ITX X570 with socket 115X mounting

Gripen90

Gripen90

Gripen90

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Building my new ITX rig around my new Ryzen 9 3900X CPU it stand stands obvious that the selection of ITX X570 is extremely limited and actually there is currently only two available choices for me.
ASRock X570 PHANTOM GAMING-ITX &
GIGABYTE X570 I Aorus Pro WIFI and both cost the same.

Originally I was very hooked on the Asrock board due to it's great vrm design and cooling. However one very crucial aspect of the board concerns me quite a lot. Because of the overworked vrm design, Asrock dropped the AM4 mounting bracket and back plate setup and have instead implemented an Intel socket 115X mounting solution. While this seems fine at first, it does concern me because the height of Intel and AMD cpu's aren't the same incl. their sockets. This worries me regarding either too much or too little mounting pressure on the cpu. And it the pressure is too high if it will damage the cpu and socket. CPU cooler manufacturers usually produce the heatsinks and mounting bracket and the specified socket.
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Perhaps I worry too much about and should take it with a grain of salt ?

However this design choice does put me in the position of going with the traditional layout of them Gigabyte motherboard.
X570_I_AORUS_PRO_WIFI_1200x1200_leftjpg.jpg
 
Gripen90 said:
overworked vrm
Click to expand...
Debatable.
Asrock x570i is a pseudo doubled 4 phase, 60A design. (sorry just double-checked it's actually a true doubler, not just double the parts)
Aorus x570i is a 6 phase 70A design using the lastest infeneon powerstage with better efficiency etc

I would argue that the aorus is probably the better of the two.

But they both have their good and bad points. For example if you need thunderbolt...then the asrock is the obvious choice.

Declaration of interest: I've got the aorus x570i
 
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tamzzy said:
Debatable.
Asrock x570i is a pseudo-doubled 4 phase, 60A design.
Aorus x570i is a 6 phase 70A design using the lastest IRmos with better efficiency etc

I would argue that the aorus is probably the better of the two.
Click to expand...

It's just according to Buildzoids latest overview of the Phantom where he states the Asrock has more efficient vrm and sps design than the Gigabyte board.
https://youtu.be/yXwjwxb39EA

But then again. The Aorus has 2x m.2 ports which is quite nice in an ITX build (less cable clutter).
 
The Gigabyte X570 I Aorus Pro WiFi has Q-Flash Plus button, which for me is a major plus point and so I also went with this one.

I've not had all that much time to test the motherboard out yet though.
 
Gripen90 said:
It's just according to Buildzoids latest overview of the Phantom where he states the Asrock has more efficient vrm and sps design than the Gigabyte board.
https://youtu.be/yXwjwxb39EA

But then again. The Aorus has 2x m.2 ports which is quite nice in an ITX build (less cable clutter).
Click to expand...
Ah fair enough. Just watched the video. Though he does caution that the memory bits are slightly lacking...
And only one bios on asrock without dual bios + flashback is a big turn off. I've had bios flash back and dual bios save my butt recently with a bios flash gone bad...so I don't think I could consider a board without it. One of those things that you don't need until you NEED it...lol
Ps 2x nvme slots is good for expansion.
 
tamzzy said:
Ah fair enough. Just watched the video. Though he does caution that the memory bits are slightly lacking...
And only one bios on asrock without dual bios + flashback is a big turn off. I've had bios flash back and dual bios save my butt recently with a bios flash gone bad...so I don't think I could consider a board without it. One of those things that you don't need until you NEED it...lol
Ps 2x nvme slots is good for expansion.
Click to expand...

The Aorus board is also just single BIOS as far as I have read and what Buildzoid also said in his overview of that board. Though it has Q USB flashback is very nice, but it's a bit annoying it doesn't have a clear CMOS button on the rear I/O like the Phantom. Much easier to press a button than opening the pc and use a screwdriver to clear it.:p

But again my main concern is that adoption of socket 115X mounting on a AMD cpu.
 
Gripen90 said:
But again my main concern is that adoption of socket 115X mounting on a AMD cpu.
Click to expand...
I think a mountain is being made of a molehill. Most heatsinks will have tensioned screws (ie spring-loaded screws) - just don't tighten fully and it should not be a problem
 
Gripen90 said:
The Aorus board is also just single BIOS as far as I have read and what Buildzoid also said in his overview of that board.
Click to expand...
Correct, only single BIOS on the Gigabyte X570 ITX. But the Q-Flash Plus should just be able to overwrite anyway, so I don't think missing the dual BIOS feature is much of a loss.
 
tamzzy said:
I think a mountain is being made of a molehill. Most heatsinks will have tensioned screws (ie spring-loaded screws) - just don't tighten fully and it should not be a problem
Click to expand...

It could be a problem if there isn't a "natural" stop even with springloaded screws. I've seen the concept been used before on AM3 and the socket would bend out of contact with the CPU pins inside the socket. That's what worries me and Asrock doesn't really provide any information about the height differences vs mounting pressure.

Anyhow I went with the Gigabyte board, though I much prefer the BIOS of Asrock.
 
unsure...can't say i've ever felt the need to tighten a cpu cooler right down to the end of the screw thread...i've always tightened my coolers so that the spring tension is what's keeping the cooler in contact with the cpu...
 
an0nym0us said:
I don't think I've ever tightened a CPU cooler right down to the end of the screw threads. I just stop tightening when it feels tight enough.
Click to expand...

On the Intel mounting bracket for Noctua, Phanteks and Scythe coolers there is a natural "stop", when you just tighten then cooler in a normal careful way. It is possible to over tighten them though, but there's a natural halt to it - it's hard to explain but it is easily felt in the wrist. And that natural stop is measured after the combined height of the Intel cpu and the socket.
So if the height of the AMD cpu and socket isn't then that natural stop may come to early or too late and thereby either putting too little or too much mounting pressure on the cpu + socket.
 
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