MSI MEG X570 ACE Motherboard (AMD AM4, DDR4, PCIe 4.0, SATA 6Gb/s, M.2, USB 3.2 Gen 2, AX Wi-Fi 6, 2.5G LAN, ATX)

This review is for the MSI Review Rebate Program.With the release of Ryzen 3000, I thought it would be a great time to upgrade my aging i5-4670k system. I chose the 3800X and with my very positive previous experiences with MSI, I decided to go with the x570 ACE as it was in the price range and had the feature set I was looking for.My new system:⦁ 3800X(8C/16T)⦁ MSI MEG ACE X570⦁ NZXT Kraken x62 AIO(Yes, gotta fix the logo orientation in my pic)⦁ 16GB Patriot Steel 3600 (2 x 8GB)⦁ Samsung EVO 970 M.2 PCI-E SSD⦁ Sapphire Pulse Vega 56⦁ EVGA 850W G3 powersupply⦁ Fractal Define R-6 Case⦁ Windows 10 1903!UnboxingHere is what is included in the box:⦁ 4 SATA cables⦁ RGB LED splitter cable⦁ Corsair RGB and ARGB extension cables⦁ Corsair RGB to ARGB adapter cable⦁ WiFi antenna⦁ M.2 screws⦁ User manual/Quick Start guide⦁ Driver/App CD⦁ Sticker packThe Wifi antenna is actually impressive as it allows you to place it on a desk or stand next to your computer for better signal rather than the screw on attenas that are stuck on the rear I/O.Aesthetics⦁ Love the black and gold PCB theme. Came from a Z87-G45 and I favor this new color scheme over the red/black.⦁ The board looks and feels premium. Machined-aluminum heat sinks cover the M.2 slots and the VRM is well.⦁ Mystic Light Infinity mirror on the I/O has what seems endless configurations of color schemes and patterns. They advertise 16.8 million colors and 29 effects with the app.Notable Features⦁ 12 + 2 SOC VRM that uses IR35201 PWM controller running a 6+2 configuration with doublers. For the power stages, IR3555's are used that can handle 60A each totaling 720A. This will be more than capable of overclocking the 3950X coming later this year.⦁ Frozr cooled chipset heatsink. It looks like MSI put a lot of effort into a good chipset cooler that will hopefully past the test of time. There is also a heatpipe from the MOS heatsink to the chipset. I personally cannot hear the fan even when my radiator/video card/case fans are set to very low RPMs.⦁ Clear CMOS button on rear I/O. Great feature for overclockers without having to open the case to reset CMOS.⦁ BIOS flash back. Update the BIOS without a CPU - located right below the Clear CMOS button. Not useful currently IMO. Maybe this means Ryzen 4000 will also be on AM4?⦁ BIOS post code. Again, another great future for overclockers. Easier to troubleshoot than those silly debug LEDs. I do wish the BIOS post code was located near the top of the motherboard. At the bottom, the GPU can block the view unless your looking straight at it.⦁ Pre-installed I/O shielding. Nice not having to mess around with those shields anymore.⦁ MSI Boost dial. A little knob on the motherboard that allows you to use MSI pre-defined overclocking profiles. I personally have not used this yet as some users report higher-than-needed voltages when doing this.Specs⦁ 3 x PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots. All 3 slots capable of 4x PCIe - 2 provided via the chipset and 1 via the CPU.⦁ 4 x SATA ports that support RAID 0,1 and 10. 4 SATA ports seems low for some people, but for myself I have moved exclusively to M.2⦁ 2 full length PCIe 4.0 (x16 or x8/x8) slots from CPU and 1 full length PCIe 4.0 x4 via chipset.⦁ 7, 4-pin fan headers.⦁ Supports 4 DIMMS up to 4800 MHz. I have not tested RAM overclocking yet. Enabled XMP profile for my Patriot RAM and it worked flawlessly. Will test at a later time.⦁ 5 x USB 3.2(Gen2, 3A+2C) + 6 x USB 3.2(Gen 1) + 6 x USB 2.0⦁ Intel 1 GbE LAN⦁ Realtek 2.5 GbE LAN⦁ WiFi/BT - Intel 6 AX200⦁ Realtek 8 Channel audio with audio boostBIOSNavigating the BIOS was a very familiar scene as it looks similar to my Z87-G45 BIOS screen. The layout is easy to follow, especially the Overclocking area. The only compliant I have is that there is a delay when using a USB mouse, but that is very minor IMO.OverclockingThe first thing I tried out after installing Windows/Drivers/etc was overclocking. In the current state, Zen2 looks like a mediocre overclocker from other reviews and posts on Reddit that I have been following. However, I was easily able to get my 3800X @ 4.4 GHz all cores with 1.325v with all other settings auto. I tried to go to 4.5 with 1.4v, but the system would crash when trying to run stress tests. I left it at 4.4 for now, but will try to get 4.5 and mess with LLC and other voltage settings in the future. My temps under load are around 45-50C on the CPU. Chipset seems to run at a steady 54C and doesn't fluctuate much.SummaryAll-in-All, I love this board. From the looks, features and familiar BIOS screen I am glad I decided to go MSI once again. It is a pricey board for some people, but since I upgrade only every 5-6 years, the investment for me is worth it. Like mentioned above, only mirrors complaints I have is BIOS post code location, 4 SATA ports my be not enough for some people and the laggy BIOS when using a mouse.

So to get everything started I have used a good majority of boards and on a wide variety of chipsets. (MSI, Gigabyte, Asus, Asrock, ect.)My current Build:Ryzen 9 3950xMEG Ace x570 (obviously why I'm here)1tb 970 EvoCorsair RM850xZotac amp Extreme GTX 108032gb Trident Z Neo 3600MHzAs far as building goes as the previous boards go its very straight forward and the build quality is super nice! All of the PCI lanes are metal(or reinforced) so they are rigid and will help prevent that awful card sag. One thing I did miss coming from my Z97 Gaming 5 board is the fact that the board doesn't have the front IO pinout printed on there. Note: not really that big of an issue, but for a first time builder those small things can be nice to have. This board also does not have supports around the pins for the Front I/O (gigabyte is a good example of someone who does this very well!). Drive options are really solid with the 3 M.2 Slots on there( I still have a few Sata drives in my computer, so the 4 ports for them was perfectly fine for my needs, HOWEVER if you have a bunch of sata drives THIS IS NOT THE BOARD FOR YOU.) Wifi 6 is really nice if you need to have it and the dual Ethernet ports is solid (really kind of minor if you don't have the internet to back it up, but it works great!). Rear I/O panel being built on is a really nice feature! Looks clean and no fighting with hitting in the piece. There are quite a few reviews with everyone talking negative about the bios, in my experience it works exactly how my old Z97 board handled and when i originally first started overclocking this was VERY easy to get the hang of and change. (personally i did like it much better than Asus and Gigabyte, never messed with ASRock).Overall for the money I think this board is definitely worth the money. Having little things like wifi, a bios I'm familiar with that is just as easy to start OC'ing with, and small things like a BIOS reset button and CMOS clear on the back of the board I think it is a very user friendly and well built X570 board!