ASRock's X570 Phantom Gaming ITX ditches AM4 cooler support in favour of 115X mounts
An AMD motherboard with an Intel-style mounting system?
Published: 3rd August 2019 | Source: ASROCK |
ASRock's X570 Phantom Gaming ITX ditches AM4 cooler support in favour of 115X mounts
AMD's X570 platform is here, but right now mini ITX motherboards remain rare. Yes, some are available at retail, but stock is scarce, and you will often have limited choice.
The thing about ITX motherboards is that they are often more challenging to design than their larger ATX and MATX variants. A lot of hardware needs to be condensed into a compact form factor, and VRM designs often need radical redesigns to work well under these circumstances, especially for overclocking-ready motherboards.
With ASRock's X570 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3, the company has taken a novel approach to solve some of the shortcomings of the Mini-ITX form factor. To save space, ASRock has abandoned AMD's AM4 mounting hardware to utilise Intel LGA 115X-style mounting holes. This means that ASRock's X570 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3 will not support AMD's Stock cooling solutions, or any AM4 cooler for that matter. Only CPU coolers with LGA 115X mounts are supported, with ASRock providing a limited Cooler compatible list on their website. Yes, this motherboard supports Intel's stock cooler designs...
Another neat addition to ASRock's X570 Phantom Gaming ITX is support for Thunderbolt 3 Type-C, which is available via the motherboard's rear I/O. This makes The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming ITX one of the first consumer-grade AM4 motherboards to support Thunderbolt 3. This motherboard also supports a single PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, which is located at the rear of the motherboard.
The thing about ITX motherboards is that they are often more challenging to design than their larger ATX and MATX variants. A lot of hardware needs to be condensed into a compact form factor, and VRM designs often need radical redesigns to work well under these circumstances, especially for overclocking-ready motherboards.
With ASRock's X570 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3, the company has taken a novel approach to solve some of the shortcomings of the Mini-ITX form factor. To save space, ASRock has abandoned AMD's AM4 mounting hardware to utilise Intel LGA 115X-style mounting holes. This means that ASRock's X570 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3 will not support AMD's Stock cooling solutions, or any AM4 cooler for that matter. Only CPU coolers with LGA 115X mounts are supported, with ASRock providing a limited Cooler compatible list on their website. Yes, this motherboard supports Intel's stock cooler designs...
Another neat addition to ASRock's X570 Phantom Gaming ITX is support for Thunderbolt 3 Type-C, which is available via the motherboard's rear I/O. This makes The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming ITX one of the first consumer-grade AM4 motherboards to support Thunderbolt 3. This motherboard also supports a single PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, which is located at the rear of the motherboard.
You can join the discussion on ASRock's X570 Phantom Gaming ITX motherboard supporting Intel-Style CPU cooler mounts on the OC3D Forums.
Most Recent Comments
Honestly, I'm not even mad about this. My original thoughts about AM4's mounting system is that the dimensions will make it hard to build smaller boards. I honestly hope AMD ditch the retention system for AM5 and remodel the spacings to make it better for smaller boards like this.Quote
Asrock seem to be the the best manufacturer when it comes to ITX. The X99 ITX board they produced was gloriously insane, and now they are releasing this board. I like how they are making products that are different and exciting in this space.Quote
Asrock strikes again! I wonder if this will become a trend by other manufacturers. It is literally a genius idea.Quote
M.2 at the back? That will cook nicely there.....Quote
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