Friday, August 30th 2024
GIGABYTE Intros X870 AORUS Elite WIFI7 Motherboard
GIGABYTE just released its second AMD 800-series chipset motherboard following last week's debut of the X870E AORUS Master, the more affordable X870 AORUS Elite WIFI7. This board is based on the slightly more affordable AMD X870 (non-E) chipset, which offers connectivity nearly identical to that of the previous-generation AMD B650E, but with the addition of USB4. The board is built in the ATX form-factor, and features a 6-layer PCB. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS power connectors. The CPU VRM solution consists of a 16+2+2 phase setup, with the vCore side of it being 8-phase with phase doubling. The Socket AM5 is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots for up to 256 GB of memory.
Expansion slots include a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 wired to the CPU, a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 (electrical Gen 4 x4), and a third PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (electrical Gen 3 x2). The main Gen 5 x16 PEG slot gets a quick-release lever. You press a button, and it ejects the graphics card. Storage connectivity includes three M.2 Gen 5 x4 slots, two of these are wired to the CPU's dedicated Gen 5 x4 NVMe lanes, while the third slot subtracts 8 lanes from the Gen 5 x16 PEG slot. There is a fourth M.2 slot, which is Gen 4 x4, and wired to the X870 FCH. All four slots get heatsinks. Four SATA 6 Gbps ports make for the rest of the storage connectivity.
Networking options, as the name of this board suggests, includes a Wi-Fi 7 WLAN card that's either a MediaTek MT7925, or a Realtek RTL8922AE, depending on the PCB revision. Besides Wi-Fi 7, both WLAN solutions put out Bluetooth 5.4. The wired networking side of things see a 2.5 GbE interface driven by a Realtek controller. USB connectivity includes two 40 Gbps USB4 ports that each include DisplayPort passthrough, a 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 via a header, two 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-A, four 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1, and two additional 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports by header.
The onboard audio solution features a premium Realtek ALC1220 HD audio CODEC with 120 dB SNR, with ground-layer isolation, and audio-grade capacitors. There are no additional AMPs over the CODEC, but GIGABYTE tuned the solution to automatically support high-impedance headphones. There are many DIY-friendly features on offer, including a POST code read-out, LEDs that indicate a point of failure, SMD power and reset buttons, USB BIOS Flashback, PCIe x16 ejection mechanism, a quick-connect Wi-Fi antenna module, a tool-free M.2 SSD mounting mechanism, and three addressable RGB 2.0 headers. The company didn't reveal pricing.
Expansion slots include a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 wired to the CPU, a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 (electrical Gen 4 x4), and a third PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (electrical Gen 3 x2). The main Gen 5 x16 PEG slot gets a quick-release lever. You press a button, and it ejects the graphics card. Storage connectivity includes three M.2 Gen 5 x4 slots, two of these are wired to the CPU's dedicated Gen 5 x4 NVMe lanes, while the third slot subtracts 8 lanes from the Gen 5 x16 PEG slot. There is a fourth M.2 slot, which is Gen 4 x4, and wired to the X870 FCH. All four slots get heatsinks. Four SATA 6 Gbps ports make for the rest of the storage connectivity.
The onboard audio solution features a premium Realtek ALC1220 HD audio CODEC with 120 dB SNR, with ground-layer isolation, and audio-grade capacitors. There are no additional AMPs over the CODEC, but GIGABYTE tuned the solution to automatically support high-impedance headphones. There are many DIY-friendly features on offer, including a POST code read-out, LEDs that indicate a point of failure, SMD power and reset buttons, USB BIOS Flashback, PCIe x16 ejection mechanism, a quick-connect Wi-Fi antenna module, a tool-free M.2 SSD mounting mechanism, and three addressable RGB 2.0 headers. The company didn't reveal pricing.
50 Comments on GIGABYTE Intros X870 AORUS Elite WIFI7 Motherboard
Feature Regression, is a B-
www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/gigabyte-intros-x870e-aorus-master-motherboard.325848/post-5320703
cpu
x16 Slot 1: x16 ( or x8/x8 or x4/x4/x4/x4 )
x16 Slot 2: x8 ( or x4 for slot + x4 for NVMe_2)
chipset
x16 Slot 3: x8 ( or x4 for slot + x4 for NVMe_3)
x16 Slot 4: x8 ( or x4 for slot + x4 for NVMe_4)
With my current X570 I can manage x8 GPU, x8 dual Optane, x4 10Gbps NIC, x1 USB3 card, and x1 dial-up modum which is a pretty balanced expansion capability for $220-$250 motherboard.
Just to get an AM5 motherboard that can do x8/x8 it's approaching $400 makes me sad and I would still have to choose either GPU+Optane or Optaine+10Gbps NIC. (using iGPU) - major bummer in tradeoffs in consideration of a 9950x upgrade.You read my mind
Even though this Gigabyte board has the X870, higher models like the X870E AORUS PRO doesn't seem convincing either:
CPU:
1x x16 (x16 or x8/x8 mode)
3x M.2 (the two latter will share bandwidth with the x16 slot, so in reality this counts as a single M.2 slot if you want a decent GPU for gaming or video editing.)
Chipset:
1x PCIe 4.0 x4
1x PCIE 3.0 x4
1x M.2
4x SATA
For comparison, the closest I've found from Asus is ProArt X870E-Creator WiFi which have;
CPU:
2x x16 (x16 or x8/x8 mode)
2x M.2 (but one of them shares bandwidth with x16_2, so once again if you use more of them it seems like your GPU will suffer)
Chipset:
1x PCIe 4.0 x4
2x M.2
4x SATA
So if I read the specs correctly, this could theoretically in total have a GPU, ~3 SSDs and a 10G NIC and 4 SATA devices, with seemingly some compromises i speed. But this is barely usable as a very basic workstation, with no further room for expansion.
And if you thought these were bad, look at the PRIME X870-P, which you might expect to be a high-end board. I'm not going to list it all, but it's even worse. Only 2 SATA ports, and if you use them, you'll loose an M.2 slot. No slot at all for a 10G NIC.
Unless I'm missing something, this is extremely disappointing.
It's becoming increasingly obvious to me that Threadripper and Xeon-W should be considered for anyone who's needs exceed pure gaming or very basic desktop usage. And I'm not advocating to add more lanes to mainstream CPUs, no rather lower the entry for the proper workstation platforms.How about an F?
Even the one from the chipset is shared with the x4 PCIe slot, with the second one only being x2.
It's more complicated with Asus boards, because, some are more crippled and split only into x8+x4+0 and others that offer x8+x8 use additional switches to bifurcate the 2nd PCIe Gen5 x8 further into x4+x4 like the ProArt or Hero.
I don't know if it's mandated by AMD or of it's the only feasible option, but so far every board that offers USB4 via the new ASMedia controller uses the four general purpose lanes of the CPU instead the chipset which was previously done on boards that used Intel's Maple Ridge controller to provide USB4/Thunderbolt, like the Crosshair X670E Gene or Hero.Offering a x8 slot would be pointless, because the chipsets on all AM5 CPUs are only connected via PCIe Gen4 x4. Unless we get to a new socket for AMD, we won't see many more PCIe lanes from the CPU. The best you can hope for is a new chipset for AM5 in the future that is actually connected via Gen5 x4, but this will probably increase the cost of the boards massively due to the required trace length.Not really. :p Unless you actually need USB4, you are better off with the B650E Aorus Master or the X670E Aorus Xtreme that offer four Gen5 x4 M.2 slots connected to the CPU.
thanks that is the Summary. Its a downgrade and B Chipset.To make matters worse, 4 SATA connectors, 2.5Gbit Ethernet and USB 4.0.
USB4.0, Ethernet, wifi and sound belongs to expansion cards.
--Regarding that mainboard - that is even worse. www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/prime/prime-x870-p/techspec/
The Prime models (especially with the higher chipsets) are often marketed for office use, and are most certainly not priced to give the impression of "low end". I've used and observed them in PCs at work, and never had any issues with them, but these have been Intel systems so I don't know if that is comparable.My point was that this pretty pricey motherboard have only two SATA ports, and using them sacrifises other desired functionality. Keep in mind we are talking about the highest tier of chipsets for the platform here X870/X870E, we should expect them to be pretty much fully featured. It would be completely different for the lower tier chipsets.
Such boards are pretty much a no-go for any "prosumer". Let's say I wanted to replace my secondary desktop, bring over the HDDs, replace the SSDs, run dual-boot, game SSD and one for scratch space for projects, and one ODD, it will already be out of ports before it has replaced my old PC, and then there is no more room to grow.
As for online specs and manuals, they may not be 100% accurate at all times, and manuals don't always even list the limitations.
But I did do this mistake with my now primary build; when I bought it back in 2021, it was intended as a secondary machine along with a proper WS, so I didn't think too much of it, and got a ASUS ProArt B550-CREATOR. Now plans change, WS build postponed, and new needs show up, and I want to add a couple more HDDs, a SSD, an ODD and a 10G NIC - not possible. So it will probably be replaced soon primarily due to IO limitations, not performance or stability issues. Prosumers learn from my mistakes; make sure you have at least some flexibility.
The vast majority of motherboards for the mainstream platforms are becoming suited only for gaming and light office use, despite having "HEDT level" pricing.So, which ones are non-artys and offer more or less the same for a lower price?
What monitor are you going to power with that?
USB PD is NOT part of the USB4 or Thunderbolt specs.
It's more likely that you'll have a USB PD enabled monitor (there are tons of them on the market) that will power your laptop.
board looks sick ! i mean really nice :)
I also don't understand why they decided to include an arbitrary PCIE 3.0 x2 slot, instead of two more SATA ports.
But that is what happens when AMD designs a moronically PCIe lane-constrained system solely because they want to screw consumers.I don't think it's unreasonable to expect motherboard manufacturers to start offering boards with a single 240W PD port. After all all boards already have at least one unnecessary extra 8-pin EPS12V connector, if that was repurposed for PD it would actually make sense and be useful.That's not how this works. New boards are supposed to gain new features, not gain some and lose others because AMD are greedy assclowns.