MSI X570-A PRO Motherboard Review

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Subsystem Testing

MSI X570-A PRO Motherboard Test System Specifications

Sound Hardware

The MSI X570-A PRO uses a Realtek ALC1220 HD Audio CODEC. It is listed as being 7.1 channel. Beyond that, MSI publishes next to no information on the MSI X570-A PRO’s implementation. Effectively you have to search for MSI Audio Boost 4 to find out what the implementation offers. It has the standard jack sensing, auto-impedance detection between 32 and 600 ohms. It also features gold plated audio jacks for optimal conductivity and dedicated audio capacitors. Beyond that, MSI doesn’t get overly specific.

Audio – Subjective Listening

That being said, the output quality was decent. Whether you are playing games or listening to music, the CODEC sounded good. It was closer to what I’d expect from a mid-range solution, but that’s because it more or less is. MSI could have opted for an even cheaper and lower Realtek CODEC, but instead opted for a bog-standard ALC1220. When looking at budget motherboards like this, you will figure out where the manufacturer saved money. In this case, it wasn’t on the audio implementation.

Audio – Subjective Recording / Playback

With the microphone boost option enabled, the audio playback was free of significant distortion. With the boost option disabled, the output sounded fine, albeit with very low volume levels.

DPC Latency

For those who may not know what DPC is, I’ll explain. Deferred procedure calls are a function within Windows that allows higher priority tasks such as device drivers to defer lower priority tasks for execution at later times. It’s an interrupt and reassignment of sorts performed by the operating system.

DPC latency varies from board model to model and brand to brand. DPC issues show up in the form of audio dropouts and streaming video issues. Naturally, this is something that the enthusiast would want to avoid. I used LatencyMon and let it run for 10 minutes to graph the results. I have compiled a list of several systems I’ve tested over the last year and placed the results in a graph for easy reference.

MSI X570-A PRO Motherboard LatencyMon DPC Latency

The DPC latency seen on the MSI X570-A PRO was good. While not the lowest we’ve ever seen, it’s latency was lower than most of the motherboards we’ve tested recently. It’s certainly within the acceptable range.

Storage Configuration & Testing

For our testing, the operating system is always installed on a Samsung 970 EVO NVMe based SSD. A second, identical drive is employed for testing RAID0 performance on motherboards that support this functionality natively, without PCIe adapter kits. In cases where this is necessary, an alternative is used as the OS drive. It is either an Intel SSD 750 via U.2 to PCIe adapter or a SATA based Samsung 840 Pro.

NVMe Testing

Here we can see the results of NVMe drive testing. The results from the tests are in line with what we would expect from the Corsair MP600 2TB PCIe Gen 4, based on its specifications. Of course, we’ve also seen virtually identical results with this drive on other X570 motherboards as well.

Network Subsystem Testing

Testing Methodology (Wired)

LAN Speed Test software was used with the Windows Task Manager to determine the performance levels of the onboard network interface. LAN Speed Test was used to measure bandwidth and transfer speeds, while Windows Task Manager monitored CPU utilization on the test system. For the testing, an 800MB file test was used with the default packet configuration for the application. 

The test was run three times with the middle result chosen. Results were captured for the low, medium, and high transfer rates. The test was performed using a plenum rated category 6e crossover cable to bypass any traffic, routing, or other transfer issues and possible packet loss or corruption that can be caused by a router/switch or hub. The cables were connected between two test machines, one using the onboard NIC(s) of the board being reviewed and the other is a Killer E3000 2.5GbE adapter built into the MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE motherboard. In cases where greater speeds are required, I use the Aquantia AQtion 10Gbit adapter that’s bundled with the same MSI motherboard.

Testing Methodology (Wireless)

The same software and protocols are observed for wireless networking as well. However, due to the issues of sometimes creating Ad Hoc networks, I test using the wireless router provided by my ISP. This, while not indicative of maximum speeds attainable by these controllers, does indicate a more typical setup. The test was run three times with the middle result chosen. Results were captured for the low, medium, and high transfer rates. Unfortunately, I do not yet have WiFi 6 infrastructure available for testing, so these results are more of a function than a speed test.

Wired Networking Tests – Realtek 8111H

For its wired controller, the MSI X570-A PRO is equipped with a Realtek 8111H 1GbE controller. This controller is certainly on the budget side, which is to be expected given the $160 or less price point the X570-A PRO occupies.

In the write or upload tests, the minimum transfer rate was 66.16MB/s with an average of 67.45MB/s and a maximum of 68.38MB/s. CPU usage was a mere 2%, which is in line with our expectations. These transfer rates are very much on the low side. However, Realtek controllers tend to be faster in the downloads as you can see.

In the read or download test, we saw considerably more impressive results. Our transfer rates were 104.50MB/s minimum, 104.71MB/s average, and 104.97MB/s maximum. CPU usage was again 2%. In both cases, the CPU usage was only located on a couple of cores and had consistent loading without much in the way of usage spikes.

It’s pretty easy to bag on Realtek controllers in cases like this. However, at this price point, you won’t be seeing an Intel i225v or something along those lines. It just isn’t going to happen as the PHY’s for those are far more expensive than the alternatives. Intel controllers actually don’t always perform better in read or download tests. Instead, Intel controllers seem to favor write performance more than the other brands do. This makes sense due to their origins in the IT world where such performance is valued more than it is on the desktop.

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Dan Dobrowolski
Dan has been writing motherboard reviews for the past 15 years, with the first decade or so writing for [H}ard|OCP. Dan brings his depth of knowledge about motherboards and their components to his reviews here at The FPS Review to help you select the best one for your needs.

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