Ready even before release - new Asus motherboards with Zen 3 in mind

[williamcll]

While the rumors that AMD might not be releasing a new motherboard for Ryzen 5000 series continues to spread, Asus has announced 2 new motherboards that still uses the current generation AMD chipset: It should also be noted that BIOS with support for the upcoming processors will be coming soon.

Quote

Starting with the top model, the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII DARK Hero adopts a high-end 14+2 phase design which is made up of titanium power stages that are rated for 90A. The CPU is supplied juice through an 8+4 pin connector configuration and two large aluminum blocks cover the VRMs which are interconnected by a chunky heatpipe. The AM4 socket sites in the center with four DDR4 DIMM slots at the right side of the motherboard which will be able to support some really high-speed ram speeds.

The ASUS ROG STRIX B550-XE Gaming WiFi comes with a 14+2 phase power design too & powered by an 8+4 pin connector configuration. The board doesn't use 90A power stages like the Crosshair model but it should be around 50-60A per power stage for this motherboard. The VRMs come with huge aluminum heatsinks which are interconnected via a heat pipe solution. There are once again four DDR4 DIMM slots to support high-frequency memory out of the box.

Source: https://wccftech.com/asus-unveils-rog-crosshair-dark-hero-rog-strix-b550-xe-motherboards-amd-ryzen-5000-zen-3-cpus/
https://rog.asus.com/articles/crosshair-motherboards/introducing-the-rog-crosshair-viii-dark-hero/
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-Strix-B550-XE-Gaming-WIFI/

Thoughts: it's certainly interesting to see Asus refreshing a high end motherboard for the upcoming processors, I wonder what kind of designs the competition will adopt?

[TrigrH]

FFS did asus seriously put a fan in the VRM on a 14 phase??????

[WereCat]

4 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

FFS did asus seriously put a fan in the VRM on a 14 phase??????

where?
There is only fan on the chipset

[TrigrH]

Just now, WereCat said:

where?
There is only fan on the chipset

Quote

Comprehensive cooling: Actively cooled VRM heatsinks with L-shaped heatpipe and integrated aluminum I/O cover, plus dedicated M.2 heatsinks

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-B550-XE-GAMING-WIFI/overview/

 

Going to assume the pink glow up the top.

[WereCat]

3 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-B550-XE-GAMING-WIFI/overview/

 

Going to assume the pink glow up the top.

Damn, I only looked at the X570 one, sorry

 

Anyways, I don't think its a big deal, you can likely just turn it off or unplug it.

[GoodBytes]

I was hopping a refer of their ITX X570 board. It strangely doesn't have USB Type-C front header.

And their B550 version of it, have mediocre VRM, only 3 USB ports on the back (like really?!) but has USB Type-C front header. 

The price difference between the 2 board is like $20... just add less sense.

 

 

[imreloadin]

inb4 the $400+ price tag on the x570 motherboard...

[mrdoubtfull]

10 minutes ago, imreloadin said:

inb4 the $400+ price tag on the x570 motherboard...

$399.

[DildorTheDecent]

11 hours ago, TrigrH said:

FFS did asus seriously put a fan in the VRM on a 14 phase??????

>muh fan

 

Just turn it down FFS. It's barely an issue. Unplug it if you must. The heatsink is more than adequate to handle the VRM heat. Christ, the tears wasted because a small fan spins is ridiculous.

[Doobeedoo]

The Dark Hero one is quite nice. 

[Blademaster91]

1 hour ago, DildorTheDecent said:

>muh fan

 

Just turn it down FFS. It's barely an issue. Unplug it if you must. The heatsink is more than adequate to handle the VRM heat. Christ, the tears wasted because a small fan spins is ridiculous.

It's a fan where Asus could've spend a few cents more on extra copper or aluminium.

[WereCat]

6 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

It's a fan where Asus could've spend a few cents more on extra copper or aluminium.

you can run that vrm with nothing on it and it will be fine with a slight breeze, I very much doubt that the fan will even engage under full load unless your case is a hot box 

[DildorTheDecent]

16 minutes ago, WereCat said:

I very much doubt that the fan will even engage under full load unless your case is a hot box 

ASUS VRM fans are active all the time and the stock fan profile is horrendous. Which is why there's the fuss about them. I think some MSI boards have a zero RPM mode, but they're also MSI boards so F that.

 

Normies are scared of tweaking in the BIOS so they'll just leave it alone.

[WereCat]

Just now, DildorTheDecent said:

ASUS VRM fans are active all the time and the stock fan profile is horrendous. Which is why there's the fuss about them.

 

Normies are scared of tweaking in the BIOS so they'll just leave it alone.

Hmmm, I have the ROG VIII Hero so no fan and the VRM never goes above 55*C after several hours of full load. I assumed the fan behaves similarily to the chipset fan on the X570 where it rarely even engages. I don't think I've ever heard the chipset fan even run on this board.

 

If the VRM fan is notoriously so loud then I apologize for assumptions but if it can be tweaked then I still don't see an issue.

[imreloadin]

12 hours ago, mrdoubtfull said:

$399.

Where you seeing that? None of the references listed mention price at all?

[mrdoubtfull]

6 minutes ago, imreloadin said:

Where you seeing that? None of the references listed mention price at all?

Asus guy/employee posted it on Reddit.. Not sure it's worth that, honestly. I liked my MEG ACE more than I liked my Hero but I guess it's a good choice for those that like Asus.. 

[AndreiArgeanu]

8 minutes ago, mrdoubtfull said:

Asus guy/employee posted it on Reddit.. Not sure it's worth that, honestly. I liked my MEG ACE more than I liked my Hero but I guess it's a good choice for those that like Asus.. 

Frankly enough if you already have a good X570 motherboard these new releases are pointless unless you are doing extreme overclocking and need the best you can get.

[DildorTheDecent]

1 hour ago, WereCat said:

Hmmm, I have the ROG VIII Hero so no fan and the VRM never goes above 55*C after several hours of full load. I assumed the fan behaves similarily to the chipset fan on the X570 where it rarely even engages. I don't think I've ever heard the chipset fan even run on this board.

I'm confusing myself with the VRM and chipset fans. Due to the location of the chipset on my board (Crosshair VIII Impact) it shares the VRM heatsink and its fan is controlled by the VRM fan control domain. I've been operating under the assumption that the bigger boards had VRM fans and that their control was similar to mine. Turns out that isn't the case. #smoothbrain

 

The ASUS chipset fans used to be active most of time. A BIOS update added the option for them to stop at idle.

 

And since most of the bigger boards don't have VRM fans, the issue of them was being loud was never a thing.

 

My Impact on the other hand, has VRM and Chipset fans that are constantly active. They can be turned down (and are currently turned down).

[mrdoubtfull]

20 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

Frankly enough if you already have a good X570 motherboard these new releases are pointless unless you are doing extreme overclocking and need the best you can get.

Exactly.. I actually sold most of my expensive stuff off last year but recently decided to rebuild for zen 3.. I ended up just grabbing a B550 Gaming Carbon, which is pretty damn good in terms of VRMs (believe it has the same as X570 Tomahawk, which is better than some high end boards).. No one really needs those high end boards unless you want the extra build quality and/or nicer aesthetics and maybe a couple extra headers/USBs here and there.. The medium tier boards are a lot better now than they use to be..