Value When Reviewed

$399

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$323.99

$381.99

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$399

Over a number of iterations, the Asus Hero lineup of motherboards has garnered a robust following amongst PC builders. It’s chock-full of options with a horny and premium design. Being the entry approach into the “ROG” (Republic of Players) tier, it is also priced higher in your gaming buck than the extra “excessive” choices.  

Does the X570 Hero nonetheless pack a punch at this time when you’re contemplating a premium motherboard? How in regards to the newer “Dark Hero” variant? We’ll focus on the specs, options, design, and worth. 

The specs

The Asus X570 ROG Crosshair VIII Hero goals to be the right “Goldilocks”-level selection with its worth and obtainable characteristic set. Coming in at $399, it packs sufficient premium specs to make you surprise if it’s even essential to spend extra. PCI-E Gen 4? Bought it. Connectivity for many USB and networking wants? Bought it right here, too.  

You’ll get help for each Ryzen 3000 and Ryzen 5000, with DDR4 RAM. DDR5 is just obtainable on the Intel Z690 motherboards, and never essential proper now attributable to minor efficiency will increase for the worth. (Try our overview of the Z690 ROG Asus Maximus Extreme.) 

In case you purchase an older-stock X570 Hero, do be mindful it might want a BIOS replace earlier than working with Ryzen 5000. (The early ones did, however in any other case will work with Ryzen 3000 proper out of the field.)  

In case you want Wi-Fi, be sure that to search out the Wi-Fi specific version, or else you’ll solely have entry to the two.5G and Gigabit LAN. No 10G LAN right here—you’ll have to step as much as a higher-end choice for that. 

Many of the different specs cowl all that you just’ll really want in a high-end construct: loads of fan headers, Asus-optimized software program, and RGB headers to gentle up the world. USB connectivity is right here aplenty, even with USB sort C. In case you want Thunderbolt, you’ll want both a costlier motherboard on the AMD facet (only some have it) or to swing over to the Intel facet, the place it’s extra widespread.  

As for the X570 “Darkish Hero” model of this motherboard, it solely provides a number of adjustments within the specs: extra strong energy phases and dynamic overclocking, plus eradicating the chipset fan for much less noise.  

Thiago Trevisan / Foundry

Listed here are some necessary specs to concentrate on for the X570 Hero: 

• ATX 12×9.6 inches (or 20.4×24.4cm) 
• AMD Ryzen 3000 and 5000 CPU help  
• DDR4 RAM, as much as 4 dimns and 128GB  
• PCI-E Gen 4 
• Two M.2 Slots 

• USB-C Gen 2  
• Wi-Fi 6 AX200 Model obtainable (Do observe there’s a non Wi-Fi one as nicely) 
• Realtek 2.5GB LAN and Intel Gigabit Lan 
• ROG SupremeFX S1220Audio 
• 3 and 4 pin RGB Headers 

• Clear CMOS and BIOS flashback buttons  
• A number of fan and water-cooling headers  
• 8 SATA 6GB/s ports  
• Chipset fan (the Darkish Hero removes the fan)  

Thiago Trevisan / Foundry

Design

Sporting a phenomenal, fashionable design, the X570 Hero is the right mix of aesthetics and RGB goodness. If you’d like a extra understated look, the Darkish Hero model is much more subdued.  

The Hero lineup is the place you’ll discover design DNA shared with Asus’s premium ROG line of motherboards. That is in all probability most evident within the covers and plating for the M.2 slots that lie beneath, with very enticing cues and tasteful RGB.  

You’ll discover the common Hero does have a chipset fan, which could be manually managed. (It could possibly get loud if it’s set to max, nevertheless.) The Darkish Hero removes this chipset fan utterly, with passive cooling. 

Thiago Trevisan / Foundry

Distinctive options

You’re paying a premium over extra primary motherboard choices, akin to Asus’s Strix lineup with comparable capabilities. Listed here are some areas which will justify the worth premium versus cheaper choices:  

1. Higher Networking choices, akin to 2.5GB LAN and Wi-FI 6. Most different choices will likely be 1GB LAN and should not embody Wi-Fi.  

2. Loads of USB and USB C ports for each avid gamers and content material creators. 

3. M.2 help is right here, however nothing to jot down house about—most motherboards have a minimum of two slots, and a few as excessive as 5 with newer chipsets.  

4. You’ll get nice energy phases and VRM cooling with the Hero, supplying you with a slight edge with Ryzen efficiency.  

5. You’ll get a extra premium ROG field and included equipment, which make the expertise extra pleasurable.  

Efficiency and BIOS

The X570 Hero can deal with something thrown at it, even the mighty Ryzen 9 5950x. With an easy-to-use and succesful BIOS, you’ll have some tweaking choices, too. Since, generally, you’ll have diminishing returns with manually overclocking fashionable CPUs like Ryzen 5000, you’ll a minimum of squeeze out a tiny bit higher efficiency. Higher but, comparable efficiency however decrease voltages or thermals are much more interesting.  

In case you’re efficiency minded, you’ll wish to get the Darkish Hero model. It has upgraded energy supply with 90A as a substitute of 60A, which is able to make your late-night mad-scientist escapades even higher. It additionally removes the chipset fan, which helps with noise whereas holding thermals in test. Moreover, you’ll get a dynamic overclocking choice on the Darkish Hero, supplying you with extra choices that transcend the usual Hero.  

Backside line

With motherboard costs rising, the X570 Hero and Darkish Hero nonetheless signify good values within the present market. Z690 has already brought much higher pricing with the newer characteristic units of the most recent generations, and you’ll anticipate just like occur with the following AMD Ryzen replace.  

With AMD lately asserting the 3D Cache version of the 5800X CPU, there’s nonetheless loads of new CPU horsepower to reap the benefits of with these motherboards, particularly the Darkish Hero.  

With Ryzen 5000 CPU costs at among the lowest factors ever, it might not be a nasty thought to step into the X570 Hero as an incredible premium worth choice.