ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII cards with AMD X570 chipset

ASUS also presented its own range of motherboards based on AMD X570 chipsets at the Taipei Computex, designed for the combination with the 3000 series Ryzen processors to be launched on the market from 7 July onwards. The Crosshair range is the one that historically identifies the proposals for top-of - the-range AMD CPUs: in terms of technical characteristics, we find 3 well-differentiated models for the new family.

The summit proposal is Crosshair VIII Formula, equipped with 3 PCI Express 16x mechanical slots flanked by one of 1x type. The form factor used is the traditional ATX, with a massive refrigeration system installed around the CPU socket on the power supply circuit. This system, developed in collaboration with EK Water Blocks, can be cascaded into a liquid cooling kit, ensuring the 16-phase power supply circuitry's even more effective thermal dissipation.

There is a 1.3 inch OLED screen in the plate collecting the I / O ports, which displays information about the operating characteristics of the system such as the frequency of the CPU clock or the POST codes. A 802.11ax WiFi network card, two ethernet network connectors (Intel 1Gbit and Aquantia 5Gbit), remarkable connectivity options via USB ports, 2 M.2 ports with 4x PCI Express connection and SupremeFX S1220 audio subsystem complete the onboard equipment.

We find very similar technical characteristics for the Crosshair VII Hero (Wi-Fi) card compared to the CrossHair VIII Formula board: the same number of PCI Express slots and expansion connectors and the same number of audio subsystems. With two Ethernet cards (Intel 1Gbit and Realtek 2.5Gbit) and WiFi 6 available as an accessory option, the equipment is slightly simplified for the network sector. A traditional passive-type dissipation system, extending beyond the chipset, also involving SSDs mounted on M.2 connectors, ensures the cooling of the components.

The third card is the model Crosshair VIII Impact, which is based on the small form factor Mini-DTX and is therefore suitable for installation in the most compact chassis. It integrates only two slots for DDR4 modules and one PCI Express 16x for the video card, but does not give up on board two M.2 connectors for SSD, two Ethernet cards (Intel 1Gbit and Realtek 2.5Gbit) and integrated WiFi 6. High expandability from the USB peripherals side as well, while the audio sector offers the same SupremeFX S1220 chip as seen in the Crosshair VIII family's two previous cards.

One of the characteristics of this card is the presence of a vertical installation card that integrates the CPU power supply circuit: this enabled the implementation of a complex and adequate circuitry for a demanding workload without sacrificing the other areas of the PCB excessively. The height of the Mini-DTX form factor is slightly more developed than the Mini-ITX one: this allows the installation of video cards with two space slots without lateral development beyond the card's own dimensions.