News is out that AMD's new Ryzen 7000 series is not selling as well as AMD would like (opens in new tab). Aside from broader economic considerations, the steep pricing of motherboards is no doubt a contributing factor, forcing upgraders who have been on the AM4 upgrade path for years to purchase new motherboards and DDR5 memory. I hate to say it, but the console looks like a real bargain by comparison.
Thankfully, not all AM5 boards are prohibitively expensive. One such example is the ASRock X670E Pro RS we have on hand for review. This motherboard is designed to be a cost-effective motherboard that offers the X670E's key feature set, including PCIe 5.0 GPU and SSD support, the ability to run a Ryzen 9 7950X (opens in new tab) without issue, Wi-Fi 6E and ample storage support.
Price: $27.99
Priced at $279 / £320 / $569 AUD, it is one of the less expensive X670E motherboards. In fact, it is one of the cheapest X670 boards. If you want to save more money, you should opt for a B650 or B650E board, half the price of high-end boards such as ASRock's own Taichi, Asus Crosshair X670E Hero (opens in new tab) or Aorus Extreme, the X670E Pro RS need to cut back much for such savings?
The ASRock X670E Pro RS is not what I would call a beautiful board, but I do like the silver and black combination and the font above the M.2 heatsink. There is, however, a bit of RGB lighting under the chipset heatsink. There are also three ARGB headers plus a non-addressable header if you like RGB lighting.
ASRock includes a graphics card support device that attaches to two motherboard screw holes. This is useful if you plan to purchase a monster-sized graphics card. Yes, the RTX 4090 (open in new tab).
The board has five M,2 slots, one of which is a PCIe 5.0 slot cooled by a chunky heatsink. The M.2 heatsink adjacent to the graphics card should be provided with adequate case airflow, as it can actually absorb heat if left unattended. If you are using a gaming GPU, we do not recommend using the two slots in the middle. Use the two at the bottom of the board before the two in the middle.
Rounding out the storage support are six SATA ports.
The VRM is adequate, if not exceptional, although you wouldn't expect ASRock to include everything you'd find on a high-end board. 14+2+1 phase solution is enough to power the 7950X without problems. The board has a 4+8-pin CPU power connector.
The heatsink is good for an "entry-level" X670 board; when we ran the 7950X at full core load for a sustained period, it was warm to the touch.
I/O on the back is excellent for a board in this price range, with Wi-Fi 6E and Realtek 2.5G LAN on board, comparable to more expensive boards. Additionally, there are DP 1.4 and HDMI 2.1 ports for use with the Ryzen 7000 CPU's new integrated GPU features.
USB ports are plentiful, totaling 10: two 3.2 Gen 2 ports (one of which is Type-C), four 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and four 2.0 ports. An internal header allows for an additional eight ports, plus the all-important USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C.
Audio is a less impressive area: the Realtek ALC892 is inexpensive, but expensive controllers and DACs like that are how board manufacturers justify adding big bucks to their high-end boards. One of the cheaper boards offering the full feature set of the X670E It is understandable that ASRock has to make some compromises as
ASRock's BIOS keeps things simple, and the new release includes everything gamers need, including an impressive ECO mode that greatly reduces boot times, unless you're tweaking memory for hours to get more frames in 3DMark 2001.
ASRock goes even further and includes an extended PBO mode that allows you to set the maximum temperature and voltage. These modes are a great way to tune your system and can be optimized for any type of cooler.
System Performance
Gaming Performance
As I always say, using benchmarks as a differentiator between motherboards is usually not very revealing unless you have a lot to work with. but as far as gaming is concerned, the difference is always within the margin of error.
Perhaps ASRock has not yet optimized their BIOS to the last 1%, and with both AMD and Intel announcing new platforms at the same time, their engineering teams are stretched thin. it is worth getting the new BIOS from ASRock's website before you do anything else.
However, the AM5 platform in general seems very mature in its early stages. There is still work to be done to improve boot times, and PCIe 5.0 SSDs are yet to hit the market, but compared to the problems the first generation Ryzen had at launch, ASRock and AMD should not be too unhappy.
We are also pleased to see BIOS flashback support on the Pro RS and all other AM5 motherboards. This means that one can upgrade to future CPUs without the need for a Zen 4 chip. Future and Proof are two dirty words, but at this point, relatively speaking, for AM5, this is a good thing.
The ASRock X670E Pro RS is generally a modest motherboard. And there's nothing wrong with that at this price point; gamers who hide their PCs under their desks to keep them out of sight don't need to spend a fortune on anything flashy.
Proof that you don't need to spend a fortune on an expensive motherboard. Saving a few hundred dollars and putting it towards a faster CPU or better graphics card will actually improve performance; unless you need USB 4, 10G LAN, or multiple PCIe 5.0 SSD support, you won't lose much compared to a more expensive board.
What this board does accomplish is to provide the core feature set of the X670E without the hassle: PCIe 5.0 graphics card and SSD support, Wi-Fi 6E, high-performance VRM, and perhaps just a BIOS update to enable future Ryzen 8000 or 9000 CPUs.
Thus, if the asking price of an X670E board is $600/600 GBP/1,000 AUD or more and you don't believe it, you should consider a board like the ASRock X670E Pro RS. But don't forget the B650 and B650E either. In particular, the B650E offers many of the same features at an even lower price.
With a 7600X, an RTX 40 or Radeon RX 7000 card, and 32GB of DDR5, you have a high-performance gaming system. From this perspective, the ASRock X670E Pro RS offers excellent value, which cannot be said for too many AM5 motherboards.
.
Comments