MSI X570 Tomahawk review: possibly the best $200 X570

Bought 2 of the Tomahawks x570 for new builds for my kids. This is for upcoming zen3 5700x CPU. The non-wifi Asus TUF x570 is ~$90CDN cheaper and wifi TUF x570 ~$70CDN. My understanding is TUF also has decent VRMs and features. As a bonus, Asus mobos are supported by iCUE Corsair RGB software, also I'm leaning toward buying TUF 3080 GPU. I don't care about wifi, however i like stability and support. Do you guys think Tomahawk is worth paying premium over Asus TUF?

Please advise.
 
amd7674 said:
Bought 2 of the Tomahawks x570 for new builds for my kids. This is for upcoming zen3 5700x CPU. The non-wifi Asus TUF x570 is ~$90CDN cheaper and wifi TUF x570 ~$70CDN. My understanding is TUF also has decent VRMs and features. As a bonus, Asus mobos are supported by iCUE Corsair RGB software, also I'm leaning toward buying TUF 3080 GPU. I don't care about wifi, however i like stability and support. Do you guys think Tomahawk is worth paying premium over Asus TUF?

Please advise.
Click to expand...

I'm an old man but can you adopt me? lol
Those will be some awesome systems for the kids!

MSI has always had good boards, but their cheaper X570 boards got some harsh press for skimping out on the VRMs.
This new X570 Tomahawk now gets outstanding reviews and it's MSI saying they got the message.

Take a look at the review in the first post of this thread if you haven't.
The X570 Tomahawk got Buildzoid's stamp of approval for great VRM design.

I used to buy ASUS boards years ago and was happy with them. I've been buying MSI boards since the 4790K days though
and have been very happy with them. I still have an MSI PC Mate with a 4690K running at 4.5Ghz on my workbench.
Another system I use a lot is an MSI B450 Tomahawk and that's been great too. That one also got good press.

I'm a self-employed IT guy and I bought the X570 Tomahawk for my main every day driver. It has to work well and it does.

So that's my endorsement. lol

.
 
Crazy you guys are able to get them... only one available on NewEgg is $333... not exactly a bargain anymore at that price. I ended up just getting a B550 (MSI MPG gaming wifi) )+ 3700x for my kid since it had all the features I needed. Heck half the B550's had more features than the x570's. It was disappointing to see most didn't have multi-gig or 10g or a front usb gen 2 header. :(

https://www.newegg.com/msi-mag-x570...omahawk-_-13-144-310-_-Product&quicklink=true
 
Ready4Dis said:
Crazy you guys are able to get them... only one available on NewEgg is $333... not exactly a bargain anymore at that price. I ended up just getting a B550 (MSI MPG gaming wifi) )+ 3700x for my kid since it had all the features I needed. Heck half the B550's had more features than the x570's. It was disappointing to see most didn't have multi-gig or 10g or a front usb gen 2 header. :(

https://www.newegg.com/msi-mag-x570-tomahawk-wifi/p/N82E16813144310?Description=x570 tomahawk&cm_re=x570_tomahawk-_-13-144-310-_-Product&quicklink=true
Click to expand...

This is whack.... Canadian newegg has it for 299 with free shipping. First time ever something is cheaper up north LOL
 
Last edited:
Spartacus said:
I'm an old man but can you adopt me? lol
Those will be some awesome systems for the kids!

MSI has always had good boards, but their cheaper X570 boards got some harsh press for skimping out on the VRMs.
This new X570 Tomahawk now gets outstanding reviews and it's MSI saying they got the message.

Take a look at the review in the first post of this thread if you haven't.
The X570 Tomahawk got Buildzoid's stamp of approval for great VRM design.

I used to buy ASUS boards years ago and was happy with them. I've been buying MSI boards since the 4790K days though
and have been very happy with them. I still have an MSI PC Mate with a 4690K running at 4.5Ghz on my workbench.
Another system I use a lot is an MSI B450 Tomahawk and that's been great too. That one also got good press.

I'm a self-employed IT guy and I bought the X570 Tomahawk for my main every day driver. It has to work well and it does.

So that's my endorsement. lol

.
Click to expand...

Yeap... thanks for your reply I will stick with TOmahawk. I really dislike Asus chipset fan positioning and I saw few users with GPU mounting issues. One of them was Gigabyte 1070... Since I don't know what GPU I will be buying, I don't want to take any chances.

Sorry but adoption won't happen LOL this is for their bdays + their money for their systems. I wouldn't go for bling (h110 platinum, LL120 fans... etc). I'm more of D15 HSF and 200mm case fans LOL.

One of my kids is currently using my old gaming system with MSI mobo driving 3570k with TR Silver Arrow HSF :) And my younger one is using 6500 with MSI mobo as well.
My current system uses Asrock Taichi and I have Gigabyte and Asus HTPCs. I'm not married to any brand and I always try to do some research and ask [H] friends for help! :)

The GPUs they will be getting for xmas, if there will be in stock.
 
amd7674 said:
This whack.... Canadian newegg has it for 299 with free shipping. First time ever something is cheaper up north LOL
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've seen a few guys in the UK and Canada talk about it, but here in the USA... we haven't really gotten much supply and the price stays inflated to where its not such a good deal. Well, glad you were able to get some decent prices on it though, so I know they exist somewhere ;). I had my eye on it for a long time, finally just gave up and moved on.

ps. You guys have issues with Dragon Center? Mine won't run worth anything (loads and launches, but the menu is empty so I can't do a single thing). Put in a ticket with MSI and have gotten ZERO response.
 
amd7674 said:
This is whack.... Canadian newegg has it for 299 with free shipping. First time ever something is cheaper up north LOL
Click to expand...

I got mine mid July from Newegg at $219 USD. Newegg and Amazon get them every so often,
I just happened to check when they had them.

I'm also using the D15 (Black) HSF and it keeps the 3900XT @4.4Ghz all core cool just fine.

See this thread for MSI BIOS settings:

https://hardforum.com/threads/amd-ryzen-9-3900x-voltage-confusion.1988044/post-1044723437

ETA: Haven't used Dragon Center or Ryzen Master on this board, just BIOS settings.

Amazon (third party) has it for $257 USD now if you don't want to wait.

.
 
Last edited:
Ready4Dis said:
Crazy you guys are able to get them... only one available on NewEgg is $333... not exactly a bargain anymore at that price.
Click to expand...

That's a speculative seller - they don't have stock, but take your money and drop ship you the board when it is available and pocket the difference (note their shipping times).

I knew some would show up eventually and caught Amazon at the right time last week and bought one for $219. Estimated arrival was as late as the middle of October, but it looks like it will be here tomorrow, so yay.

https://www.nowinstock.net/full_historydetails/810/48810/

TomaOrder.jpg
 
Last edited:
Jonnycat99 said:
That's a speculative seller - they don't have stock, but take your money and drop ship you the board when it is available and pocket the difference (note their shipping times).

I knew some would show up eventually and caught Amazon at the right time last week and bought one for $219. Estimated arrival was as late as the middle of October, but it looks like it will be here tomorrow, so yay.

https://www.nowinstock.net/full_historydetails/810/48810/
Click to expand...
Yeah, I didn't look that close after seeing the price, lol. I am not looking anymore, I already purchased a B550 that gave me everything I needed for less than the Tomohawk, the PC it went in still has a SATA SSD, so it's not as if I'm missing anything with pcie 3.0 on the chipset. It's running a 3700x (65w chip) so power delivery should be perfectly fine. Of course, when I first started looking, the B550's weren't out and then availability of those was spotty as well, but I got one during the time they were kind of hard to find. The Tomahawk was be announced almost a year before it was "available" and then it was near impossible to get, they finally started trickling out, but it was a complete dissapointment so I gave up on it and saved some money in the process.
 
I will admit that I was pretty close to getting the B550 Tomahawk, it has the same 60A vrms, just 10/2/1 instead of 12+2, and is also highly rated for current capacity.

Either board should have enough power delivery for the Zen 3 chips, which I will upgrade to in year or two when they come down in price.
 
Zen 3 BIOS

MSI has just announced the release of the AMD Combo PI V2 1.1.0.0 BIOS Firmware which offers improved support and compatibility with existing and next-generation Ryzen processors...AMD X570 chipset motherboards will be receiving the BIOS update first followed by B550 & A520 chipset-based motherboards

According to MSI's blog post, the AMD Combo PI V2 1.1.0.0 BIOS update will release in four phases...A total of 10 MSI X570 motherboards will be receiving the BIOS update starting today while B550 & additional X570 motherboards will be added to the support list by the middle of October...MSI will also have the BIOS Firmware ready for its A520 series motherboards by end of October while MSI plans to phase out the BETA release with the official MP BIOS starting in early November...

https://www.msi.com/blog/amd-combo-pi-v2-1100-bios
 
Last edited:
They have a beta BIOS posted with this update for the X570 Tomahawk, but I'll wait.


.
 
I'm looking at this board for Zen 3. I'm assuming x570 boards are expected to at least boot a Zen 3 chip with whatever BIOS it comes with from the factory? I don't necessarily mean run optimally, just that I can actually get in the BIOS and flash it with the latest.

Or will I need to jump through a hoop to update the BIOS before I install a Zen 3 CPU? Haven't owned an AMD chip since a 4400 x2, so I have no other processor on hand.
 
socK said:
I'm looking at this board for Zen 3. I'm assuming x570 boards are expected to at least boot a Zen 3 chip with whatever BIOS it comes with from the factory? I don't necessarily mean run optimally, just that I can actually get in the BIOS and flash it with the latest.

Or will I need to jump through a hoop to update the BIOS before I install a Zen 3 CPU? Haven't owned an AMD chip since a 4400 x2, so I have no other processor on hand.
Click to expand...
I'm on the same boat as you are. I picked up 2 tomahawk x570 mobos and according to the manual (page 46) you can update BIOS without CPU/RAM installed. Also I've read somewhere most (if not all) b550/x570 mobos offer this BIOS update in anticipation for ZEN3 CPUs.
I don't believe you could boot up with non-ZEN3 BIOS installed even though mobo supports it. I'm planning to upgrade my mobos, after ZEN3 reveal in 4 days! Good luck :)
 
amd7674 said:
I'm on the same boat as you are. I picked up 2 tomahawk x570 mobos and according to the manual (page 46) you can update BIOS without CPU/RAM installed. Also I've read somewhere most (if not all) b550/x570 mobos offer this BIOS update in anticipation for ZEN3 CPUs.
I don't believe you could boot up with non-ZEN3 BIOS installed even though mobo supports it. I'm planning to upgrade my mobos, after ZEN3 reveal in 4 days! Good luck :)
Click to expand...

Guess this is the route I'll take.

Now I just need to find one of these things.
 
amd7674 said:
I'm on the same boat as you are. I picked up 2 tomahawk x570 mobos and according to the manual (page 46) you can update BIOS without CPU/RAM installed. Also I've read somewhere most (if not all) b550/x570 mobos offer this BIOS update in anticipation for ZEN3 CPUs.
I don't believe you could boot up with non-ZEN3 BIOS installed even though mobo supports it. I'm planning to upgrade my mobos, after ZEN3 reveal in 4 days! Good luck :)
Click to expand...

yes it has a Flash Bios button where you can update the BIOS without any memory/CPU/GPU installed
 
FYI... there is a new BIOS:

Version 7C84v14
Release Date 2020-11-04

Description
- Updated AMD AGESA ComboAm4v2PI 1.1.0.0 Patch C
 
new 151 bios (beta) is up.

  • Support AMD SAM(SMART ACCESS MEMORY) function
  • Also I think it fixes XMP > 3200 RAM issues

Happy testing ;)
 
anyone install the Noctua NH-D15 with this board?...any issues as far as clearance with the GPU or memory?
 
I'm finally starting my build this coming week...which is the best/most stable BIOS to use?
 
I'm running the NH-D15. From memory when I installed it, I mounted the memory side fan a notch higher because
I didn't want it resting on and vibrating the memory. No major issue.

I'm running the 1.40 BIOS, I try to stay away from beta versions.

.
 
seems like the AMD chipset drivers are way more important to install versus the Intel chipset drivers
 
polonyc2 said:
seems like the AMD chipset drivers are way more important to install versus the Intel chipset drivers
Click to expand...
Also don't forget to install latest Realtek NIC driver . I'm sure you are getting the AMD chipset drivers directly from AMD.

For the BIOS, I would probably go with the latest 151 BIOS although it says it is beta. I think it should offer better RAM support for anything over 3200Mhz.

Mind you I believe there are still major zen3 BIOS issues with AGESA patch C (impacting all manifacturers not only MSI). I find this thread very interesting, talking about current issues...

Since I'm still waiting for my 5900x, I cannot try any of it... LOL... Good luck!!! and share your pain (hopefuly none) and success :)
 
amd7674 said:
Also don't forget to install latest Realtek NIC driver . I'm sure you are getting the AMD chipset drivers directly from AMD.

For the BIOS, I would probably go with the latest 151 BIOS although it says it is beta. I think it should offer better RAM support for anything over 3200Mhz.

Mind you I believe there are still major zen3 BIOS issues with AGESA patch C (impacting all manifacturers not only MSI). I find this thread very interesting, talking about current issues...

Since I'm still waiting for my 5900x, I cannot try any of it... LOL... Good luck!!! and share your pain (hopefuly none) and success :)
Click to expand...

thanks for the Realtek link...I tried looking for those earlier but their website is a mess and is hard to find anything...so Windows Update won't automatically find the latest Realtek drivers?...with my current Marvell Yukon 88E8056 network adapter I found that Windows Update always downloaded a newer version while the Marvell site hadn't updated their drivers in years

this board uses the Realtek ALC1200 codec...but I can't find drivers for this anywhere on the Realtek website...anyone have a link?...or is it best to just get these from the MSI support site?...does Windows Update provide these drivers as well?...I always prefer to get drivers directly from the manufacturer website but the Realtek site is a mess to navigate...

I was planning on downloading the chipset drivers from AMD but found it interesting that when looking at the MSI X570 Tomahawk motherboard support website it shows that the latest AMD Chipset driver version available is from 11/09/20 (2.9.28.509)...but when checking the AMD website it shows the latest chipset driver version available as being from 10/19/20 (2.10.13.408)...does MSI use a custom chipset version?...why does MSI have an older version listed but with a more recent date?...I'm assuming it's best to use the AMD website version regardless of the version number and date?
 
Last edited:
Pulled the 3900XT and upgraded to the 5900X.
Very nice performance, noticeably faster than the 3900.

Still running the 1.40 BIOS. No problems running GSkill 3600 with XMP enabled.

Although since the 5900 does a much better job of auto boosting, I'm not going to run all core like I did with the 3900.

The 5900 is auto boosting 4.6 - 4.9GHz when the 3900 was only doing 4.2 - 4.3GHz tops.
Everything set to auto except XMP on the 5900. I may tinker with with OC at some point, but all good for now.

I read that Zen 3 is more aggressively auto boosting, and that appears to be true.

.
 
Spartacus said:
Pulled the 3900XT and upgraded to the 5900X.
Very nice performance, noticeably faster than the 3900.

Still running the 1.40 BIOS. No problems running GSkill 3600 with XMP enabled.

Although since the 5900 does a much better job of auto boosting, I'm not going to run all core like I did with the 3900.

The 5900 is auto boosting 4.6 - 4.9GHz when the 3900 was only doing 4.2 - 4.3GHz tops.
Everything set to auto except XMP on the 5900. I may tinker with with OC at some point, but all good for now.

I read that Zen 3 is more aggressively auto boosting, and that appears to be true.

.
Click to expand...
Congrats!!! How are the temps? If anything I'm more interested in undervolting which should be supported in the future releases of BIOS... Now if only my B&H 5900x ever came.... I'm scared to ask them for an update.
It was supposed to be on Dec 21 (as per previuos email), and they told me it could Jan-March few weeks ago via chat. I wish they were sending customer update emails every few weeks.
 
polonyc2 said:
thanks for the Realtek link...I tried looking for those earlier but their website is a mess and is hard to find anything...so Windows Update won't automatically find the latest Realtek drivers?...with my current Marvell Yukon 88E8056 network adapter I found that Windows Update always downloaded a newer version while the Marvell site hadn't updated their drivers in years

this board uses the Realtek ALC1200 codec...but I can't find drivers for this anywhere on the Realtek website...anyone have a link?...or is it best to just get these from the MSI support site?...does Windows Update provide these drivers as well?...I always prefer to get drivers directly from the manufacturer website but the Realtek site is a mess to navigate...

are the onboard audio drivers included with the chipset drivers or is there a separate download link for that as well?

I was planning on downloading the chipset drivers from AMD but found it interesting that when looking at the MSI X570 Tomahawk motherboard support website it shows that the latest AMD Chipset driver version available is from 11/09/20 (2.9.28.509)...but when checking the AMD website it shows the latest chipset driver version available as being from 10/19/20 (2.10.13.408)...does MSI use a custom chipset version?...why does MSI have an older version listed but with a more recent date?...I'm assuming it's best to use the AMD website version regardless of the version number and date?
Click to expand...
Yeah, Realtek site is all messed up. I cannot audio drivers myself. For audio I would use MSI or win10 default drivers, unless you run into problems. For chipset drivers, maybe I would go with AMD generic drivers. Again it all depends if you run into issues. I'm sorry I wish I could help you more :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top