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Firmware
The Steel Legend’s background matches the board theme, with a black/grey with white fonts and blue highlighting. You start in Easy Mode, which is mostly informative but lets you change a few options (XMP, profiles, boot order, Fan-Tastic Tuning, etc.). Advanced mode displays headings across the top with details below. Here, you can tweak everything to your heart’s desire, as ASRock includes every option you can think of. Overclocking is easy, with most options on the same page, although some power options are in a different section. It’s a logical layout. The movement is smooth and it’s easy to read. No complaints from us about the ASRock firmware.
Software
For software, ASRock provides several different options. It has the App Shop to install drivers and software, the Nahimic 3 audio control panel, and the A-Tune/Blazing OC application that overclocks your system, controls fans, and more. There’s even a pop-up to install drivers when you first boot the system. ASRock’s software provides everything users need to manage and tweak their system.
Test System / Comparison Products
We’ve updated our test system to Windows 11 64-bit OS with all updates applied. We kept the same Asus TUF RTX 3070 video card from our previous testing platforms but updated the driver. We also updated to F1 22 for our games and kept Far Cry 6. We use the latest non-beta motherboard BIOS available to the public unless otherwise noted. The hardware we used is as follows:
CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X |
Memory | GSkill Trident Z DDR5-5600 CL36 (F5-5600U3636C16GX2-TZ5RK) |
Row 2 - Cell 0 | Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-6000 CL36 (KF560C36BBEAK2-32) |
GPU | Asus TUF RTX 3070 |
Cooling | Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 Flux |
PSU | EVGA Supernova 850W P6 |
Software | Windows 11 64-bit (22H2, Build 22622.601) |
Graphics Driver | Nvidia Driver 522.25 |
Sound | Integrated HD audio |
Network | Integrated Networking (GbE or 2.5 GbE) |
EVGA supplied our Supernova 850W P6 power supply (appropriately sized and more efficient than the 1.2KW monster we used previously) for our test systems, and G.Skill sent us a DDR5-5600 (F5-5600U3636C16GX2-TZ5RK) memory kit for testing.
Benchmark Settings
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
Procyon | Version 2.1.459 64 |
Office Suite (Office 365), Video Editing (Premiere Pro 22.6.2.2), Photo Editing (Photoshop 23.5.1, Lightroom Classic 11.5) | |
3DMark | Version 2.22.7359 64 |
Firestrike Extreme and Time Spy Default Presets | |
Cinebench R23 | Version RBBENCHMARK330542 |
Open GL Benchmark - Single and Multi-threaded | |
Blender | Version 3.3.0 |
Full benchmark (all 3 tests) | |
Application Tests and Settings | |
LAME MP3 | Version SSE2_2019 |
Mixed 271MB WAV to mp3: Command: -b 160 --nores (160Kb/s) | |
HandBrake CLI | Version: 1.2.2 |
Sintel Open Movie Project: 4.19GB 4K mkv to x264 (light AVX) and x265 (heavy AVX) | |
Corona 1.4 | Version 1.4 |
Custom benchmark | |
7-Zip | Version 21.03-beta |
Integrated benchmark (Command Line) | |
Game Tests and Settings | |
Far Cry 6 | Ultra Preset - 1920 x 1080, HD Textures ON |
F1 2022 | Ultra Preset - 1920 x 1080, Ultra High (default) Bahrain (Clear/Dry), FPS Counter ON |
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Prev Page Features and Specifications Next Page Benchmarks and Final AnalysisJoe Shields is a Freelance writer for Tom’s Hardware US. He reviews motherboards.
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Avro Arrow For the money, you can't beat ASRock this generation when it comes to motherboards because their X670E boards tend to be less expensive than the non-E versions of most other makers.Reply
On thing in the headline made me chuckle a bit:
"Budget X670E board" - The word "budget" should never be used in the same sentence as "X670E" when it comes to motherboards.
Then I saw this that was even funnier...
"ASRock describes the Steel Legend as a “philosophical state of rock-solid durability and irresistible aesthetics.” :??:
I don't know what they're smoking at ASRock but I think that the Steel Legend would be best described as... "a motherboard". :ROFLMAO: -
PEnns I am confused,Reply
Isn't this motherboard meant for AMD CPUs?? And yet the test is run using Intel Core i9-13900K....??
Or maybe my caffeine didn't kick in yet....;) -
bourgeoisdude I got this board a while back (when X670E were the only choices) because I never wanted to run out of USB ports again. For the price point I think it is the best X670E in the price range.Reply -
simonharris314
Not the first time this has happened (the problem with cutting and pasting). To be fair, on the last page it does mention the Ryzen 9 7950X.PEnns said:I am confused,
Isn't this motherboard meant for AMD CPUs?? And yet the test is run using Intel Core i9-13900K....??
Or maybe my caffeine didn't kick in yet....;)
Ooops. Mentioned it on the first page too!
That'll teach me to skim read. -
CerianK Under 'Specifications':Reply
(2) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe (up to 80mm)
should read
(3) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe (up to 80mm).
From ASRock site:
1 Blazing M.2(PCIe Gen5x4),
3 Hyper M.2 (PCIe Gen4x4), -
Giroro I wonder why PC sales are way down.Reply
Do you think it could be because "budget" motherboards cost $300? -
Geezer760 Since when is $300 for a MB considered Budget, this board dosen't even include a digital error code thing at $300 it should include that at the very least.Reply -
Hotrod2go
More like mobile computing is increasing in popularity these days, so no need for desktop systems as much like in the past.Giroro said:I wonder why PC sales are way down.
Do you think it could be because "budget" motherboards cost $300? -
bourgeoisdude It's a "budget" X670E motherboard. Which isn't really a budget chipset, as that is the top tier. If you want budged AM5 look at the B650/B650E motherboards.Reply -
smitz314 Appreciate the detailed review. Well done.Reply
Our next (and potentially one of the last) AMD X670 reviews on our current review platform, is ASRock’s X670E Steel Legend Wi-Fi.
That's disappointing. There are several other X670 reviews I was hoping for, most notably for MSI boards.
Also, why delay the review of a product that was released 12 months ago? Seems odd.