Introduction

The highly anticipated AMD Ryzen 7000 series is finally in public hands! Intel's release of the 12th Gen Core processors in late fall of 2021 had the privilege of being the first consumer product to offer both PCIe Gen 5.0 and DDR5 connectivity. Along with these additions was a new smaller "e" core, designed to offload smaller system tasks onto, while the bigger "p" cores dealt with priority heavy duty tasks.

AMD wasn't going to wait around forever, but also understood the newest technologies can come with unforeseen problems. Did AMD do the right thing by waiting until DDR5 and PCIe Gen5 matured over this past year, or was it a mistake to let Intel be left without a cutting edge contender? The answer depends on what AMD brings to the table in terms of performance, cost and availability. With that, make sure to read TechPowerUp's AMD Ryzen 7600X, 7700X, 7900X and 7950X reviews, for more in depth coverage.

With the new Ryzen processor series, comes a number of changes that may upset some long time AMD fans, shaking up the market. The first noteworthy change is the socket. All previous desktop Ryzen processors (1000, 2000, 3000, 5000 series, minus Threadripper) used the AM4 PGA (Pin Grid Array) socket. AMD has made the transition to LGA (Land Grid Array) for this new AM5 (LGA 1718) socket. AMD has historically proven it uses the same CPU socket for multiple generations, starting a fresh cycle with the Ryzen 7000 series and beyond. What this means for consumers is that there is no further Zen 4 upgrade path for AM4 based platforms. If you want these new processors, they require a brand new motherboard. The platform change also requires new memory too, since the AM5 socket exclusively uses DDR5 for its system memory, unlike Intel's 12th and 13th Gen, which support both DDR4 and DDR5.

This new AM5 socket carries a host of options for connecting high speed devices that just weren't previously available to AMD customers. As mentioned above, going forward, AMD Ryzen CPUs on this new platform will now support DDR5 memory, PCIe Gen 5.0 and M.2 Gen 5. With 24 PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes from the CPU available, motherboard manufacturers now have an opportunity to innovate and create products catered towards users with high bandwidth needs. Along with more PCIe lanes provided by the processors, are four different chipset configurations; B650, B650E, X670 and X670E. The B series, like in previous AM4 iterations, feature fewer connections for USB, M.2 and PCIe lanes, designed to be more budget friendly. There is still product segmentation however, the B650E features 20 additional PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes over the standard B650 chipset which is Gen 4 only, split into one PCIe Gen 5.0 x16 slot for a GPU and one M.2 Gen 5.0 slot for next gen SSDs. The X670 and X670E use the same chipset, with two X670 chips daisy-chained together, sharing a PCIe 4.0 x4 link to the CPU. X670E will offer the most high bandwidth lanes, storage options and external connections out of the available AM5 platform chipsets.


It today's review, we will be looking at the BIOSTAR X670E VALKYRIE. This is BIOSTAR's only motherboard for the AM5 platform so far. Looking at previous platforms, RACING and SILVER product lines were also available targeting different groups and price points. While those product lines are yet to be announced for AMD new platform, the VALKYRIE is BIOSTAR's motherboard series primarily targeting gamers, with slogans like "Valkyrie leads us to victory" and "Ready to win this battle".

BIOSTAR has been around for nearly 40 years, but is still relatively unknown in the western market. The company is refocusing efforts to strengthen its brand-name for the PC enthusiast. The X670E VALKYRIE is just that and offers DDR5 and PCIe 5.0-ready solutions for those looking for the newest technology. BIOSTAR has also added two M.2 Gen5 x4 sockets for when these next-gen NVMe drives reach the market in late 2022. Offering numerous USB 3.2 (10 Gb/s ports, 2.5G LAN and Wi-Fi ready, BIOSTAR has the answered the plea for more high-speed connections for all those devices. Using a 18+2+2 VRM configuration with 105 A smart power stages, the X670E VALKYRIE is ready for those long gaming sessions, all the while providing clean, continuous current. There is a lot to cover in this review, so let's take a closer look at what the BIOSTAR X670E VALKYRIE is all about!

Specifications