When it comes to small form factor systems, options are few and far between. For AMD's X570, out of the 35+ motherboards currently available, just four of them are smaller than mATX. This doesn't give users much to choose from. In this case, mini-ITX implementations have to get it right, and over the last few years ASRock has been at the forefront of the enthusiast small form factor market with an array of models. Today we are reviewing its latest mini-ITX motherboard, the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3. This unique product incorporates Thunderbolt 3 into the frame, pairing it with 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 as well. Read on for our review.

All the Small Things

Having a range of products to choose from can be a little daunting and when it comes to building a PC. Users have to strike a balance between features, quality, and budget, and all somewhat tedious to achieve in unity. High-end features can now be found on mid-range hardware, but some of them lack that special finesse. One particular section of products where things must be done correctly is in the small form factor, as being small shouldn't necessarily hinder performance from a high-performing desktop processor. There are obvious limitations on a small form factor platform such as mini-ITX, and the main one considered to be the biggest hindrance is the size.

The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 looks to dominate the AMD AM4 mini-ITX market with the implementation of some highly premium features including Thunderbolt 3, a DisplayPort 1.4 input to allow users to run multiple 4K screens from a discrete graphics card, and an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface. The balance made to accommodate all of this is the presence of only a single PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, which is located on the rear of the board. However, there are four SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. Along the bottom of the board is a single full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, with a range of front panel headers and connectors closely located around it. 

If that wasn't enough, this motherboard also has Intel LGA115x cooling mounts, and not the regular AMD AM4 cooling mounts. We'll go into the reasons why and how later in the review.

Memory support on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is also impressive, with support for up to DDR4-4533 and up to 64 GB across its two available slots. As it stands, this model has the highest-rated mini-ITX support out of the box in terms of memory speed, but to utilize it to best effect, users will need to tweak the Infinity Fabric clocks within the firmware. 

Enthusiasts looking to utilize the overclocking capabilities of Ryzen 3000 and X570 will find a 10-phase power delivery which on paper, certainly looks capable for a board of this size. It's spearheaded by a Renesas ISL69147 PWM controller which is operating in a 4+2 configuration. The CPU section has eight ISL99227 60 A power stages which are doubled up with four ISL6617A doublers which are commonly used by vendors these days. The biggest aspect to consider aside from the quality of the power delivery is the heatsink cooling it and ASRock's implementation is very hearty in the weight and mass department. It has two heatsinks which are connected via a heat pipe which connects the power delivery section to the chipset heatsink, which also includes a small cooling fan within the main section. The SoC section of the power delivery has its own heatsink with all of the board's heatsinks affixed securely to the board with screws.

ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 Block Diagram

Another notable aspect to consider on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is it comes supplied with Intel LGA115x cooling mounts. While the majority of users are questioning what the logic is behind this, this model is mini-ITX and as such, there aren't as many low profile coolers available on the market for AM4 as there are for LGA115x. Including an Intel mount on this smaller form factor AMD board actually improves cooler compatibility with some coolers, but the implementation of the heatsinks does cause concern that some coolers just will not fit. ASRock has a cooler compatibility list which is made up of supported Corsair, Silverstone, and Noctua coolers, but in retrospective, it's a little thin and something users should consider if looking to purchase this model.

The TL;DR on Performance

Judging the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 on performance, in our system tests we found it to perform very well with our system tests with low power consumption, quick booting times in our POST test, and good out of the box DPC latency performance. In our computational testing, we found the results to be competitive with scores at the top of the charts in our 3DPM point calculation test, but lower than expected performance in tests such as our Blender rendering test. It paints an average and overall picture in the grand scheme of things, but performance differences between most models previously tested are marginal, and as stated, its performance is competitive.

Our experience of overclocking our Ryzen 7 3700X processor on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 was heavily focused around the VDroop when leaving the LLC profiles up to the firmware. When running our manual overclocks, we found that we experienced quite a bit of VDroop at all frequencies testing. At 3.6 to 4.2 GHz with 1.25 V set for the CPU VCore in the BIOS, we experienced around 0.019 V of VDroop. This isn't necessarily bad and we experienced no instability in our testing within our parameters. A noticeable benefit of the VDroop effect came in our power consumption with figures below what we have experienced on other boards at the same or with similar settings. Performance in our POV-Ray benchmark was good and consistent as we went up 100 MHz. Another point to note is those CPU temperatures were a little warmer than expected, but that can be attributed to the form factor and the density of components around a tightly packed AM4 CPU socket. This still doesn't explain the warmer than normal CPU temperatures at default settings and we noticed higher than usual CPU VCore voltage at load than the previous X570 models we've seen; applying PBO even though on the latest ABBA AGESA from AMD saw no improvement over stock either.

The Competition

Users have little to choose from in the SFF space, and the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 positions itself in the market well with a relatively low price of $240. Compared with what's currently on the market, the GIGABYTE X570 I Aorus Pro WIFI ($220), the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 looks to be the better of the two on specifications (we have a test of the GBT coming soon). The ASUS ROG Strix X570-I Gaming ($299) and the slightly bigger mini-DTX ROG Crosshair VIII Impact (£384) and both ASUS models are also competitive in the small form factor X570 space. The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 in a very good position for users looking to drive multiple displays from Thunderbolt 3 and build a high-performance small form factor gaming system. There are caveats such as a single PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot and alas, no motherboard is perfect, but ASRock has a fine run of solid mini-ITX models across multiple chipsets and with Thunderbolt 3 and Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless connectivity driving the feature set, small isn't always less.

Read on for our extended analysis.

Visual Inspection

The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is a mini-ITX motherboard which is priced for the mid-range of X570 but has some very premium features. This makes it one of the most versatile small form factor models on the AM4 socket. The design feels refined and fits in line with its other Phantom Gaming branded models with red and black accents on the aluminium rear panel cover and heatsinks. It wouldn't be a Phantom Gaming series motherboard without at least some integrated RGB which is located at the bottom of the board. Users looking to expand on the RGB capabilities can do so via a single addressable RGB header and standard RGB LED header. 

The most notable design aspect to consider from the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is the supplied cooling mounts. Here we have an AM4 motherboard, but it uses Intel cooling spacers, not AMD. Seems odd, right?

ASRock's decision is down to low profile cooling support. Low profile offerings on AM4 are a little lacklustre in comparison to Intel's current desktop mount. The idea is that users can use the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 with a low profile cooler in a smaller form factor mini-ITX chassis to save space. While the majority of users are questioning what the logic is behind this, this model is mini-ITX and as such, there aren't as many low profile coolers available on the market for AM4 as there are for LGA115x. Including an Intel mount on this smaller form factor AMD board improves cooler compatibility with some coolers, but the implementation of the heatsinks does cause concern that some coolers just will not fit. ASRock does include its cooler compatibility list for this board with supported models from Corsair, Noctua and Silverstone, but it's a little bare and the heatsink placement on this model will certainly hinder the installation of larger air coolers on the market.

At the bottom is a single PCIe 4.0 x16 slot which includes a coating of ASRock's Steel Armor slot re-inforcement. The restrictions on mini-ITX models also mean that there are only two memory slots which allow users to install up to 64 GB. Memory overclockers typically favour dual-slot boards and the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 does have support for DDR4-4533 which is one of the fastest out of the box compatibilities of any X570 model on the market. Due to space limitations, there are fewer fan headers included too with just three 4-pin headers featured; these are divided into a single header for the CPU, a CPU/water pump, and a chassis fan header. Providing power to the board is a 24-pin 12 V ATX motherboard power input, while a single 8-pin 12 V ATX CPU power input delivers power to the processor.

Touching on the power delivery, and the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is using a 10-phase setup with a 4+2 controller, relying on doublers on the CPU section. The CPU section is using eight Renesas ISL99227 60 A power stages which are paired up with four ISL6617A doublers. On the SoC section, the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is using two ISL99227 60 A power stages similar to the CPU section, but without doublers. This means the Renesas ISL69147 PWM controller is operating at 4+2. As is the norm with most motherboard models, each power stage is complemented with its own inductor. For such a small board, the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 power delivery is solid and is made of up of high-quality components. Although high power in small packages generally increases thermal output, the power delivery heatsinks look and feel more than adequate up to the job; something we explore in our thermal VRM testing later on in the review.

On the rear of the PCB is the sole PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot which accommodates drives up to M.2 2280. Surprisingly, the solitary M.2 slot doesn't support SATA based drives, but users can make use of the four SATA ports which allows users to use RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. The hotter running NVMe based M.2 SSDs may experience a thermal bottleneck under intense loads as there is no heatsink on the rear of the board. This means users looking to use an NVMe drive with this board will need to consider cooling within a chassis to maximise performance.

Located underneath the aluminium rear panel cover and the combined power delivery/chipset heatsink is Intel's Titan Ridge JHL7340 Thunderbolt 3 controller. This offers users with a Type-C on the rear panel with up to 40 Gbps of throughput with TB3 devices. The single DisplayPort 1.4 input on the rear panel also allows users to hook-up a discrete graphics card to the Type-C port which means users drive multiple 4K panels from the DisplayPort 1.4 input. Thunderbolt 3 isn't commonly implemented on other X570 models with some vendors including front panel connectors with AIB cards, but ASRock is the only manufacturer to offer a comprehensive 40 Gbps solution on the rear panel on its AMD models.

The onboard audio on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is powered by a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec, with a front panel header present for users reliant on the chassis I/O. The audio PCB area is a little cramped with just two Japanese gold audio capacitors, and some basic PCB segregation which isolates it from the rest of the board for reduced EMI. The ALC1220 codec itself isn't EMI shielded, but ASRock does use individual PCB layers for both the R and L audio channels. Stuck to the rear of the audio connectors on the rear panel is the boards CMOS battery.

On the rear panel we find the single Thunderbolt 3 Type-C connector which is the highlight of the board. The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 also includes two USB 3.1 G2 Type-A and two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports. A Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec powers the five 3.5 mm gold plated audio jacks which also includes an S/PDIF optical output. Moving from left to right on the other connections are a PS/2 combo port, two Intel AX200 802.11ax wireless antennae ports, and a small clear CMOS button. For users of AMD's Ryzen 3000 APUs, ASRock includes a single HDMI 2.0 video output, while the DisplayPort 1.4 input is present for users to interconnect a discrete graphics card with the Thunderbolt 3 Type-C port for multiple 4K monitor compatibility. Finishing off the rear panel is a single Ethernet port powered by an Intel 

With only four rear panel USB ports, the board feels like it doesn't have enough Type-A ports present for modern-day gamers with plenty of peripherals and accessories, but opting for Thunderbolt 3 will pique interest due to its uniqueness and functionality.

What's in the Box

The accessories within the packaging of the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 are everything users need to get a system up and running out of the box. Included are two SATA cables, an M.2 screw kit, a driver and software installation disc, a quick installation guide, an ASRock sticker, and an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi antenna.

• 2 x SATA cables
• 1 x M.2 installation screw
• Driver and Software installation disc
• Installation manual
• Intel AX200 Antenna set
• ASRock sticker

BIOS

ASRock's firmware is generally consistent with its GUI across its motherboard range and the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3. The X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is using its Phantom Gaming firmware which includes a primarily black background with red gaming themed accents, with white text and grey highlights. Rather than splitting the firmware into two main sections, the firmware on this model has one primary mode. Everything in relation to overclocking, even minor tweaks can be found within the OC Tweaker section.

Upon entering the BIOS for the first time, users will land on the Main section. This is a very minimalistic area which displays very basic information including the version of the firmware that is installed, information on the processor, and the capacity of the memory installed. 

All of the boards overclocking related settings are handily located within the OC Tweaker menu. Users can overclock both the processor and memory with a whole range of tweakable and customizable options available. This includes settings like CPU Core Frequency, CPU VCore voltage, and the boards five different LLC profiles. For users looking to make more tweaks to memory rather than just enabling the X.M.P profile, the DRAM Timing Configuration menu allows users to make adjustments to primary, secondary, and tertiary latency timings. Below is a list of limitations when using the current firmware for settings such as CPU VCore, CPU frequency, DRAM frequency, and the Infinity Fabric/FCLK frequency. It should be noted that most of these maximum values won't even be able to be reached, even with extreme cooling methods:

• Maximum CPU Frequency = 6.375 GHz
• Maximum CPU VCore = 2.5 V
• Maximum DRAM Frequency = DDR4-6000
• Maximum Infinity Fabric/FCLK Frequency = 3000 MHz

The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 has just three 4-pin headers with one for a CPU fan, one for a CPU/Water pump, and for installation of a single chassis fan. As a result, the firmware hasn't got the usual FAN-Tastic tuning utility which we are used to seeing. Instead, users can moderately customize profiles within the H/W Monitor section with temperature and percentage variables. For better control, the ASRock Phantom Gaming utility which comes in the board's software bundle offers fan curve customization.

ASRock has opted to use a very archaic method of customizing its onboard RGB LEDs on the X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3. Going backwards on the firmware GUI, users can select between 13 different lighting modes, or turn them off completely. Again the software bundle comes to the rescue again with its ASRock Polychrome RGB utility.

I find it difficult saying this but firmware on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is impressive in some areas and completely lacklustre in others. Where we are used to seeing the decent FAN-Tastic fan tuning utility and a somewhat better method of controlling RGB LEDs within the firmware, we feel ASRock hasn't delivered in these areas. For overclockers, there are plenty of options and customizations which go far beyond current capabilities of current processors, and the settings for fine-tuning memory are on point. The only caveat really is for the more novice users looking to make quick and easy alterations, which the X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 isn't catered for.

Software

Moving onto the software bundle supplied with the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3, and it's pretty standard to what we've seen from other ASRock motherboards. The highlight of the software is ASRock's Phantom Gaming Utility, while the Live Update and App Shop software is also useful to have. Despite the lack of adequate RGB LED customization within the firmware, the ASRock Polychrome RGB software takes care of that. 

ASRock’s Phantom Gaming Tuning software is consistent throughout its range of Phantom Gaming branded models, including across its AMD and Intel chipsets. The only differences from the Intel and AMD sides are the settings available. Users can use Phantom Gaming Tuning to overclock within Windows and tweak settings such as CPU VCore, CPU ratio, CPU cache ratio, and DRAM voltage. One thing users cannot do is customize the memory frequency which will have to be done in the BIOS. 

Despite having three 4-pin fan headers available, the ASRock Phantom Gaming Tuning software includes the FAN-Tastic utility within. Users can customize based on fan curves, or with preset profiles such as full-speed, or even allow the software to tune the fans based on current temperatures. 

Users can customize the integrated RGB LED strip at the bottom of the board or strips installed into the two headers via the ASRock Polychrome Sync software. The GUI is very user-friendly and ASRock allows you select different types of lighting effects including static, random, wave, and rainbow; there are fourteen different modes not including the ability to switch the RGB LEDs off altogether.

The ASRock App Shop is awash with unsavoury looking gambling apps which have been a mainstay since they released this application, but as it's been combined with the Live Update application too, it does serve a good purpose. Users can download and update the ASRock software applications, as well as keep important drivers up-to-date, as well as update the firmware to the latest version without having to use the tool within the firmware. 

Like we have found with the majority of motherboards recently tested, vendors haven't included adequate audio software in with the bundle, or made readily available from the official product pages. The marketing materials for the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 mentions that it's supported with Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 5, but even adding a simple link for users to download this would make the overall experience better. The software bundled with the board is actually more than some users will need.

Board Features

The X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is the only current small form factor motherboard in ASRock's X570 product stack and commands a price tag of $240. It has a couple of interesting inclusions including an HDMI 2.0 which allows users of AMD's Ryzen APUs the ability to output the integrated graphics. A single DisplayPort 1.2 input allows users to re-route the video signal from a graphics card and output it through the Thunderbolt 3 USB 3.1 G2 Type-C port; one of the main benefits to Thunderbolt 3 is it has a blisteringly fast 40 Gbps throughput which is capable of driving multiple 4K displays at once. Also on the rear panel are two USB 3.1 G2 Type-A and two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports. A common limitation of using a small form factor such as mini-ITX is that there is little room for PCIe and X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 has just one full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot.

ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 ITX Motherboard
Warranty Period	3 Years
Product Page	Link
Price	$240
Size	mITX
CPU Interface	AM4
Chipset	AMD X570
Memory Slots (DDR4)	Two DDR4 Supporting 64 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-4533
Video Outputs	N/A
Network Connectivity	Intel I211-AT GbE Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax
Onboard Audio	Realtek ALC1220
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU)	1 x PCIe 4.0 x16
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH)	N/A
Onboard SATA	Four, RAID 0/1/10
Onboard M.2	1 x PCIe 4.0 x4/SATA (CPU)
USB 3.1 (10 Gbps)	2 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel (Thunderbolt 3)
USB 3.0 (5 Gbps)	2 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-A Header (2 x ports)
USB 2.0	1 x Type-A Header (2 x ports)
Power Connectors	1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8pin CPU
Fan Headers	1 x CPU (4-pin) 1 x Water Pump (4-pin) 1 x System (4-pin)
IO Panel	2 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-C Thunderbolt 3 2 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A 1 x Network RJ45 (Intel) 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Output (Realtek)) 2 x Intel AX200 Antenna Ports 1 x HDMI 2.0 Output 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 Input 1 x PS/2 Combo Port 1 x Clear CMOS Button

For storage, the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 has just one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot which is mounted onto the rear of the board. The other physical slot located on the front of the PCB is a M.2 Key-E slot which is already populated with an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax wireless interface which offers uses BT 5.0 connectivity. This board also features an Intel I211-AT Gigabit NIC which powers the single Ethernet port on the rear panel. Also featured are four SATA ports which support RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. Another limitation of mini-ITX is present with just two memory slots which support up to DDR4-4533 and offer a maximum capacity of up to 64 GB. A Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec powers the five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output on the rear panel, as well as the front panel audio header.

Test Bed

As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.

Test Setup
Processor	AMD Ryzen 3700X, 65W, $329  8 Cores, 16 Threads, 3.6 GHz (4.4 GHz Turbo)
Motherboard	ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 (BIOS 1.70)
Cooling	ID Cooling Auraflow 240mm AIO
Power Supply	Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU
Memory	2x8GB G.Skill TridentZ DDR4-3200 16-16-16-36 2T
Video Card	ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (1178/1279 Boost)
Hard Drive	Crucial MX300 1TB
Case	Open Benchtable BC1.1 (Silver)
Operating System	Windows 10 1903 inc. Spectre/Meltdown Patches

Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.

Hardware Providers for CPU and Motherboard Reviews
Sapphire RX 460 Nitro	MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X OC	Crucial MX200 + MX500 SSDs	Corsair AX860i + AX1200i PSUs
G.Skill RipjawsV, SniperX, FlareX	Crucial Ballistix DDR4	Silverstone Coolers	Silverstone Fans

New Test Suite: Spectre and Meltdown Hardened

Since the start of our Z390 reviews, we are using an updated OS, updated drivers, and updated software. This is in line with our CPU testing updates, which includes Spectre and Meltdown patches. We are also running the testbed with the new Windows 10 1903 update for AMD's Ryzen 3000 series CPUs, and X570 motherboard reviews. The Windows 1903 update improves multi-core and multi-thread performance on AMD's Ryzen processors with topology awareness meaning previous issues in regards to latency have been known to affect performance. As users are recommended to keep their Windows 10 operating system updates, our performance data is reflected with the 1903 update.

System 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 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is one of the better performers in our power consumption testing with a strong showing in all three of our tests. A smaller PCB tends to equate to fewer controllers and circuitry and can have an impact on this. With the most inefficient designs on the smaller form factor models getting found out very quickly, the ASRock X570 mini-ITX is highly competitive.

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 testing, ASRock tends to field some of the best times in every platform and the X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is no different in this regard. It posted a competitive default POST time of just over 25 seconds which in comparison to the next board above this, the GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Xtreme which has a marginally slower POST time of 25.6 seconds. With controllers stripped down to the bare necessities, we managed to shave a further 1.6 seconds off the overall time it takes to load up Windows 10 on our testbed.

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 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 performed very well as expected. ASRock desktop models tend to have the upper hand in out of the box DPC latency performance, and this board continues that trend comfortably.

CPU Performance, Short Form

For our motherboard reviews, we use our short form testing method. These tests usually focus on if a motherboard is using MultiCore Turbo (the feature used to have maximum turbo on at all times, giving a frequency advantage), or if there are slight gains to be had from tweaking the firmware. We put the memory settings at the CPU manufacturers suggested frequency, making it very easy to see which motherboards have MCT enabled by default.

For X570 we are running using Windows 10 64-bit with the 1903 update as per our Ryzen 3000 CPU review.

Rendering - Blender 2.7b: 3D Creation Suite - link

A high profile rendering tool, Blender is open-source allowing for massive amounts of configurability, and is used by a number of high-profile animation studios worldwide. The organization recently released a Blender benchmark package, a couple of weeks after we had narrowed our Blender test for our new suite, however their test can take over an hour. For our results, we run one of the sub-tests in that suite through the command line - a standard ‘bmw27’ scene in CPU only mode, and measure the time to complete the render.

Streaming and Archival Video Transcoding - Handbrake 1.1.0

A popular open source tool, Handbrake is the anything-to-anything video conversion software that a number of people use as a reference point. The danger is always on version numbers and optimization, for example the latest versions of the software can take advantage of AVX-512 and OpenCL to accelerate certain types of transcoding and algorithms. The version we use here is a pure CPU play, with common transcoding variations.

We have split Handbrake up into several tests, using a Logitech C920 1080p60 native webcam recording (essentially a streamer recording), and convert them into two types of streaming formats and one for archival. The output settings used are:

• 720p60 at 6000 kbps constant bit rate, fast setting, high profile
• 1080p60 at 3500 kbps constant bit rate, faster setting, main profile
• 1080p60 HEVC at 3500 kbps variable bit rate, fast setting, main profile

Rendering – POV-Ray 3.7.1: Ray Tracing - link

The Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer, or POV-Ray, is a freeware package for as the name suggests, ray tracing. It is a pure renderer, rather than modeling software, but the latest beta version contains a handy benchmark for stressing all processing threads on a platform. We have been using this test in motherboard reviews to test memory stability at various CPU speeds to good effect – if it passes the test, the IMC in the CPU is stable for a given CPU speed. As a CPU test, it runs for approximately 1-2 minutes on high-end platforms.

Compression – WinRAR 5.60b3: link

Our WinRAR test from 2013 is updated to the latest version of WinRAR at the start of 2014. We compress a set of 2867 files across 320 folders totaling 1.52 GB in size – 95% of these files are small typical website files, and the rest (90% of the size) are small 30-second 720p videos.

Synthetic – 7-Zip v1805: link

Out of our compression/decompression tool tests, 7-zip is the most requested and comes with a built-in benchmark. For our test suite, we’ve pulled the latest version of the software and we run the benchmark from the command line, reporting the compression, decompression, and a combined score.

It is noted in this benchmark that the latest multi-die processors have very bi-modal performance between compression and decompression, performing well in one and badly in the other. There are also discussions around how the Windows Scheduler is implementing every thread. As we get more results, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Point Calculations – 3D Movement Algorithm Test: link

3DPM is a self-penned benchmark, taking basic 3D movement algorithms used in Brownian Motion simulations and testing them for speed. High floating point performance, MHz, and IPC win in the single thread version, whereas the multithread version has to handle the threads and loves more cores. For a brief explanation of the platform agnostic coding behind this benchmark, see my forum post here.

Neuron Simulation - DigiCortex v1.20: link

The newest benchmark in our suite is DigiCortex, a simulation of biologically plausible neural network circuits, and simulates activity of neurons and synapses. DigiCortex relies heavily on a mix of DRAM speed and computational throughput, indicating that systems which apply memory profiles properly should benefit and those that play fast and loose with overclocking settings might get some extra speed up. Results are taken during the steady-state period in a 32k neuron simulation and represented as a function of the ability to simulate in real time (1.000x equals real-time).

Gaming Performance

For X570 we are running using Windows 10 64-bit with the 1903 update as per our Ryzen 3000 CPU review.

World of Tanks enCore

Albeit different to most of the other commonly played MMO or massively multiplayer online games, World of Tanks is set in the mid-20th century and allows players to take control of a range of military based armored vehicles. World of Tanks (WoT) is developed and published by Wargaming who are based in Belarus, with the game’s soundtrack being primarily composed by Belarusian composer Sergey Khmelevsky. The game offers multiple entry points including a free-to-play element as well as allowing players to pay a fee to open up more features. One of the most interesting things about this tank based MMO is that it achieved eSports status when it debuted at the World Cyber Games back in 2012.

World of Tanks enCore is a demo application for a new and unreleased graphics engine penned by the Wargaming development team. Over time the new core engine will implemented into the full game upgrading the games visuals with key elements such as improved water, flora, shadows, lighting as well as other objects such as buildings. The World of Tanks enCore demo app not only offers up insight into the impending game engine changes, but allows users to check system performance to see if the new engine run optimally on their system.

Grand Theft Auto V

The highly anticipated iteration of the Grand Theft Auto franchise hit the shelves on April 14th 2015, with both AMD and NVIDIA in tow to help optimize the title. GTA doesn’t provide graphical presets, but opens up the options to users and extends the boundaries by pushing even the hardest systems to the limit using Rockstar’s Advanced Game Engine under DirectX 11. Whether the user is flying high in the mountains with long draw distances or dealing with assorted trash in the city, when cranked up to maximum it creates stunning visuals but hard work for both the CPU and the GPU.

For our test we have scripted a version of the in-game benchmark. The in-game benchmark consists of five scenarios: four short panning shots with varying lighting and weather effects, and a fifth action sequence that lasts around 90 seconds. We use only the final part of the benchmark, which combines a flight scene in a jet followed by an inner city drive-by through several intersections followed by ramming a tanker that explodes, causing other cars to explode as well. This is a mix of distance rendering followed by a detailed near-rendering action sequence, and the title thankfully spits out frame time data.

F1 2018

Aside from keeping up-to-date on the Formula One world, F1 2017 added HDR support, which F1 2018 has maintained; otherwise, we should see any newer versions of Codemasters' EGO engine find its way into F1. Graphically demanding in its own right, F1 2018 keeps a useful racing-type graphics workload in our benchmarks.

Aside from keeping up-to-date on the Formula One world, F1 2017 added HDR support, which F1 2018 has maintained. We use the in-game benchmark, set to run on the Montreal track in the wet, driving as Lewis Hamilton from last place on the grid. Data is taken over a one-lap race.

Overclocking Ryzen 3000

Experience with the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3

Sometimes it's assumed that smaller form factor motherboards tend to not overclock as well as larger ATX boards. In the real world, the differences are relatively minute, mostly being limited by cramped builds and cooling that doesn't perform as well. In an open environment, there have been mini-ITX motherboards capable of taking world records. Another issue is that on the smaller boards, there is certainly less room for some componentry and when it comes to overclocking, there is much less room for error with the need for vendors to get things right from the outset. But when the hardware is done right, users shouldn't expect much difference.

From the perspective of overclocking, ASRock's Phantom Gaming firmware is wholesome with plenty of options to overclock both processors and memory. To achieve most overclocks, users only need to concern themselves with settings including CPU Core Frequency, CPU VCore voltage, and with the excessive heat generated by AMD's 7nm desktop processors, adequate cooling. For memory overclocking, users can enable X.M.P profiles within the OC Tweaker section or go about customizing settings through the memory frequency, memory voltage, and the FCLK/Infinity Fabric frequency settings. For more advanced tuning, ASRock offers a DRAM Timing Configurator which allows users to tweak primary, secondary, and tertiary memory settings. 

Aside from a couple of high-performance memory overclocking profiles, enabling Precision Boost Overdrive, and an Eco CPU profile, there is nothing else terms of automatic overclocking options. Unlike some of ASRock's firmware, the main screen actually lacks anything of real substance and users looking to enable X.M.P memory profiles have to navigate around the OC Tweaker section looking for it. It would have been nice to have more options in regards to overclocking profiles, but it's not surprising given the limitations of overclocking the current generation of Ryzen 3000 processors. There's a lot of heat to deal with at what is considered the middle of the run overclocks such as 4.3 GHz, and if and when AMD's second-generation on 7nm comes around, users will be expecting a little more from firmware and core clock speeds.

Overclocking Methodology

Our standard overclocking methodology is as follows. We select the automatic overclock options and test for stability with POV-Ray and OCCT to simulate high-end workloads. These stability tests aim to catch any immediate causes for memory or CPU errors.

For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from the previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage and CPU multiplier, and the multiplier is increased until the stability tests are failed. The CPU voltage is increased gradually until the stability tests are passed, and the process repeated until the motherboard reduces the multiplier automatically (due to safety protocol) or the CPU temperature reaches a stupidly high level (105ºC+). Our testbed is not in a case, which should push overclocks higher with fresher (cooler) air.

Overclocking Results

The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is a solid example of VDroop working correctly with the load line calibration settings set to default settings. When manually overclocking, the variation of VDroop ranges from 0.006 V at 4.3 GHz, to 0.013 and 0.019 V on the CPU VCore at full load when compared with what was set in the firmware. All of the VDroop observed was undervolted meaning it had a very positive impact on power consumption at full load, and we experienced very consistent POV-Ray performance as we went up in each 100 MHz increment. 

The highlight is the Eco mode which the firmware states is set to 45 W with our Ryzen 7 3700X processor. This is a 65 W TDP processor and when using the Eco Mode profile, we saw good POV-Ray performance with an equally good showing in power consumption too. In relation to manual overclocks, the Eco Mode on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 performed similarly to our POV-Ray result at 3.8 GHz; not for users looking for high-performance, but perfect for small form factor enthusiasts looking for a good 24/7 mode where heat may be a limiting factor.

Unlike our experience with the GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Xtreme motherboard, enabling precision boost overdrive on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 had little to no effect on performance over the default settings which suggests the firmware is at fault somewhere. Our default run did run a little on the warm side compared to what we have seen in previous X570 reviews and the extra heat can be attributed to a load CPU VCore value of 1.337; there is nothing 'leet' about this and we expected a little better.

Power Delivery Thermal Analysis

One of the most requested elements of our motherboard reviews revolves around the power delivery and its componentry. Aside from the quality of the components and its capability for overclocking to push out higher clock speeds, which in turn improves performance, it is the thermal capability of the cooling solutions implemented by manufacturers that can have the biggest effect. While most solutions are almost always fine for users running processors at default settings, those looking to squeeze out extra performance from the CPU via overclocking put extra pressure on the power delivery. This is why more premium models often include heatsinks on its models with better cooling designs, heftier chunks of metal, and in some cases, even with water blocks such as the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Formula.

Two K-Type Thermal Probes attached to the rear of the power delivery on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3

Testing Methodology

Out method of testing out if the power delivery and its heatsink are effective at dissipating heat, is by running an intensely heavy CPU workload for a prolonged method of time. We apply an overclock which is deemed safe and at the maximum that the silicon on our AMD Ryzen 7 3700X processor allows. We then run the Prime95 with AVX2 enabled under a torture test for an hour at the maximum stable overclock we can which puts insane pressure on the processor. We collect our data via three different methods which include the following:

• Taking a thermal image from a birds-eye view after an hour with a Flir Pro thermal imaging camera
• Securing two probes on to the rear of the PCB, right underneath CPU VCore section of the power delivery for better parity in case a probe reports a faulty reading
• Taking a reading of the VRM temperature from the sensor reading within the HWInfo monitoring application

The reason for using three different methods is that some sensors can read inaccurate temperatures, which can give very erratic results for users looking to gauge whether an overclock is too much pressure for the power delivery handle. With using a probe on the rear, it can also show the efficiency of the power stages and heatsinks as a wide margin between the probe and sensor temperature can show that the heatsink is dissipating heat and that the design is working, or that the internal sensor is massively wrong. To ensure our probe was accurate before testing, I binned 10 and selected the most accurate (within 1c of the actual temperature) for better parity in our testing.

For thermal image, we use a Flir One camera as it gives a good indication of where the heat is generated around the socket area, as some designs use different configurations and an evenly spread power delivery with good components will usually generate less heat. Manufacturers who use inefficient heatsinks and cheap out on power delivery components should run hotter than those who have invested. Of course, a $700 flagship motherboard is likely to outperform a cheaper $100 model under the same testing conditions, but it is still worth testing to see which vendors are doing things correctly.

Thermal Analysis Results

We measured 63.7°C on the hottest part of the board during our testing

The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 uses a 10-phase power delivery which is running in a 4+2 configuration. The CPU section consists of eight ISL99227 60 A power stages which are paired up with four ISL6617A doublers, while the SoC section consists of two ISL99227 60 A power stages. Controlling the power delivery is a Renesas ISL69147 PWM controller. The cooling solution on the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 consists of two individual heatsinks; one aluminium heatsink which is a combined piece with the rear panel cover, and a separate SoC section which also cools two of the power stages of the CPU section. It's actually a really nice design as the aluminium rear panel cover is quite beefy and will benefit from cases with good passive airflow. -

Looking at our power delivery thermal testing results, the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 performs pretty well considering it's using a 10-phase design on such a small mini-ITX sized PCB. There are increased thermal properties to consider when running a high-powered mini-ITX system as condensed componentry tends to generate a little bit more heat than a sparser ATX PCB would. With 1.475 V set on the CPU VCore and the CPU Core Frequency set to 4.1 GHz, our temperatures maxed out at 64°C on ASRock's integrated VRM temperature sensor. Our probe on the rear measured 61°C, with our thermal imaging shot measuring 63.7°C on the hottest part of the power delivery. This is a good result for ASRock and although it doesn't quite have the cooling capabilities as some of the flagship models we have tested so far, for a $240 model with so much power and features on a mini-ITX sized model, temperatures in our testing we're absolutely fine. A processor such as the Ryzen 9 3950X with 16-cores is likely to stress the power delivery more than our Ryzen 7 3700X, but it's not likely to push the VRM temperatures into dangerous waters.

ASRock 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.