MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX Motherboard Review – The ACE In The Hole

It's been more than 2 years since the X570 platform was launched and so far, it has supported two generations of AMD Ryzen CPUs, the Ryzen 3000 (Matisse) and the Ryzen 5000 (Vermeer). While it is a very capable platform, there's much in terms of new I/O features that have been introduced & AMD's board partners are offering a third refresh to the platform.

Touting it as the X570S (S for Silent), one of the main features of the new motherboards is the lack of active cooling solution on the X570 PCH. Several users had requested their respective favorite brands to offer fanless motherboards and well here they are. Rocking brand new designs, features, and improved power delivery, the X570S motherboards are finally available and today, we will be taking a look at MSI's flagship X570S motherboard, the MEG X570S ACE MAX which is priced at $449 US.

AMD X570(S) Chipset For Enthusiast and High-End Motherboards - The First Mainstream Platform To Support PCIe Gen 4, & Feature-Rich

As we saw with X470, there were a few features of the Ryzen 2000 series processors that were only supported by new motherboards such as Precision Boost Overdrive and XFR 2.0.

There’s no doubt that AMD’s Zen 2 & Zen 3 based Ryzen mainstream processor family has some amazing new features, but the main highlight would be support for PCIe Gen4. The X570 platform is an all PCIe Gen4 solution, which means this is the first consumer platform to feature support for the new PCIe standard.

In terms of IO details, the CPU will once again be offering a total of 24 PCIe Gen 4 lanes while the PCH will be providing a total of 16 PCIe Gen 4 lanes. There will be one direct link heading out to the first PCI Express x16 and PCI Express x4 slot from the CPU, while the rest of the IO will be handled by the X570 PCH which will be linked to the CPU through an x4 link.

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AMD AM4/TR4 Chipset Features and Specifications:

Wccftech	X570	X399 Refresh	X399	X470	X370	B450	B350	A320	X300	A300
CrossfireX/SLI	Triple CFX/2-Way SLI	Quad SLI/CFX (Max 6 GPU Support)	Quad SLI/CFX (Max 6 GPU Support)	Triple CFX/2-Way SLI	Triple CFX/2-Way SLI	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
PCIe Gen 3/4 Lanes	30 +16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)	60 (With Threadripper CPU) 4 Lanes Reserved for PCH	60 (With Threadripper CPU) 4 Lanes Reserved for PCH	16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)	16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge)	16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)	16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge)	16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge)	16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge)	16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge)
PCIe Gen 2 Lanes	N/A	8 PCIe Lanes (reserved)	8 PCIe Lanes (reserved)	8 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)	8 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)	6 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)	6 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)	4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)	4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)	4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)
USB 3.1/3,2 Gen2	8	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	0	0
USB 3.1/3.2 Gen1	12 (PCH + CPU)	13 (PCH+CPU)	13 (PCH+CPU)	10	10	6	6	6	4	4
USB 2.0	N/A	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	0	0
SATA 6Gb/s	8	8	8	6	6	4	4	4	2	2
SATA Express	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1
DDR4 DIMMs	4	8	8	4	4	4	4	2	2	2
Overclocking Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
XFR2 Enhanced	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Precision Boost Overdrive	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
NVMe	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Form Factor	ATX, MATX	ATX, MATX	ATX, MATX	ATX, MITX	ATX	ATX, M-ATX	ATX, M-ATX	M-ATX, Mini-ITX	Mini-ITX	M-ATX, Mini-ITX

AMD AM4 Socket - Extending The Ryzen Compatibility To 16 Cores

Just like the AMD 300 and 400 series motherboards, the 500 series motherboards retain the same AM4 socket. Nothing has changed with the design or pin layout which means that all existing AM4 CPUs and APUs will be compatible with the new motherboards.

The AM4 socket has a total of 1331 contact points for interfacing with Ryzen processors. There was a need to develop a new socket for Ryzen processors since the latter comes with support for DDR4 memory and PCIe Gen 4.0 interface directly from the Ryzen chip. The AM4 socket is featured on the AMD 500 series boards and will extend support to all future AM4 compatible processors.

Cooler Compatibility With the AM4 Socket

Since we are looking at a slightly bigger socket that measures 90mm x 54mm, the previous cooler mounting brackets from AM3+ will be non-compatible with AM4. This would require new brackets. Manufacturers in the cooling industry are now offering proper mounting brackets for Ryzen CPUs. Desktop builders who currently have an older AM3+ cooler can also grab the mounting kit for free.

The MEG X570S ACE MAX from MSI falls in the brand new X570S motherboard portfolio. There are six new products launched within the family which we detailed here. The new MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX motherboard takes everything that was good on the original X570 ACE & takes it to the next level.

The main update that we see in this refresh is the silent PCH/VRM cooling design along with a slight power delivery revision. MSI has also refreshed the design scheme of its motherboard, including a ton of new features and a design that excels over the Z590 ACE.

MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX Motherboard Features:

• Supports AMD Ryzen 5000 Series, 5000 G-Series, 4000 G-Series, 3000 Series, 3000 G-Series, 2000 Series, and 2000 G-Series desktop processors
• Supports DDR4 Memory, Dual Channel 5300(OC) MHz+
• Extreme Power Design: Direct 16+2+1 phases with 90A Smart Power Stage and dual CPU power connectors to unleash the maximum performance.
• Quadruple M.2 Connectors: Onboard 4x M.2 connectors for the maximum storage performance with Lightning Gen 4 solution. Double-sided M.2 Shield Frozr design keeps M.2 SSDs safe while preventing throttling, making them run faster.
• Premium Thermal Solution: Aluminum Cover, VRM Heat-pipe, 7W/mK thermal pads, Double-sided M.2 Shield Frozr, and MOSFET Baseplate to ensure extreme performance with low temp.
• 2.5G LAN with latest Wi-Fi 6E solution: Onboard 2.5G LAN with LAN manager and latest Wi-Fi 6E solution which supports 6GHz spectrum delivering the best online gaming experience.
• Lightning Fast Game experience: PCIe 4.0, Lightning Gen 4 x4 M.2 with M.2 double-side Shield Frozr, Lightning USB 20G.
• Server Grade PCB with 2oz Thickened Copper: Provides higher performance and long-lasting system stability without any compromise.
• Audio Boost 5 HD: Ultimate audio solution with premium audio processor combining ESS audio DAC and amplifier deliver the breathtaking experience.

The MSI MEG X570S ACE features the AM4 socket which can support AMD Ryzen CPUs all the way up to Ryzen 5000 series. The new ACE is a massive update over the previous model as it rocks bigger heatsinks, quad M.2 slots, and a larger I/O cover with an embedded dragon logo that lits up with RGB LEDs. The X570 PCH is passively cooled this time and you also get 8 SATA III ports instead of just four on the older X570 ACE motherboard.

MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX Motherboard Gallery:

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The motherboard packs a brand new 16+2 phase direct delivery solution for the MSI MEG X570 ACE and insane amounts of overclocking performance for the memory and CPU. The I/O also looks very solid with an insane amount of USB 3.2 ports, and tons of other options. This motherboard should cost a high premium though around $500 US.

The MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX comes in a standard rectangular box with an easy carrying handle. The packaging has a gaming touch to it with a black and silver color theme with gold accents. There's a picture of the motherboard itself on the front along with marketing labels for the AMD Ryzen and X570 series.

The back of the box contains all the marketing details along with product specifications. The most interesting features that are highlighted by MSI include the brand new cooling solution, quadruple Gen 4 M.2 ports, a powerful VRM design, 2.5G/WiFi 6E connectivity, M.2 XPANDER-Z Gen 4 AIC, and support for Mystic Light.

Within the package are two boxes, one house the motherboard, and the other houses the board accessories. The accessories for the MSI MEG X570S ACE motherboard include:

• Quick Installation Guide
• USB Drive
• Wi-Fi Antenna
• Cleaning Brush
• MEG Stickers
• Cable Stickers
• Reward Program / Should Out Flyer
• Product Catalog
• Registration Card
• M.2 Screw / Standoff Sets
• Screwdrivers
• 2 x Thermistor Cable
• 1 to 2 TGB LED Extension Y Cable
• Corsair RGB LED Extension Cable
• Rainbow RGB LED Extension Cable
• 4 x SATA Cables

As soon as you open the box, you are greeted with a large MEG logo on the inside which gives the unboxing experience a very unique touch.

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The one accessory that we will take a closer look at is the M.2 XPANDER-Z Gen 4 S AIC (Add-in-card) which supports up to PCIe Gen 4.0 bandwidth through an x8 connection to power two M.2 slots. It's equipped with a single slot design that features active-fan cooling with smart-fan technology and is powered by a single 6-pin connector. You can disable M.2 slots through switches on the PCB & each slot comes with thermal pads, ensuring better cooling for your M.2 SSDs.

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Outside of the package, the MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX has a lot of weight to it which means that it's jam-packed with tons of features in an ATX form factor.

The MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX comes in the standard ATX form factor but it's so packed and well-built that it always feels like a step above the standard ATX offerings. It's stealthy dark looks with gold accents look absolutely brilliant and even though the board does feature Mystic Light RGB support, this motherboard looks great even without those enabled.

The board packs a better overall design scheme that allows for faster connectivity, memory support, and storage options compared to the existing MSI X570 MAX motherboards. The PCB is of matte black color.  The PCB itself is a 6 layer design with a 2oz thickened copper layout patterning.

The board uses the AM4 socket to support AMD CPUs and APUs. The socket is compatible with both AMD Ryzen processors and APUs. There's no chance of error while installing a CPU since the socket is keyed, has a 1331 pin layout, and won't support any other chips aside from the ones mentioned by AMD and AIB partners.

Right next to the socket are four DDR4 DIMM slots that can support up to 128 GB (dual channel) memory. These slots are rated to support DDR4 DIMMs with frequencies all the way up to 5300 MHz (OC+). Following are the memory configurations for this specific motherboard:

• For Ryzen 5000 G-Series & 4000 G-Series processors
  • 1DPC 1R Max speed up to 5300 MHz (support overclocking up to 5500+ MHz)
  • 1DPC 2R Max speed up to 4266 MHz
  • 2DPC 1R Max speed up to 4400 MHz
  • 2DPC 2R Max speed up to 3600 MHz
• For Ryzen 5000 Series & 3000 Series processors
  • 1DPC 1R Max speed up to 5100 MHz
  • 1DPC 2R Max speed up to 4000 MHz
  • 2DPC 1R Max speed up to 4000 MHz
  • 2DPC 2R Max speed up to 3600 MHz

The motherboard packs a 16+2+1 phase Digital PWM which powers the socket. The board features the RENESAS RAA229618 PWM controller which can handle up to 20 Phases and RENESAS ISL99390 (90A / SPS) MOSFETs. The inductors used on the motherboard are TRIO EM-33BM1QV02 (0.33uH)

The PCB is outfitted with a longer lifespan and durable black solid-state capacitors that have an endurance rating of over 12,000 hours, & 90A Smart Power stages which are made to unleash the full performance of Ryzen desktop CPUs.

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Moving over to the cooling department, this is one of the biggest updates over the X570 ACE. The new X570S ACE features a total of seven heatsinks, a VRM Heatpipe solution, and 7W/mK thermal pads.

The top I/O cover and the heatsinks that sit underneath it are very bulky pieces of aluminum that are interconnected via a heat pipe solution. There's no active cooling on the motherboard but the size of the heatsinks makes sure that you'd need one.

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The I/O cover itself looks absolutely fantastic and while it doesn't feature the fancy LCD display like the GODLIKE series, it does feature a cool MSI Dragon logo which in an aluminum shroud that lits up with RGB LEDs.

The CPU is supplied with power through a dual 8-pin power connector configuration. This will feed the CPU with up to 300 Watts of power. Most AMD CPUs will be shipping with TDPs of up to 105W but that changes when users overclock since that changes the power limit based on applied voltages and clock speeds.

Expansion slots include three PCI Express x16 slots, a single PCIe x1 slot, and quadruple M.2 slots. The PCIe slots are Gen 4 compliant with the first two fed directly through the CPU lanes while the remaining are fed from the X570 chipset.

Do note that SATA ports from 5 to 8 share bandwidth with the PCIe x16 slot running off the X570 PCH while the PCIe x1 slot and onboard WiFi module share the same bandwidth so you will have to disable the onboard Wi-Fi 6E module to be able to use the PCIe x1 slot on the motherboard.

Supports PCIe 4.0 / PCIe 3.0

• PCIe 4.0 is available only on AMD Ryzen 5000 Series and 3000 Series desktop processors

2x PCIe x16 slots (From processor)

• PCI_E1 & PCI_E2 support x16/ x0, X8/ X8 for AMD Ryzen 5000 Series, 5000 G-Series, 4000 G-Series, 3000 Series and 2000 Series desktop processors
• PCI_E1 & PCI_E2 support x8/ x0 for AMD Ryzen 2000 G-Series and 3000 G-Series desktop processors

1x PCIe x16 slot (From X570 chipset)

• PCI_E4 supports x8

1x PCIe x1 slot (From X570 chipset)

• PCI_E4, M2_3, M2_4 and SATA5~8 share the same bandwidth.
• The PCIe x1 slot and onboard Wi-Fi module share the same bandwidth, you can not use both of them simultaneously, and the default setting is the Wi-Fi module for the system. Please disable the Onboard Wi-Fi Module Control in BIOS if you want to use the PCIe x1 slot.

The  MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX motherboard adopts the latest PCIe Steel Armor slot design which is built with more solder points on the PCB for better performance and preventing any signal interference with graphics cards. This allows your graphics cards to be fed with better quality signals and to be safely and securely installed in the PCIe slots.

There are four Lightning Gen 4 M.2 slots on the motherboard that operate through PCI Express 4.0 x4 link at speeds of 64 GB/s. One of them is located at the top of the first PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, two slot between the first two PCIe slots, and the last is located next to the PCIe x1 slot.

All four slots feature M.2 Armor design with solid metal heatsinks. The first slot is fed by the CPU Gen 4.0 lanes while the remaining three slots are fed directly by the X570 PCH. The last two M.2 slots share the bandwidth with the last PCIe x16 slot and SATA ports from 5 to 8.

The most interesting aspect of the MSI X570S ACE MAX motherboard is the use of dual-sided thermal pads under each M.2 slot. You can tell by the quality of these pads that they are very useful when it comes to cooling performance and given just how hot Gen 4 NVMe drives can get, these are a necessity. Do remember to peel off the plastic tape from both thermal pads before installing your SSD.

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Again, the PCIe x1 slot shares bandwidth with the WiFi 6E module on board the motherboard so in order to use the slot, you would have to sacrifice the built-in wireless capabilities.

The X570 PCH is housed beneath a large heatsink that features mystic light RGB LEDs. Do note that there's no active cooling solution on the PCH heatsink as that's the main point of the new X570S series boards.

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Storage options include eight SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 Gb/s. These can support a total of 8 different storage devices at the same time.

ASRock is using the latest ALC4082 audio codec audio system along with the ESS SABRE9018Q2C Combo DAC/HPAon this motherboard that has its own audio PCB isolated from the rest of the board.

The motherboard has a single onboard USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) port which can be used to connect the front panel. There's also two USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) front-panel header which can allow for up to four USB 3.2 Gen two ports. There are also two USB 2.0 front panel headers for a total of 4 USB 2.0 ports. A list of connectors available internally on the motherboard include:

• 1x 24-pin ATX main power connector
• 2x 8-pin ATX 12V power connectors
• 8x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
• 4x M.2 slots (M-Key)
• 2x USB 2.0 connectors (support additional 4 USB ports)
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps connectors (support additional 4 USB ports)
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps Type-C connector
• 1x 4-pin CPU fan connector
• 1x 4-pin water-pump connector
• 6x 4-pin system fan connectors
• 1x Front panel audio connector
• 2x System panel connectors
• 1x TPM module connector
• 1x Chassis Intrusion connector
• 2x 2-pin Thermal sensors connectors
• 1x Water Flow Meter connector
• 1x Tuning Controller connector

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The I/O on the motherboard includes a WiFi module with 2 antenna ports, 1 optical SPDIF out port, 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port, 4 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 2.5G LAN port (Realtek RTL8125B), a Clear CMOS and Flash BIOS button & a 7.1 channel HD audio jack.

MSI MEG X570S ACE Motherboard Teardown:

For testing, I used the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. The chip is the fastest CPU in the AMD Zen 3 family and rocks 16 cores and 32 threads. It is the ultimate chip and the best way to know how the MSI MEG X570S ACE fares against other AMD 500-series board options in performance tests.

AMD 500-Series Motherboards Test Setup:

Processors	AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Motherboard	MSI MEG X570S ACE ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII HERO WIFI MSI MEG X570 ACE MSI MEG X570 Unify ASRock X570 Taichi ASRock X570S PG Riptide MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk X570 AORUS PRO WIFI Coloful CVN B550M Gaming Pro
Power Supply	ASUS ROG THOR 1200W
Solid State Drive	Samsung SSD 960 EVO M.2 (512 GB)
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16 GB (2 x 8GB) CL17 3600 MHz
Video Cards	MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio
Cooling Solutions	ASUS ROG Ryujin 240
OS	Windows 10 64-bit

Our test rig includes the Samsung 960 EVO 512 GB SSD that boots up our main OS while a 2 TB Seagate HDD is used for demonstration purposes for the Intel Optane memory. In addition to these, we are running an MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio graphics card, an ASUS ROG Thor 1200W power supply and 16 GB of G.Skill provided Trident Z Royal series memory which runs with a clock speed of DDR4-3600 MHz. For cooling, we used the ASUS Ryujin 240 AIO cooler.

3DMark Time Spy CPU Performance

3DMark Time Spy is a widely popular video card benchmark test for Windows that is designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance. While the overall benchmark is great, the utility also provides a good indication of the CPU performance.

Blender

Blender is the free and open-source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation.

Cinebench R15

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus, and many more.

Cinebench R20

Cinebench is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s hardware capabilities. Improvements to Cinebench Release 20 reflect the overall advancements to CPU and rendering technology in recent years, providing a more accurate measurement of Cinema 4D’s ability to take advantage of multiple CPU cores and modern processor features available to the average user.

CPU-Z

CPUz is a freeware that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system such as the Processor name and number, codename, process, package, cache levels, Mainboard, and chipset, Memory type, size, timings, and module specifications (SPD), and Real-time measurement of each core's internal frequency, memory frequency.

Geekbench 5

Geekbench 5, the latest major upgrade to Primate Labs’ easy-to-use cross-platform benchmark, is now available for download. Geekbench 5 allows you to measure your system’s power more accurately than ever before.

HandBrake

HandBrake is a tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs.

PCMark 10

PCMark 10 is a complete PC benchmarking solution for Windows 10. It includes several tests that combine individual workloads covering storage, computation, image and video manipulation, web browsing, and gaming. Specifically designed for the full range of PC hardware from netbooks and tablets to notebooks and desktops, PCMark 10 offers complete Windows PC performance testing for home and business use.

POV-Ray

The POV-Ray package includes detailed instructions on using the ray-tracer and creating scenes. Many stunning scenes are included with POV-Ray so you can start creating images immediately when you get the package.

SuperPI

Super PI is used by many overclockers to test the performance and stability of their computers. In the overclocking community, the standard program provides a benchmark for enthusiasts to compare “world record” pi calculation times and demonstrate their overclocking abilities. The program can also be used to test the stability of a certain overclock speed.

WinRAR

WinRAR is a powerful archive manager. It can backup your data and reduce the size of email attachments, decompress RAR, ZIP, and other files downloaded from the Internet, and creates new archives in RAR and ZIP file format.

X264 HD Encode Benchmark

This benchmark measures the encoding performance of the processor. It offers a standardized benchmark for the clip as well as the encoder used is uniform.

y-Cruncher Compute Benchmark

y-cruncher is a program that can compute Pi and other constants to trillions of digits. It is the first of its kind that is multi-threaded and scalable to multi-core systems. Ever since its launch in 2009, it has become a common benchmarking and stress-testing application for overclockers and hardware enthusiasts. Do note that the single-thread test makes uses of AVX-512 instructions while the multi-htread test relies on memory & SMT performance as well.

Battlefield V

Battlefield V brings back the action of the World War 2 shooter genre. Using the latest Frostbite tech, the game does a good job of looking gorgeous in all ways possible. From the open-world environments to the intense and gun-blazing action, this multiplayer and single-player FPS title is one of the best-looking Battlefields to date. The game was tested at max settings at 1440p.

DOOM Eternal

DOOM Eternal brings hell to earth with the Vulkan-powered idTech 7.  We test this game using the Ultra Nightmare Preset and follow our in-game benchmarking to stay as consistent as possible.

GTA V

GTA V is one handsomely optimized title for the PC audience. It's scalable across various PC configurations and delivers an impressive frame rate. Rockstar did an amazing job with the PC build of GTA V and it comes with a large array of settings that can be configured by PC gamers. We tested the title at 1440P with everything set to Ultra and 4x MSAA.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus continues the journey of Artyom through the nuclear wasteland of Russia and its surroundings. This time, you are set over the Metro, going through various regions and different environments. The game is one of the premier titles to feature NVIDIA’s RTX technology and does well in showcasing the ray-tracing effects in all corners. The game was tested at Ultra setting with RTX settings turned off at 1440p.

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

Sequel to The Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of The Tomb Raider is visually enhanced with an updated Foundation Engine that delivers realistic facial animations and the most gorgeous environments ever seen in a Tomb Raider Game. The game is a technical marvel and really shows the power of its graphics engine in the latest title.

Sid Meier's Civilization VI

Civilization VI is the pinnacle of the series. It's featured huge, sweeping changes, and nothing was left out. Everything has found a purpose, they all work together in tandem but also have a reason to stand alone. It uses a more fleshed-out engine that now supports DirectX 12 capabilities. We tested the game with every setting maxed out (4x MSAA, 4096x4096 shadow textures) at 1440P in DirectX 12.

Watch Dogs Legion

Watch Dogs: Legion is a 2020 action-adventure game published by Ubisoft and developed by its Toronto studio. It is the third installment in the Watch Dogs series and the sequel to 2016's Watch Dogs 2. Set within a fictionalized representation of a futuristic, dystopian London, the game's story follows the hacker syndicate DedSec as they seek to clear their names after being framed for series of terrorist bombings

Each motherboard has a different VRM design and even using the same CPU, we can witness variable power ranges on both idle and load.

In terms of packaging, AMD Ryzen Desktop CPUs ship with a Solder TIM interface and higher-quality gold-plating under the IHS. The thermal testing was carried out with the ASUS Ryujin 240 AIO liquid cooler:

The MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX motherboard retails at $449 US which is premium tier pricing for an X570 motherboard. In terms of build quality, MSI has improved almost every aspect of the original ACE and MAXed it out on this motherboard. The abundance of heatsinks make sure that the VRMs and power delivery components get plenty of cooling and in fact, I was really surprised to see MSI's use of thick thermal pads across the board, especially the M.2 slots where all four slots get double-sided pads.

In terms of performance, the stock out-of-the-box benchmarks with the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX were right there with other flagship X570 offerings. But we also saw the temperatures on VRMs to be the lowest of the entire bunch of motherboards we tested. The power numbers also saw more stability compared to the X570 (non-S) ACE model and idle power is now a bit better. Overclocking on the CPU on this motherboard is also a breeze with the Ryzen 9 5950X pushed to 4.675 GHz across all cores and a voltage supply of 1.328V. This raises the multi-core CPU performance by 6-8% in technically all benchmarks though the single-core performance is going to be affected due to a higher single-core boost clock out of the box. So only if you are running multi-core applications would you yield a net performance advantage otherwise the 5950X is binned a lot out of the box that it won't require any tuning.

This shows just how effective the changes on the power delivery are which has been updated to a 16+2+1 phase design compared to the 14+2 phase on the original MEG X570 motherboard.

As for I/O, the MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX is loaded. I would even say that it is overloaded with the number of things that it has onboard. There is plenty of USB 3.2 and 8 SATA III ports that are always a good choice to have. Triple PCIe 4.0 x16 slots and a single PCIe 4.0 x1 slot are also included but the amount of M.2 ports (6 in total: 4 on the motherboard, 2 on AIC) are amazing. The M.2 XPANDER Z AIC is a great accessory bundled with the motherboard. But having so much I/O onboard usually means that some of it will be sharing bandwidth with other components.

As such, certain PCIe, M.2, and SATA ports share the lanes and need to be disabled to use IO in other areas, for example, the PCIe x1 slot shares bandwidth with the WiFi module, & either one needs to be disabled to use the other one. The M.2 and PCIe slots share bandwidth with the SATA ports too so you are only left with 4 active SATA ports if you are going to use all PCIe slots. There are a few features that I would have loved to see on the board such as Thunderbolt headers but I guess that would have to wait till the next generation which arrives in late 2022. The Audio & WiFi capabilities along with the singular 2.5G LAN port are great in their own regard but a dual NIC on a board that costs almost $500 US would've been great.

The original MEG X570 ACE motherboard was a great board but had its fair share of shortcomings which MSI has addressed with the release of its MEG X570S ACE MAX offering. The original ACE has a price of $399.99 US in the retail segment whereas the X570S ACE MAX will cost $50 US more. And if you were planning to go for the original design, I would say that it's a much better investment to spend $50 more on a motherboard that is absolutely jam-packed with features and has a rocker of a design with a stealthy black theme, a powerful power delivery system and so much I/O for any use case.

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