Customer Ratings & Reviews

This board has all the bells and whistles, protective back and is just cool to look at! It is easy to install M.2, GPU. I/O has all the ports you need/want. I have no complaints and I'm happy I paid up for this board:)

The ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero will have everything you need and more on the AM5 platform. On top of that it has a really sleek design.

I've been building PCs for a little over 25 years now. I have about 25 completed builds under my belt. Over the years, I've used motherboards from all the major manufacturers – even legacy brands that are no longer around like Abit, DFI, and ECS! Among all of the motherboard manufacturers I've used, ASUS has always been my favorite to work with. They also make the best looking boards in my opinion. With that said, it's been a little over six years since I've built a PC. My i9-9900KF and ASUS Maximus XI Formula motherboard badly needed an upgrade, so I figured the release of this beautiful flagship motherboard from ASUS was the perfect opportunity to see if ASUS still lives up to its name. To cut to the chase, it exceeded all of my expectations. This motherboard is a performance monster with an insane amount of expandability. For reference, I've listed all of the components below that I used for this build: CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D AIO: ASUS ROG Strix SLC IV 360 ARGB LCD GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 4090 SUPRIM Liquid X 24G RAM: KLEVV CRAS V DDR5 64GB 6000MHz CL30 Hynix Storage: WD Black SN8100 4TB NVMe SSD PCIe 5.0x4 PSU: Corsair HX 1200i SHIFT w/ ThermalProtect PCIe 5.1 600W 12V-2x6 Cable Case: HAVN BF 360 (Non-Flow Edition) Case Fans: Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 PWM Chromax x 2 (front intake and rear exhaust) The first thing I have to mention is the aesthetics of this board. This is the most gorgeous motherboard I've ever seen. As you can see by my pictures, I went for more of a stealth build this time around. If you're a bit jaded by the overdone fish tank builds with extravagant RGB light shows like I am, this Dark Hero motherboard lets you opt for more of an understated design language with much more purposeful accent lighting. Everything on this motherboard oozes top-tier construction quality and finish. I mean, the amount of detail and design work that went into manufacturing the backplate alone tells you how much effort went into producing this motherboard. Both the primary metal M.2 heatsink and the large aluminum M.2 heatsink/shroud that covers the secondary through fifth M.2 slots feel absurdly overbuilt. They have the kind of machining, weight, and finish you'd expect from CNC-milled components coming out of a boutique hardware shop! I love that the first four M.2 slots are outfitted with thermal pads to help keep the drives cool. Just bear in mind that the CPU family installed on the motherboard will dictate the speed capabilities of the first two M.2 slots. With my Ryzen 9 9950X3D, the first two M.2 slots run at PCIe 5.0 x4, while M.2_3 and M.2_4, which are connected through the chipset, run at PCIe 4.0 x4. The fifth M.2 slot runs at PCIe 4.0 x2. One important caveat I discovered is that the M.2_2 and the rear USB4 controller (i.e. both 40 Gbps USB-C ports) share bandwidth. With the M.2_2 populated, both the slot and the USB4 controller operate at up to x2 by default. You CAN change a BIOS setting so that the M.2_2 slot runs at the full x4 link width, but doing so disables both 40 Gbps USB-C ports. This is hardly an issue for me, since the board provides more M.2 slots than I would ever need. My WD Black SN8100 4TB NVMe drive was getting roughly 14.6 GB/s read speeds and 14.1 GB/s write speeds (see CrystalDiskMark screenshot). That is extremely close to the practical ceiling of a PCIe 5.0 x4 consumer NVMe drive! Even under a sustained CrystalDiskMark load, the SN8100 peaked at just 70°C before quickly settling back into the low-to-mid 50s, which is an impressive showing thanks to the gargantuan primary M.2 heatsink. Thanks to ASUS's massive 20+2+2 power stage VRM phase layout, my CPU has been rock solid under every heavy workload I've thrown at it so far. Twenty dedicated 110-amp VCORE stages provide an enormous amount of current delivery headroom while keeping voltage regulation stable under rapidly changing CPU loads. The dynamic boosting behavior on my Ryzen 9 9950X3D has also been phenomenal. Combined with the board's huge aluminum VRM heatsinks and the embedded heatpipe, the power-delivery components stayed cool and showed no signs of thermal throttling. This has allowed my 9950X3D to sustain very aggressive boost clocks under prolonged workloads without the motherboard's VRM ever becoming a limiting factor. One of my absolute favorite features of this motherboard is the new AIO Q-connector. Where has this been all my life?! When using a compatible AIO, all you need to do is slot the cooler's Q-connector into the motherboard's Q-Connector socket. I really enjoyed not having to connect seperate PWM and ARGB headers for things like the pump power, radiator fans, and lighting. At the time of writing this review, the Asus ROG Strix SLC IV 360 ARGB AIO used in my build has yet to be released in North America (but should be soon). I'm extremely fortunate to have a co-worker in the UK who was able to source one for me and bring it to the states while they were in town recently — just in time to test the new Q-connector feature for this build. The AIO is a perfect pairing with this motherboard, and I've had fantastic cooling results with zero issues from the new mechanism. I'm excited to see all of the upcoming AIOs that will be released with this new interface. After all these years of building with motherboards from various manufacturers, and now having built with this new Crosshair X870E Dark Hero, ASUS remains the gold standard in my book when it comes to UEFI BIOS. Navigating through the various menus on this motherboard's UEFI BIOS made it clear to me that the customization, overclocking, overvoltage, undervoltage, etc., are endless. The menus are also thoughtfully laid out making navigation very intuitive. Interestingly, my exact KLEVV CRAS V 64GB DDR5-6000 CL30 kit (KD5BGUA80-60A300G) does not appear on ASUS’s current memory QVL for the Dark Hero. While KLEVV is still somewhat unfamiliar to many PC builders, it is Essencore's enthusiast memory brand and has close ties to the broader SK Group ecosystem that includes SK hynix. That was actually one of the reasons I gravitated toward this kit, since SK hynix-based DDR5 has earned an excellent reputation on modern Ryzen platforms for strong timings, stability, and overclocking headroom (and the heat spreaders perfectly matched the Dark Hero's aesthetics!). I knew I was taking a bit of a gamble, but had full faith it wouldn't be an issue for this motherboard. Despite the kit not being on the QVL, enabling EXPO I was completely painless. The board retrained the memory without issue and correctly configured the kit at DDR5-6000 with its rated 30-36-36-76 timings. Stability has also been flawless throughout my testing so far, which speaks very highly of the Dark Hero’s memory compatibility and training behavior. Overall, the X870E Crosshair Dark Hero motherboard is a 10/10 for me. It is exactly the type of ultra-premium board I've come to expect at this tier. In my opinion, it's also the best-looking board currently on the market. Some other quick noteworthy highlights of this board that I'd like to praise are the ingenious GPU release button behind the PCIEX16_1 slot, which allows you to quickly release the graphics card instead of having to continuously bludgeon your thumb on a retention tab; how incredibly simple it was to flash the BIOS using EZ Flash; the flawless integrated Bluetooth adapter when pairing devices; the blazing-fast 10GB LAN port; the minimalist ROG logo with no text during boot-up; and lastly, the fun accessories included in the box, such as the bottle opener and ROG membership card with its surprise message. The thoughtful inclusions always go a long way with me. Well done, ASUS!

The Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero (Socket AM5) motherboard is a full-featured, high-end motherboard. My 2 main computers have used AMD based ASUS Crosshair motherboards (one is a Dark Hero) for the past 6-7 years. They have both been rock solid. It’s time to upgrade so I’m going back to a new Dark Hero. These motherboards are extremely well built and feature filled. There is no flex when you hold them. Cheap boards can come with a slight bend because the circuit board is so thin. The Dark Hero has a metal backplate for rigidity and heat dissipation. There is no flex. The Power Solution (VRM) is designed for durability and overclocking (if you are into that). This includes high-quality capacitors and cooling solutions. Memory overclocking has been enhanced with server-grade upgrades and BIOS improvements. All the M.2 slots have heatsinks to keep the drives from thermal throttling. There is an optional fan for the RAM sticks for even more cooling (sold separately). They also did their best to make this motherboard tool free and easy to remove and install cards and drives. All M.2s have a Q-Latch (Q stands for quick). Just push to release or install a drive. The heat sinks for the M.2 drives have Q-release. The main M.2 slot has Q-Slide allowing different length drives to be installed without tools. The main PCIe slot has an offset button that is easy to reach so removing the graphics card is simple. The Wi-Fi antenna is just push on and pull off. No tools. There are buttons to Start the motherboard outside a case and to clear the CMOS if you need to trouble shoot. There is a Q-Code display for accurate trouble and boot codes. Software-wise, the main controlling software is called Armoury Crate (AC). When it works, it is mostly great. This software is a hub for managing updates, system performance, RGB lighting, fan speeds, and peripherals. AC installs only certain updates. You also need to install the ASUS Driver Hub. These two update locations should be integrated into a single app. Preferably separate. My biggest issue with AC is that it is all-in-one and everything installs whether you want it or not. I wish it was modular so I could choose the features I wanted and reduce bloat. Aura, the RGB software, works mostly well. I do wish I was able to control brightness in the basic configuration area. It’s annoying that I can’t. They added AI to help with CPU Overclocking, Cache Boost, Cooling and network connections. While this board is intended for gaming, it is also intended for creators. There are a ton of features on this board and I can’t cover them all in this review. Most important to me is the amount of USB ports, M.2 slots and number of PCIe lanes that make for a very robust platform. If you are a creator of any type, need a ton of fast storage, and want one of the best constructed motherboards you can buy, this board should be high on your shopping list. I’ve been using ASUS boards for many, many years and find them to be of very high quality. The Crosshair lines are especially well built and I’ve had zero issues with PCs I’ve built with them. If you can afford the price, I would highly recommend this board to anyone looking to build a higher end gaming PC or personal workstation that they want to last. Continue reading below for additional details / opinions about this motherboard: Looks For those that care about how a motherboard looks, this is a good-looking motherboard but intended to be a little more understated. It is in the ROG family, so it does have some “Gaming Flair” but it is mostly masked by the dark theme. The heat sinks are clean and as the name indicates, all dark. It is essentially a clean, black esthetic with embossed graphics and letters. The shield that covers the interior parts of the rear IO components has an LED panel that creates a couple different ROG / Dark Hero graphics. It is not programmable but will change colors with your RGB scheme. It stays illuminated when the PC is off to let you know it’s plugged in. Assembly No issues. Best convenience features: (1) The integrated rear IO shield. This makes installing MB much easier and looks better. It prevents IO shield install problems and should be standard on all but the absolutely cheapest motherboards. (2) The M.2 covers and M.2 hold downs are tool free Quick release. Just push a clip to secure or remove a drive. No more tiny screws to deal with. Brilliant and should be standard on all motherboards. (3) There is a remote release for Graphics card. No more using a chop stick to try and get to the release button. There is a button at the back of the board and offset from the graphics card allowing for easy release. (4) Q-CODE. Every motherboard over $300 should have this for trouble shooting. Helps pinpoint boot issues much better than the normal LED lights for CPU, DRAM, VGA, BOOT. UEFI (BIOS) interface The UEFI interface on this motherboard has different levels from clean and simple to advances/fully featured. Quick links to the most used features (like BIOS Update) on the EZ mode menu means fewer clicks to get to those features. There is an Essentials Mode that is somewhere between EZ and Advanced mode. This gives access to the most used tuning settings. It is very convenient. Advanced mode is typical advanced tuning layout. Common in all Asus BIOS menus is a favorites section that allows you to gather your most used settings. On board headers and devices USB-C and USB-3 each have 2 internal headers. There are the typical headers that face up so the cables stick out into the case, but there are also 2 headers that point towards the cable pass-throughs on the case making for a much cleaner installation. USB-2 has 3 internal headers for case ports, AIO cooler screens, etc. There are three (3) ARGB headers and four (4) 4-pin case fan headers. Enough for most modest builds. There is also a power button integrated into the motherboard. This is very helpful for initial setup and troubleshooting. Under the Start button is a “Flex Key” button. This is a reboot button at its default setting but it can be programmed for other functions such as activating Safe-Boot or turning Aura Lighting On/Off. Storage There are 5 M.2 slots. Slots 1 & 2 are PCIe 5.0x4 (Gen 5) compliant and have direct connections to the CPU (See note 2 below). The main slot 1 supports 42mm, 60mm, 80mm & 100mm M.2 drives. Slot 2 support 42mm, 60mm & 80mm drives. The main slot also has a unique Q-Slide feature that allows you to quickly install the different size cards it supports without having to use a screwdriver. The other three (3) are PCIe 4.0x4 (Gen 4) compliant. Slots 3 &4 support 42mm, 60mm & 80mm cards. Slot 5 supports 30mm M.2 drives only. I put a Gen 5 drive in the main slot. Boot and Load times have been very impressive. FYI: There are also 4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports for older drive compatibility. Note: Speeds of the expansions slots and storage slots can vary depending on the processor used and the slots that are occupied. See Tech Specs on the motherboards webpage on the ASUS website for details. Rear IO: On the rear IO panel, there is the usual assortment of USB ports, Ethernet jacks, WiFi connectors, etc. There are also buttons for clearing the CMOS and updating the BIOS via a USB Stick (just in case the current BIOS doesn’t support a new CPU or you are having boot issues). What stands out most to me is the number of ports and the speeds. There are 2 x USB4 ports USB Type-C (40 Gbps each) and 9 x USB 10Gbps ports. 6 are Type-A and 3 are USB Type-C. One of the front USB Type C connectors supports power delivery output of 5/9/15/20V max. 3A. The other is 5v/3-amp max. Besides the HDMI port, the two (2) USB4 – type C (40Gbps) ports also support display output at max. 4K@60Hz (as specified in DisplayPort 1.4a). Ethernet is 1 x Realtek 10Gb and 1 x Realtek 5Gb The Full Build: MB - Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero (Socket AM5), Processor - AMD Ryzen R9 9900x (12 Core) CPU. GPU - Asus Prime RTX 5070 Memory - 32GB DDR5 RAM Kit (2x16GB) CL36 6000 MHz. Storage - Primary M.2 = 1TB NVMe PCIe Gen5. Secondary M.2 = T.B.D. (current pricing to high!) Power Supply - ASUS ROG STRIX 1000 Watt 80 Plus Platinum ATX Fully Modular CPU Cooler - ASUS ROG RYUO IV SLC 360 ARGB 360mm All-in-One Liquid CPU Cooling Kit – Black Additional Fans - What came with the case and a matching 360 all-in-one fan for bottom air intake

I've been wanting to upgrade to AMD AM5 for a while now and finally decided it was time to make the switch. I ended up going with the ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E DARK HERO and paired it with an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, along with my Nvidia RTX 5090 Founders Edition, 32GB of G.SKILL DDR5-6400 CL32 RAM. The Dark Hero feels exactly like what you would expect from a premium motherboard. It’s large, heavy, and packed with heatsinks, shielding, reinforced components, and all kinds of features. I also really like the overall blacked-out design. ASUS has included RGB and its Polymo Lighting II system, but the board itself has a much more understated look than some other gaming motherboards on the market. The black aesthetic works extremely well in my black build and gives the motherboard a high end appearance without making the entire system look like a giant RGB advertisement. ASUS has packed a bunch into this thing. The rear I/O is absolutely everything you need. It comes with 2x USB Type-C ports capable of up to 40Gbps, 6x USB Type-A 10Gbps ports, 3x USB Type-C 10Gbps ports, HDMI, optical S/PDIF, 2x audio jacks, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth, BIOS FlashBack, Clear CMOS, and the 2x Ethernet connections. One of my favorite features is that ASUS included both a 10Gb Ethernet port and a 5Gb Ethernet port. Most motherboards will give you a single 2.5Gb connection, so having both 10GB and 5GB networking is a huge step up. I don’t necessarily need the 10Gb Ethernet for my normal internet connection, but I use network storage and other high speed networking equipment, so having a 10Gb connection gives me a lot more flexibility when transferring files to my NAS. The motherboard also includes Wi-Fi 7, so you have plenty of options when it comes to networking. The USB connectivity is another area where this motherboard has been a huge upgrade for me. ASUS included multiple internal USB headers, including 2x USB 5Gbps headers, 3x USB 2.0 headers, and 2x internal USB 20Gbps Type-C connectors. This might not sound like a major feature until you build a system with a lot of accessories. On my previous motherboard, I didn’t have enough internal USB headers for everything I wanted to connect, especially with all of my fans, controllers, RGB accessories, and the AIO screen. So, I actually had to purchase a USB splitter. With the Dark Hero, you have significantly more flexibility, and I really appreciate having those extra headers available. Another feature that I absolutely love is the PCIe Q-Release mechanism. If you’ve ever had to remove a large GPU from a modern PC, you know how annoying it can be trying to reach the tiny PCIe clip, especially when you have a massive graphics card installed in a tight case. The quick release system on the Dark Hero makes installing and removing the GPU super easy. Instead of fighting with the retention clip with your finger or trying to get a screwdriver or knife into an awkward position, the Q-Release mechanism makes it much easier to release the card. It’s one of those small quality of life features that you might not think much about when looking at the specs, but once you use it, you definitely appreciate having it. ASUS also includes M.2 Q-Release and Q-Slide features, which make installing and removing NVMe drives much easier as well. Speaking of storage, the Dark Hero gives you 5x onboard M.2 slots 2x of those slots support PCIe 5.0, while the others provide PCIe 4.0 connectivity depending on the slot configuration. ASUS also provides heatsinks and thermal pads for the drives, and the board includes a 3D vapor-chamber M.2 heatsink designed to help keep high performance NVMe SSDs under control. Considering how hot some PCIe 5.0 SSDs can get, I really like that ASUS put this much thought into cooling the storage. I have plenty of room for future storage upgrades without needing to rely on PCIe expansion cards. The motherboard also gives you a lot of future-proofing with PCIe 5.0 support. There are two PCIe 5.0 x16 slots, giving you plenty of bandwidth for my 5090 FE card and expansion hardware. Cooling has also been excellent with this motherboard. I’m currently using my ASUS ROG Ryujin II AIO, and thankfully, it works with the Dark Hero without any issues. Installation was straightforward, and my CPU temperatures have been low. I was particularly interested in ASUS’s new AIO Q-Connector because it’s one of the more unique features of the Dark Hero. The connector is designed for compatible new ASUS AIO coolers and allows the cooler to connect directly to the motherboard through a specialized pin based connection next to the RAM slots, which can make the installation much easier and reduces cable clutter. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to test this feature myself because the new ASUS AIO’s that uses the dedicated connector hasn’t been released in the United States yet. I was planning on buying one specifically so I could take advantage of this feature, but I’m going to have to wait until ASUS officially releases it here. And I will be ordering one as soon as it's available. The Dark Hero also has a lot of features that make building and troubleshooting a PC easier. ASUS includes a Q-Code diagnostic display, Q-LED indicators, onboard Start and ReTry buttons, Clear CMOS, BIOS FlashBack, a FlexKey, thermal sensor connections, and a bunch of other controls for the nerds out there. The Q-Code display is especially useful when troubleshooting a new build because it can give you a better idea of what is causing the system from posting instead of leaving you guessing. BIOS FlashBack is another feature that I think should be standard on all high end motherboards because it can make recovering from BIOS issues or updating the BIOS much easier. Memory support is also impressive. The DARK HERO supports up to 256GB of DDR5 (if you can even afford that much right now, Ha), and the board is designed to handle extremely high memory speeds when paired with compatible hardware. ASUS lists support for memory speeds up to 8600+ MT/s with Ryzen 9000 processors depending on the configuration, although I personally have no interest in pushing my RAM anywhere near that. My 32GB G.SKILL DDR5-6400 CL32 XMP kit has been completely stable at 6000MT/s, and that’s what matters most to me. I’d much rather have a slightly lower memory speed that works flawlessly than chase a higher frequency and potentially introduce instability into the system. The onboard audio is also better than what you typically find on a standard motherboard. ASUS uses its ROG SupremeFX audio implementation and supports Dolby Atmos. Pros Robust power delivery Excellent memory support 10GB and 5GB Ethernet ports 5x USB-C ports 5x M.2 slots PCIe 5.0 support Multiple internal USB headers GPU PCIe Q-Release M.2 Q-Release BIOS FlashBack Clear CMOS Q-Code diagnostic display Cons No AIO’s available currently to use the AIO Q-Connector Overall, I’m extremely happy with the ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E DARK HERO. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D has been running great, temperatures have stayed low. I also love the connectivity, including 10Gb and 5Gb Ethernet, 5x USB-C ports, Wi-Fi 7, multiple USB headers, and 5x M.2 slots. It’s a premium board and definitely can be overkill for most builds, but if you're building a high end system with a 5090 and Ryzen 9 9950X3D, the Dark Hero delivers virtually everything you could ask for and has truly lived up to its flagship status.

I currently run an Asus x870e Crosshair Hero and it has been near flawless with a 9800X3D for over 18 months so I decided to pick up the Asus x870e Dark Hero. I paired it with a delidded 9850X3D running a Thermal Grizzly Heat Spreader and paired it with some Corsair Vengeance 2x24GB 9200 sticks for testing. The final build will be with TeamGroup 2x24GB 8200 sticks for running at 8000. Since this skews towards the top end of Asus's product stack, you will get a good and proper Asus experienced. The box is dark and glossy with reflective logos. The packaging is top notch and the unboxing is next level with a lower shelf that pulls out of the box holding all your Asus goodies. The box is worthy for shelf display. Up top is your motherboard ready for lift off and this thing is a precision milled battle tank. Aesthetically, it is a visual upgrade in every way over the original Hero and gorgeous to see. I am a huge fan of "Asus 2.0" products. What that means is when Asus refines their current stack of already great products by releasing updated products with even more bang for the buck. The Dark Hero is built on top of the Extreme line foundation and it shows. It is large and in charge in the best way. I like the update and changes to the RGB panel vs the original on the Hero with a nifty 3D like effect. Asus has upgraded not only the VRMs but the WiFi and more on the Dark Hero vs the Hero. The BIOS memory has been upgraded from 32mb to 64mb and the classic BIOS interface is still intact but so much cleaner and smoother and higher res. I love that Asus updated their bifurcation and no longer sacrifice lanes off the main PCIe slot used for your GPU to support auxiliary storage but instead use the USB4 controller allowing your GPU to have full x16 AND install storage as much as you like. This newer version has the Asus contact power connector that also supports their line of cableless AIOs and instead the pump head is powered directly from the motherboard. I'm sure there's even more improvements versus the old Hero I'm missing because they are extensive. Oodles of QoL improvements are to be had everywhere compared to the original Hero which I must stress is still an awesome motherboard in its own right. Pack-ins you get all the goodies from cables to antennae, swag and more. Asus even opted to include the DDR ram fan kit with this one and let me tell you, it is very effective. I tested it versus even a full 140mm fan over my memory for cooling and it was just as effective lowering out of control memory temps when overclocking from ~76 down to ~48 by properly placing their 60mmx60mm fan on the custom included frame. Since this is a robust motherboard with extreme power support, you get 2x CPU power connectors and an auxiliary 8-pin pcie connector for board level power support. Connecting it up on my test bed was a snap using my Corsair 1000w SFF PSU. Boot time was fast and right into the bios we went. The Dark Hero does ship with a much older bios (0502), so I updated ASAP. One problem I found is with the hefty VRM heatsinks packed so tight around the CPU socket many normal air coolers and some AIOs will not fit because the mounting brackets are not tall or narrowly placed enough to clear the VRM covers. I tried two different air coolers (Paladin EX400, Frozn A410) and an AIO (Frostflow x 280) while testing and configuring the Dark Hero on my test bench with all three not being able to clear the rear VRMs before finally just admitting defeat and installing a spare Ek CR240 Nucleus 240mm AIO for testing which fit fine. I also tested a Lian LI Lite 360 which also fit just fine. In the end, you might want to validate that your cooling solution will fit before purchasing. Another problem I found which isn't Asus specific but does affect both my Hero boards is they flat out do not like KingBank DDR5 8400 memory sticks. No matter what I do, they go right to an "A6" error code with the dram error light lit right up. This happens almost immediately upon start up. In Asus's defense, those same sticks do not work in my Asrock boards either but are flawless on Intel both Socket 1700 and Socket 1851. I do know they work fine on some other AM5 board makers no problem but I had to switch to a different brand of sticks to get my board working. Just something to note and again not Asus's problem as they were not on their validated memory list. When in doubt, check what has made their QVL. As for general use, it was as straight forward and as easy as Asus always tends to be. I've used many motherboards over the decades of my PC Hobby and I keep coming back to Asus boards as my go to boards on my main rig. Problem free with tons of customizations. The Asus memory tweak option is severely underrated for getting your sticks up and running and tuned a bit. So many problematic sets of sticks that would have required manual tuning from the JEDEC starting point can get a massive head start with the Asus tweak option. CPU overclocking options are bountiful. Whether you want to implement AMD's OC approach (PBO), b(e)clk, classic static overclock or a mashup, Asus covers all the bases. You also get their nifty SP rating tool which I've used for years as one of my defining criteria for binning chips. I tested my 9200 DDR5 at 8000 and it booted right up. 8200 also had no problem running. I tested both with extreme runs of TM5 and the Dark Hero handled that no problem. I do plan on testing gear 4 (memclock/4) for to see if it supports 9200 properly next but I am sure it will. I've been testing and using the Dark Hero on my test bench to get it setup, validated and tuned for over a week now with a few more weeks to go before I swap it into my main rig and as expected it has been an absolute joy. Asus is known for having the best motherboard BIOS and it shows. The build quality is top notch. The packaging is display worthy and the pack ins are top tier. The sleeper hit? That nifty little RAM fan. If you're looking for a motherboard upgrade of a higher level and tier for your AM5 platform, Asus's Dark Hero is a very worthy contender. It is both visually and operationally a winner with the GOAT Asus BIOS in full effect and high end support for everything you can throw at it.

It’s difficult to think of anything the X870 Dark Hero doesn’t have. It’s built like a tank, it has all the modern connectivity, and it’s got settings for miles. Even with its vast array of options though it’s still very easy to use if you’re not a tinkerer and I’ve been really happy with its performance The box that the Dark Hero comes in is not like other motherboard boxes I’ve seen. It folds open to reveal 2 distinct compartments - one containing the motherboard itself and the other containing the peripherals and accessories and pulls out like a drawer. The motherboard sits inside a thick foam shell that doubles as a nice surface to build on. My first impression of the motherboard is that this thing is a tank. The PCB sits on a metal backplate and it’s stacked with heavy duty heat sinks for the VRM’s and M.2 drives. I did not weigh it but the thing has to be 5 lbs. at least. As the name would imply, the board is dark throughout and looks great especially for stealth builds. For accessories, you get a WiFi 7 antenna, an optional VRM cooling fan, and various spacers and things like that for installing components on the board. The X870E Dark Hero, as the name would imply, has the AMD X870E chipset, which is currently the highest end chipset you can get for an AMD processor. Internally, there are 2 PCIe 5.0 x16 slots (shared bandwidth) and 5 M.2 storage slots. The first M.2 slot supports PCIe 5.0 drives, as does the second one, though the second M.2 slot shares bandwidth with the USB4 ports. The other 3 slots are PCIe 4.0, though the very last one only supports smaller 2230 drives. There are a couple of considerations to make with where you install your M.2 drives, but as long as you aren’t occupying all 5 slots everything should be able to run at its full potential. You get the usual 4 DDR5 memory module spots and with a Ryzen 9000 series processor that can be manually overclocked up to 8600 MT/s, though whether you can actually reach this speed is really going to depend on your memory. The board has ample fan header connections at various positions around it and lots of front panel headers as well. For external I/O, every USB port runs at at least 10 Gbps and there are even (2) 40 Gbps USB4 ports. Out of a total of 11 USB ports, 5 are USB-C and 6 are USB-A. I’d probably swap a couple of the USB-C ports for USB-A, but it’s more than enough for my purposes.There are 2 Ethernet ports, one that runs at 5 Gbps and one that runs at 10 Gbps. You also get some digital and analog audio ports, along with an HDMI port that runs from the iGPU. For wireless connectivity, you get 320MHz Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 from a MediaTek MT7927. For my system, I’m utilizing the following components: Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 240 AIO (4) 16GB Crucial Pro DDR5 6000 MHz RAM Modules (2) WD SN850X 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD Drives Nvidia RTX 5080 Founder’s Edition GPU 850W RM850e Power Supply Fractal North Momentum Edition PC Case Getting the CPU, memory, and storage on the board was very simple and did not require any tools at all. The M.2 storage slots are all covered by large heat sinks, with a particularly large one dedicated to the first M.2 slot. These heat sinks lift away by pushing down on a couple of latches and reveal pre-installed thermal pads underneath them. You don’t need any of those little screws to install the SSD drives and the posts have a tab that you just need to press down then release once the drive is in position. Since my drives were single-side I added some of the included rubber spacers to the bottom of my drives. The board slid into my case without an issue and even with all the big heatsinks positioned around the board, the mounting points for securing the board to my case were easy to get to. Installing the GPU does block access to the SSD drives, but the GPU is at least easy to remove with Asus’ quick PCIe quick release button. The power supply connections are in their usual places and some of the internal I/O connectors are even angled for a cleaner look. There was one additional PCIe power connection I did not make that supplies 60W fast charging to the front panel USB-C port. Without this connection, this port is only capable of 27W, but I can’t think of many scenarios where I’d need 60W charging out of my PC at this point. I installed my AIO in the top-mounted position and my radiator does get awfully close to the I/O cover. I thought it was even pressing against it, but once I got it installed I could see a gap between the cover and my radiator - for oversized boards like this it’s something to keep in mind. Once my build was completed I closed the case up and attached the external WiFi 7 antenna. The antenna is also magnetic and sits nicely on the side of my case. After my initial boot and installing Windows 11 and setting my EXPO profiles, I got to work getting everything up to date. You do get a system notification prompt to install Asus DriverHub, which is a browser based update tool. I’ve used DriverHub in the past and I think it’s fine, but DriverHub recently had some security issues. I think those issues have been patched, but it’s enough to give me some pause about it. Interestingly, DriverHub did not get me the latest BIOS firmware and I had to go find that manually. The other application for controlling the board’s functions is Armoury Crate and that lets you do things like tune the fan curves and personalize the lighting. I know a lot of people don’t like Armoury Crate but I think it’s fine and it generally stays out of the way when it’s not needed. My board was on BIOS version 0502 from January 2026 and I updated to the latest 1002 from July 2026. The BIOS is easy enough to navigate and there’s a ton of adjustments you can make in there. For me, I’m not really interested in getting into every option and pushing everything to its absolute limit, but it’s all there. Besides the basic memory profile setting though, there is also an AI overclocking function that’s supposed to take the guess work out of that and I have that on. The performance of the Dark Hero has been fantastic. The AI overclocking seems to just work and everything has been stable and cool. None of my components or ports are limited by any other, so everything can run at full speed. For lighting, it’s just the “Polymo Lighting II” on the I/O cover. This is an RGB light with different effects, but it’s not an LCD display and unfortunately it can’t be changed from the ROG logo that’s displayed. This isn’t a huge deal for me as I tend to keep as much of the lighting in my PC off as possible. There are a couple of illuminated buttons, as well as an LED number display that shows the CPU temperature and system codes. I don’t know that I have much else to say about the X870E Dark Hero except that it's a fantastic motherboard. It’s definitely one for very-high end builds, but it’s got the specs and performance to back it up.

Not too long ago, I bought a pre-built gaming PC. While its specs were impressive, I still wanted to tweak certain components to make it even more powerful. The motherboard that came in the PC is good. It’s one of those “gives you what you need” components, but I wanted “the best.” So, I decided to upgrade to this Dark Hero motherboard, which is a huge step up. I’ll admit that a motherboard isn’t necessarily the first component I would recommend upgrading in a gaming PC. If you’re happy with your CPU, GPU, and storage, changing the motherboard isn’t suddenly going to give you a bunch of extra FPS. In my case, though, I wanted a better foundation for the rest of my system, and that’s where the Dark Hero really makes sense. The biggest difference I noticed compared with the original motherboard is just how much more I can do with the Dark Hero. The original motherboard gave me the basics I needed, but the Dark Hero gives me considerably more room to expand. There are multiple M.2 slots, PCIe 5.0 support, USB4, Wi-Fi 7, 10Gb Ethernet, Bluetooth, and a huge number of USB connections. I’m much less likely to run out of options as I continue upgrading the PC. I also really appreciate the attention ASUS put into making this board easier to work with. The tool-free M.2 installation is one of those features that sounds minor until you actually have to install or replace an NVMe drive. Not having to deal with tiny M.2 screws is fantastic. The PCIe Q-Release is another feature I didn’t realize I would appreciate so much until I had it. Removing a large graphics card can be awkward, and being able to release it more easily makes working inside the PC much less frustrating. The onboard diagnostic display is another nice addition. With the original motherboard, troubleshooting wasn’t nearly as convenient. Being able to see diagnostic information directly on the motherboard gives me a much better idea of what’s happening when I’m working on the system. The build quality is also noticeably different. The Dark Hero feels like a premium component. It’s substantial, the heatsinks are massive, and the all-black design looks fantastic. I really like that ASUS didn’t go overboard with the gamer aesthetic. It has some RGB, but overall it has a much more understated look that works really well in my system. The BIOS is another area where I noticed the difference. ASUS gives me an incredible number of options for configuring the system, including extensive memory and CPU tuning options. I don’t necessarily need to use every one of them, but I like knowing they’re there. As I continue upgrading the PC, having that level of control gives me a lot more flexibility than I had with the original motherboard. The storage options are particularly appealing to me. I can add multiple NVMe drives without immediately worrying about running out of slots. There are some bandwidth-sharing limitations depending on which M.2 slots I use and what other features are enabled, so anyone building a system like this should pay attention to the motherboard manual when planning their storage. Still, having this many options is a huge improvement over the original motherboard. For me, though, the point of the upgrade wasn’t simply to get more FPS. I wanted to build a system that I could keep upgrading without constantly running into limitations. The Dark Hero gives me that flexibility. I’m getting substantially more connectivity, expansion options, storage support, power delivery, and enthusiast-level controls than I had with the original motherboard. After using the Dark Hero, the original motherboard feels much more like a starting point. It did its job, and there was nothing particularly wrong with it. The Dark Hero just gives me a much better foundation for the kind of system I want to build. Overall, I’m extremely happy with the upgrade. The Dark Hero is definitely overkill for a lot of people, and I wouldn’t recommend spending this much on a motherboard just for the sake of having a flagship model. But if you’re already building a high-end AM5 system and want a motherboard that gives you plenty of room to expand and customize, I think the Dark Hero is worth considering.

The Crosshair X870E Dark Hero is an incredible motherboard. I've had Asus motherboards in 4 different builds in my long time of PC building. I won't fully date myself but I'll say that one of those builds featured the copper heatsinks you see in a certain 20th anniversary edition of the ROG Crosshair. The last Asus board I used was the Crosshair V Formula-Z from the AM3+ days, so it's been quite awhile and now I can compare to the recent builds I've done with some of the other big names. While the Crosshair X870E Dark Hero comes at an exceptionally high price, this motherboard offers plenty of extra features to justify that price tag - and beyond extras, every component appears to have been chosen with care and implemented in the highest quality way. #Unboxing and First Impressions# There's no denying this board is special from the first time you open the box. Asus has gone all out to make this feel like a special experience. Unlike a typical motherboard box, this box is hinged to open like a clamshell or jewelry box. And unlike a typical motherboard - the accessories aren't hidden under a tray that you're forced to lift off after removing the board itself. No no - Asus has integrated a pull-out drawer under the main motherboard that you just slide out to reveal all the extras included with the board. It's a fantastic packaging design. And those included accessories? Sure you get some SATA cables and a wifi antenna... but you also get an ROG VIP card and an amazing credit card size metal bottle opener. Quite a bit nicer than the door hanger and leather keychain that I got with my boards in the past. The board itself looks fantastic - an all dark PCB and heatsinks for every component are either dark gray, gunmetal, or black themselves. #Building with the Crosshair X870E Dark Hero# I had just built a PC last fall with a midrange X870E board from a different brand, so I figured it was worth the time to swap it for the Dark Hero and just buy another Windows license. I'm working in a Fractal North case with a 240mm AIO and a 5090, so space is at a premium. The Dark Hero fit perfectly - the power delivery heatsinks at the top edge of the board could not have been a millimeter taller or I would not have been able to fit my Deep Cool AIO in the top of the case. Installation of my 3 M.2 SSDs was extremely easy thanks to the toolless heatsink removal and toolless install of the SSDs themselves. Everything is done with "Q-" connectors other than screwing the board down into the case. Even the installation/removal of the GPU was shockingly easy thanks to a simple pushbutton mechanism that is well above the height of the GPU itself. Unlike a lot of boards where you have to reach in and try to hit the PCIe 16x release, this one makes it no big deal. Which was nice since during my build I installed and then removed my 5090 3 times because I kept forgetting to route the power cable correctly before inserting it. One thing I really liked with the m.2 slots is that you can make full use of the available PCIe lanes with up to 4 of the 5 slots installed. When you use the topmost slot of the 3 2280 slots covered by the heatsink (under your GPU), it does split lanes between the SSD and USB4 ports (2 lanes for each) so be aware if you plan to also use USB4 for something. I do use an eGPU dock with my PC so I just avoided using this slot. I have not gotten too deep into the overclocking settings yet. I changed the PBO limits to "Motherboard" and used the default Expo settings to run my 9950X3D and DDR5-6000 CL30 memory at their rated specs from Corsair. The build has been rock solid in the 4 days that I've had it running in this spec. Software wise, I already had Armoury Crate installed for use with my TUF 5090, so it worked right off with my new motherboard. After coming from other brands in two recent builds, the Asus software was a welcome change that is much more polished than either of the other brands. I prefer simple solid red lighting in my case, and it was easy to coordinate that with my RAM, light strip, GPU, riser, cooler, and the ROG 'display' over the IO ports of the Dark Hero. I also have played around with the natural language AI Lighting mode, and found that it works pretty well for simple lighting config. The downside was that it only has a 150 char limit for the prompt, so you need to be very efficient if you want it to do something specific. I found that building a prompt using another AI tool to get perfectly into the 150 character limit of the Asus AI tool worked well to build a "heart pumping blood throughout the system" effect, though I went back to my solid red lighting after a few hours. #Final thoughts# If you're wanting to treat yourself to a high end board without going to ultra-ultra high end boards in the >1k range, this one is perfect. It's a massive elevation in quality from the boards at the 399 pricepoint, especially if you run a ton of M.2 SSDs. The attention to detail is just amazing. It's honestly got me looking for a new case so I can run a 360mm radiator and use one of their amazing Q connect AIOs that doesn't have any wires. I have been giddy ever since I installed it and can't wait to get deeper into the PBO and RAM settings.

The ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero makes a bold statement before you even see the hardware. My first impression hit the moment I pulled the retail box out of the shipping packaging: it is easily the heaviest motherboard package I have ever held, weighing in at just over 9.5 pounds. Once you open it up, the board itself backs up that heft with a stealthy dark aesthetic, heavy heatsink density, and subtle Polymo lighting that give it an undeniable high-end feel before it ever touches a chassis. While I chose this board for testing, I did not choose it in order to spend my time tuning memory sub-timings, dialing in manual core offsets, or chasing extreme bench records. I was far more interested in how it handles a real-world build on the AM5 platform with an R7 9800X3D and 32 GB of Corsair Dominator DDR5 6000 RAM. On the practical user experience side, ASUS hit it out of the park, though the RAM required a bit of extra attention. That specific Corsair Dominator kit did not work seamlessly out of the box. Running it at default settings caused headaches, requiring a quick dive into the BIOS to manually tweak specific profile settings and voltages to get the system stable. Not doing so made the initial setup process a lot more frustrating than it needed to be. Once those memory settings were locked in, however, the quality of life features on the hardware side really shined. If you have built PCs over the years, you know the minor headaches that usually come with the process: hunting down tiny lost screws or trying to wedge your finger under a massive graphics card to hit a recessed PCIe latch. ASUS cleared those physical hurdles out of the way: M.2 Toolless Covers & Latches: The quick-release heatsink covers and M.2 Q-Latch setup are fantastic. Swapping out or adding NVMe storage takes seconds, with no micro-screwdrivers or dropped fasteners required. The heavy heatsinks pop off, the drive locks in with a plastic flick, and the cover snaps right back on. PCIe Slot Q-Release Slim: Releasing a heavy triple-slot GPU is zero hassle. You just tilt the card toward the latch mechanism and it pops free, without pressing tiny levers or digging around with a screwdriver. Q-Antenna: The Wi-Fi 7 antenna snaps straight into the back panel ports instead of requiring you to sit there spinning tiny threaded coax gold nuts. Everything about the hardware layout feels thoughtfully designed for the person actually assembling the rig. The Reality Check Here is the bottom line: I'm giving it 5 stars based on design, aesthetics, component quality, and execution - even if it doesn't necessarily make much sense strictly from a value standpoint. Unless you genuinely need the dual USB4 ports, high-end power delivery for extreme overclocking, or heavy multi-Gen5 drive arrays, this board is complete overkill for most enthusiasts. It carries a steep premium for the flagship name tag and top-tier features. Most builders would be served just as well by picking up a mid-tier X870 or B650 board, saving hundreds of dollars in the process, and putting those savings directly toward a faster GPU or larger storage drives. If you want top-shelf convenience features, a gorgeous dark aesthetic, and money is not the primary constraint, the Dark Hero is a treat to build on. Just know you are paying a clear luxury tax for the convenience.

This is a high-end motherboard deserving top level components. For my build I use the following components: Asus Dark Hero AMD 5 Motherboard Geforce RTX 5080 Ryzen 7 9800X3D M2 2230 2TB SSD M2 2280 1 TB SSD ASUS TUF Gaming Case AIO Liquid CPU Cooling Kit DDR5 RAM 32GB 1000w Plus Gold PSU Motherboard Highlights With the component prices rising astronomically these days, it doesn’t make sense to skimp on the motherboard. The Asus Dark Hero motherboard is no doubt a high-end gaming motherboard and it has all the features that I need, and it is very much future-proofed. It has 5 SSD slots, which I only use 2 of them for now. I only use 32GB of DRAM due to very high memory prices these days, but the motherboard supports up to 256GB DDR 5 memory on its 4 UDIMM slots. It has ample of USB ports options. This motherboard features WiFI 7 supports and it has a diversity antenna with cool network auto tuning and placement tool. This is a great feature to have if you want to play PCVR since WiFI 7 is a necessity. There’s a cool LED display on the motherboard deserving a high-end system and Asus manages all of the RGB lighting through the Aura Sync. The RGB lighting system is clever to inform you the thermal management status of your system, so when it gets hot inside the PC you will see corresponding color on the PC and even the keyboard. Overclocking and Auto Tuning I am very happy with the performance even without tinkering into overclocking. Asus has made overclocking easy with its automated tool where it can all happen with the push of a button. Of course, the motherboard supports overclocking manually. I may need to do some overclocking myself when GTA 6 comes out. Auto tuning is just an incredible feature. No need to perform manual tests to get optimum results. Not sure on how fast the fans should work? Auto tuning is the answer. Same goes for the wifi network. Building Building a PC with the motherboard is easy enough. The instructions are pretty concise with helpful information all contained on the quick start guide booklet. I use all white-themed Asus components with RGB lights whenever possible. So the whole build has a great dark and white contrast, and I think the complete build looks awesome. The only thing missing for my build was a tiny M2 screw for one of the SSD, which I think Asus should have provided for such a high-end motherboard. It would also be awesome if Asus can provide some screws for fan installation, but it’s not a big deal since I can hardly remember any motherboard comes with these screws anyways. I can finish the whole build in just several hours and start to game the next day after the OS and all of the drivers, utilities as well as the games installed. The Complete Build I am very much satisfied with the build and the motherboard with its LED screen is definitely the highlight. It really shows off a cool system. I think the Black and White theme looks awesome. Gaming is very smooth and it reached my targeted FPS in Crimson Desert (Enhanced Version) at 4K resolution. Do I recommend this motherboard? Absolutely if it fits your budget and you are building a high-end system.

When I say that the Asus-ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero (socket AM5) AMD X870E ATX DDR5 Wi-Fi 7 is a beast, I am more than serious. This thing is built like a tank. As soon as you pick up the main box, you feel the weight. Personally, I was thinking is that weight all the motherboard and it was. That’s because the heat sinks are serious business on this board. This Asus-Rog Crosshair X870E Dark Hero is next level and obviously for serious builders and gamers. I am seriously excited to have this motherboard and can definitely see and feel the quality of this board. This board has features I have not seen before, like all of the AI intelligent control features, which I am not 100% sure how I feel about them yet. I know I like the heatsink for the NVME M.2 drive, which will help keep speeds up during intense usage. Another thing I really like is the ability to run a two-CPU configuration, as well as the dual LAN capability, with one being 10 Gigabit and the other 5 Gigabit, which is inspiring me to update my Fiber internet. Speaking of which, I really appreciate that Asus includes an antenna for the Wi-Fi 7 chip on this motherboard. I also appreciate that Asus listened to its users and implemented a much better quick-release system for installing and releasing components. Additionally, I appreciate the updated BIOS and the 64 MB of memory for the BIOS. Then when speaking of connectivity, this motherboard has more than any I have used on the back panel, with a total of seven USB-C and six USB-A connections, along with HDMI and one of the two front-panel USB4 Type-C ports with 60 watts of output. Speaking of power this board has some serious power stages with Pro Cool 2 connectors and high-quality capacitors for great multi-core support. If you are ready to build a serious PC this motherboard will give you all the support you need whether you are gaming or creating content. This board is built to handle whatever you throw at it and more.

You know this is a whole different level of motherboards just by picking up the box. My first impression was, what the heck is in there? Did I get duped and got a box full of rocks? LOL. But first thought when I opened it was, wow, you know something good has to be in here just by it's presentation. Being a casual gamer with serious gaming kids in the house, I left installing this to my son. He managed to get it installed without much difficulties but it does take some time. Needless to say, this motherboard is packed full of features and components to build a high end gaming system which made my son very excited. It has Wi-fi7, 10 gb ethernet and a 5 gb, bluetooth 5.4, USB 4 (40gbps), premium audio etc. All this gives me confidence that Asus x870e will be future proof for hopefully, a couple of years to come. Another great feature I appreciate about this board is the m.2 release system. It will make future upgrades or repair much easier when replacing components. No more tiny little screws to deal with. As for performance, obviously, you will have to pair it with some other high end components to get it's full benefits. But this is the foundation you will need to build a really great high end gaming computer.

ASUS - ROG CROSSHAIR X870E DARK HERO (Socket AM5) AMD X870E ATX DDR5 Wi-Fi 7 Motherboard – Black The Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero combines a sleek all-black look with impressive performance and features, making it a standout premium option for high-end systems. Key features include 10 Gbps Ethernet, a 64 MB BIOS, independent base clock adjustment, and a focus on overclocking, supported by robust power delivery and effective cooling. Its EFI and PCB are well-designed, and it comes with a memory cooling fan. Asus builds on a strong foundation with this model, enhancing power capacity, aesthetics, and thermal management. I've trusted ASUS ROG and TUF military-grade motherboards for years due to their reliability, support, and quality—perfect for both gaming and demanding tasks. ASUS didn’t reinvent the wheel but refined key details that matter in high-end builds. It remains a top-tier AM5 choice, especially when paired with the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D, the centerpiece of my build and AMD’s premium gaming and content creation processor. The motherboard supports a large swath of the new AMD processors and you can’t appreciate how many until you go to their site under support and look at the list. Right out of the box, the Dark Hero presents a more unified appearance. Its all-black PCB, heatsinks, and rear I/O shroud contribute to a sleek, stealthy aesthetic without the flashy contrasts seen in the standard Hero motherboard. It exudes a premium vibe without being ostentatious. The RGB lighting is minimal, with Polymo Lighting II limited to the rear I/O area and kept subtle, which I appreciate. While I enjoy fishbowl-style cases, I prefer avoiding the disco lighting common in many units. The build quality meets high ROG standards: dense heatsinks with good contact, reinforced SafeSlots for PCIe, and secure connectors. This surpasses many competitors, including other ASUS models, with a robust 20+2+2 phase power design (20x 110A for Vcore, 2x 110A for SoC, 2x 80A for auxiliary), dual ProCool II power connectors, MicroFine alloy chokes, and premium capacitors. This motherboard is built like an M1A2 Abrams battle tank. ASUS features several Q-Design elements that greatly simplify assembly, upgrades, and maintenance of the Dark Hero. While the company returned to the dependable PCIe Slot Q-Release design, it remains a practical choice. The M.2 Q-Release and the newer M.2 Q-Latch enable easy SSD installation and removal through tool-free, snap-on mechanisms that securely hold heatsinks and drives. The M.2 Q-Slide helps in aligning components within tight slots. A notable addition and a pleasant surprise is Hero’s primary M.2 heatsink, which employs a 3D vapor chamber (3D VC) combined with a heatpipe design, effectively maintaining the drive’s temperature even under load. Additionally, the Q-Antenna enhances Wi-Fi signal strength and simplifies setup by eliminating cable fuss. These features reduce frustration during initial builds or when swapping components. Both PCIe 5.0 x16 SafeSlots support full-bandwidth graphics cards, and the five onboard M.2 slots provide ample high-speed storage options. This configuration allows you to use both Gen5 M.2 slots along with a PCIe 5.0 x16 graphics card without noticeably affecting storage or GPU performance in typical setups. Adaptive PCIe lane sharing efficiently prioritizes Gen5 devices, avoiding unnecessary reductions in GPU bandwidth. A prominent feature on the board that caught my attention is the small shiny gold or copper dots between the CPU and memory slots, known as the AIO Q-Connector. When used with compatible ROG AIO coolers such as the Strix LC IV, it integrates pump, fan, and LCD signals into one cable, making cable management easier and installation faster. Nevertheless, I believe the price of these components should be reduced to a more reasonable level, perhaps by removing the lighting and info panels. I find it hard to justify paying four times the cost of a high-quality AIO cooler like the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360—which efficiently cools the processor under load—just for this innovative but currently impractical feature. Connectivity and the I/O Rear panel are loaded: dual USB4 Type-C 40Gbps, more USB Type-C 10Gbps, Wi-Fi 7, and dual LAN (10GbE + 5GbE). If you are using more than a quality headphone set for listening to music and games and conferencing, and you want to have desktop speakers, you will need to install a dedicated Sound Card. The Dark Hero only has internal connectors that hook internally to a standard HD Audio front-panel connector on your case. This gives you high-quality headphone + mic jacks that work with the motherboard’s Realtek audio for 7.1 surround (via rear ports for speakers + front for headphones) to ROG SupremeFX (Realtek ALC4082) + ESS ES9219 Quad DAC, High SNR, good headphone amp, full 7.1 support, and Gold-plated jacks + optical out. The ASUS BIOS experience continues to be among the best in the industry. The Dark Hero interface looks even more refined, offering easier navigation for quick adjustments or detailed configuration. A larger 64MB BIOS chip supports better future CPU compatibility, enabling a more robust interface and extended support for the latest and upcoming AM5 processors, ensuring a smooth user experience. While I don’t generally use features like AI Overclocking, AI Cooling II, AI Networking II, AI Cache Boost (which ASUS claims can improve local LLM performance by up to 29%), or AI Advisor, these features could still prove useful, especially if you are exploring local AI projects alongside gaming. And it is always nice to have choices, This motherboard offers stable power, reliable memory support, and low thermals, allowing you to concentrate on performance instead of temperature management. It’s ideal for enthusiasts seeking ample overclocking headroom, future-proof storage or PCIe options, dependable daily use on AM5, and thoughtful features that simplify the build process—all without unnecessary extras.

The ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero is an excellent motherboard for a high-end AM5 gaming build, especially if you want premium features, strong power delivery, and plenty of room for future upgrades. Build quality is excellent. The board feels very well made, the heatsinks are substantial, and the overall black design looks clean and premium without being overly flashy. It fits especially well in a higher-end build where you want the motherboard to match the rest of the components instead of looking like an afterthought. Connectivity and expansion are major strengths. You get plenty of high-speed storage options, modern USB connectivity, Wi-Fi 7, strong networking features, and enough PCIe expansion for a powerful gaming system. There is also a lot of flexibility for adding additional NVMe storage later, which is important if you have a large game library. The BIOS is another strong point. ASUS gives you a huge amount of control over memory tuning, CPU settings, fan curves, and performance options. For someone using a higher-end Ryzen processor and fast DDR5 memory, there is plenty of room to fine-tune the system. At the same time, most users can enable EXPO, configure their cooling, and leave the rest alone. For gaming, the motherboard itself is unlikely to dramatically increase frame rates compared with a less expensive X870E board, but that really isn't the point of the Dark Hero. You're paying for the stronger overall platform, connectivity, cooling, expansion, troubleshooting features, and enthusiast-level BIOS controls. There are some drawbacks. The biggest is definitely the price. This is an expensive motherboard, and a lot of gamers will never use everything it offers. If you're building a more budget-conscious system, there are significantly cheaper AM5 boards that can run the same processor and graphics card perfectly well. The amount of BIOS options can also be a little overwhelming if you're new to PC building. ASUS software can be hit or miss as well, so I personally prefer handling most settings directly through the BIOS whenever possible. Overall, the ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero makes the most sense in a no-compromise or enthusiast-level gaming PC. It offers excellent build quality, strong power delivery, extensive storage and connectivity, Wi-Fi 7, advanced tuning options, and plenty of upgrade potential. It's absolutely overkill for some users, but if you're already investing in a high-end Ryzen CPU, powerful GPU, fast DDR5, and multiple NVMe drives, this motherboard gives you a platform that feels appropriately premium. **Pros:** Excellent build quality, strong VRM and power delivery, extensive M.2 and PCIe expansion, Wi-Fi 7, excellent connectivity, feature-rich BIOS, strong cooling, premium aesthetics, and great upgrade potential. **Cons:** Very expensive, overkill for most gaming builds, BIOS can be intimidating for beginners, and many users may never take advantage of all the enthusiast features.

Nice looking motherboard . Build quality is top tier . Definitely not cheap compare to other brand . AMD will continue support AM5 motherboard and cpu for at least 3-5 years so worth to spent a little more.

One awesome straight forward motherboard. Very straight forward instillation process and works like a champ.

Great Motherboard for AI. Built well and great for future needs.

It is challenging to review a motherboard, as its performance is hard to isolate from the other components. So this review will focus as much as possible, on what the board offers, less on how it performs (which is good). We did run Windows 11 on this to test it out So installation.. this is a BEAST of a board, it has some weight to it. Everything is solid, nothing feels cheap or flimsy. Use full size ATX format, so you will need a good case for it. And don't just use 1 or 2 screws, max it out, every mount point, you don't want this to slip, if something good happens. The power connector is tight, but convient, on the edge and out of the way. This particular board utilizes The AMD Ryzen Socket 5 system... so you have a variety of options on processors, and this one is still being produced, so you will for at least another year or so have more options... Easy install of the processor, nearly impossible to screw up. Add your your preferred heat control for the processor (doesn't come with the board, and do NOT run without one). Memory, as yes... this is going to be your most costly required piece to use this board (based on Sept, 2026 pricing). 4 DDR5 slots, which will allow you to use up to 256gb of memory. That is a LOT of memory, but also right now 64gb chips not readily available. So I ran this with just 16gb (2 8gb), and I know that I can easily get this up to 48gb in the near future. Super simple to install, easy access Storage... Multiple options for solid state memory, 7 in fact. You have support for the latest PCIe 5.0, and 4.0. That is a LOT of options for big storage. You can still go "old school". SATA connectors are there for your slower, but much larger storage options as well. USB 4... It's there, but I have no devices to actually check the performance at USB4 level. Additional USB 2.0 Headers for some of your coolers, fans, and other misc connectors.. The Audio: Very good out of the box.. To take advantage off it, have some good speakers... You won't really need to use anything breakout or special... easy to access. Network connectivity: This is my first board with 10G wired connector... and it is FIRE fast... My internet connection isn't fast enough to really use, but getting over 2g down performance, is awesome. I can can test with my router, and it does clock close to 10g transfer speed. So you are set, so long as you have the equipment that can use it. WiFi 7, this system is going to be hardwired, but did want to see if it connected, and it did. My WiFi 7 unifi system connected instantly, and I was maxing out speeds. I didn't try to get too far from my node, but there was no lag... so if you need it, it is there. If you are seeing lag with either the hardwire, or the wireless... check with your ISP, it isn't going to be this board. now... it has a built in HDMI port, which most people won't need or use, but it is great to have, so you can trouble shoot when your gaming video card isn't working. This board supported our Nvidia 5080 board... ran perfectly, once we had the drivers installed. The card felt very secure when locked in, which is good, as that card is expensive and massive. so no worries. Now I don't go crazy with custom tweaking the settings on the board level, but this boar comes with a TON of options, so you can optimize to your heart's content. It has a 64mb Bios... So this will allow for a long run-way for future updates, to support even more advanced processors... Has WIFI and network support on the BIOS level, so you can access software if your drives or your OS goes wonky. That is a GREAT addition and tool. So the board... great option... You are through going to have to spend for the key components to make the most of it: Memory, Processor, Video, Cooling, Storage. But this board gives a very strong foundation for those very expensive components.. This is the board you want to use, if your building your dream rig, today... and want to use it "tomorrow"

For those like me that still prefer the maximum power of a desktop gaming rig, the ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero certainly delivers. It looks awesome-the all black aesthetic matches my blacked-out Fractal Design Define 7 case and it has plenty of I/O options. My favorite part of the design is the backplate. It really provides some sturdiness to this already beefy motherboard. Another nice feature is the small integrated ROG logo display above the VRM area that cycles through RGB colors. I purchased a new AMD 9950X3D CPU to pair with this coming from an older Intel 12900K. I have a Samsung 9100 Pro PCIe 5.0 2 TB SSD and a NVIDIA RTX 5090 Founders Edition for graphics. The CPU is cooled with a Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black air cooler and Noctua’s AM5 offset mounting bars. Although I would have liked some faster memory, I reused my older 32GB DDR5 5600 and will wait for RAM prices to settle. The install itself was easy. I really like the M.2 Slide and Latch functionality that ASUS provides that makes installing the M.2 drives incredibly straightforward and without the need for a screwdriver. I installed 2 additional PCIe 4.0 drives in addition to my main drive. Each drive has a backplate and a heatsink with a thermal pad. The prime M.2 slot for the main drive features a 3D vacuum chamber heatsink. I confirmed I’m getting my maximum read and write for my drive on this board. There’s a button located in a convenient place that makes ejecting the graphics card from the PCIe 5.0 slot super easy. My last motherboard did not have this, and I had to use a popsicle stick to try to release the graphics card every time. There are 4 SATA ports for spinning and optical drives. I don’t have any hard drives but I do have an old ASUS Blu-ray burner disc drive. I haven’t used it in years but it's nice that modern motherboards still support it and it’s there if I need it. The other thing I noticed is the rear I/O panel is very clearly marked. There’s no guessing as to which port supports what as there are labels for all of the 40Gbps and 10Gbps USB ports. The front connectors also support two 20GBps USB ports, one of which can charge devices at 60W if you install an additional 8-pin PCIe power cable to the motherboard’s USB power port. My biggest disappointment was ASUS's DriverHub software. Upon first boot, Windows prompted me to install it, but the application repeatedly would crash when it tried to load its browser interface. I had to go to the ASUS website and download all the drivers manually including the AMD chipset drivers. In addition, the BIOS version that my board came with was 0502, which by this point is over half a year old. I installed the latest BIOS from ASUS’s website. I did a bit more research and found that other users have also encountered this DriverHub bug so I’m hoping ASUS can get it fixed soon. One thing to note is that the bandwidth is shared between the second PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot and the USB4 40Gbps port, which can be limiting if you want to run 2 PCIe 5.0 SSDs and high-speed external devices at the same time. Finally, the board supports AI assisted overclocking and cooling features. AI assisted overclocking is available in the BIOS, while AI Cooling II can automatically tune fan behavior based on system thermals. I enabled the overclocking feature, but I’m not particularly interested in chasing maximum clock speeds, as the 9950X3D is plenty fast. Believe it or not, my RTX 5090 is still typically the bottleneck in this system as I play on a massive screen at 5K2K resolution. These AI features are useful starting points for those who want additional performance or quieter fan curves without manually tuning every parameter. Pros: - 20+2+2 power stages - Five M.2 storage slots (2 are PCIe 5.0 x4) - Up to 256GB dual channel DDR5 - Realtek 10GbE and 5Gbe Ethernet ports - Wifi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 - Two USB4 40Gbps ports + 9 additional USB 10Gbps in rear - Supports up to 12 Front USB ports - VRM heatsinks and heatsinks/backplates for M.2 slots - High-end onboard DAC (up to 32-bit/384kHz) - 2 PCIe 5.0 x16 slots - 4 SATA 6Gb/s ports - AI Overclocking and Cooling - Easy to install - RGB Lighting and integrated RGB logo display - Optional 60mm memory fan - Includes a ROG membership card and bottle opener. Seriously! Cons: - DriverHub software bugs - Outdated BIOS from factory - M.2/USB4 lane sharing Overall – The ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero motherboard is an excellent choice for an enthusiast AM5 system. It combines outstanding connectivity, storage expansion, cooling, and easy DIY features for the latest Ryzen processors. Driver installation issues aside, this is the one to get if you want excellent performance and nearly every bell and whistle available on a high-end gaming motherboard.