After focusing on Intel’s Alder Lake processors and Z690 motherboards for a while, AMD is back on our test bench in the form of the MSI MPG X570S Carbon EK X, which includes a custom monoblock from EKWB to cool the CPU and VRMs. The included water block not only effectively cools the processor and power bits, but also gives the board a premium RGB-adorned look that sets it apart from others.
The X570S-based board also updates the design aesthetic on the bottom half of the board, eliminating the chipset fan and featuring full-coverage heatsinks/shrouds over the M.2 sockets. The ribbed lines run diagonally and look much more luxurious than the original X570 Gaming Pro Carbon. The X570S Carbon EK X retails for $549.99 (opens in new tab), which is on the high side for an X570-based motherboard. That said, it’s still one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get water cooling on your PC. You’ll still need to buy the rest of the loop (radiator, fans, pump, hoses, etc.), but it’s better to spend the time looking for a block that fits and has a generic (not modified) look.
During testing, our X570S Carbon EK X traded punches with the other 5950X results in our test suite. Across the board, it either rode on the jacket of the Asus Maximus XIII Hero or vice versa. Game performance in both the synthetic tests and our games matched pretty well too. Overclocking was smooth, with the CPU and VRMs running well within spec under the monoblock and our 3x120mm radiator. Read on to learn more about its features, overclocking, and our tips for testing and use. But first, here’s a full list of the MSI X570S Carbon EK X specs, straight from MSI.
Specifications – MSI X570S Carbon EK X
| Wall outlet | AM4 |
| chipset | X570 |
| form factor | ATX |
| Voltage regulator | 16-phase (14.75A MOSFETs for Vcore) |
| Video ports | (1) HDMI (v2.1) |
| USB ports | (1) USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (10 Gbps) |
| (3) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) | |
| (4) USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) | |
| (2) USB 2.0 (480Mbps) | |
| Network connections | (1) 2.5 GbE |
| Audio connections | (5) Analog + SPDIF |
| Old ports/connections | |
| PCIe x16 | (1) PCIe v4.0 (x16) |
| (1) PCIe v4.0 (x4) | |
| PCIe x8 | |
| PCIe x4 | |
| PCIe x1 | (2) PCIe v3.0 (x1) |
| CrossFire/SLIE | Supports AMD CrossFire technology |
| DIMM slots | (4) DDR5 5300+(OC), 128GB capacity |
| 1DPC 1R Max. speed up to 5100MHz | |
| 1DPC 2R Max. speed up to 4000MHz | |
| 2DPC 1R Max. speed up to 4000MHz | |
| 2DPC 2R Max. speed up to 3600MHz | |
| M.2 slots | (1) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe + SATA (up to 110mm) |
| (1) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe + SATA (up to 80mm) | |
| (1) PCIe 3.0 x4 (32 Gbps) / PCIe (up to 110mm) | |
| (1) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe + SATA (up to 80mm) | |
| U.2 ports | |
| SATA ports | (8) SATA3 6Gbps (supports RAID0/1/10) |
| USB headers | (1) USB v3.2 Gen 2, Type-C (10 Gbps) |
| (2) USB v3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) | |
| (2) USB v2.0 (480Mbps) | |
| Fan/Pump Heads | (8) 4-pin (CPU, water pump, system fans) |
| RGB headers | (2) aRGB (3-pin) |
| (1) RGB (4 pin) | |
| (1) Corsair (3-pole) | |
| Diagnostic panel | EZ Debug LED (4 LEDs), 2-digit debug code |
| Internal Button/Switch | Turn LED switch on/off |
| SATA controllers | |
| Ethernet controller(s) | (1) Realtek RTL8125B (2.5Gbps) |
| Wi-Fi / Bluetooth | Intel AX210 Wi-Fi 6E (2×2 axes, MU-MIMO, 2.4/5/6 GHz, 160 MHz, BT 5.2) |
| USB controllers | ASMedia 1074, Genesyslogen GL850G |
| HD audio codec | Realtek ALC4080 |
| TTL/DTS connection | I |
| Guarantee | 3 years |
Inside the box, along with the motherboard, is the accessory stack designed to get your system up and running by including some essential extras. It consists of a USB stick with drivers, SATA cables, manuals and more. It even comes with the EK Leak Tester to test your loop. Below you will find a complete list of the supplied parts.
- USB stick (drivers)
- Brush
- EK Leak tester
- Wi-Fi antenna
- case badge
- Manual
- Quick Installation Guide
- MPG and Cable Stickers
- (4) M.2 screws/spacers
- EZ M.2 clip
- Thermistor cable
- 1-2 RGB extension cable Y
- Corsair LED Extension
- Rainbow extension cables
- Screwdrivers
- EZ Front panel cable
- (2) SATA cables
- EK Monoblock
With EKWB’s custom monoblock mounted and RGBs shining bright, the Carbon EK X looks majestic sitting on the test bench lit with RGBs lighting. Otherwise, the all-black 6-layer PCB (2 Oz copper) is usually covered with heat sinks and veils. Around the socket area, the monoblock and rear IO cover have a carbon fiber look, along with the MSI Gaming Dragon, MPG and EKWB branding. The chipset area also has a ribbed look and features “Carbon EK X” backlit branding with more RGBs. All in all, it’s a good looking board and more than capable of becoming the centerpiece of your AMD-based build, especially for those who like bright RGBs.
By focusing on the top half of the board we get a better view of the RGB-loaded monoblock and the RGB lighting. Out of the box it is bright and the colors are saturated, making it the centerpiece of the board. The rear IO cover and monoblock have a carbon fiber look to match the namesake. The block covers and cools the VRMs and CPU underneath and has a simple pinwheel-type water flow indicator. There are two EPS power connectors on the top edge of the board between the block and the rear IO, one requiring 8-pin and optional 4-pin.
To the right of the socket area we come across the four unamplified, single-sided locking DRAM slots. MSI states that the board is capable of DDR4 5100MHz (APUs higher at 5300MHz), but as usual your mileage may vary due to the kit and number of sticks used, as well as the quality of your memory controller (and the board’s BIOS).
Just above the DRAM slots are the first two (of eight) 4-pin fan headers. This location contains the connections for the CPU fan and the water pump fan. Unfortunately, the MSI website for this board doesn’t seem to have the manual available so we can’t confirm the output. That said, if it’s anything like the X570S Carbon MAX WIFI it’s based on, it’s 2A/24W on the CPU, 3A/36W on the pump, and 1A/12W for the system fan heads. Confirm these values before connecting high-draw components.
All headers support PWM and DC controlled fans, but only the CPU fan automatically selects the mode. The pump fan runs in PWM mode by default, while the system fans start in DC mode. If you need to switch modes, do it in the bios. In all, there are plenty of fan headers to go around.
In the top right corner we come across the two digit code debug display during POST. Below that is a 3-pin Corsair RGB header and a system fan header. Moving to the right, we come across the EZ Debug LED, which consists of four LEDs that light up during the POST process. If any of the four areas (CPU, DRAM, VGA, and Boot) have problems, the light will stay on and give you an idea of where the problem is. But the aforementioned two-digit display should be easier to see and read.
The X570S Carbon EK X has a 16 phase VRM with 14 phases for Vcore. Power comes from the EPS connector(s) and then to a Renesas (Intersil) ISL69247 PWM controller. The EK X uses a “Deut Rail” system, with each channel feeding two MOSFETs without using a phase doubler. The deutrail drives fourteen Renesas 75A SPS MOSFETs. This provides 1,050 A to power your CPU, which is enough to overclock even the flagship Ryzen 9 5950X we’re using for testing.
An overwhelming majority of the bottom half of the board is covered in heat sinks and shrouds. On the left, the audio portion is partially covered. However, the Realtek ALC4080 audio codec is clearly visible (not under a Faraday cage), along with a pair of Chemicon audio capacitors. This section also has a dedicated headphone amplifier to drive headphones up to 600Ω. In short, you will not find much better integrated audio.
In the middle are the PCIe slots and M.2 sockets. There are two full-length slots reinforced with MSI’s Steel Armor. The top slot (primary graphics card slot) takes its lanes from the CPU and runs on PCIe 4.0 x16. The second full-length PCIe slot comes from the X570 chipset and supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds. For those still sticking to multi-GPU setups, the Carbon EK X supports AMD Crossfire technology. The two x1 slots also get their bandwidth from the chipset, but run at a maximum of PCIe 3.0 x1.
Four M.2 connections are hidden under the heat sinks. The top socket (CPU attached), M2_1, supports SATA and PCIe 4.0 x4 devices up to 110mm. M2_2, M2_3 and M2_4 get their lanes from the chipset. M2_2 supports 80mm PCIe and SATA based modules up to 80mm. M2_3 supports up to 110mm PCIe and SATA based devices. Last but not least, M2_4 can handle 80mm PCIe-based storage devices.
With all those slots and sockets something is being shared. In fact, you lose quite a bit when you start loading this board, depending on your configuration. For the M2_3 socket, SATA ports 5/6 are not available when installing a SATA SSD and SATA 5-8 are not available when installing a PCIe SSD. In addition, the PCIe_E4 slot (bottom full-length slot) is not available when installing an M.2 SSD in the M2_4 socket. Your worst case storage scenario is all for M.2 sockets used with four SATA ports. MSI manuals are usually good at breaking lane sharing, so look there when the company uploads a manual (or look at the X570S Carbon MAX WIFIs).
If we go right over the chipset heatsink, we come across eight SATA ports. These connect through the chipset and do not use a separate controller chip for additional lanes. TheCarbon EK X supports RAID0, 1, and 10 modes if you like RAID for speed or redundancy.
There are several headers on the bottom, including USB and SATA ports and RGB connections – nothing fancy. Here’s the full list, from left to right:
- Front panel audio
- 4-pin RGB header
- (2) 4-pin system fan headers
- (2) USB 2.0 headers
- 2 pin head temperature probe
- USB 3.2 Gen1 header
- 4-pin system fan header
- Enable/Disable LED Switch
- Clear CMOS jumper
- Front Panel Header
- 3-pin ARGB header
Looking at the integrated rear IO, we see that the Carbon and Black theme continues here. Each port is labeled with lighter gray letters that are easy to read. There are a total of 10 USB ports, nine Type-A (3x USB 3.2 Gen2, 4x USB 3.2 Gen1, 2x USB 2.0) and a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C port. We find the BIOS Flashback and Clear CMOS buttons on the left, while just above the two USB 2.0 ports is a legacy PS/2 port.
The Carbon EK X uses a single HDMI port (v2.1) for video, not that you’ll likely be using an APU here. On the right we find the 2.5 GbE port and the WiFi 6E antenna connections. Last but not least are the five plug-plus SPDIF audio jacks. It’s quite busy here, but we’d still like to see a second, faster USB-C port at this price.
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