Monday, November 11th 2024
Gigabyte Launches its first Mini-ITX X870 Motherboard, the X870I Aorus Pro Ice
When the initial batch of AMD X870/E motherboards were announced, there were no signs of Mini-ITX motherboards, but now Gigabyte has launched its first X870 Mini-ITX board and it's a bit of a hit and miss in our opinion. The X870I Aorus Pro Ice comes in white, as per the Ice moniker that Gigabyte likes to use for its white products and this might really appeal to some and put others off. Feature wise, we're looking at a single PCIe 5.0 x16 slot—as per most Mini-ITX boards—two NVMe M.2 slots, one PCIe 5.0 and one PCIe 4.0, but for some reason, Gigabyte decided that a single USB4 port was enough.
What makes the single USB4 port decision even worse is the fact that the board only has a USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps USB Type-C port and the front panel header is also limited to 10 Gbps. On a brand new board, this is really quite disappointing, but the Pro SKUs are usually feature limited models from Gigabyte. The rest of the ports around the back consists of an HDMI 2.1 port, although it too is limited to 4K 60 Hz output, which again is disappointing—the USB4 port is capable of 4K at 240 Hzvia DP Alt mode—two USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps USB Type-A ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 5 Gbps USB Type-A ports and two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, a 2.5 Gbps RJ45 Ethernet jack, a WiFi antenna connector for the onboard RTL8922AE WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 module and a pair of 3.5 mm audio jacks mounted on a separate PCB. There's also a BIOS flashing button around the back.
Admittedly Mini-ITX boards have limited space, but this feels sub-par for the category. Internally there's also a USB 3.2 Gen 1 5 Gbps USB header, two SATA 6 Gbps ports and for some reason, Gigabyte decided to add their PCIe EZ-Latch Plus quick release button to this board, a feature that doesn't quite make sense. Also note the really odd location of the fron audio header, which appears to connect via a wire to the actual header on the motherboard.The board sports a 8-2-1 VRM design and we're looking at a 110 A setup for the vCore. The board does at least have debug LEDs to help troubleshoot basic issues. Overall, we're not blown away by Gigabyte's first Mini-ITX X870 board and we hope the company has something better coming down the road, especially as they want US$300 for this rather basic motherboard.
Source:
Gigabyte
What makes the single USB4 port decision even worse is the fact that the board only has a USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps USB Type-C port and the front panel header is also limited to 10 Gbps. On a brand new board, this is really quite disappointing, but the Pro SKUs are usually feature limited models from Gigabyte. The rest of the ports around the back consists of an HDMI 2.1 port, although it too is limited to 4K 60 Hz output, which again is disappointing—the USB4 port is capable of 4K at 240 Hzvia DP Alt mode—two USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps USB Type-A ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 5 Gbps USB Type-A ports and two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, a 2.5 Gbps RJ45 Ethernet jack, a WiFi antenna connector for the onboard RTL8922AE WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 module and a pair of 3.5 mm audio jacks mounted on a separate PCB. There's also a BIOS flashing button around the back.
38 Comments on Gigabyte Launches its first Mini-ITX X870 Motherboard, the X870I Aorus Pro Ice
And I am hoping for a Micro ATX motherboard (to reuse my current casing) that will have 2 x nvme M.2 gen5x4 port configurable as RAID 0 just for fun :)
I am kind of surprised to see a mini ITX mobo coming first...
guess mATX boards only reserved for B-series chipsets for long while
It's nicely made. All white, except a few surface mount device chips.
I agree the board most likely audience is for the buyer who wants something white. Who most likely only looks at the processor number and size of DRAM. Who barely cares for the other connectors.
The USB 2 ports are for bios flash back usually. I think I saw only one board so far with usb 3 for bios flashback on the amd side. They are included in the cpu anyway
I did not found a picture of the backside of the mainboard.
Someone has to explain to myself DIY friendly. Do it yourself friendly, when one M2 Slot is on the backside of the mainboard.Only Windows 11 compatible, not compatible with other software, ... according to gigabyte as of now.
download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_X870I_AORUS_PRO_ICE_1001_e.pdf?v=c586604aa8785d9d3c61353006e68a94
Careful M2 only supports NVME without cooler
DIY friendly
This backplate with it's lean options is just sad
Perfectly possible to have good IO on ITX.
Here's mine on X670E-I, two TB4 ports. Internal headers for more 20 Gb/s ports too.
Newer boards have slim SAS which is a great port.
www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B650M-AORUS-ELITE-AX-ICE#kfWhat irks me the most is the single USB4 port, since the controller supports two.
There's at least a dozen ATX sized X870 boards available that are cheaper than this board.
Yes I know, different target audience, but this is too expensive for what it is.The X870 version of that board is US$450 though.
I am definitely not a mobo design expert, and I often don't understand the rational between pure marketing & functional specifications versus the technical specifications of individuel components.
For instance, what is confusing me is that all Ryzen 9000 Series have 24 PCIe 5.0 lanes which is (theoretically) just enough for GPU x16 and the 2 x nvme M.2 Gen5x4 I was mentionning earlier.
But is it a realistic design to have
** direct connection between CPU <-> GPU => this one I konw it is OK
** direct CPU <-> 2 x nvme *ONLY* M.2 ports with software RAID 0 support => this one I don't know, but I wish for
as far as I am concerened, everything else can be managed by the chipset, and I don't care about USB4
what do you think ?
www.techpowerup.com/295394/amd-zen-4-socket-am5-explained-pcie-lanes-chipsets-connectivityYes, get an X670/E board, many of them offers that configuration.So don't get an X870/E board then.
And your backplate is still a lot better than this Giga board.
I would trade the 3.5 jack and the q flash button for an other USB 3.2 and USB 4 ports any day
Edit: Do we really need SATAIII ports for ITX anymore? M.2 NVMe drives are getting higher in capacity and cheaper as the months go on. With the little space that ITX boards have, the space can be used for something else. In some ITX cases the space is really tight, so people aren't opting for SATA drives anymore especially not spinning rust in something like the CM NP200. Maybe if there weren't these SATA ports we could get more USB ports in the back I/O? (but I know the wiring is going to the other side of the board so maybe not)
Can't wait to see how CAMM2 RAM changes things up for ITX boards. New low profile coolers that extend into previous RAM form factor space.
And even more into the future, can we get a new form factor smaller then SFX for power supplies that has zero SATA power and... 2x 12v-2x6 connectors? (Also, with ITX boards being so small, is the 24 pin connector necessary? Is it even using all the pins?)
So many unused real-estate, and there is so little to lose there.
I dont know who to blame, but its on AMD best interest to push these USB 4 ports on their systems.
Places will still buy POS Intel systems just because they have more than 2 thunderbolt ports.Screw that, both of those plates show lots of empty space for more ports.
I have observed that for a while now and dont understand why AMD mobos have so few ports in the here.
Another thing, its sad that HDMI seems to be winning on PCs now, given their anti-open source stand.
I guess that Display Port lost and its on its way out.
you are correct and actually its recommended to use a USB 4 to HDMI 2.1 cable or adapter to bypass the 4k/120Hz limitation under Linux.