AMD X870E motherboards in review: ASRock and Asus show what’s possible with AGESA 1.2.0.2 for Ryzen 9000 213 comments
You can now buy AMD Ryzen 9000! With the X870(E) boards and the final BIOS with AGESA 1.2.0.2 in the bag, the platform is ready to go. However, the previous 600 series cards are in no way inferior to these, as there are no new chipsets. The comparison shows what Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Hero and ASRock X870E Taichi offer.
Table of contents 1 ASRock and Asus show what’s happening with AGESA 1.2.0.2 for Ryzen 9000 AMD’s fall update: chipset, AGESA, EXPO and TDP increase With X870(E) all new products directly from the Factory AMD X870(E) vs. X670 (E) vs B650(E) Hands-on: New X870E board = X670E and more features 2 ASRock Sharing on the ROG Crosshair X870E Hero Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Hero in USB use with teething problems (resolved) 4 Conclusion and purchase recommendation
Ryzen 9000 had the worst AMD launch in recent history. It’s not just what the press and the community are saying, it’s also what those around AMD and its partners are saying. Almost everything that could have gone wrong with the launch of the AMD Ryzen 9000 went wrong.
AMD’s Fall Update: Chipset, AGESA, EXPO and TDP increase
Well, three months later, after x BIOS updates including the move to Agesa 1.2.0.2, the platform has finally reached the status that the product deserved from the start: a quasi-final status. This milestone marks the debut of the new X870(E) motherboards that should be celebrated and shows just how bad things have gotten recently.
AMD has several new features and adjustments to platforms and CPUs in its baggage at the end of September:
At the forefront is the new firmware, AGESA 1.2.0.2, available for all socket AM5 motherboards. It comes factory installed on the new X870 and X870E motherboards released today, but the X670(E) and B650(E) are also currently receiving updates. The mix of current BIOS variants and new motherboards now allows AMD to use DDR5 with the EXPO profile without any problems for DDR5-8000. The first adapted kits have proven this to the editorial staff these days. And as a fourth point, AMD formalizes the 105 watts of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Ryzen 7 9700X. Officially, this means that they must be activated manually in the BIOS, but the customer does not lose the warranty. He can therefore decide whether he wants to drive with more power or simply with high efficiency.
With X870(E), all new products directly from factory
Anyone who buys an AMD X870(E) motherboard with AMD Ryzen 9000 today should not expect any real problems. As we know, things were completely different at the end of July: Ryzen 9000 sometimes did not want to boot at all on an X670E motherboard with AGESA back then.
However, the initial problems have now been solved; in most cases, the current AGESA from early/mid-September is also directly pre-installed. Except, of course, the first samples like the press ones, which were already produced in July and have been in the editorial offices for many weeks. Ultimately, as usual, after purchasing from each manufacturer, it is worthwhile to simply take a new look at the relevant support area.
But is an X870(E) chipset really necessary? If you want to install a completely new AMD system, you certainly can’t go wrong here. This is simply the latest product two years after the launch of the X670 series in September 2022 and so there are one or two innovations on the boards. But these do not come directly from the chipset, but from the respective motherboard manufacturer, which supports things like fast LAN, WLAN and much more. So let’s first take a look at what exactly is going on with the chipset.
AMD X870(E) vs. X670(E) vs. B650(E)
Without further ado, it must be admitted right away: There is almost nothing new in the chipset and thus motherboard update and a large part has just been given a new name. The X870E is now the name of the trick, which now specifies some things that were previously optional on the X670E. The situation is similar with the X870 without E, but the basis here is actually smaller and not that of the X670.
The X870E is a renamed X670E
The new flagship, the X870E chipset, corresponds to its predecessor, the X670E, in almost every respect. The only change is that USB4 must now always be present on motherboards equipped with the X870E. This is a rarely used option for boards equipped with the X670 chipsets.
However, this is still not a native USB4 of the chipset, since only four PCIe lanes are reserved and implemented via an additional ASMedia USB4 chip. Where should USB4 come from if the chipset is the same? Additional chips are usually a simple and often inexpensive way to implement new products, but additional driver software is also required. X870E PCIe 3.0 (max.) 8 8 4 8 USB4 ✓* optional ✓* optional USB 20 Gbps (max.) 2 2 1 2 USB 10 Gbps (max.) 12 12 6 12 USB 5 Gbps (max.) .) 2 2 1 2 SATA 8 8 4 8 CPU overclocking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ DDR5 overclocking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Changes compared to the predecessor marked in green (plus) and red (minus).
The listed interfaces do not only come from the chipset, but partly from the I/O matrix of the Ryzen processors.
*The additional ASM4242 chip for two USB4 reserves PCIe 4.0 x4 of the chipset.
AMD X870E chipset
The X870 is not a successor to the X670, but a B650E
At first glance, there are a lot of changes with the X870, because compared to the X670, it not only offers the new USB4 promise, but also PCIe 5.0 instead of PCIe 4.0 for the graphics card(s). In return, the maximum number of PCIe lanes is reduced from 44 to only 36 and the maximum possible is also significantly reduced for all other interfaces such as PCIe 4.0, PCIe 3.0, SATA and the various USB versions.
A comparison with another chipset then helps to understand what is really behind the “new” X870. It offers the same features as the previous B650E – with the exception of USB4.
X870 B650E Graphics 1 x 16 PCIe 5.0 or 2 x 8 PCIe 5.0 1 x 16 PCIe 5.0 or 2 x 8 PCIe 5.0 NVMe 1 x 4 PCIe 5.0 1 x 4 PCIe 5.0 GPP (max.) 4 4 PCIe total 36 36 PCIe 5.0 ( max.) 24 24 PCIe 4.0 (max.) 4* 8 PCIe 3.0 (max.) 4 4 USB4 ✓* optional USB 20 Gbps (max.) 1 1 USB 10 Gbps (max.) 6 6 USB 5 Gbps (max.) ) 1 1 SATA 4 4 CPU overclocking ✓ ✓ DDR5 overclocking ✓ ✓ *The additional ASM4242 chip for two USB4 PCIe 4.0 x4 reserves of the chipset.
AMD X870 chipset
The practical: New X870E card = X670E and more features
Overall, we can say that the basis is almost the same. But what motherboard makers will do with it at the end of 2024 is now different from what it was in 2022. So you don’t have to buy a new motherboard, but at least you still have a choice between old and new generation when buying and can choose based on features, design or price.
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ASRock X870E Taichi in detail Topics: AGESA AMD ASRock Asus chipsets motherboards Ryzen processors image overview
Thomas analyses motherboards to reveal their secrets: performance, connectivity, and overclocking options.
