AMD + ITX + TB3? It's the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 Motherboard Review
by Gavin Bonshor on October 9, 2019 12:00 PM ESTBoard Features
The X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is the only current small form factor motherboard in ASRock's X570 product stack and commands a price tag of $240. It has a couple of interesting inclusions including an HDMI 2.0 which allows users of AMD's Ryzen APUs the ability to output the integrated graphics. A single DisplayPort 1.2 input allows users to re-route the video signal from a graphics card and output it through the Thunderbolt 3 USB 3.1 G2 Type-C port; one of the main benefits to Thunderbolt 3 is it has a blisteringly fast 40 Gbps throughput which is capable of driving multiple 4K displays at once. Also on the rear panel are two USB 3.1 G2 Type-A and two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports. A common limitation of using a small form factor such as mini-ITX is that there is little room for PCIe and X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 has just one full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot.
ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 ITX Motherboard | |||
Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
Product Page | Link | ||
Price | $240 | ||
Size | mITX | ||
CPU Interface | AM4 | ||
Chipset | AMD X570 | ||
Memory Slots (DDR4) | Two DDR4 Supporting 64 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-4533 |
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Video Outputs | N/A | ||
Network Connectivity | Intel I211-AT GbE Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax |
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Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC1220 | ||
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 | ||
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | N/A | ||
Onboard SATA | Four, RAID 0/1/10 | ||
Onboard M.2 | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4/SATA (CPU) | ||
USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel (Thunderbolt 3) |
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USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-A Header (2 x ports) |
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USB 2.0 | 1 x Type-A Header (2 x ports) | ||
Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8pin CPU |
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Fan Headers | 1 x CPU (4-pin) 1 x Water Pump (4-pin) 1 x System (4-pin) |
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IO Panel | 2 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-C Thunderbolt 3 2 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A 1 x Network RJ45 (Intel) 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Output (Realtek)) 2 x Intel AX200 Antenna Ports 1 x HDMI 2.0 Output 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 Input 1 x PS/2 Combo Port 1 x Clear CMOS Button |
For storage, the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 has just one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot which is mounted onto the rear of the board. The other physical slot located on the front of the PCB is a M.2 Key-E slot which is already populated with an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface which offers uses BT 5.0 connectivity. This board also features an Intel I211-AT Gigabit NIC which powers the single Ethernet port on the rear panel. Also featured are four SATA ports which support RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. Another limitation of mini-ITX is present with just two memory slots which support up to DDR4-4533 and offer a maximum capacity of up to 64 GB. A Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec powers the five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output on the rear panel, as well as the front panel audio header.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was 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, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as 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 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 (BIOS 1.70) | ||
Cooling | ID Cooling Auraflow 240mm 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 1903 inc. Spectre/Meltdown Patches |
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.
New Test Suite: Spectre and Meltdown Hardened
Since the start of our Z390 reviews, we are using an updated OS, updated drivers, and updated software. This is in line with our CPU testing updates, which includes Spectre and Meltdown patches. We are also running the testbed with the new Windows 10 1903 update for AMD's Ryzen 3000 series CPUs, and X570 motherboard reviews. The Windows 1903 update improves multi-core and multi-thread performance on AMD's Ryzen processors with topology awareness meaning previous issues in regards to latency have been known to affect performance. As users are recommended to keep their Windows 10 operating system updates, our performance data is reflected with the 1903 update.
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TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, October 9, 2019 - link
Except there is no expansion do do so...oops.This is mini ITX. This stuff NEEDS to be on the board. You can tjust add it, there is nowhere to do so!
Death666Angel - Thursday, October 10, 2019 - link
May I introduce you to the concept of USB hubs?Valantar - Wednesday, October 9, 2019 - link
Leaving the x4 m.2 PCIe link off the CPU on the table is bordering on criminal. Sure, the board is packed nonetheless, but when every single competing board has two m.2 slots, this is a no-go. Sure, TB3 would be nice, but to be realistic the only thing it would be used for would be TB3 networking when needing to do quick file transfers to a laptop. Not worth the loss of a second m.2 slot by a long shot. And sure, I could get a TB3 SSD case - and drive up the price of that second drive by 2-3x. No thank you. I'll likely go for the Gigabyte or the Strix.Valantar - Wednesday, October 9, 2019 - link
Worth adding: a legitimate use case for this would be connecting the upcoming Apple monitor. Not many SFF desktop PCs capable of that. But will that even work with non-Apple hardware?Calamarian - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
As far as I know no WinPC thunderbolt 3 connection would work as apple "over-clocks" it's TB3 connections to run the Apple display... :(TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, October 9, 2019 - link
Could it be lack of trace room? Socket AM4 is bigger, leaving less space to run traces, and you already have a LOT going through a small space.DigitalFreak - Thursday, October 10, 2019 - link
While I agree with you, I'm guessing they did it because using the x4 link on the CPU for NVMe wouldn't allow the M.2 slot to support M.2 SATA drives as well. That said, they should have run the Thunderbolt controller off that x4 link if it wasn't being used.TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, October 9, 2019 - link
Why dont they put this level of effort into micro ATX boards?DanNeely - Wednesday, October 9, 2019 - link
Because sales have imploded. The people who care about size have left for miniITX as the relevance of SLI/XFire has vanished and the price/performance penalty for the smaller size has withered away. The part of the market that doesn't care is sticking with full ATX because why not,their case holds a full size board, they might need one of the extra connectors someday, and besides the more spread out layout makes getting all the connectors in easier.
Pushing higher PCIe standards more than a few cm is going to get increasingly expensive; which is why AMD hasn't offered a 550 chipset with PCIe4 yet. Cost reasons might push mainstream PCIe4 boards out of the full ATX range. PCIe5 is much worse; to the extent that it might not become a consumer standard at all; it's looking like just reaching from the CPU to the top PCIe slot or chipset will either need expensive redriver chips or PCBs that cost a few hundred dollars for a full sized board. Assuming it happens at all, I suspect that will put a lot of price pressure towards a revival for micro ATX.
jeremyshaw - Wednesday, October 9, 2019 - link
I feel they'll just have the top slot be PCIe 4/5, then all of the other slots at PCIe 3 or even 2. Depending on chipset placement, it may not even be viable for the chipset to have PCIe5.