1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:08,080 So 13 years ago, I ditched the AMD processor in my personal gaming rig and 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:10,559 switched to an Intel Core2 Duo E6600. 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:16,160 And since then, I have never looked back. Because quite frankly, while AMD 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:18,880 has had some reasonably compelling 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:23,600 values on offer, typically my personal rig upgrades were dictated more by who 6 00:00:21,039 --> 00:00:27,599 had the top performance versus who had some good bang for the buck stuff in the 7 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:34,079 low end. Well, today is an interesting day 8 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:37,280 because while AMD's Ryzen third gen 9 00:00:34,079 --> 00:00:40,719 processor, so I'm holding a 3900X here, 10 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:44,800 aren't exactly brand spanking new, what 11 00:00:40,719 --> 00:00:46,960 is is a feature that I sorely need for 12 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:54,079 my setup. For those of you who aren't familiar, this is my gaming desktop, but 13 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:57,840 the key component that's missing is the 14 00:00:54,079 --> 00:01:01,680 desktop. It's not here. I run a single 15 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:04,159 Thunderbolt cable through the wall into 16 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:09,760 this server closet where my personal rig, my wife's rig, and my home server 17 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:14,400 all reside. This allows me to isolate not just the noise, but also the 18 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:23,119 thermals so that this room doesn't heat up. I don't have central AC in my house. 19 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:27,920 Check this out. The ASRock X570 20 00:01:23,119 --> 00:01:30,960 Aqua is one of the first AMD Ryzen third 21 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:34,479 gen supporting motherboards with not one 22 00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:37,360 but two Thunderbolt 3 ports. And we're 23 00:01:34,479 --> 00:01:43,439 going to take it for a test drive after this message from our sponsor. 24 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:45,360 Vertigar's PL4500 RGB LED upgrade kit 25 00:01:43,439 --> 00:01:49,680 wirelessly connects to your PC and features tons of color customization 26 00:01:47,119 --> 00:01:53,500 options, including audio and visual sync and more. Check them out at the link in 27 00:01:51,439 --> 00:02:01,759 the video description. 28 00:02:01,759 --> 00:02:04,840 All right, 29 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:12,310 so why don't we start with taking a look at the board. 30 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:14,000 Oh crap. Where'd I put the CPU? 31 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:19,800 Left that in the pocket of my ass. What? Uh, ltstore.com. 32 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:27,120 First, I should probably acknowledge the elephant in the room. Uh, the keenite 33 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:31,280 among you probably noticed that this is not in fact the motherboard that I 34 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:36,080 claimed to have upgraded to a couple of months ago. Uh, this is the new Titan 35 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:41,360 RTX graphics card, but I had to go back to my old motherboard and Extreme 36 00:02:38,239 --> 00:02:43,440 Edition 5960X 8 core because I didn't 37 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:49,280 realize when I put the new board in that there were no Thunderbolt 3 cables long 38 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:52,080 enough to go from my desktop through the 39 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:55,440 wall and then into my server closet. Fortunately, we have a solution for that 40 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:59,040 today, and we will get to that later. First, we got to swap out this board. 41 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:03,920 Now, those of you who are new to the channel might not know this, but we 42 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:07,280 actually used to do a ton of videos just 43 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:09,519 about motherboards, but the truth is I 44 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:14,239 just got kind of bored of them. I just felt like I didn't really have anything 45 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:18,080 to say. This one I have a fair bit to 46 00:03:14,239 --> 00:03:22,319 say about. The X570 Aqua ticks a lot of 47 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:25,760 boxes for me. It's limited to just 999 48 00:03:22,319 --> 00:03:28,000 units presumably because they figure not 49 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:34,640 too many people are going to be able to afford this monstrosity. It is one of 50 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:39,599 the heaviest boards that I have ever encountered and I don't want to show it 51 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:46,480 to you guys like this. Let's get this horrible peel off it. Wow. That ASRock 52 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:49,440 has some work to do on their peel game. 53 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:55,040 that. But that's fine because everything else about this thing, at least on 54 00:03:51,519 --> 00:03:57,840 paper, is basically flawless. It uses a 55 00:03:55,040 --> 00:04:02,319 reinforced PCB and reinforced PCI Express slots for reduced flexibility. 56 00:04:00,159 --> 00:04:06,640 It features an all copper cooling solution. So, this is one of the few 57 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:10,000 X570 motherboards that has no cooling fan for the chipset on it because it's 58 00:04:08,319 --> 00:04:17,040 going to be taken care of by your water cooler. They boast support for up to 59 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:18,880 5,000 MHz DDR4 memory. And the I/IO is 60 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:23,440 absolutely incredible. So, you've got support for SLI and Crossfire, as though 61 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:29,040 that mattered in 2019, with six PCI Express slots, including three of them 62 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:35,759 that are rated for Gen 4 operation. Around back, you've got, wait, what? 63 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:41,120 Check this out. Yes, my friends, that is a display port input. So, in ASRock's 64 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:44,639 own lineup of graphics cards, they actually have cards that have an 65 00:04:42,639 --> 00:04:48,160 internal display port connection so you that you can plug it right into there, 66 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:52,560 and that'll inject the display port signal that Thunderbolt 3 requires. 67 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:56,400 Pretty freaking cool. I won't be using that feature, but that's okay cuz 68 00:04:54,240 --> 00:05:00,960 they've got me covered, too. Around the back is where things get really 69 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:06,880 interesting to me. So, we've got AX Wi-Fi. That's Wi-Fi 6. PS2 in case you 70 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:12,160 like really need something to work on an interrupt basis or whatever, there's a 71 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:17,919 second display port in. So, we've got two DPNs built in for the Thunderbolt 3 72 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:23,840 ports that are right on the motherboard. And aside from USB 3.1 gen, whatever 73 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:29,600 they call, whatever USB 310 gig, check this out. We've also got 10 gig 74 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:32,320 networking. So, the irony is that this 75 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:37,600 board is loaded up for Mondo expansion. Oh yeah, did I even mention the dual M.2 76 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:41,919 expansion slots, but it already has everything that most people could ever 77 00:05:39,039 --> 00:05:46,720 need built onto it. So, ah, now that gives us a better look at 78 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:52,080 the board. So, there's our X570 chipset. Here's our dual M.2 slots, both of which 79 00:05:49,759 --> 00:05:57,360 are Gen 4. Very nice. Our front USB 3 Type-C, our 80 00:05:55,440 --> 00:06:02,400 regular front USB 3, our other regular front USB 3, our front USB 2 HD audio. 81 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:08,720 Uh, what else we got here that's exciting? Oh, yes, that Aqua 10 gig 82 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:14,479 networking. Oh, and of course, aside from the CPU and the chipset, the VRM 83 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:16,560 are also cooled by our water block. 84 00:06:14,479 --> 00:06:19,919 Pretty sweet. Oh, now that's interesting. If I was going to install a 85 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:22,960 single M.2 to in this board, I would probably go with the top one because it 86 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:26,720 seems to have much better thermal contact with our water block solution 87 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:31,520 compared to the bottom one, which does have a metal spreader on it, but only 88 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:35,919 makes contact with the uh the metal of our mono block right here. So, it's 89 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:40,240 probably not going to do a ton of cooling. I mean, to be clear, even that 90 00:06:37,759 --> 00:06:45,919 is going to be better than nothing, but um I I'd use this one if you can. All 91 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:50,160 right, let's get this puppy installed. Sorry, I mean kitty. I mean, kitty. So, 92 00:06:48,479 --> 00:06:54,800 I usually find the best way to line up a mono block rather than laying the board 93 00:06:52,720 --> 00:07:00,800 down and then putting the block on top of it is to go the other way around. So, 94 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:06,560 lay the block down, plug in all your front leads so that you don't forget, 95 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:09,599 and then line it up from above so you 96 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:11,440 can kind of guide the holes down onto 97 00:07:09,599 --> 00:07:16,319 their corresponding uh threaded inserts there. 98 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:21,520 Okay. Whoa. Do you hear that? 99 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:28,680 This loop is not particularly well sealed at the moment. Okay, so we're 100 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:28,680 going to open her up right here. 101 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,759 Okay, there we go. 102 00:07:35,039 --> 00:07:38,440 There we go. 103 00:07:40,479 --> 00:07:46,880 Water cooling maintenance is so much fun. All right, let's drain this. Not 104 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:50,960 too much, though. I don't think it's going to be necessary to completely 105 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:55,120 drain the loop. Why? 106 00:07:53,199 --> 00:08:00,000 You're literally standing on a Titan. You move. 107 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:05,440 So, here's the plan. We're going to strip 108 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:10,319 out the expansion cards and kind of hang them over here. 109 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:15,360 Then swap in the motherboard and then put them all back in. Should be no 110 00:08:12,879 --> 00:08:21,520 problem. Well, I can't believe it. Assuming that 111 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:24,080 the Thunderbolt upgrade works, 112 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:28,080 I am removing my painted motherboard for the final time. 113 00:08:26,479 --> 00:08:34,240 Okay. So, Andy, the key here is that these tubes have to 114 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:36,880 stay above the water level. Sure. 115 00:08:35,599 --> 00:08:44,360 You got that? No problem. Right. No problem. Easy at all. 116 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:44,360 Piece of cake. Piece of crumb cake. 117 00:08:44,959 --> 00:08:50,880 No shadow. No. 118 00:08:48,399 --> 00:08:54,640 So, what's really cool is that even on the Intel side of things, generally 119 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:58,399 speaking, Thunderbolt is added to motherboards with these expansion cards 120 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:02,959 that have a header that plugs into the board and then require the display port 121 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:07,120 signal to be injected from the graphics card outside. So, it takes up one of 122 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:14,160 your PCI Express slots, in this case, a 4X slot, and you know, ugly and often 123 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:20,399 quite cludgy because the BIOS support for these things, particularly this one, 124 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:22,399 does not have a great reputation. Um, 125 00:09:20,399 --> 00:09:29,320 so having it built right into the board this time around, is something that I am 126 00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:29,320 definitely looking forward to. 127 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:37,120 Okay. and 128 00:09:34,399 --> 00:09:41,519 out it comes again. Now, these are not spectacular 129 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:47,279 memory modules for the chip that I'm putting in. These are pretty old. Uh 130 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:51,120 they're 2666 C16 Dominator Platinums, 131 00:09:47,279 --> 00:09:54,399 but um realistically, I don't need the 132 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:57,200 extra 5 10% performance that badly 133 00:09:54,399 --> 00:10:03,360 anyway. So, I'm going to stick with them because they look really good. Also, I 134 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:06,600 don't feel like any other memory. It's here already. 135 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:16,000 So, this is funny. One of the features for this board, apparently, is the 136 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:18,959 slight leeway in the positioning of this 137 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:22,959 integrated IO shield because sometimes the tolerances on the cases aren't 138 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:27,040 perfect. Um, you know, that's actually pretty smart cuz sometimes you do have 139 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:33,519 trouble with those integrated IO shields and actually getting them into the case. 140 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:37,040 Cute idea, ASRock. I like it. Look at 141 00:10:33,519 --> 00:10:39,200 that. Perfect fit. Love it. All right. 142 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:45,040 Well, that's a little awkward. I've only got one USB 2 header um because there's 143 00:10:42,399 --> 00:10:51,120 a whole whack of USB3 ones and this case only has front USB 2, but um I guess two 144 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:57,480 of those ports are going to be dead now. All right. 145 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:57,480 Eight pin connector. 146 00:10:57,519 --> 00:11:04,720 24 pin connector. Look at this. Barely even have to move anything. It's great. 147 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:09,920 The real test is going to be seeing whether it just boots up. That would be 148 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:16,160 amazing. Okay, so 149 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:22,480 one challenge here is that our graphics card is going in one slot lower. 150 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:27,600 Is that going to make it? That looks really tight. Um, 151 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:32,640 hold on. Let's get this screwed in as high up as possible. 152 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:38,240 So, you can see this tube doesn't quite make it to the socket, but we've got 153 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:48,600 about that much room off the fitting. So, maybe it'll be good enough. 154 00:11:43,279 --> 00:11:48,600 What the heck is this leaking? 155 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:54,640 It is. Why is this leaking? Okay, we will deal 156 00:11:53,279 --> 00:12:01,040 with that in a moment. First, let's find out if we even have a build here. 157 00:11:57,839 --> 00:12:02,959 All right, we're going to make it. 158 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:07,920 Oh, shoot. I don't think so. 159 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:14,079 And every time I pull this up, this drips. 160 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:16,000 Crap. This is bad. For those wondering 161 00:12:14,079 --> 00:12:19,760 what a tech YouTuber's attic looks like, basically the same as anyone else's 162 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:27,360 attic, but with more YouTube branded magic eightballs and signed Derbower uh 163 00:12:24,399 --> 00:12:36,399 CPUHs. All right, but the most important thing 164 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:40,800 up here for our purposes today is this. 165 00:12:36,399 --> 00:12:44,959 This is my old personal rig chassis that 166 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:47,600 was a gift from my wife that I have been 167 00:12:44,959 --> 00:12:54,800 through much with and I just didn't have the heart to get rid of it. 168 00:12:51,839 --> 00:13:01,600 And it's possible that buried within it is actually some 169 00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:07,800 of the same tubing that I'm still using. 170 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:07,800 this blue UV primo chill stuff. 171 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:15,680 I wanted to hold on to this thing in case I ever decided to go back to the 172 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:20,560 tower case. Frankly, they just don't make cases like they used to. And I 173 00:13:18,959 --> 00:13:26,600 doubt I would find something on the market that I would like better than 174 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,600 this one. So, 175 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:34,480 now I don't see anything up here, which 176 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:36,160 is actually a pretty bad sign right now. 177 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:43,600 Were you just going to instruct me? Oh, buddy. Oh, jackpot. 178 00:13:41,279 --> 00:13:49,720 No wonder I didn't take this out. It's 3/8 inch tubing stretched over a 1/2 in 179 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:49,720 fitting. 180 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:59,680 That's how stretched that was. Look at the difference in diameter. 181 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:04,240 We got it though. That should be a long enough piece of tubing. So, I don't know 182 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:08,880 why. I mean, maybe it was just my block wasn't tight enough from the factory. I 183 00:14:06,639 --> 00:14:15,440 mean, could it be that simple? That had a good quarter turn left in it. 184 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:17,760 That one had a eighth plus. 185 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:24,720 So, let's have a look here and see if we're still leaking. 186 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:27,920 No drops. Now, after journeying to Mount 187 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:31,560 Doom and back, we can finally put on 188 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,560 this piece of tubing. 189 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:42,959 Blue cable. This triggered so many people when I put it in, and I don't 190 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:48,640 even blame you. Okay. Cleanest build you ever saw? Ah, 191 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:50,079 maybe not. 192 00:14:50,079 --> 00:14:56,160 Good enough. Yes. 193 00:14:54,639 --> 00:15:01,279 Now, rather than load it back into the server 194 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:06,440 cabinet, I'm just going to test it right here. All right, that's a good sign. 195 00:15:06,959 --> 00:15:14,560 Okay, all 64 gigs of RAM detected. Ryzen 9 196 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:18,480 3900X 12 core processor. 197 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:21,199 X570 Alpha. 198 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:24,560 Excellent. Oh, I guess we should connect the Wi-Fi, so at least have a network 199 00:15:22,639 --> 00:15:29,600 connection. The phone's Bluetooth doesn't say. I wasn't going to bother to 200 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:36,480 hook up Bluetooth, but whatever. So, this is weird. Um, what I was expecting 201 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:39,519 was some kind of USB 4 implementation 202 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:41,519 here, but on ASRock's website, it 203 00:15:39,519 --> 00:15:46,320 straight up has an Intel Thunderbolt driver download. I mean, 204 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:52,399 maybe this is just something that I haven't encountered yet, where the specs 205 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:54,639 are so similar that you just literally 206 00:15:52,399 --> 00:15:58,959 use Intel's own software on an AMD board. 207 00:15:56,639 --> 00:16:03,839 Guess we'll find out. All right, speaking of sick, I have updated my 208 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:10,920 BIOS. I have applied my XMPP profile, so my memory is now at least running at 209 00:16:05,199 --> 00:16:10,920 2666 instead of uh 2133. 210 00:16:11,279 --> 00:16:18,880 And I am ready to install my Intel 211 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:23,440 Thunderbolt driver. So, I told you guys before I had a solution to the problem 212 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:28,800 of getting my Thunderbolt signal from the other side of this wall to my 213 00:16:25,279 --> 00:16:31,199 desktop setup here. And I do. The 214 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:37,440 problem is that I'm not allowed to tell you what it is and I'm not allowed to 215 00:16:33,279 --> 00:16:40,000 show it to you. So, 216 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:45,440 it's a little awkward. So, we're just going to use uh a PCI slot as a pass 217 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:48,720 through. Plug that in and then plug this 218 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:50,560 into the back of the graphics card. Just 219 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:56,240 like that. Not exactly elegant. But hey, if you 220 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:57,759 want elegant, buy a Mac. 221 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:03,199 Hey, G-Sync display connected. Everything is 222 00:16:59,759 --> 00:17:05,679 working just effortlessly. It looks like 223 00:17:03,199 --> 00:17:10,480 uh that one was the right one. Uh, 224 00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:15,400 wow. My doc's even working and everything. So, it's official. 225 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,400 I've gone AMD. 226 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:26,199 Now, we've just got to run the uh the secret sauce here. 227 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:44,960 Hey, that was it. We good. 228 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:52,720 Oh, fantastic. Everything working exactly as intended. 229 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:57,679 So, thanks for watching, guys. I am personally really looking forward to 230 00:17:54,880 --> 00:18:01,200 this adventure, at least until I get hit with the buyer's remorse that always 231 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:06,000 comes when something newer and better happens as we know is happening with the 232 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:09,440 16 core and then the upcoming nextG Thread Ripper and all that good stuff. 233 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:15,919 So, make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss any of our videos on that stuff. First, it'll be the review, then 234 00:18:13,679 --> 00:18:18,240 like me upgrading my stuff. That'll be good.