The competition inside the desktop CPU market is quite heated. We haven’t seen both Intel and AMD go at each other like this in quite a while. Ryzen is a formidable opponent to Intel’s successful line of processors. In the midst of all of this competition, many will tend to agree that the Ryzen 3000 has proved to be an amazing line of processors. This remains true even after the launch of the Ryzen 5000 series. So, while X470 is a great option, X570 tends to be the better of the two. Now, if you’re looking for the best motherboard for a Ryzen 7 3700X, check out our guide here.
A prime example of a near-perfect processor is the Ryzen 7 3700X. It has 8 cores, 16 threads, a boost frequency of 4.4GHz, and all of this at a 65 W TDP. Even sometime after the launch, it holds its own and is an excellent processor for both gaming and productivity. However, a processor is only as good as the motherboard you pair it with.
You have a lot of options for this processor. The B440, B550, X470, and X570 chipsets are all great. However, to get the most out of it, you’ll want to go with either X470 or X570. With that said, let’s take a quick look at what’s the better choice for you.
X470 vs X570: One Major Difference
Let’s run over the subtle differences quickly. For the X470 chipset, we get two USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports (10Gbps), six USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports (5Gbps), and six USB 2.0 ports. We also get eight or four SATA ports, depending on the motherboard make and model. The X570 chipset gets rid of USB 3.1 entirely, and instead, we get eight USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (20Gbps). For those who care about transferring large files, this is a significant upgrade. We still have four USB 2.0 ports on the X570 chipset.
As the 3700X is great for video editing and rendering, we’re willing to bet a lot of people are transferring large files all of the time. So, having eight USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports will come in handy down the line. X570 motherboards also tend to have better VRMs and overclocking support than their predecessors. Most of these boards also have a fan for cooling the chipset.
That’s where things get interesting. The X570 chipset needs active cooling because of PCIe Gen 4 support (among other factors). These PCIe 4 lanes allow for better future-proofing for powerful GPUs down the line. However, you can take advantage of those faster lines by adding in a faster PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD. These SSDs are the cream of the crop and are similar to what both the PS5 and Xbox Series X are using.
As game developers incorporate faster loading animations into their games, these SSDs will come in handy. People who do a lot of rendering, video editing, and other production-based work will also appreciate this upgrade.
