PC building has never been more accessible to the average user than it is today. With streamers like Justin Robey (ROBEYTECH), content creators like JayzTwoCents and Gamers Nexus, as well as websites like PC Part Picker, everyone has tools along with the expertise of pros at their finger-tips to build from the ground up.
If you have considered dipping your toes into the PC building arena, but don’t quite want to got the route of our RGB Overkill build, you are in luck. Today, we are going to be looking at an option for a modern budget build: the TUF Gaming X570-Plus motherboard by ASUS. Before we dig it, let’s look at the feature’s set.
Specifications
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Overview
While we are no stranger to higher end components and flashy RGB-laden gear, but TUF (or The Ultimate Force) series components from ASUS are meant to be a no-nonsense, no compromise option for systems builders. Coming in at $164.99 on Newegg with a WiFi enabled version at $199.99, this entry-level X570 is meant to deliver a platform for the burgeoning budget builder.
Don’t let the price or “budget” categorizing scare you, ASUS’s TUF Gaming brand pretty rugged with features in place to protect the user and their components. From over voltage protection to ASUS’ EZ tools for BIOS updating or LanGuard protection from electrical surges, the TUF Gaming X570-Plus is marketed to be a motherboard in it for the long haul.
The TUF X570-Plus uses certified military-grade chokes to deliver steady power to the CPU and capacitors with a temperature tolerance span extending from -70 C to 125 C. Speaking of the VRM and power delivery, this motherboard uses 12+2 power stages using driver/MOSFET (or DrMOS) modules for efficient and clean power conservation to your components. These are housed under a pretty beefy heatsink to ensure the temperatures keep cool. The AM4 socket is reinforced with a stainless steel backplate on it’s 6-layer PCB to ensure a secure mount for your CPU cooler of choice. There is also an included heatsink for one of your M.2 form factor drives.
Speaking of interfaces, the TUF X570-Plus has two PCIe 4.0 x16, two M.2, and three PCIe 4.0 x1 slots, respectively. Internally, there are eight SATA 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 connections (to support an additional 4 USB 2.0 ports), and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 connector for the front panel. The one piece of modern connectivity that is missing is an internal connection for front panel USB-C.
On the back IO panel, there are four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, three USB 3.2 Gen 2 (2x Type-A, 1x Type-C), as well as HDMI 1.4b and DisplayPort for use with AMD’s APU processors with integrated Vega graphics. There is also a PS/2 socket… in case you really, really need to use a keyboard from the late 90s.
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Aesthetically, the TUF X570-Plus has a dark minimalist design. With a subtle black and gray urban camouflage design, the PCB is not flashy with branding. It does have a logo on the IO shroud and chipset heatsink, but it doesn’t beat you over the head with it. There is a small amount of RGB lighting (addressable via AuraSync) on the lower righthand cover of the board that serve more as underflow for your motherboard.
Performance Testing
- Before we get into the numbers, here are the system specifications for our test bench:
- CPU: Ryzen 7 3800X
- Cooling: Corsair Hydro Series H100i RGB Platinum SE (Closed loop cooler),
- 4x LL120 fans
- RAM: 16 GB Patriot Viper Gaming RGB, 16 GB Silicon Power Gaming Turbine
- Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming X570-Plus
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2080 Founder’s Edition
- Storage: 1TB WD_Black SN750
- PSU: NZXT E850
- Case: NZXT H510 Elite
- Case Fans: 4x Corsair LL120
We fully acknowledge that an AMD Ryzen 7 3800X and NVIDIA RTX 2080 are an overkill pairing for this motherboard, but our tests will show how the motherboard handles higher end components. The numbers you are about to see are not a comparison between motherboards, but a measurement of performance of these particular components together.
Whole System
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Rendering
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Processing
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Gaming
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Benchmark Conclusions
Even pushing higher end components, the TUF Gaming X570-Plus kept performance steady while keeping its cool. Aside from this battery of benchmarks, we put it through AIDA64’s stress test… twice. Both runs at these tests lasted over an hour and we observed the same thing we saw throughout the rest of our benchmarking: the motherboard kept its cool at an average lower than 40 C (38.6 C to be precise). Case fans were operating at an average of 2165 RPM to help maintain these temperatures, but all told, things stayed within a safe operating range, even under load.
While the chips typically destined for a motherboard like this have a much lower TDP - 35W (Ryzen 3 3200GE) to 65W (Ryzen 5 3400G), the X570-Plus held its own in power stability with our Ryzen 7 3800X at 105W. We saw very little fluctuation in power delivery during the AIDA64 test while keeping the CPU running above base clock throughout the entire process.
Critiques
The TUF Gaming X570-Plus provides an opportunity for system builders to get onto the X570 platform without as paying much of premium associated newer technology. While $165 is a fair bit outside of what would have been considered a budget board in previous generations, it is among the more cost-effective choices for this specific platform today. That being said, it is, as previously mentions, a no-nonsense, no frills option.
At this price point, there are some features missing that can be found on higher grade boards. There is an absence of an internal USB-C header, PCIe reinforcement is limited to the top 16x PCIe slot. I’m also not a fan of the one-sided release lever on the RAM slots, though this is a feature that carries significantly up their product stack.
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The limitations in PCIe lanes force builders into a very specific pattern for their build. In example, if you have two PCIe cards (such as a GPU and a capture card), the orientation that makes the most sense is to socket the GPU into the top-most (and only) reinforced slot. Unfortunately, in this orientation, the capture card would be one slot away from a two-slot GPU - which happens to be every modern GPU. On top of that, this setup blocks the fan meant to keep the X570 chipset cool. We could not get a thermal reading on it to see just what kind of impact this had during our testing.
We do need to take a second and talk about the presence of eight SATA 3.0 ports. This option may exist to allow builder to orient their cables in the most convenient way that their case allows or to allow the motherboard to be utilized within a file server setup. So, this isn’t a knock on their being included. It just brings me to my final point.
This motherboard feels like it is positioned in an odd manner in ASUS’ product stack. On their site, ASUS aims their TUF Gaming series toward “Casual Gamers & First Time Builders.” Many of the BIOS options and build quality choices point to this. From this respect, it makes sense.
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The place where this gets odd is this: from a pricing standpoint, if budget a “first-time builder/casual gamer” is using an entry-level Ryzen chip, it’s likely that the X570 platform is a bit much in both price and features set. A decent B450 motherboard with an updated BIOS would likely be a more cost-effective match for lower- (specifically, APUs) to mid-ranged chips most likely paired with boards within this marketed category.
Granted, this means sacrificing access to “future technology” like PCIe 4.0 (which doesn’t have much in the range for budget implementation at this time) and USB 3.0 Gen 2. But, if a new builder goes into this build, looking to use an APU - which this motherboard has the features to handle - PCIe 4.0 is a moot point.
The ownership of confusion, however, has more to do with AMD than ASUS, but it is worth noting. The current 3000-series APUs are built on the Zen+ architecture, not Zen 2, so PCIe 4.0 is even out of the picture. If AMD hold to their pattern of release, we will see a Zen 2-based APU in their next update, but we have no word yet on when that will be. When we do, we’ll likely see an even newer chipset released along with those.
Perhaps, ASUS intends for the TUF Gaming X570-Plus to exist purely as a blank canvas to serve the system builder, whatever their needs may be. If that is the case, I can respect it for that and, in that respect, it does a pretty stellar job.
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Final Thoughts
Critiques aside, the TUF Gaming X570-Plus is a solid motherboard. Thermal and power management on the board were stable throughout our tests, even though we did the equivalent of throwing a Corvette engine into a Prius! The platform held up to everything we threw at it with good results.
At the end of the day, here is what we recommend with the TUF X570-Plus:
If you are looking to get onto the X570 platform with all of the features offered by the Ryzen 3000’s Zen 2 architecture, but are looking for pure platform versatility without the extra flare, it is a solid option for entry-level system builders. The BIOS offers both a basic and advanced mode safeguards in place to help users to grow as they learn to tune their system.
Pros
- Versatile entry-level motherboard for the X570 platform
- TUF components keep power and temperatures steady under load
- Delivers stable performance, even under higher power draw
Cons
- No support for front panel USB-C support
- Chipset fan is partially obstructed by 2 slot GPUs
- Only one reinforced PCI slot limits card orientation
The product discussed in this article was provided by the manufacturer for the purposes of review.
