The ULTIMATE AMD X670E Motherboard Roundup Review

If you’ve been watching/reading our content for quite some time, you’ll know that we don’t tend to do huge amounts of content on motherboards, but instead, like to focus more on doing the ultimate roundup of motherboards, which generally takes a very long time and leaves us at the mercy of motherboard vendors sending us as many motherboards as possible to make it the most comprehensive motherboard roundup on the planet. AMD X670E So since the launch of X670 from AMD and even Z790 from Intel, we had a lot of internal discussions about motherboard testing, along with getting feedback from all of you about how we conduct things, and the general consensus was that we completely ditch productivity and gaming benchmarking and focussed more on the things that matter, which comes down to features, pricing and VRM testing. For the most part, if you’re comparing motherboards and using the same CPU, GPU and memory, you’ll find, unless something is seriously wrong, likely down to the BIOS or just being a completely sub-par product, that all boards on the same chipset should perform within the same range of each other, which really, for the average consumer, shows absolutely nothing. A motherboard is never going to give you extra performance per se, though if the likes of the VRM temperatures are under control, it can certainly make a difference with levels of boost on your CPU, along with providing clean stable power, not only for stock performance but for overclocking as well. So if you were hoping to see a bunch of pointless charts, sadly you won’t see them here, because they really are completely, 100% redundant. Motherboards Now, while we did reach out to all of the main brands on the market, ASRock never replied, so you won’t see anything here for them, but I’d like to think that we have the most popular boards that sport the X670E chipset from ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI. In total, we have 7 boards, and we’ll touch on the design and features of each of them, before jumping into the all-important VRM testing. In terms of the motherboards, because they are X670E and not just the bog standard X670 chipset, they are all on the higher end of the scale in terms of features, who they’re aimed at and of course, the all-important price and we’ll go through them in price order, as some of the models are very similar from rival competitors, so that should give you an insight as to what’s the best one to choose specifically for your needs. ASUS PRIME X670E-Pro WiFi So kicking things off with the cheapest board we have which is the ASUS PRIME X670E-Pro WiFi which is definitely going to appeal to a lot of people due to the style and design with a predominantly silver and somewhat champagne colour scheme. For a board of this calibre though, ASUS has definitely stepped up the game with boot LEDs for troubleshooting, dual EPS power connectors and 14+2 power phases rated at 70 Amps per stage. The board also includes a PCI-Express Gen 5 slot for your graphics card, along with a total of 4 M.2 slots, of which one is ready for Gen 5 devices as well. What’s also nice to see is features that we’ve only ever seen on the super high-end, like the Q-release button so you’re not fumbling between your CPU cooler and the backplate of your toasty GPU in the hope of releasing it. Heatsink-wise, the Prime definitely looks to be ample, with two separate blocks helping keep things at bay, with the larger of the two molding into that large I/O shroud with a built-in backplate. Again, it seems ASUS has really upped their game, here incorporating some high-end features like that, even on a lower-priced motherboard. ASUS ROG STRIX X670E-I Gaming WiFi Next up is the ASUS ROG STRIX X670E-I Gaming WiFi which is a little confusing, as it’s X670E, but is the "i" variant, meaning that it’s mini ITX and is actually the only mini ITX X670E board on the market from any brand. What’s funny is that every generation sees mini-ITX boards, though they are small form factor, rise in height due to the ability of adding new features without adding beyond the mini-ITX form factor. Those unique features include the dual-stacked M.2 slots, which include a PCI-Express 5.0 slot along with a Gen 4 slot too, which sits comfortably next to the single PCI-Express 5.0 slot for your GPU. Along with this is a riser card, known as the ROG FPS-II card which gives SATA connectivity, along with various USB and front panel headers, again, while also saving on space. Beyond that, there’s also the ROG STRIX HIVE which is a separate breakout unit that can sit on your desk or case and give some well-known ROG features including Q-LEDs, BIOS flashback button, USB ports and multimedia connectivity and controls. Now, while this is the smallest board we have, it doesn’t skimp out when it comes to the VRMs with a 10+2 power phase design, with each stage rates for a whopping 110 Amps of concurrent power which are all cooled by a single large heatsink that merges into the rear I/O which also houses a single small fan which exhausts heat away, out of the rear I/O panel. Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER Around the same price, at least in the US, is the Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER. Now I’ve always been a massive advocate of the MASTER boards as they typically offer amazing value for money in terms of design, features and what they have to offer and this board is no different in those departments. For that money, you get an EATX-sized board with a bucket load of features including all of the usual X670E-based stuff like 2.5G Ethernet, Wifi 6E and a ton of super-fast USB ports, but on top of that, you get a total of 3 full-size x16 PCI-Express ports, of which the top one is PCI-E 5 ready, along with 4 M.2 slots, of which 2 are PCI-Express 5 for those blistering fast speeds. In terms of the design, Gigabyte has gone big with most of the board covered by large, albeit stylish heatsinks which will aid in cooling as well, which is important for the 16+2+2 power phase design that’s been included which incorporates a very beefy setup comprising of 105A power stages for the cleanest and most stable power possible. To keep things under control temperature-wise, Gigabyte has stuck with their Fins Array III design and 8mm mega-heatpipe which from previous generations, definitely does the job it needs to. ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming WiFi Moving up the stack in terms of price, we move back to ASUS with the ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming WiFi which does go for a more stealthy and understated look that we’ve come to expect with the E Gaming lineup of boards over the generations. It’s not all style over substance though, as the E Gaming WiFi includes some cool features, like the Q-release button for the top PCI-Express slot of which, along with the second slot, are both PCI-Express 5 ready, while the third slot is PCI-Express 4.0 compliant. On top of that, the board has a total of 4 M.2 slots, of which the top two also both support PCI-Express 5 drives, for when they finally hit the market. For the all-important VRMs, ASUS has gone big using an 18+2 based Digi+ power phase setup, consisting of 110A of continuous power per stage and their infamously named Procool II dual 8-pin power connectors. To keep temperatures at bay, ASUS has opted for two large heatsinks around the CPU socket which are connected by a large heatpipe to help spread the heat around for the very best cooling. Gigabyte X670E AORUS XTREME Now, as we move up into the more expensive realm of boards, we start things off with the Gigabyte X670E AORUS XTREME which I’ll be honest, isn’t for the faint-hearted, due to its price point, but at the same time, is one of the best looking boards on the market though I think I preferred the design on previous generation Xtreme boards with more of the PCB covered and right-angled connectors which is what made the Xtreme stand out in the first place. That aside, the design is beefy, especially towards the rear I/O of the board which covers over some of the VRM cooling. Feature-wise, as expected, the board is ready for PCI-Express 5.0 graphics through one of the three PCI-Express x16 slots, along with PCI-E 5.0 M.2 drives on all four of the M.2 slots which is pretty impressive, as most boards generally only utilise one M.2 slot supporting the faster upcoming drives. All of these super-fast features require a lot of power, and Gigabyte have you covered there too with an 18+2+2 digital power setup with each phase providing 105A of continuous power. To keep this cool at all times, Gigabyte has gone with their latest advanced thermal design consisting of a large 8mm heatpipe, Fins-Array III with NanoCarbon coating and NanoCarbon aluminium backplate. MSI MEG X670E ACE For the same price, another option you have is to go for the MSI MEG X670E Ace which is one of the more unique choices of boards on the market due to its black and gold colour scheme, which also adds a level of premium styling to the market. While the ACE forms part of the MEG lineup, it sits just below the GODLIKE which is MSI’s top-tier motherboard for the X670E chipset. With its E-ATX form factor, it’s allowed MSI to cram in features, like the three x16 expansion slots of which the top two both support PCIe 5.0 speeds, along with the 4 M.2 slots, of which the one next to the DIMM slots, which is an unusual location, also supports the faster PCI-E 5 technology for those wanting unparalleled performance, though it doesn’t stop there, as the ACE also bundles in an M.2 Xpander-Z Gen 5 dual expansion card for an extra two PCI-Express 5.0 slots. Being a top-tier board means that MSI hasn’t skimped anywhere, especially so on the power phases which incorporate a 22+2+1 stage design, with 22 phases just for the Vcore, of which all are rated at 90A each and are powered by twin 8-pin EPS connectors. The cooling is pretty hefty too with a stacked fin array design, a direct touch heatpipe which connects the two heatsinks, along with a MOSFET baseplate and large backplate to help with the rigidity of the board, as well as helping to evenly distribute heat away from the phases as well. ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Extreme Lastly, if money is no object, then you have the ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Extreme which is ASUS’s flagship motherboard for the X670E chipset. It’s stacked with features and a design that’s perfect for those wanting a premium-looking board with plenty of flashing lights, though can be turned off if it’s not for you. Most of the board is covered by heatsinks and mixed materials, and the whole right side of the EATX board is right-angled for the very best in cable management. Expansion slot wise, it includes two x16 slots and a single x4 slot, of which both x16 slots are PCI-E 5.0 ready along with a total of 5 M.2 slots, with two onboard slots on the board itself, 2 on the ROG Gen-Z.2 riser module and a fifth on the bundled PCIe 5.0 M.2 card. Out of these 5 slots, a total of 4 of them are Gen 5 ready, with only one on the riser module being gen 4 compatible, but in all honesty, who’s going to be running that many gen 5 drives when they do finally drop anyway? The power delivery is extreme, just like the board with teamed power stages which operate in a 20+2 configuration and are rated at 110A each along with the ASUS Procool II power connectors that feed the power to the top part of the board and to the CPU. To keep the phases under control, there’s an embedded heatpipe which angles from the top of the board towards the I/O with two large heatsinks that heat dissipate the heat away along with the steel backplate that’s bolted to the rear of the board to assist not only with temperatures but to strengthen the board as well. How We Test So hopefully that’s given you some food for thought on what board may be right for you in terms of design, features and that all-important price, but there are other areas that are worth looking at, but before we do, it’s worth talking about the test configuration which consisted of the Ryzen 9 7900X processor, as at the time of testing, the 7950X wasn’t available to us. Memory-wise, we used Corsair’s Dominator Platinum DDR5 32GB 5200MHz memory and for the GPU, we used the Inno3D RTX 4090 iChill X3. Everything was housed inside the NZXT H7 Flow case with an NZXT Z73 RGB for consistency with the stock fan configuration of a single 120mm fan in the front and the same in the rear, while the Z73 is installed at the top with its triple fan setup. We made sure that our room was at 24 degrees +/- 1 degree throughout our testing, as sadly we don’t have air conditioning to keep it any cooler, and then for our readings, we used the Akozon 4-channel K-type thermocouple thermometer for VRM temperatures which were fixed to the rear of the boards and reported the peak temperature. Along with this, for power measurements, we used the GW-Instek GPM8212 AC Power Meter for the very best accuracy. Also for our power and VRM testing, we used Prime95 for a prolonged amount of time to put as much stress under the CPU for a somewhat worst-case scenario type test. Boot Time So, first things first, is to look at boot times because as we all know, X670E and AM5 in general for that matter, isn’t the quickest platform on the market, due to memory training. So with each board set up using the same components, and set to their default BIOS settings, we performed a cold boot on each to see how long it would take to get to the first instance of loading Windows and the results were quite interesting, with the more expensive and feature-packed boards all taking longer than the rest of the stack. The worst board for boot time was the Gigabyte X670E AORUS XTREME at a whopping 51 seconds, followed closely behind by the ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X6570E EXTREME at 47 seconds total. As we move further down the list, we can see some quite big jumps into the mid-tier, with the Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER coming in the quickest at just 24 seconds, which is a much more acceptable number in the grand scheme of things. VRM The other key area to look at is VRMs because this is where things get pretty interesting. To start with, it’s worth noting that even after a prolonged Prime95 run, which is worst case scenario, none of the boards peaked above 65 degrees, which is a huge step up from X570 which in comparison ran fairly hot. As we look at the results, at idle, everything was very similar, with the mini-ITX board as expected coming out as the warmest, while at load, things shifted about a bit, with the higher-end boards coming in with the best VRM temperatures. The only outlier here was the MSI ACE board which while was warmer than the likes of the two extreme boards from ASUS And Gigabyte, was still at a very respectable 56 degrees. The Gigabyte AORUS XTREME did come in the best though, at 41 degrees celsius followed closely, at 42 degrees by the Crosshair Extreme. Also as expected, the hottest board was the mini-ITX board from ASUS, but even at 65 degrees, it’s well within safe limits and would encounter no thermal throttling across your system anyway, and is only higher due to the smaller form factor that it encompasses. Either way, I think it’s clear to see what whatever board you choose to go with, you’re going to have no problem with thermals, even when pushing your CPU to the limits through overclocking, as every brand has done a great job of keeping things under control, even when looking at the likes of Prime95, which does paint a picture well beyond what the average user is likely to experience anyway. System Power Consumption Another area I was keen to look at comes down to total system power consumption, as each result only has one changing variable which is the board itself, so it’s easy to see what kind of difference it can make when choosing what board is right for you. As expected, at idle, the mini-ITX board uses the least amount of power with our system sitting at 78 Watts, while the Crosshair Extreme system used the most at 121 Watts idle. As we put the systems through a Prime95 run, the Crosshair stays at the top of our stack at 291 Watts, while the E Gaming comes in the most efficient at 271 Watts. Typically speaking, the higher-end boards do require more power, though Gigabyte’s AORUS boards stand out here as they actually use around 10 to 15 Watts less power compared to the competition. Cost Per Hour What this means for cost is that there really isn’t much between each of the boards, all coming in with a total system cost of around 4 cents per hour at load, so the cost of running them doesn’t really come into play much and instead, you’d have a better choice to make based on the cost of the board in the first place, and if it offers up the features you need for your system. It’s very much the same story in the UK with a total system per hour cost of 9 pence, with less than a penny between the most efficient board, and the board that required the most power to run, so again, if you’re in the UK, there’s other deciding factors you could make when choosing the board that’s right for you. Final Thoughts ASUS Prime X670E-Pro WiFi - $349.99/£369.99ASUS ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WiFi - $459.99/£449.99Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER - $459.99/£509.99ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming WiFi - $499.99/519.99Gigabyte X670E AORUS XTREME - $699.99/£719.99MSI MEG X670E Ace - $699.99/£759.99ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Extreme - $999.99/889.99 So there you have it. I think it’s clear to see that X670E as a whole is a great success. They all perform about the same, in your normal benchmarking and game tests, but then when it actually matters, they all get a big check mark for having decent features, and those all-important VRM temperatures. You’re probably now wondering what one to go for based on my own findings and what one I’d choose, as it’s still a tough one. If you want to go small form factor, you have to choose the ASUS ROG STRIX X670E-I Gaming WiFi as it’s the only ITX board on the market so ASUS kind of has that one cornered. That aside, I think it’s clear to see that every board has its place depending on the budget you have and features, but it’s hard to ignore the likes of the AORUS MASTER which for the money, is an amazing product, though of course, if you want more, and money is no object, either of the ASUS Extreme or AORUS Xtreme boards will be amazing but will cost you a pretty penny, but I don’t feel like you’re getting ripped off. Mass amounts of Gen 5 M.2 support, great quality products. It’s not all smoke and mirrors. You really are getting something for your money, and the same can be said of the MSI ACE too, which certainly has the award for being the most unique looking if that’s what you’re after, while also utilising an interesting design when looking at the M.2 placement and that expansion card for more drives. I will be as bold to say that I think this is the first chipset launch, at least in a very long time where I don’t really have anything bad to say. Every brand featured has really stepped up their game for X670E and it shows, while I would have liked to have had a larger stack of boards available to me, as I mentioned, that just wasn’t possible, as the likes of ASRock didn’t even bother to get back to us so their loss I guess. Luckily, the boards we did have, I want to say are probably the most popular out there and the ones that you guys and girls are probably eyeing up anyway so hopefully this video has given you food for thought. It took us long enough to test and get all this data into one place, and yes, we will have the same coming up for B650, Z790 and B760 so make sure you’re subscribed for that.