MSI MEG X570 ACE AM4 Motherboard Review

The MSI MEG X570 ACE is one of the many motherboards we’ve seen at MSI’s booth during Computex 2019. This one is among the high-end MSI X570 boards, featuring a golden luxurious scheme with exclusive Mystic Light Infinity for the mirror reflection effects.

Glamour aside, the MEG X570 ACE also features a 2.5Gbps LAN on top of another 1Gbps solution and a Wi-Fi 6 module. There’s also support for the first, second and current Ryzen models. That includes models with an on-board Radeon or Vega graphics plus with display support via USB Type-C if that is your thing. Finally, the board supports triple M.2 setup all capable of PCIe 4.0 support.

Technical Specifications

Processor
CPU	AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen, Ryzen 3rd Gen
Chipset	AMD X570 Chipset
Memory
SDRAM	DDR4
Slot	4x DIMM
Channel	Dual Channel
Frequency	4600MHz
Capacity	128GB
Graphics
GPU	AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen, Ryzen 3rd Gen
Display Output	USB Type-C
Multi-GPU	2-Way Nvidia SLI, 3-Way AMD CrossFire
Expansion
PCI Express	2x PCIe 4.0/ 3.0 x16, 1x PCIe 4.0/ 3.0 x16,  2x PCIe 4.0/ 3.0 x1
Storage
SATA	4x SATA
M.2	3x M.2, PCIe 4.0 x4, PCIe 3.0 x4, SATA
RAID	RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10
Network
Wired	1x Intel WGI211AT, 1x Realtek RTL8125 2.5Gbps
Wireless	Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200, Bluetooth 5.0
Audio
Codec	Realtek ALC1220 Codec
Channel	7.1-Channel
USB
USB 2.0	6x USB 2.0
USB 3.0	4x USB 3.0
USB 3.1	3x USB 3.1
Dimensions
Length	305mm
Width	254mm
Height	NA
Weight	NA

Packaging and Accessories

The MSI MEG X570 ACE comes packed inside your dual compartment motherboard packaging. It comes with the following accessories and documentations inside:

• User Manual
• Shoot-Out DM (Review, Reward, Win promotional)
• Wi-Fi Antenna
• 1-to-2 RGB LED Y-splitter Cable
• Driver DVD
• SATA Cable Label Stickers
• Product Registration Card
• MSI Product Catalog
• MSI Draw Pocket (Pouch)
• MSI Case Badge
• RGB LED Cable
• CORSAIR RGB LED Cable
• 4x SATA Cables
• Quick Installation Guide

Design, Layout and Build Quality

The MSI MEG X570 ACE is a full size ATX motherboard jam packed with features. Styling is rather aggressive which is the mantra of MSI products since the Gaming Series’ inception.

Layout is of course modern, organized and well thought of – with the exception of the CMOS battery placement. The VRM heatsinks and the IO shroud on the other hand, while huge, are not detrimental to most cooling solutions. Highlights of the board on this area are the triple m.2 slots and the heat-pipe enhanced cooling solution that goes all the way to the actively cooled PCH.

Behind the board lies the excellent solder job. From this position, we could see how the board stacks its PCIe 4.0 slots. From top to bottom, we have the x16, x1, x8, x1 and the x8 slot.

Since the MEG X570 ACE is a motherboard built for gamers and overclockers, MSI took power into an even greater consideration. We have two 8-pin EPS connectors here supplying power to the board’s 12+2+1 phase VRM design. Two of the seven fan headers are located on this area as well.

The right side of the board houses the usual stuff with a few alterations such as a debug LED next to the SATA ports. Three of the seven fan headers are also located on this area.

The bottom part of the board is jam packed with the usual assortment of headers plus with a few niceties. That includes an internal USB 3.1 port, power and reset buttons plus a dial for your UEFI profiles. PCB seems to be thicker too, even at just 5 layers.

Back panel options are excellent which is something you would expect for such a higher-end motherboard. From the left, we have boot to BIOS and Clear CMOS buttons, a legacy PS/2 port, boatload of USB ports,  the dual LAN with 2.5Gbps capability and the 7.1 audio with a TOSLINK port.

Firmware Interface

The MSI MEG X570 ACE motherboard shares the same UEFI layout with the rest of their line-up. This is good if you are used to MSI’s offerings but honestly, this UI design is already aging – except for the EZ Mode of course.

There are still 6 main menus to choose from within the Advanced mode. Settings is where the general hardware options are located.

The OC menu is of course where you could overclock your CPU and SDRAM. There are tons of options located here with even FCLK and UCLK for a more fine-tuned DRAM.

Voltage settings are ample too which is something you should expect from such a motherboard.

Test Setup and Methodology

The system performance shall be evaluated by various benchmarking tools and applications. We are testing this system with the high-performance settings enabled at the OS, with the default UEFI configuration. Background processes such as anti-viruses and third-party applications are disabled as well. Outlined below are the applications and benchmark tools for reference:

• AIDA64 Extreme Edition – Stability Test
• Super PI – 32M Calculation
• wPrime – 1024M Calculation
• AIDA64 Extreme Edition – Memory Benchmark
• GIMP – 7 MB worth of image processing
• HandBrake – 150 MB MP4 to H.264 video encoding
• WinRAR – Compression speed
• AS SSD – Storage performance
• RightMark Audio Analyzer – Audio performance
• NetIO-GUI – Network Performance

Power Consumption

The AIDA64 System Stability Test uses a 64-bit multi-threaded stress testing module to drive the system to its limits. Power readings are recorded with a watt-meter.

The MSI MEG X570 ACE features a 51.5W idle and 225.4W load power consumption. I expected a bit more but it turns out the Ryzen 7 3700X coupled with the MSI board turned out as a decent combo.

Synthetic Performance

Super PI is a single-threaded program that calculates pi to a specified number of digits after the decimal point. It is a widely used benchmark within the industry.

WPrime is a multi-threaded program that calculates a set number of square roots. It verifies the results by squaring them, then compares it with the original numbers.

The AIDA64 Memory Benchmark measure the data transfer bandwidth and latency of the system memory. We are measuring the latency on this benchmark.

The MSI MEG X570 ACE scored pretty good at the CPU benchmarks. Like really, really good due to the Ryzen 7 3700X. That chip is just a monster compared to the out-going models.

Productivity Performance

GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation Program, is a free and open-source image editing tool. A 7 MB worth of images is be processed and converted to gauge the system performance.

HandBrake is a free video encoding tool that supports a wide variety of media codecs. A 150MB worth MP4 video is converted using the H.264 codec to gauge the system performance.

WinRAR is a file archive utility that can create, view and unpack numerous archive file formats. The software’s built in benchmark tool is utilized to gauge the system performance.

Real world performance are just superb as indicated by the previous CPU and memory benchmarks.

Storage Performance

AS SSD is a storage benchmarking software widely used throughout the industry. On this test, we are using its scoring system to evaluate our Crucial BX200 SSD’s performance using the system’s native SATA controller.

The result for the SATA performance is just as expected. Nothing concerning nor extravagant to see here.

Audio Performance

The RightMark Audio Analyzer (RMAA) is a tool designed to test the quality of audio devices. We used a sampling rate of 24-bit at 48000Hz for the loopback test. We are essentially testing the quality of the line-in and line-out of the audio solution.

The MSI MEG X570 ACE scored -98.5 dBA of noise level at RMAA. The best result we got for an MSI board to date.

Network Performance

The NetIO-GUI is a good application to test any network’s performance. The LAN round trip time is our concern here, checking out latency anomalies if there are any. The client and server are connected on the network via Cat5 cables using a 100Mbps router.

The MSI MEG X570 ACE featured a wired network performance at 1ms of latency on any packet sizes tested.

Software, Lighting and Special Features

MSI had the MSI MEG X570 ACE bundled with a number of applications that should help you optimize your system’s performance. That should include the following software and or tools:

• MSI Gaming CPU-Z
• MSI Dragon Center
• Nahimic 3 (Microsoft Store)
• Realtek Audio Control (Microsoft Store)

As for lighting, it is appealing enough. Add a couple more RGB strips and you are good to go to showcase your 3rd gen Ryzen based gaming system.

Back to the UEFI, MSI got the Board Explorer. It is a simple yet intuitive display of what’s functioning or not on your system.

Hardware monitor is another favorite with a functioning fan control as well.

Finally, we get to see the MSI Dragon Center. It is a Windows based application that optimizes your system based on the mode you selected. The MSI Mystic Light and other MSI exclusive features could also be explored here.

Final Thoughts

The MEG X570 ACE is MSI’s sub $400 USD into the AM4 motherboard segment and it did not disappoint. We are looking at a competent motherboard with tons of features, killer looks and performance to back it up.

Build quality and layout wise, the MSI MEG X570 ACE is just as insane as the X570 Godlike. We have a beefy VRM and PCH cooler connected by a heat-pipe, plus the 12+12+1 phase is nothing to scoff at. The triple M.2 slots are properly cooled too in spite of the tacky looking cover.

The MSI MEG X570 ACE is an excellent X570 motherboard. A little pricey, but you will definitely get what you pay for.