Introduction

In today's review, we will be looking at the Gigabyte X670 AORUS Elite AX, aimed at PC gamers and budget conscious consumers alike. Gigabyte uses the AORUS naming convention to serve as the company's gaming-orientated line of Intel and AMD motherboards. These AORUS B650/X670 branded motherboards come in multiple models consisting of the Ultra, Elite, Tachyon, Master, and Xtreme, some of which overlap in features and suggested price points.

AMD's AM5 platform and Ryzen 7000 processors launched in late 2022, bringing PCIe Gen 5 and DDR5 support. Waiting that additional year after Intel improved the availability and cost of DDR5 for AMD. With these new Ryzen processors come two big changes. AMD has made the transition to LGA (Land Grid Array) for the AM5 (LGA 1718) socket. All previous desktop Ryzen processors (minus Threadripper) used the AM4 PGA (Pin Grid Array) socket. What this means for consumers is that there is no Zen 4 CPU 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, since the AM5 socket exclusively uses DDR5 for its system memory.

This new AM5 socket carries a host of options for connecting high speed devices that weren't previously available to AMD customers. Motherboard manufacturers now have an opportunity to innovate and create products catered towards users with high bandwidth needs. There are four primary chipset configurations; B650, B650E, X670 and X670E. The "E" stands for Extreme, and any motherboard carrying this title will have PCIe Gen 5 support. The ones without, like this X670 AORUS Elite AX will forgo PCIe Gen 5 support in favor of the current PCIe Gen 4 standard. Moreover, the B series, like the previous AM4 iterations, feature fewer connections for USB, M.2 and PCIe lanes, designed to be more budget friendly. 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. For more in depth coverage, check out TechPowerUp's AMD Ryzen 7600X, 7700X, 7900X and 7950X reviews.


With the AORUS Elite AX focusing on the core features that a AM5 system can provide to the consumer, Gigabyte is still packing a lot into this using the X670 chipset. This allows for more bandwidth for peripherals, offering eight additional PCIe Gen 4 lanes over the B650 Chipset, which in turn allows Gigabyte to offer more external and internal connections in various configurations. Designed to last the entire AM5 lifecycle, supporting CPU future upgrades, Gigabyte has deployed a 16+2+2 VRM design using 7 W/mK thermal pads and an 8 mm "mega-heatpipe" passing through the heatsink to keep all the critical components in peak condition for those intense workloads. There is a lot to cover in this review, so let's take a closer look at what the Gigabyte X670 AORUS Elite AX is all about!

Specifications

*Caution is advised for use of memory kits running above DDR5-6000 due to the high voltage requirements for AMD Ryzen 7000 series. This can lead to premature degradation or outright failure of CPU in some instances.