communication will take place with the hub, the implementation of the SATA interface has been completed and the third generation PCI-E lines have been connected.

Six longitudinal SATA outputs are not so simple. The first and second work through an additional controller from ASMedia, it’s amazing why they were chosen by the engineers as a priority. Thus, the remaining four communicate with AMD X570, and only there is it possible to organize RAID arrays.

There is no corresponding platform for a symmetrical type USB case socket. There are four more traditional ones: a pair of 2.0 versions and another pair of 3.2 Gen1, one of them is a transverse type.

Sixteen PCI-E lines from the processor are connected to the upper shielded slot, the rest are connected to the hub.

The audio codec is shielded, it is accompanied by a group of specialized capacitors, there is also one operational amplifier.

If for many years slots for memory modules with a plugged bottom board were common, now the fashion is changing – the top part turned out to be a blank part! Apparently, there were complaints from the owners of cramped cases, where the motherboard is installed very close to the top wall, or to the system elements fixed there. Near the 24-pin power socket, the EZ Debug LED diagnostic complex is dialed with four red LEDs.

The height of the pre-installed coolers on the socket does not cause concern in terms of compatibility with massive coolers, it is unlikely that there will be problems with two-section monsters.

The stabilizer is based on an eight-channel PWM controller IR35201 (the same as in more expensive MSI boards). It is assisted by five IR3598 doublers, and the actual operation of the converter will be described by the formula 4 + 2 “phases”, or 8 + 2 channels, since the IR3598 for SOC works as a paired external driver. Each of the eight CPU voltage regulation channels is formed by a pair of transistors – NTMFS4C029N and NTMFS4C024N, chips manufactured by ON Semiconductor. For SOC Voltage channels, UBIQ Semi assemblies model QA3111N6N are used. It is curious to note that six chokes are not located in a single row. They are separated by a barely noticeable element, presumably, this is a temperature sensor, very appropriately located – in the very epicenter of the heat spot.

Heat sinks are cast, they can only be called heavy in part. For disparate power elements, thermal pads of different thicknesses are also used. If there are questions, then not to them, but to the edges on the radiators, which could be wider at the point of contact with the transistors. Theoretically, the walls of the visor can be dismantled, transforming it into a larger semblance of a radiator. But then there will be a question about fixing the plug on the back of the case.

There are a wide variety of ports on the rear panel. You can complain, perhaps, only for a single digital video output, but this is rather on the rights of nit-picking. The audio jacks are gold-plated, despite the generally low hierarchical status of the device. Here is a button to start a simplified procedure for updating the firmware.