Asrock x570m pro4 review in Spanish (complete analysis)

ASRock X570M PRO4 is one of the last motherboards that we have yet to test from this manufacturer, and it could be one of the most affordable options for several reasons: it is Micro ATX format and at the same time with good benefits, although it is true that in this occasion the tests carried out do not make it a board as recommended for Ryzen 3950X as the other models, including the ASRock in ITX format.

Before starting, we must thank ASRock for giving us practically all their plates to do our reviews.

ASRock X570M PRO4 technical characteristics

Unboxing

We need to start as always with the unboxing of the ASRock X570M PRO4, a board that comes to us inside a rigid cardboard box in a traditional configuration with a case-type opening. The manufacturer uses the entire length of the cardboard for a blue and black print, making the model clear, as well as the main technical characteristics of this plate.

We open it, and we find the main product placed inside an antistatic bag and with protections of polyethylene foam to especially protect the top and edges. On the second floor we have the rest of the elements, which in this case, being a mid-range model, will not be too many.

So the bundle you should have consists of the following elements:

• ASRock X570M PRO4 Motherboard I / O Panel Back Plate Installation Screws for Support SSDCD-ROM Drives SATA 6Gbps Cable User Guide

We practically have what is necessary and necessary to be able to mount the storage system with dignity. We will have a pair of screws and their respective rear supports for the two available slots.

Design and Specifications

Although this board belongs by specifications and connectivity to the input range of the AMD X570 chipset, it still maintains an excellent and careful appearance with high quality heatsinks and a cover based on black and white colors.

The design as we see is clearly Micro ATX, that is, we need a space of 244 x 244 mm in our chassis to mount it. This format is undoubtedly not the most popular currently, since Mini ITX boards have taken away almost the entire market from them. And the fact of having Micro ATX chassis with measurements almost equal to a half tower does not help in the assembly of a multimedia Mini PC either.

Regarding the heatsinks, ASRock has had the detail of implementing an aluminum one that occupies the entire area of ​​the AMD chipset and one of the two available M.2 slots. The second one we have is located above 8 of the 10 phases of power supply to the board, in a fairly large size, although with a rather low profile. Both are made of aluminum and come in white and metal.

This time the ASRock X570M PRO4 does not implement integrated RGB lighting anywhere, but at least we do have the two regulatory RGB headers to install external systems. For this we have a 4-pin RGB header and another 5V-DG type ARGB (3 effective pins). Now it is time to see in more detail one of its technical characteristics. They will be very similar to the rest of the brand's plates.

VRM and power phases

We will begin the technical review with one of the fundamental aspects of a board of this type, and it is the VRM of ASRock X570M PRO4. Total count is 10 power phases with only one solid 8-pin power connector. It is true that it is the same number of phases as other models, such as the small ITX.

The difference will lie in the hardware that has been used for the power stages, which will be slightly more basic models. For example, the first phase consists of MOSFETS DC-DC SM4337 for the main phases and SM4336 for the two phases that do not have an integrated heatsink. The manufacturer of these elements is SinoPower and they withstand a maximum intensity of 50A and working temperatures of up to 150 degrees.

To these MOSFETS UP1961S phase duplicators have been included, to double the capacity of the phases, although as you can understand not physically as for example those of Asus. We would have liked that these duplicators were the least the Renesas ISL6617 that if they provide more than 200A in a stable way. This is one of the reasons why this board will not be recommended for AMD Ryzen 9 3950K processors. This configuration is controlled as always by a DrMOS chip that intelligently manages, via PWM, the voltage signal and control through the BIOS of the entire system.

We continue with the second stage, with some solid 50A CHOKES that are in charge of smoothing and improving the voltage signal that is supplied to the components. This time the manufacturer does not provide data about the capacitors used, but these are 820 µF solid. In general, also more basic elements and of a lower level than the higher cost plates, something normal if they want to lower costs and PVP.

Socket, chipset and RAM memory

The socket that mounts this ASRock X570M PRO4 is the AM4. Like the entire generation of motherboards, it is compatible with 2nd and 3rd generation AMD Ryzen and 2nd generation APU Ryzen with integrated Radeon Vega graphics. Remember that to install the heatsinks included in the AMD we will need to remove the plastic brackets for instant fastening.

Regarding the AMD X570 chipset, it is soldered on the board and of course it has a heatsink provided with active cooling. Specifically, we have a normal and regular fan instead of a turbine fan. This will make the system much quieter by working at lower RPM, although perhaps the air flow suffers, in addition, it is manageable through the utility of ASRock for its boards.

And one of the advantages of Micro ATX compared to ITX, is that it has 4 DIMM slots to be able to install a complete memory configuration of up to 128 GB. This more basic model of board supports speeds of up to 4200 MHz OC when we install a Ryzen 3000. If instead we install a Ryzen 2000 or an APU, the capacity will be 64 GB and its maximum speed will be 3466 MHz OC. Similarly, it supports ECC memories with error control, although they are only compatible with Ryzen PRO CPUs.

Storage and expansion slots

The ASRock X570M PRO4 also has interesting possibilities in terms of expansion and storage, in fact, we are very close to the benefits of the superior models.

Its storage consists of two M.2 type M Key PCIe 4.0 x4 slots that support sizes of 2242, 2260 and 2280. They are just glued to each other and between the PCIe slots due to space limitations. And as we saw at the beginning, one of them has an integrated aluminum heatsink, so if we buy units that do not already include heatsinks, this will be your ideal place.

The first slot, which has a heatsink, is directly connected to the CPU rails and only works under the PCIe bus. The second is connected to the AMD X570 chipset, as is always the case in this generation of motherboards, and also offers compatibility with PCIe and SATA 6 Gbps. It goes without saying that with 2nd generation Zen + Ryzen processors these slots will work only under the PCIe 3.0 standard. We also do not forget the 8 SATA 6 Gbps ports that are available, benefited in number by having less PCIe and USB connectivity.

And as far as expansion slots are concerned, we have a total of 3, two in x16 format in full size, and another x1 in reduced size. All of them are compatible with the PCIe 4.0 bus and their rails are connected as follows.

• The PCIe x16 slot that carries the steel reinforcement is connected directly to the CPU, and will be able to work in 4.0 or 3.0 and x16 mode as normal with 2nd and 3rd generation Ryzen. Your lanes will be limited to x8 with APUs. The PCIe x16 slot located at the end of the PCB, is directly connected to the chipset and will work in 4.0 or 3.0 and x4 mode, so only 4 lanes will be available in it. The only PCIe x1 slot will be able to run at 3.0 or 4.0 and only one lane will be available.

The two full-format slots support Quad AMD CrossFireX 2- way and AMD StoreMI, that remains almost unchanged across the entire platform.

Network connectivity and sound card

Still in this ASRock X570M PRO4 we have a third M.2 slot of Key E type that is enabled to support WiFi / BT wireless network card in 2230 format. What does this mean? Well, we do not have a Wi-Fi card pre-installed from the factory, although we do support it, which means that we have to buy it separately. It is not a negative thing in a board as inexpensive as this for the platform we are talking about, since many others do not have even the slot enabled.

What we do find is ethernet connectivity through an RJ-45 port that will be managed by the Intel I211-AT controller, which we all know gives a maximum bandwidth of 1000 Mb / s. Its BIOS supports booting in Wake-On-LAN and PXE mode.

We have also experienced cuts in the sound configuration of the ASRock X570M PRO4, as a Realtek ALC 1200 card has been installed instead of the more powerful ALC 1220. However, its features are quite similar and we may not notice any difference if not we are demanding users or we have a high performance sound system. It has 7.1 independent channels for surround sound and ELNA capacitors instead of Nichicon for sound supply.

I / O ports and internal connections

Now let's see what are the I / O panel ports of the ASRock X570M PRO4, which we remember, does not have the back plate pre-installed:

• HDMIDisplayPort PS / 2 port for keyboard and mouse combo 6x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A (blue) 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A (light blue) 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C (light blue) RJ-45 ethernet port 3x 3.5 Jack mm for audio Holes for Wi-Fi antenna installation

The HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 ports support resolutions up to 4K (4096 x 2160 @ 60 FPS) and HDCP 2.2 with HDR. It is striking the numerous connectivity that we have, with up to 8 USB ports, which even surpasses the Steel Legend and Extreme4 of the brand. This is due to cutbacks in PCIe slots, although I see it as a very wise decision , since the normal user will need much more USB than internal connectivity. The audio ports are quite limited with only 3 jacks and without S / PDIF, because this card does have other mounts.

Finally, the most important internal ports will be the following:

• AIC Thunderbolt2x USB 2.0 connector (with up to 4 ports) 1x USB 3.1 Gen1 (with up to 2 ports) Front audio connector 6x AMD headers for fans / water pumps / LED fan headers for lighting (1 for RGB and 1 for A-RGB) TPM connector

It is also striking that this board is enabled to support a Thunderbolt 3 expansion card thanks to the aforementioned 4-pin connector and the PCIe x4 slot connected to the chipset. Remember that only the ASRock Phantom Gaming in ITX format has Thunderbolt 3 pre-installed.

Management software

Without going too far into this little section, the ASRock X570M PRO4 has various customization and functionality management programs. All of them can be installed through the APP Shop. Although if we prefer to do it application by application, the most recommended long will be ASRock Polychrome RGB, if we have any hardware installed with lighting, and the Motherboard Utility. We also have the help of RAIDXpert2 to manage storage configuration and the network driver, which in this case does not provide extra protection.

testing bench

Our test bench with the ASRock X570M PRO4, consists of the following components:

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Base plate:	ASRock X570M PRO4
Memory:	16GB G.Skill Trident Z NEO DDR4 3600MHz
Heatsink	Stock
HDD	ADATA SU750
Graphic card	Nvidia RTX 2060 Founders edition
Power supply	Antec HCG Gold 750W

BIOS

As for the BIOS of this board, there are no surprises either and it is exactly the same that has been used in higher-end models, so we are sure that its stability, performance and voltage delivery will be very good. As always, highlight its ease of use and support for all types of latest generation hardware, such as RAM memory with JEDEC profiles with factory overclocking, etc.

In the AC Tweaker section we will have all the most advanced tools available, including the activation of XMP profiles of RAM memory or the customization of its voltage. As far as overclocking is concerned, we know that this platform should allow it, but the new generation CPUs are still quite limited in this regard and it does not seem that this will improve, so we could limit ourselves to selecting a frequency step and leaving it there. We know from other reviews with this AMD Ryzen 3600X, that its maximum frequency is not going to reach much less than the maximum.

Temperatures

We have decided to do a 12 hour test with Prime95 to test the 10 phases of powering this board with the 6-core CPU and its stock heatsink. Too bad this, and other new generation CPUs, do not support its maximum frequency.

We have taken thermal captures with our Flir One PRO to measure the temperature of the VRM externally. In the following table you will have the results that have been measured in the system about the chipset and the VRM during the stress process.

	Relaxed Stock	Full Stock
VRM	34ºC	48ºC
	Minimum observed	Maximum observed
Chipset	56 ° C	60 ° C

Nothing too different from that seen in other ASRock models, with a very solvent VRM in terms of temperatures and a chipset that is already quite hot even in sleep mode. As we could suppose, the fact of having a 6-core CPU installed here, is not going to trouble the phases, something quite different would happen installing a 3900X or 3700X.

Final words and conclusion about ASRock X570M PRO4

We come to our final conclusions, in which we see the most discreet board of the ASRock AMD X570 platform, which is demonstrated in its somewhat basic exterior design, and in its price, around 200 euros. Not all users need a beautiful board and full of lighting. It does not have it and is capable of working perfectly and in its Micro ATX format.

Perhaps it is not the preferred choice to mount a Mini PC or for a gaming PC, since we find at one end the peculiar Phantom Gaming in ITX format and at the other end all the available ATX. Of course, at least this one does have a compatible socket with AMD heatsinks, not being so for the ITX. It also supports 128 GB of RAM up to 4200 MHz although its 10-phase VRM may fall short if we have a Ryzen 9 3950X, or even a 3900X, so we recommend boards like the Steel Legend or Extreme4.

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We greatly appreciate having two M.2 slots with a heatsink included, just like the ATXs, and even 8 SATA ports that bring connectivity to the level of the best. What's more, it even supports AMD CrossFireX in its two PCIe 4.0 and the possibility of connecting an Intel Wi-Fi 6 card or a Thunderbolt 3 of the brand. We also highlight the rear ports panel, with up to 8 USB ports, two of them 3.1 Gen2 and two integrated video ports for APU.

As far as BIOS is concerned, few cons can be put on it. Perhaps they are upgrading to a newer standard of functionality like ACPI or SM BIOS and catching up with other manufacturers. But it is that this BIOS is simple to use, with very well adjusted voltages and support for all kinds of hardware and RAM, at least that has shown all the time that we have tested ASRock boards for AMD.

This ASRock X570M PRO4 board will be found on the market for a price of approximately 207 euros depending on the site and the time, but it is undoubtedly one of the cheapest available for the X570 platform. If you are a user with a tight budget, but you want to update your PC, it will be a very valid option, yes, for about 30 euros more we have a Steel Legend ATX with a little more capacity in the VRM.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ I / O PANEL WITH ENOUGH HIGH SPEED CONNECTIVITY	- NOT RECOMMENDED FOR RYZEN 9 3950X
+ STABLE BIOS AND EQUAL QUALITY OF HIGHER MODELS	- BASIC DESIGN AND AESTHETICS
+ DOUBLE SLOT M.2 AND PCIE 4.0	- VRM SOMETHING LOOSE IN COMPONENTS
+ ADMITS WI-FI 6 AND THUNDERBOLT CARD (NOT INSTALLED)
+ THE MOST ECONOMICAL AMD X570 PLATFORM

The Professional Review team awards him the silver medal:

ASRock X570M PRO4

COMPONENTS - 75%

REFRIGERATION - 80%

BIOS - 83%

EXTRAS - 77%

PRICE - 79%

79%

With Micro ATX format and a very complete internal and rear connection