AMD + ITX + TB3? It's the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 Motherboard Review
by Gavin Bonshor on October 9, 2019 12:00 PM ESTASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 Conclusion
The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 ($240) is one of just three mini-ITX motherboards across three different vendors on the X570 chipset. This makes it an interesting space for the vendors to get everything right as the GIGABYTE X570 I Aorus Pro WIFI ($220) and the ASUS ROG Strix X570-I Gaming ($299) are the only other two models to truly occupy this ITX space. Each has its own take on mini-ITX on X570, but the standout board on paper is almost certainly the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3; not just based on features, but the combination of features for the price.
One of the primary features which sets the Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 apart from the competition is the inclusion of an Intel JHL7340 Thunderbolt 3 controller. This adds a single Type-C port on the rear panel, as well as a DisplayPort 1.4 input for users looking to drive multiple displays with resolutions of up to 4K from a discrete graphics card. On top of this is a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec which powers both the rear panel audio connections and the front panel audio header.
Also on the rear panel is an HDMI 2.0 video output for users of Ryzen's APUs, two antenna ports for the Intel AX200 802.11ax wireless interface, and just four USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports. Aside from the four Type-A on the rear panel, users can expand this through the USB 3.1 G1 and USB 2.0 headers with each offering support up to two ports. For reference, the GIGABYTE X570 I Aorus Pro WIFI has five Type-A ports on the rear panel and doesn't include Thunderbolt 3 connectivity.
The GIGABYTE X570 I Aorus Pro WIFI is slightly cheaper but trades the Thunderbolt 3 for an extra M.2 slot. The main caveat of the single PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot on the ASRock board is that it's located on the rear of the PCB meaning users with NVMe drives could experience some throttling under heavy loads, and the best approach to take would be to ensure adequate passive cooling for the rear of the board. Users looking to use SATA will need to use the four SATA ports available in the bottom right-hand corner of the board. With the board being mini-ITX, there's no scope to add additional M.2 slots with add-on cards like there is on ATX models. Memory support is very good with support for up to DDR4-4533 and up to 64 GB of total capacity. AMD Ryzen 3000's sweet spot for memory is DDR4-3600, so maximizing performance isn't too much of a concern with the insanely fast DDR4 kits, but ASRock does give users the option if they wish to do so.
ASRock loves adding Thunderbolt 3 capability
The performance of the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is highly competitive and shines in the two areas most ASRock models we've seen of late generally do; POST time and out of the box DPC latency performance. Overall performance in our computational benchmarks was average with some good showing in benchmarks such as 3DPM but lower than usual results in Blender. Our overclocking performance testing proved that the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is efficient in terms of load CPU VCore with the default LLC profile with good VDroop control and under volting where it's needed. Even though there are no overclocking presets for the CPU, the Eco mode which stated 45 W as opposed to our Ryzen 7 3700X's 65 W TDP proved very fruitful for users looking to build a slightly lower-powered small form factor system; Eco mode performance was on par with 3.8 GHz performance in our manual testing.
Turn the Lights Off, Carry Me Home
ASRock Phantom Gaming X570-ITX/TB3
For users looking to build a small form factor system using Ryzen 3000 with Thunderbolt 3 devices, the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is a no brainer at just $240.The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 in our opinion continues ASRock's recent trend of providing formidable mini-ITX solutions. We can't wait to fit one with a 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X, which is expected to hit shelves in November.
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GreenReaper - Wednesday, October 9, 2019 - link
I think that's because Thunderbolt at a lower level works over individual 10Gbps lanes. You can have multiple "ports" but then you'll have multiple interfaces - perhaps you can team them at a higher level? But if it's Alpine Ridge you'll almost certainly be limited to low-power 10Gbps.firewrath9 - Wednesday, October 9, 2019 - link
huh? 18TB of SSD storage?My asrock Z87 Extreme11, with its 22 sata ports can do EIGHTY-EIGHT TB OF SSD
WOAH
also if 10gbe costs 100$, why is the X470 Taichi Ultimate only 50$ more than the non-ultimate? (it also has other additonal features)
lmille16 - Thursday, October 10, 2019 - link
Your board is an EATX board. DCide is talking about mITX boards....siuol11 - Friday, October 11, 2019 - link
I'd settle for 2.5 or 5G ethernet, both have readily available chips that cost under $10, and Intel is about to release one (the 225V) that costs less than $2.50.masteraleph - Thursday, October 10, 2019 - link
No, the M.2 is a big deal. If you're stuffing this into a small case- and plenty of people buying X570 ITX boards will- there's a big advantage to not having any 2.5" drives in the case, whether for airflow, cables, what have you.Calamarian - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
Shabby:You could always bifurcate the slot and add a 10GB NIC!
Some cases come with!
https://www.sliger.com/products/cases/sm580/
umano - Thursday, October 10, 2019 - link
I am so happy I am not alone with this, 16 cores and thunderbolt means one thing, content creator, not a gamer. I mean the cheapest thing you can attach to TB3 is a 10gbe (200$).There are a lot of video makers and some colourists (who do not need to work with 6-8k raw) that own the x299 itx because it can be portable even in a backpack.
Unless they have the crazy idea of putting a threadripper on a DTX board they lost a great opportunity. This board is a compromise for everyone, too expensive due to tb3 to who is budget-wise, as a gamer I would go with gigabyte for the 2 m2 and the backplate armour (and a very respectable 8 phase vrm) or better the dtx Asus board.
This board can be good only if someone wants a very portable setup with no GPU and they need a faster (x4 PCI 3) GPU. So almost none
I think except Asus maybe, but they were not that good either, manufacturers went very wrong with PCIe 4.0 and the x570.
Asrock could have used the 4x link from the chipset (like only Asus did on their pro board reviewed here) for the second m2, they could have swapped 2xUsb3 5gbs with 2 basic usb3 port for mouse and keyboard with the lanes shared with the wifi module (it will never need full bandwidth and how much data transfer is there for mouse and keyboard) so here you are the 10gbe.
I cannot think the number of devices that can saturate a TB3, 2 x 10gbps usb3 and 2x5gbps.
I have a Wacom tablet, 2 Eizo with 5gbps USB 3 hubs, a das, several and different external drives, HDD, SSD, and a printer. Even with one 10gbps USB, it would have been fine, we can have tb3, who needs to connect 2 nvme external drive? By the way 4 SATA ports without raid 5?
The 2080ti barely (2-3%) saturates a PCI 3 8x link, sharing the lanes between the GPU and the third m2 is not blasphemy at all, so there will be bandwidth, 12x PCIe 4, for a dual GPU card more powerful than a dual 2080ti.
So now I need to change pc and I will buy this board because of the TB3 but I hope they will understand their mistake and someone will release something better, way better
Now I have to spend 250 for the board, 300 for a thunderbolt dock with 10gbe (connected to the NAS) that I cannot use while I am using my raid das, 300+ for 64gb instead of 32gb because I cannot have a fast nvme drive for photoshop/DaVinci cache, and I still don't know how much for 2 custom water block for VRM, and other 40 for the chipset block and probably I will buy a USB DAC for headphones
So I know it is almost impossible to have a sabre and 3 m2 on an itx board but at least for me a board with that stuff and a big block for vrm and chipset, that could have saved some space for extra daughter boards, it is worth more than 900+ and still I would have saved money
I know it is insane and liquid cooling is not for everyone, but an ITX motherboard with 2 m2, tb3, 10gbe and some USB ports (maybe a second tb3) sharing the GPU link it is not unreasonable.
They probably did not do it because they want content creators going with threadripper, but 3d is not the only thing that matter, video has the largest market, and we cannot bring matx cases onset easily, especially because they are ugly and the market is accustomed to see apple products, so we get no money from it, so I will not buy threadripper even I know it is amazing
FiveOhFour - Saturday, January 11, 2020 - link
you have other options come onCheapSushi - Saturday, October 12, 2019 - link
Reaallly wish ASRock and others would push for Mini-DTX! With a second PCIe slot. Put the M.2 somewhere else. :OCalamarian - Thursday, April 16, 2020 - link
With both 10GB USB 3.2 and Thunderbolt I'd bet it's more an issue of available PCIe lanes than MB space...