The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact: A Sharp $430 Impulse on X570
by Gavin Bonshor on October 25, 2019 11:30 AM ESTSystem Performance
Not all motherboards are created equal. On the face of it, they should all perform the same and differ only in the functionality they provide - however, this is not the case. The obvious pointers are power consumption, but also the ability for the manufacturer to optimize USB speed, audio quality (based on audio codec), POST time and latency. This can come down to the manufacturing process and prowess, so these are tested.
For X570 we are running using Windows 10 64-bit with the 1903 update as per our Ryzen 3000 CPU review.
Power Consumption
Power consumption was tested on the system while in a single ASUS GTX 980 GPU configuration with a wall meter connected to the Thermaltake 1200W power supply. This power supply has ~75% efficiency > 50W, and 90%+ efficiency at 250W, suitable for both idle and multi-GPU loading. This method of power reading allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency. These are the real-world values that consumers may expect from a typical system (minus the monitor) using this motherboard.
While this method for power measurement may not be ideal, and you feel these numbers are not representative due to the high wattage power supply being used (we use the same PSU to remain consistent over a series of reviews, and the fact that some boards on our testbed get tested with three or four high powered GPUs), the important point to take away is the relationship between the numbers. These boards are all under the same conditions, and thus the differences between them should be easy to spot.
The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact performs very competitively against other X570 models on test with good results at long idle, and idle power states. At full load, the Impact also performs well, sitting in the middle of the pack.
Non-UEFI POST Time
Different motherboards have different POST sequences before an operating system is initialized. A lot of this is dependent on the board itself, and POST boot time is determined by the controllers on board (and the sequence of how those extras are organized). As part of our testing, we look at the POST Boot Time using a stopwatch. This is the time from pressing the ON button on the computer to when Windows starts loading. (We discount Windows loading as it is highly variable given Windows specific features.)
In our POST time test, the Crosshair VIII Impact has the best for POST times out of all the X570 models we have tested so far. At default, it managed to post the joint-fastest time with 18.9 seconds, and the fastest time with non-critical controllers disabled with a time of 17.5 seconds.
DPC Latency
Deferred Procedure Call latency is a way in which Windows handles interrupt servicing. In order to wait for a processor to acknowledge the request, the system will queue all interrupt requests by priority. Critical interrupts will be handled as soon as possible, whereas lesser priority requests such as audio will be further down the line. If the audio device requires data, it will have to wait until the request is processed before the buffer is filled.
If the device drivers of higher priority components in a system are poorly implemented, this can cause delays in request scheduling and process time. This can lead to an empty audio buffer and characteristic audible pauses, pops and clicks. The DPC latency checker measures how much time is taken processing DPCs from driver invocation. The lower the value will result in better audio transfer at smaller buffer sizes. Results are measured in microseconds.
We test the DPC at the default settings straight from the box, and the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact did well with a latency time of 128.2 ms.
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Marlin1975 - Friday, October 25, 2019 - link
Nice board; but not $200, let alone $400, nice.Destoya - Friday, October 25, 2019 - link
This is really a hardcore overclocker board more than anything and the price reflects that. It's already set records for DRAM frequency (first board over 6000 MT/s).As the article says, there's numerous other options for SFF X570/X470 at more reasonable prices for people who aren't chasing WR overclocks or who don't have a blank check to build the "best" small system.
shabby - Friday, October 25, 2019 - link
How much better will this overclock than a $200 board? 50mhz more? The new ryzen chips simply don't overclock well so you don't need any fancy mobos.Dug - Friday, October 25, 2019 - link
More for ram than cpu. You are right, the ryzen cpu's just don't o/c that much to spend so much money on this board. The differences in speed aren't worth the headache.TheinsanegamerN - Sunday, October 27, 2019 - link
My crosshair VII was only $249 and it is considered a fantastic OC AMD board with overbuilt VRM capable of OCing memory well as long as the CPU can handle it.$400 is WAY too much for a tiny mobo that wont OC ryzen 3000 any higher then your typical AM4 board, on account of ryzen 3000 having 0 OC headroom, and even if it did, you dont need a $400 mobo to do that.
This generation motherboards have jumped $100-200 in price while prancing out touted features that mean jack in real world usage. People need to stop wasting their money on this overpriced garbage.
guitarmassacre - Friday, October 25, 2019 - link
In what world would this board sell for sub-$200? The cheapest itx is currently $220.evernessince - Saturday, October 26, 2019 - link
Given that X99 SFF boards sell for more then $200 and they have less PCIe bandwidth and a lower PCIe version, older Wifi, older USB gen, ect. I don't see a reason why this board wouldn't be worth more then $200. If people can justify paying Intel's premium for 3% more gaming performance, you can certainly justify twice the PCIe speed.Daveteauk - Monday, May 18, 2020 - link
$200?!? You are a dreamer! What colour is the sky in your world!?Sivar - Friday, October 25, 2019 - link
Yet another X570 with an embedded fan. Pass.This is a regression, from solid state to mechanical moving parts. Fan quality has increased since the horror stories of the 90's and 2000's, but an improved bad idea is still a bad idea.
Why can only Gigabyte cool an 11W load passively?
PeachNCream - Friday, October 25, 2019 - link
It actually has two 30mm fans rather than one.