The ASRock X570S PG Riptide Motherboard Review: A Wave of PCIe 4.0 Support on A Budget
by Gavin Bonshor on October 22, 2021 9:00 AM ESTBoard Features
The ASRock X570S PG Riptide is an ATX motherboard designed for everyday users and gamers looking to use AMD's Ryzen 5000 and 3000 series on a budget. Designed around a new passively cooled chipset heatsink, the X570S series typically allows vendors to update controller sets to the latest chips, although the PG Riptide is more about squeezing in as much value as possible.
Some of the board's main features include three full-length PCIe 4.0 slots that are operating at x16/+4/+2, with three smaller PCIe 4.0 x1 slots. For storage, ASRock includes one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, one PCIe 4.0 x4/SATA M.2 slot, and six SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. In the top right-hand corner of the board, there are four memory slots with support for DDR4-5000 and a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB.
Touching on cooling support, ASRock includes seven 4-pin fan headers, with one for a CPU fan, one for a water pump or second CPU fan, and five headers designed for chassis fans.
ASRock X570S PG Riptide ATX Motherboard | |||
Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
Product Page | Link | ||
Price | $185 | ||
Size | ATX | ||
CPU Interface | AM4 | ||
Chipset | AMD X570 | ||
Memory Slots (DDR4) | Four DDR4 Supporting 128 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-5000 |
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Video Outputs | 1 x HDMI 2.1 | ||
Network Connectivity | Killer E3100G 2.5 GbE | ||
Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC897 | ||
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 | ||
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4 1 x PCIe 4.0 x2 3 x PCIe 4.0 x1 |
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Onboard SATA | Six, RAID 0/1/10 (X570) | ||
Onboard M.2 | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4/SATA |
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USB 3.2 (10 Gbps) | 1 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Header (1 x port) |
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USB 3.2 (5 Gbps) | 4 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Type-A Header (4 x ports) |
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USB 2.0 | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Type-A Header (4 x ports) |
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Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8pin CPU 1 x 4pin CPU |
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Fan Headers | 1 x CPU (4-pin) 1 x CPU/Water Pump (4-pin) 5 x Chassis (4-pin) |
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IO Panel | 1 x USB 3.2 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.2 G2 Type-C 4 x USB 3.2 G1 Type-A 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x Network RJ45 2.5 G (Killer) 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x Optical Output (Realtek) 1 x BIOS Flashback Button 1 x HDMI 2.1 Output 1 x PS/2 Combo port |
In terms of connectivity, the X570S PG Riptide has one USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, one USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. Networking capability consists of a single Killer E3100G 2.5 GbE controller, while the board's five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output are controlled by a Realtek ALC897 HD audio codec. ASRock does include a BIOS Flashback button on the rear panel, as well as a single HDMI 2.1 video output for users looking to leverage the integrated graphics on Ryzen APUs.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard released during the socket’s initial launch and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS. Most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users and industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
Test Setup | |||
Processor | AMD Ryzen 3700X, 65W, $329 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 3.6 GHz (4.4 GHz Turbo) |
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Motherboard | ASRock X570 PG Riptide (BIOS P1.30) | ||
Cooling | Cooler Master Masterliquid ML240 240 mm AIO | ||
Power Supply | Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU | ||
Memory | 2x8GB G.Skill TridentZ DDR4-3200 16-16-16-36 2T | ||
Video Card | ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (1178/1279 Boost) | ||
Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
Case | Open Benchtable BC1.1 (Silver) | ||
Operating System | Windows 10 1909 |
Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.
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Calin - Monday, October 25, 2021 - link
And if your soldered-on SSD breaks, you need to replace the entire device.I'm using an HP 8200 (I think) with third generation i3 and - originally - a 320 (I think) GB hdd.
It runs with 3TB plus 1TB plus one 120GB SSD.
With 320GB only of storage, I would have thrown it long ago.
Robberbaron12 - Wednesday, October 27, 2021 - link
I expect this is the future for "mobile" CPUs, a mega SOC with Ram and a SSD soldered on and then everything else connected over PCI-EPerson5e9 - Friday, October 22, 2021 - link
Can someone, preferably asrock or gigabyte, please make an x570s m-atx. Lots of people would buy one in this underserved category for the smaller size and greater expansion (RAM and slots). Thanks!TheinsanegamerN - Saturday, October 23, 2021 - link
Why? B550 already exists, so you get PCIe 4.0 for a M.2 SSD and the GPU. You dont get more RAM slots with X570 VS B550.Is having 4.0x1 slots that important?
Calin - Monday, October 25, 2021 - link
4.0 1x slots might be more valuable than 4.0 x16 slots, as most computers won't come even close to filling up a 3.0 x16 slot.ipkh - Sunday, October 24, 2021 - link
What's with the crappy Tidepods++ graphic for?It's rather crass and shouldn't be there as it has nothing to do with the article.
Harry_Wild - Sunday, October 31, 2021 - link
All these board manufacturers should concentrate on the itx size motherboards for the mini PC cases, 12" X 7" X 10". Boards are 6.7" X 6.7" in size!atragorn - Sunday, November 14, 2021 - link
If there was sufficient demand they would be doing so already. Most people view these things colored by their own needs or desires, What I want or need is what everyone wants/needs. Which is simply not true. If most people wanted ITX systems the store shelves would be FULL of ITX systems.Whats on the shelves is what most people want/need. When that changes so will they. They do a lot of research to find out what they should be making. Hint its what people will buy.
dailyprimenews - Tuesday, December 28, 2021 - link
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