[SOLVED] Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra - Good Mobo?

Crag_Hack

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Hi I am leaning towards a Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra for my new system with a 5800X. The price is at the upper limit of what I am willing to spend at $300. I have several quick questions. It is top rated by Toms' Hardware here. Is this a solid mobo?

I'm not overclocking but want the highest build quality for my system. Is an X570 going to be more robust and have a longer lifespan than say a B550?

I want the CPU to operate under stock parameters and avoid the whole ridiculous situation where the mobo removes CPU limits to make them perform better at the cost of much higher thermals. Do AMD mobos do this the same as Intel mobos? Like here and here, the whole PL1 Pl2 Tau thing. If so can I turn the limits back on easily on this mobo?

And finally do I need to flash this guy for 5800X support or is it supported out the box?

Anything else to know?

Thanks!
 
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You may need to flash the BIOS, yes. But it supports doing that without a CPU, so not a big problem.

Has support for lots of PCIe 4.0 storage devices, 1Gbps network is a little disappointing. USB Type-C, WiFi and bluetooth. Paying a lot of money for that overclocking and robustness to operate a CPU half the size of the maximum for the socket.

Each board BIOS is a little different, but yes, you should be able to turn off any feature that would make the CPU operate beyond specifications.

B550 would be the more logical choice if you aren't overclocking or have a need for lots of m.2 storage. Chipset of B550 only offers PCIe 3.0 for the slots not connected directly to the CPU.

If you are just gaming and the only major thing you are...

Eximo

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You may need to flash the BIOS, yes. But it supports doing that without a CPU, so not a big problem.

Has support for lots of PCIe 4.0 storage devices, 1Gbps network is a little disappointing. USB Type-C, WiFi and bluetooth. Paying a lot of money for that overclocking and robustness to operate a CPU half the size of the maximum for the socket.

Each board BIOS is a little different, but yes, you should be able to turn off any feature that would make the CPU operate beyond specifications.

B550 would be the more logical choice if you aren't overclocking or have a need for lots of m.2 storage. Chipset of B550 only offers PCIe 3.0 for the slots not connected directly to the CPU.

If you are just gaming and the only major thing you are going to install is a high end GPU, B550. If you want to cover your bases, there are cheaper X570 boards out there.
 
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Crag_Hack

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@Eximo Definitely want that robustness and at least 2 M.2 slots. Also want PCIe 4 everywhere. $200 - $250 would be nice. Absolutely has to be super high quality I'm going all out on this build (well all out for my budget...). Any obvious contenders? Thanks.
 

Crag_Hack

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@Eximo The only concern I have about the Aorus Elite would be it's not being present on the PC Gamer and Tom's Hardware best motherboards list. Steve from Gamer's Nexus always says "There's no such thing as a good brand, only a good product." Also I started this thread a long time ago looking into the good brand/product thing. If you can assure me it's an excellent board then it passes the test :) Also wouldn't mind switching to Asus but don't have any experience with MSI/Asrock. Thanks again.
 

Eximo

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Not all boards get reviewed and different testing methodologies will get you different results. They often use the same design for multiple boards so you can sometimes just look at the layout. Not in this case though. The Ultra has some other VRM configuration (looks like it matches the Aorus Master and Pro Wifi), Elite, Elite Wifi, and Gaming X seem to share a common design, so if you track down a review for one of those it should be reliable on any of them. Still, they both claim to be 12+2 phase designs, so hard to say.

ASUS is fine. They've let their momentum and reputation allow quality to slip into above average instead of excellent though. MSI makes some of the more popular boards for overclocking Ryzen CPUs. Tomahawk series is well regarded, somewhat also their Bazooka line. ASRock is a mixed bag, I don't think they perform all that well except on their highest end boards. I've used Gigabyte and ASUS for many years at this point, no real complaints. One ASUS has sort of failed on me with bad memory channels, but that was likely my fault for overvolting it for a few years.

I can tell you I torture my Gigabyte Z270X Gaming 5 by running my CPU at 5Ghz at 1.416 volts, approximately 140W. No problems so far. Each generation is different though, and the design changes get made to fit part availability and cost.
 

Eximo

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Gamer's Nexus which you have mentioned. They have the most integrity from what I have seen.

I, oddly, don't follow Tom's much. As I understand much of the testing content is done in Germany and then translated to english, but the reviews are sporadic.

The real problem is that most reviewers only get a subset of the available motherboards, often handed over by the manufacturer's. I tend to gain knowledge of problematic motherboards by reading forum posts here, and quick visual inspection of most boards will reveal lack of VRM heatsinks or a small number of exposed chokes, which usually means a small number of VRMs. Digging deeper you can see advertisements bragging about VRM design, interestingly they will even advertise relatively poor VRM layouts. 4+1 DigiVRM. Basically the bare minimum.

I do some overclocking, so when I am in build mode I will crawl through overclocker forums, often find a short list of the best motherboards that don't cost $400.

Often it is just looking at a board I like, then finding a review. Doesn't really matter who did it as long as they lay out their methodology.

Just ordered a Gigabyte Z490 Vison G, and Tom's managed to review this one:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gigabyte-z490-vision-d-vision-g-review

All I really wanted to see was if they ran an overclocked 10 core, and they did. Because I am going to take the locked 10900F and just run it full blast at 5.2Ghz all core.
 

logainofhades

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I would say that board is overkill, for a 5800x. The X570 elite is plenty, and if you really don't need gen 4.0, for the chipset ran M.2 NVME drives, I would go with something like a B550 Elite V2/AX, for faster i/o ports. I use the Gigabyte Aorus pro Wifi ITX board, in my main rig, with a 5800x, and I have the non AX version of the B550 Elite V2, with my 3700x.
 

Crag_Hack

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Thanks guys.

@Eximo Found two Tom's reviews for both X570 Aorus Elite and Pro. They are both solid it looks like. I am considering checking out ASUS's equivalent options. Is it even worth my time? Might ASUS be more solid?

@logainofhades Yes I agree about the X570 Aorus Elite after reading reviews and looking at specs. Might ASUS be a better option or no?
 

Crag_Hack

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Any features that are deal breakers for mid-range mobos you guys can think of? The Aorus x570 elite has no debug leds while the pro does. Deal breaker for me. Anything else that might be relevant? Don't really care about USB-C in the back.
 

Eximo

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These days I am pretty basic when it comes to features. My main gaming rig has only one purpose, so basically I opted for less bling, decent VRMs, even lost my debug LCD (which was annoying since it was a bright red 7 segment display that you couldn't turn off) Gained 2.5Gbps network and the option to install a thunderbolt card (might actually get that, could be useful for dealing with NVMe drives externally, easy enough to work on other people's SATA drives for the moment, but the day will come soon)

Pleased to report that the board swap was uneventful, though you can't actually bypass Intel's boost limitations, so 4.6Ghz all core, but 5.2-5.0 for most normal tasks. Does pull about 192W though, so that is fun.
 

Crag_Hack

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Another few questions I have, probably the last... I've been told AMD mobos mess with CPU boost settings and other things to increase performance at the cost of horrible thermals. Does this apply to the Gigabyte Aorus X570 Ultra? (decided to go with it since it's only $40 more than the Pro) If so how can I change BIOS settings to run the CPU at stock settings with no 'factory overclocking'?

If you look at the mobo pics here on the left side on the top, in the first pic you will see 3 M.2 slots; the bottom one however is shorter than the top two. Can this one fit a standard Samsung 980 Pro drive?

Also both rev 1 and 1.1/1.2 of the Aorus X570 Ultra say they support Ryzen 5000 series. Will this be out of the box or might I need to do a Q-Flash of the BIOS for 5000 series support?

Thanks!
 
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Eximo

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All motherboards are somewhat guilty in not exactly following CPU specifications for default settings. As long as temperatures and voltages are in check, not really anything to stress over.

You can go in and disable boost, PBO, etc if you want. Might want to look into underclocking for all the settings to change.

Yes, most M.2 drives are 2280 (22mm by 80mm) The 110mm standard is pretty rare.

Can't really say what BIOS will be on the board you receive. It has the capability to flash the BIOS without a CPU, so just do that if it doesn't boot up.
 

Crag_Hack

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All motherboards are somewhat guilty in not exactly following CPU specifications for default settings. As long as temperatures and voltages are in check, not really anything to stress over.

You can go in and disable boost, PBO, etc if you want. Might want to look into underclocking for all the settings to change.

Just want to make sure we're on the same page... I'm referring to the situation mentioned here. It's totally ridiculous to me to remove those stock constraints on the CPU and have it skyrocket in temps. Just want to avoid this situation entirely with the whole AMD equivalent of the Pl1/Pl2/Tau thing. I did a quick Google and couldn't find any walkthroughs on how to approach.

Yes, most M.2 drives are 2280 (22mm by 80mm) The 110mm standard is pretty rare.

You mean the bottom M.2 slot is 110mm so it wouldn't fit a Samsung 980 Pro right?

Can't really say what BIOS will be on the board you receive. It has the capability to flash the BIOS without a CPU, so just do that if it doesn't boot up.

Can I do a QFlash with the CPU/memory/video card already installed?

Also Gigabyte support has been horrible in the past couple weeks for me. They had a 2 hour wait on the phone and never called me back after I told the system to. Also they haven't gotten back to me via their support ticket system for two queries and it's been a week. Hopefully just pandemic difficulties....

Thanks Eximo for all your help! You're awesome!
 

Eximo

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They covered it in that thread pretty well. The reason this chip in particular runs hot is because all 8 cores are in the same spot. 5600X only has 6 cores generating heat, and the 12 core has 2 six core chips. 16 core has the same problem, but they used the best silicon they could there to keep temps as low as possible. That left the 5800X to get the warmer ones.

Still. I wouldn't worry about the CPU overheating or anything, it will control itself. When you have it in hand, just a quick check on the core voltage that it doesn't exceed ~1.3 volts that the maximum temperature stays below 80C or so.



You have two slots that support up to 80mm long drives, and two that support 110mm drives. I think. One of those 80mm might be on the back of the board.

Three on the front is two long ones and a shorter one at the bottom. They will all take a 980 Pro, as I said, most drives are 80mm long (or shorter). 110mm seems to be limited to enterprise class drives. Probably to make room for more chips for overprovisioning.


Yes, I believe Q-flash still works with all the hardware present. Though if it works enough for you to see the BIOS, you can just do it from there.


Depends on what you are asking of support, I suppose. Anything beyond the normal questions probably out of scope for their normal contact center people, they would have to refer you to some of the technical guys, who are in short supply (and may not share your time zone)
 

Crag_Hack

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I pardon Gigabyte for their tardiness... they made me laugh, check this response out:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dfc863zrxtm5x95/download.jpg?dl=0

Dear Customer,

First and foremost, we apologize for the late response. Unfortunately, we do not have the Samsung 980 pro, but we do have the Samsung 950 Pro and it fits perfectly, it just needs to be screwed in and its good to go! Please use the image above as a visual aid of confirmation.

Regards,

Gigabyte Tech Support

@Eximo I actually was able to obtain a 5900X pure luck at a local pc shop. Will it run cooler than the 5800X because of what you mentioned?
 

ronss

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I usually get msi or asus boards..in the past had small issues over the last 2 decades with gigabye..one board,ethernet port stop working,,,,,on another, the main 20 pin motherboard got hot, melted corner of 20 pin ...have looked at them on last buy, but ended up with msi
 

Eximo

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I pardon Gigabyte for their tardiness... they made me laugh, check this response out:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dfc863zrxtm5x95/download.jpg?dl=0

Dear Customer,

First and foremost, we apologize for the late response. Unfortunately, we do not have the Samsung 980 pro, but we do have the Samsung 950 Pro and it fits perfectly, it just needs to be screwed in and its good to go! Please use the image above as a visual aid of confirmation.

Regards,

Gigabyte Tech Support

@Eximo I actually was able to obtain a 5900X pure luck at a local pc shop. Will it run cooler than the 5800X because of what you mentioned?

Under the same load, certainly, it will bounce the tasks between cores to avoid local heating. If you push all 12 cores it will generate more heat, but just not all in one spot.