Asus presented nine motherboards with AMD X870/X870E chipsets, equipped with a Socket AM5 processor socket, designed for the latest Ryzen 9000 chips. Among the new products presented were models from the proprietary ROG, TUF Gaming, ProArt and Prime series.
Image source: ASUS
The manufacturer explained that the difference in the X870/X870E chipsets is that the X870E supports two USB4 interfaces, as well as the presence of a larger number of available PCIe lanes that can be distributed to perform various tasks. For example, the ProArt X870E-Creator WiFi board model presented today uses additional lines to operate a 10-gigabit Marvell network controller.
Among the motherboard models presented by Asus was the flagship ROG Crosshair X870E Hero. It uses a 22-phase VRM power subsystem with an 18+2+2 phase pattern. The new product is equipped with four DIMM slots supporting installation of up to 192 GB of DDR5 RAM, two PCIe 5.0 x16, three M.2 2280 (PCIe 5.0 x4) and two M.2 2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4) and a SlimSAS interface (PCIe 4.0 x4).
The board supports Wi-Fi 7 and has two network connectors. The first supports speeds of up to 2.5 Gbit/s using the Intel controller, the second is controlled by the Realtek controller, which provides data transfer rates of up to 5 Gbit/s.
The ROG Crosshair X870E Hero board is equipped with high-quality ROG SupremeFX 7.1 Surround Sound based on the Realtek ALC4082 codec and the ESS ES9219 Quad DAC. The board’s equipment also includes two USB4 (USB Type-C 40 Gbps), six Type-A and two USB Type-C with a speed of 10 Gbps, three USB Type-C 20 Gbps (one with support for fast charging Quick Charge 4+ up to 60 W, two internal USB 5 Gbps and two USB 2.0). Additionally, the manufacturer emphasizes that the new product has mechanisms for quick and easy installation and removal of NVMe drives, as well as video cards.
A lower rank is the ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WIFI board model. It is also based on a 22-phase VRM power subsystem with a phase diagram of 18+2+2. The board is equipped with four DIMM slots supporting installation of up to 192 GB of DDR5 RAM, one PCIe 5.0 x16, one PCIe 4.0 x4. It received one M.2 22110 (PCIe 5.0 x4), as well as two M.2 2280 (PCIe 5.0 x4) and M.2 2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4).
The ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WIFI model supports Wi-Fi 7 and is equipped with one 5-Gigabit LAN connector. The sound of the new product is provided by the ROG SupremeFX ALC4080 codec with a Savitech SV3H712 amplifier. Available connectors include two USB4 (USB Type-C 40 Gbps), one USB Type-C 20 Gbps with 30 W fast charging, ten USB 10 Gbps (nine Type-A and one USB Type- C), one USB Type-C 20 Gbps, two front USB 5 Gbps and three front USB 2.0. The board is also equipped with mechanisms for quickly installing NVMe drives and a video card.
ROG Strix X870-F Gaming WiFi
The ROG Strix X870-F Gaming WiFi and ROG Strix X870-A Gaming WiFi motherboard models are equipped with 20-phase VRM power subsystems with a 16+2+2 phase design. The manufacturer positions both boards as an ideal solution for processors of the Ryzen 7 9700X level.
ROG Strix X870-F Gaming WiFi
Both boards have the same characteristics. If you believe the description, the models differ only in color: the X870-F Gaming WiFi is black, and the X870-A Gaming WiFi is white. Both boards support installation of up to 192 GB of DDR5 RAM, received one PCIe 5.0 x16 and one PCIe 4.0 x4.
ROG Strix X870-A Gaming WiFi
They also have one M.2 22110 (PCIe 5.0 x4), M.2 2280 (PCIe 5.0 x4) and two M.2 2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4). The boards support Wi-Fi 7 and are equipped with 2.5 Gigabit network adapters. The sound in the new products is provided by ROG SupremeFX ALC4080 codecs with Savitech SV3H712 amplifiers.
ROG Strix X870-A Gaming WiFi
Among the available connectors, the boards have two USB4 (USB Type-C 40 Gbps), six USB 10 Gbps (five Type-A and one USB Type-C with 30 W fast charging), one USB Type-C 20 Gbps, four USB Type-A 5 Gbps. The front panel contains one USB Type-C (20 Gbps), two USB Type-A 5 Gbps and two USB 2.0.
Unlike all the presented boards, the ROG Strix X870-I Gaming WiFi model is made in the Mini-ITX format. It follows Nvidia SFF recommendations and is designed for building compact gaming systems. The board received two DIMM slots with support for up to 96 GB of DDR5 RAM.
It also has one PCIe 5.0 x16, M.2 2280 (PCIe 5.0 x4) and M.2 2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4) slot each, supports Wi-Fi 7 and is equipped with a 2.5-Gigabit LAN network connector. The sound in the new product is provided by a special ROG Strix Hive II plug-in module with an ESS Saber 9260Q DAC.
The set of external connectors for the ROG Strix X870-I Gaming WiFi includes two USB4 (USB Type-C 40 Gbps), five USB 10 Gbps (four Type-A and one USB Type-C), three USB 2.0. One USB Type-C 10 Gbps and one USB 5 Gbps are output to the front panel. Two additional USB 10 Gbps (one Type-A and one USB Type-C) and two USB 2.0 are also available through the ROG Strix Hive II module.
The TUF Gaming X870-Plus WIFI board supports up to 192GB of DDR5 RAM. It received one PCIe 5.0 x16, one PCIe 4.0 x4, two M.2 2280 (PCIe 5.0 x4), as well as one M.2 2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4) and M.2 2242/2260/2280/22110 (PCIe 4.0 x4). It is also equipped with support for Wi-Fi 7 and a 2.5-gigabit LAN network connector.
The Realtek ALC1220P codec is responsible for the sound in the new product. The board has two USB4 (USB Type-C 40 Gbps), three USB Type-A 10 Gbps, four USB Type-A 5 Gbps and one USB 2.0. The front panel has one USB Type-C (20 Gbps with 30 W fast charging function), one USB 5 Gbps and two USB 2.0.
The ProArt X870E-Creator WiFi board is designed for digital content creators. It supports installation of up to 192 GB of DDR5 RAM, received two PCIe 5.0 x16 (operating in x16/- or x8/x8 mode) and one PCIe 4.0 x16 (operating in x4 mode). It also has two M.2 2280 (PCIe 5.0 x4) and one each of M.2 2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4) and M.2 22110 (PCIe 4.0 x4).
The ProArt X870E-Creator WiFi model supports Wi-Fi 7, is equipped with one 10-Gbit LAN network connector based on the Marvell AQtion controller and one 2.5-Gbit network interface based on the Intel controller. The Realtek S1220A codec is responsible for supporting 7.1-channel audio in the new product.
The board received one HDMI port, two USB4 (USB Type-C 40 Gbps) for connecting displays. On the rear panel it has two USB4 (USB Type-C 40 Gbps), one USB Type-C 20 Gbps, seven USB Type-A 10 Gbps and one USB 2.0. The front panel includes one USB Type-C 20 Gbps with Quick Charge 4+ fast charging function up to 30 W, one USB Type-A 5 Gbps and three USB 2.0.
The Prime X870-P WiFi and Prime X870-P board models have almost the same characteristics. The first stands out for its support for Wi-Fi 7 and the presence of an additional PCIe 4.0 x16 slot. Both boards support installation of up to 192 GB of DDR5 RAM and received one PCIe 5.0 x16. The Prime X870-P WiFi model is also equipped with three PCIe 4.0 x16, the Prime X870-P model received two such connectors.
The equipment of the new products also includes one M.2 2280 (PCIe 5.0 x4), M.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4), M.2 2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4) and M.2 2280 (PCIe 3.0 x2) . Both have 2.5 Gigabit LAN ports.
The rear panels of the boards contain two USB4 (USB Type-C 40 Gbit/s), one USB Type-A 10 Gbit/s, three USB Type-A 5 Gbit/s and four USB 2.0. The front panel contains one USB Type-C 10 Gbit/s and USB Type-A 5 Gbit/s, as well as two USB 2.0.