Customer Ratings & Reviews

I just finished building my new gaming PC with the ASUS ROG STRIX X870E GAMING Wi‑Fi 7 NEO, and honestly, this motherboard made the whole experience smoother than I expected. The unboxing alone sets up the tone. Everything is neatly packed; the board is protected with thick foam, and you immediately notice how solid and well-built it feels. The heatsinks are heavy, the finish looks premium, and the subtle RGB accents give it that signature ASUS ROG STRIX personality without going overboard. Installing it was surprisingly easy. ASUS’s Q‑Design features really do make a difference. The Q‑Release button saved me from wrestling with the GPU latch, and the Q‑Latch made installing my M.2 SSDs a simple click instead of dealing with tiny screws. The layout is clean, the headers are clearly labeled, and there’s plenty of room for my GPU and AIO cooler. It felt like the board was designed for everyday builders, not just experts. Once I powered it on, the RGB lit up and synced perfectly with the rest of my setup. Jumping into the BIOS was another pleasant surprise. ASUS’s BIOS is packed with features, but it’s still easy to navigate. The basic mode shows everything you need; temps, fan speeds, storage and switching to advanced mode gives you full control if you want to tweak performance. I was able to set my memory profile and adjust fan curves without digging through confusing menus. Connectivity is a huge plus. Wi‑Fi 7 is insanely fast, and the 5Gb LAN gives me a reliable, wired option for gaming. The rear I/O is loaded with ports: USB‑C, high‑speed USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, and everything I need for my peripherals and monitors. And with five M.2 slots including PCIe Gen 5, I have more than enough room to expand my storage later. What really sets this board apart is how it blends performance, style, and ease of use. It feels premium, it looks great in a gaming setup, and it made building my PC genuinely enjoyable. If you want a motherboard that’s fast, future‑ready, and friendly for everyday builders, this one deserves a spot in your next build. Pros: Premium ASUS ROG STRIX Craftsmanship — heavy heatsinks, clean design, subtle RGB Easy installation = Q‑Release + Q‑Latch make building simple ASUS AIO Connection for ASUS AIO setups onboard Fast connectivity = Wi‑Fi 7 + 5Gb LAN Huge storage support = Five M.2 slots including PCIe Gen 5 Feature‑rich BIOS = Simple for beginners, powerful for enthusiasts Strong VRM performance = Stable power for high‑end Ryzen CPUs Cons: Premium price compared to basic AMD AM5 boards No 10Gb Ethernet for extreme wired setups More features than casual users need or want if you’re building a simple PC If you are looking for the best of the best with more features than you can possibly want or need, look no further than the ASUS ROG STRIX X870E‑E GAMING Wi‑Fi 7 NEO Motherboard for your next Gaming PC build!

I've spent this weekend building a new gaming Desktop with the ASUS ROG Strix X870E-E NEO Motherboard and it's incredible. The tdlr; is it's the BEST Motherboard I have ever used by a far margin. If you're looking to upgrade or build an AM5 system, you will not be the envy of your friends. My build is an ASUS ROG Strix X870E NEO (AM5); AMD Ryzen 9700X34; Crucial 6400 OC RAM EXPO rated; Be Quiet 360mm Radiator; Corsair 1000w PSU; 120MM Corsair PWM Fans, NVME5 Drive and migrating across my ROG 4080 graphics card. Everything about the ROG Strix X870 NEO is well thought out, quick release latches for everything; and a designed for heat management - the NVME heatsink is the wildest and biggest I have seen. There's also space for 4 additional NVME drives - making 5 in total. My only small complaint with the build was that the NVME 5 thermal pad is a little too thick for some new dual sided NVME 5 drives, but spreading out the thermal pad with some pressure fixed that. That took me a few minutes longer than it should have to figure out :-). Once I had my build done, this is close to be an RGB-less board, there is a RGB ROG Logo (see my photos) and tbh, it looks AMAZING. In terms of thermals, I am getting an astonishing 33 degrees at idle!!! This is crazy good. Fired up the re-release of Assassins Creed Black Flag this weekend and FPS on Ultra with Ray Tracing Medium was 130+ and the board was running so cool at only 45 degrees. Seriously unbelievably good. ROG's Armory Crate software really helps with this as I was able to curve fans perfectly and in addition, the ROG Strix BIOS is really the best in the industry in terms of features, availability to tweak, etc. This includes one flick of an option to enable EXPO and my 6400 OC Memory was running at full spec and everything was stable. I can firmly give the ASUS ROG STRIX X870E NEO 5/5 as it's the best motherboard ever. Yes, I know RAM and NVME drives are hard to get at the moment, I had to wait a week - but you will not find a better future proofed board.

Coming from an ASUS Z790-E motherboard and Intel CPU, I noticed similar layouts and features, but this X870E-E has some significant improvements: many more USB-C ports, more traditional DIMM locks (easier to get in and out), ultra-simple NVMe drive installation that's doesn't require tools, more colorful on-board RGB effects, and a smarter layout for the fan headers. I had no problems installing my Ryzen 7 CPU and AIO. This motherboard comes with ASUS' new Q-connector, which simplifies the wiring for an AIO unit; but unfortunately, compatible device options are rather low right now and I didn't want to give up my cool AIO screen. Otherwise, everything else about this motherboard's setup worked as expected. The BIOS configuration is fairly nice as well, with options between basic and advanced interfaces. It runs the full gamut of control over how you motherboard works, but also has AI and automated control - in case you really don't want to be bothered. Fully booted, I've been really satisfied with the speed and options. The only problem I've seen so far is that the onboard RGB doesn't seem to work with custom-created profiles in Aura Creator, however the out-of-the-box RGB profiles work just fine on the motherboard. I'm assuming this just needs a software fix...and it's a very small thing.

Things that you don't necessarily think about when splurging on a high performance piece of equipment is the superior supplemental equipment that you will need to include to see the true ceiling of your shiny new purchase. Kind of like if you save up your pennies (RIP) and nickles to buy that supercharged V8 you have always wanted, but then you realize you also need to budget for premium fuel, expensive tires, higher end maintenance costs, etc. The same is true for this Asus ROG Strix X870E-E motherboard. As a baseline, this is THE MOTHERBOARD to have for gaming. It gives you all of the ceiling that you could ask for to not only be relevant, but stay on the higher end for the next decade. As an ATX board all of your standard equipment will fit. Accepting an AMD5 socket sets you up perfectly for the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D to give you the backbone and brain to set your sights past the moon and straight for Mars. Just like most motherboards this one includes 4 memory slots that can handle a combined 256gb of DDR5 ram. Not that I have the pockets to currently do that with current RAM prices, but if the market ever levels its nice to know that the headroom is there. Probably the two most impressive stats included with this motherboard is that it includes not one, not two, but FIVE M.2 slots for storage, and And this slots have included toolless installation that keeps you from having to worry about dropping small screws when putting things together. The second is that over a DOZEN USB ports are included, none of which are slow! There are headers to add more, however why would you ever want to?? Just as important with future proofing this motherboard is that it comes with Wifi7. My home network is still in its infant stages of transferring from Wifi6 to Wifi7, but it still blows me away that I can pull in 2gbps on my cell phone over wifi, which makes me excited to push see if a dedicated LAN connection is even necessary anymore. The last thing you want is to invest into a high end gaming rig to only have your network connection kill your experience. Speaking of experience, the aesthetics of this motherboard are amazing. If they were not the primary goal of this design, I would be surprised. I am a sucker for black colored builds, but this X870E-E just adds a look of class and elegance. There is even a pixelated LED board adjacent to the CPU that just adds that dash of flair that pairs amazingly with my CPU Cooler Screen, RGB Fans and RAM. Currently I am running: Asus X870E-E Motherboard AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D STRIX Liquid Cooler w/Screen RTX3080 32gb CL36 DDR5 256gb M.2 SSD Boot Drive Completed a successful boot on my test bench and am currently in the process of transferring everything over to an open air wall mounted PC to show off the premium aesthetics included in this board. Are you looking for a builder friendly board with a very high ceiling and premium features paired with a classy look? This X870E-E by Asus may be just what you are looking for. That being said, be prepared to shell out some serious dough to really explore how far this motherboard can take you.

After just a year, I am upgrading my build again from a competitors X870 "ICE" board and I must say I love this STRIX board and the additional functionality and I/O it provides. The ROG Strix line has always been one of my favorite boards after the Crosshair Hero line and this one takes the cake. The gap between the two lines are closing and the aesthetics, upgrades, extra USBs and RGBs, and the addition of the Q connectors really enhance the overall experience. Enter the ROG Strix X870E Gaming WiFi 7 Neo in all its glory. I love the aggressive angles and touch of RGB covering the I/O shield board making it stylish while keeping it from overkill. The beautiful "pixelated" LEDs make the board captivating with the light staying on even while the PC is off. This is configurable and you can turn it off if you like. Everything needed is included in the box along with the cool stickers everyone is used to getting. Assembly is like all MoBos however the inclusion of the Q connectors here rendition makes installation easy for noobs to nerds due the toolless design. The alignment of ports, headers, and connectors on the outside edge are plentiful and well thought out. There are a plethora of heatshields for 5 M.2 slots and plates to make it look sleek and aggressive. I would have like to see CPU reinforcement for this price but I know that is what separates their top tier from the others. While this is their strategy, lesser quality competitors are including it in boards half the price so maybe this should be changed in the future lineup. Looking around the board, you see some of the 18+2+2 VRM power stages, AM5 socket, 4 DDR5 UDIMM slots supporting up to 256GB clocked up to 9600 MT/s depending on CPU and OC settings. There is one PCIe 5.0x16 for GPU, a few other PCIe, Wi-Fi 7, 2 USB-C 4.0 with PD and Display port! In the networking sector, you get MediaTek since Intel is the only driver made stable for the Marvell option I love more. So much to see, review the specs yourself, I won't do anymore listing of them. VRM and power management will make you drool if you are an over-clocker and enjoy squeezing everything out of the system. My build easily took my AM5 Ryzen 9 9950X, 128GB DDR5 Crucial memory in dual channel, with RTX 5090 without a hiccup and runs perfectly without any issues once memory was trained. Speeds for the drives are blazing fast and run well at Gen 4 or 5. Drives, RAM, and CPU all play well together. These same components ran slightly faster on this board vs my last x870 ICE board. I loved the BIOS upgrade to 64MB for futureproof larger BIOS files. They upgraded the UI so it is scalable for higher resolution displays. There were a plethora of options and I still am learning what this thing can do and what each feature is all about. The BEST part of all is this BIOS has the ability to pre-install the Wifi driver and Asus DriverHub so you don't need to keep up with downloads from support pages. You get right to the connectivity and the drivers are ready to load with the latest and greatest. I love Armory Crate and all the AI features for making things simpler for those who aren't tech heavy in Overclocking. Things I love: BIOS is 64 MB and has ability to preinstall WI-FI driver and ASUS DriverHub Love the board aesthetics with the RGB lighting ROG logo covering the I/O and cooling for VRM. Multiple USB4 with PD and Displayport Overclocks are stable and maintained without issues. Superb build quality filled with solid heatsinks and Q connectors tool-less installs. Tons of places for M.2 drives and lots of heatsinks keeping things cool. Robust BIOS and support for HiRes displays. Things to know: Top tier with respect to I/O, namely USB and M.2 slots. It's a bit pricey. Especially without the inclusion of 10GB LAN. Futureproof BIOS with larger storage for upgrades on chip. Must pay attention to bifurcation and CPU combo for limitations. No bracket for reinforcing the CPU backplate. My verdict I completely recommend this to any enthusiast or gamer who loves tweaking and reliable stable overclocks to maximize FPS and rip through basic PC tasks for productivity. This is a beast and more than capable of handling any build you have in mind. If you have all other ASUS products, this will look amazing with everything including the new AIO connector.

To start off, I've had tons of boards over the years and I'm not exactly biased to any one manufacturer, but ASUS has always been a top tier contender for me. My first ASUS board was actually a Striker Extreme, which I believe was the First true "RoG" board back in 2006. I had that one paired with a E6800 core 2 duo, which funny enough was my first true intel gaming system. AMD was faster during the Intel Pentium 4 era. Anyway, this board is pretty nice. I don't think most people would need something like this and would opt for something like an ASUS TUF, but this one is sorta like a "mid-high" range board. Since it's the "NEO" version of X870E-E, this one was upgraded with Infineon 110A SPS, from the previous VISHAY 110A power stages that ASUS used on the previous series. I don't know if there's any real world benefits as I'm not a serious Overlocker or EE engineer, but I'd like to think Infineon's are the better option. These are the same exact SPS that are used in the DARK HERO and Glacial, albeit, you get less. This has 18 x 110A for VCORE.. Relatively DARK HERO is 20 x 110A, and Glacial is 24 x 110A Both of those alternative "higher end" boards also have upgraded chokes and caps.. so the Strix line is like a semi mid-high alternative that is close, but not quite "flagship" territory. no FP10K or the premium upgraded chokes here. The 5G LAN is a newer Realtek model which is becoming the industry standard brand for most boards and consumer routers/networking. Would have been cool if they opt'd for the 10G model, but the other higher end boards do include it.. I just think this board should have it as a standard option. WIFI is MediaTek and while I prefer Intel, I've actually been impressed with this one. It's matching my previous boards intel ping and providing a more stable WIFI7 connection since I'm able to use 320mhz bonding now. No real cons for the 5 or so days I've had this board. Tons of USB! Most are fed through the X870E combo and not from CPU, which I'd argue is a good thing since I had an older X570 platform causing issues with direct CPU fed USB to mouse/keyboard. This works completely fine and as expected. Awesome heatsinks and storage associability. Main M.2 is wired as PCI5.0.. which is pretty nice. Stays very cool. PROS: -Great build quality. Seems well made and has heavy heat sinks. -One of the better X870E boards per overall package. -Tons of USB. This board has +3 more USB type A than the Dark Hero X870E. Tons of type C too. -Holds clocks well. Getting solid max boost and 870 single threaded CPUZ score after a full format. -Nice RGB, Better if you have a matching AIO. (This has the new ASUS specific connector) CONS: -Pricey. It's an 8 layer board, but I don't think the value is here. Ryzen doesn't really consume much power to warrant these overkill VRM designs, but it likely helps in some areas such as overall boost core stability in smaller case. This isn't flagship, but has a flagship like price. -Mediatek WIFI (I prefer intel, but I'm aware there's no BE200 capable driver on AMD). It performs well enough to where I don't really notice any real problems..so not really a con.. but just nitpicking. OVERALL: Can I recommend this board? Yes.. but with a caveat. If you're running a 9800X3D single CCD 8 core or lower.. this is kind of overkill in terms of design, but most modern boards are to be completely fair. I can only really recommend something like this for the current DUAL CCD models (99xx) or future ZEN 6 24C models. Single CCD? Baseline ASUS boards work well enough, including temps. They're also 8 layer designs these days on AMD side..so the value of this feels fairly bad to me.. Especially since ASUS' own DARK HERO is only $100 more, but lacks the same sheer amount of rear USB. Side note.. The entire industry seems to be moving to a higher price brackets so this might not even be such a bad value long term. It just looks worse since there are a ton of previous X870E models that only cost half and offer similar "real world" performance. So that's where I'm taking off a star. It's a good mid-high end board at the end of the day. Have to step up to a X870E Crosshair model if you want the "Best of the best" from ASUS.

Fantastic motherboard to build with, plenty of connectivity from fan headers to USB headers to NVME drive slots, and plenty of power with its 18+2+2 phase power design with 90A power stages. My system specs are a 9800x3D, RTX 4080 FE, Sandisk 2TB SSD, and 64GB Ram @ 6400M/Ts CL32. This is all being cooled by a custom water cooling set-up in a Meshify 2 XL using EKWB reflection2 distribution plate, 480mm and 360mm radiators, and vector2 water blocks. I have a pretty basic overclock using AMD PBO with a -25 curve offset, and a +200mhz boost offset, putting my 9800x3d at a respectable 5.4ghz and is able to maintain stability while keeping the clocks pegged. Regarding the ram, didn't really dive into voltages or anything here, just loaded up the ASUS tweaked EXPO configuration and then set speed to 6400M/Ts up from the 6000M/Ts the standard EXPO profile would have provided. There are many more power and potentially damaging settings available for power users who want to take the plunge in the BIOS. Other nice features from a power user/overclocker perspective is one touch clear CMOS button, and a power/reset switch located on the motherboard itself for mounting in an open air test bench. Building in it was a dream, everything is toolless and it features a remote PCI-E ejector making it easier to work with massive GPU's or vertical configurations. My main gripe with Asus motherboards was the armory crate bloatware that they would make you use to control RGB. I was excited to find the option in the BIOS with this board to allow Windows Dynamic Lighting to control the ASUS AURA RGB. This is so much better than installing software I never wanted to use in the first place, the only thing left to sort out is getting the RAM changed to the right color using something like OpenRGB, but just know its possible to bypass armory crate now. The motherboard itself is quite attractive, and has a very cool RGB panel where the VRM cooler/Back panel connector shroud is. Built in sound is solid, but I use a desktop DAC/AMP combo and XLR mic so can't speak too in-depth on that, but more than adequate for gaming headsets and enjoying some Spotify for 99% of users. Connectivity on the back panel is fantastic offering plenty of high speed options with 10x 10Gb USB-A ports, 2x 40Gb USB-C ports w/ DP out capability, and 2x 10Gb USB-C ports one of which has 30w power delivery. This board features ASUS new Q-connector for those that want water cooling with a clean install and not all the hassle of a custom set-up. Internally for whatever you are hooking up, you have a CPU FAN, CPU OPT, AIO PUMP, and 5 more PWM controlled fan headers to utilize, 3 ARGB headers, and 3x USB 2.0 headers, along with the standard connections for high speed front panel USB. Overall a fantastic motherboard for those looking in that premium $500+ motherboard price range. In my 30+ years of building systems I have used Asus motherboards in a vast majority with great performance and reliability. I would definitely recommend considering the x870e-e NEO if you are starting a new build with top end components.

I was super excited to have a chance to build a PC. I have not built one in a long time. I finally was able to piece together all the parts I had collected over the few years and my last 2 items in addition to this mother board was a CPU and an ATX Tower and Power Supply. I ended up get a nice glass tower and bought an AMD Ryzen 5 - 9600 - 6 core processor complement the ASUS - ROG STRIX X870E-E GAMING Wi-FI 7 NEO (Socket AM5) AMD X870E ATX DDR5 Wi-Fi 7 Motherboard. Out of the box the Asus Strix was nicely packed. No damage from shipper. Inserting CPU, CPU fan, and then landing the board on the ATX Tower was fine. I ran into a few challenges with plugging everything in because the tower I had blocked several of the pin connectors for fans and RGB lighting as the bottom. So my I had to temporarily remove the bottom fans and plug in the connectors and then reinstall the fans. First fire up the lights and everything was really dazzling and beautiful. I really have to say this is way better than the older closed up black box that I have grown up to use. After that I buttoned up the tower fired it up and started to install the OS. I ran with on board video graphics for now and will decide on whether to buy a graphics card later. So after loading OS and letting it do its updates it fired up pretty quick. I then let my kid loose on his games and then I took over and played my head over graphics game. It held up just fine. Overall appearance is great! Performance is great. I would recommend this product if you are in the market to build a PC on your own.

Asus’s ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming Wifi7 Neo is a mouthful of a motherboard. Stripping away the overcomplicated name, you have essentially a very versatile, very pretty, very capable X870E motherboard. But a lot goes into a X870 setup, and with the Neo, there’s more than meets the eye. First impressions and unboxing of this board are that this is a hefty beast. While I didn’t think to weigh it, it is by far the heaviest motherboard I’ve ever owned - slightly heavier than an old x299 board I have. It sports an eight layer PCB w/ 2 ounces of copper in the power planes. Its obvious this board will handle not only the CPU’s power needs, but all the massive set of expansion ports and power that the board offers. There’s large surface area headsinks covering the power delivery of this board (18 phase primary VRM w/ 110a power stages), and it boasts Asus’s NitroPath DDR5 memory path optimizations (previously only found on the highest end motherboards) - helping reduce electrical noise and boost RAM speeds. The I/O shroud adds a nice ROG Strix themed RGB flair - but also can be turned off for a nice black out look. Physically, the board is a joy to build on. All the headsinks are set in easy to remove latched connectors with push releases. The M.2 slots all have quick release mechanisms, making component installation on this board entirely tool free. M.2_1 and 2 have not only pre-install thermal pads on the business side, but also on the underside with small metal shims for head dissipation. The rest of the slots boast pre-installed thermal pads against the heatsink. Let’s ignore the AI apocalypse price of components for a second and expound on the sheer connectivity this board offers. Importantly, this is a X870e chip setup, which means it comes with dual PROM21 chips which help boost its connectivity and PCIe lanes. This is actually a very similar setup to X670e boards, but with WiFi 7 and USB4 being mandatory features. So what do those daisy chained chipset chips buy you? Well on top of the standard 24 lanes of PCIe from the CPU, you get 20 more lanes of PCIe connectivity driving a lot of board functionality. Sure these are slower PCIe gen 4 and 3, but they’re still ultra fast, and help connectivity. Let’s start to break this down. You get: * 1 * 16x PCIe 5.0 (gpu) slot * 1 * 4x PCIe 4.0 slot * 2 * 4x PCIe 5.0 NVMe slots * 3 * 4x PCIe 4.0 NVMe slots * 2 * USB4 (40Gb) type-c w/ DisplayPort out * 2 * USB3 10Gb type-c (1 port supporting 30w USB-PD, which means you can fast charge a lot of devices). * 9 * USB3 type-a 10Gb ports * 1 * 5Gb ethernet * 2 * 20Gb USB-C onboard connectors (2 ports) * 2 * 5Gb USB3 onboard connectors (4 ports) * 3 * USB 2 connectors (6 ports) On top of all these ports you also get WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 (both via the Mediatek 7927 card), an HDMI port, S/PDIF Optical audio, and 3.5mm jacks for stereo line out and mic input. Those keen among you might realize when listing out PCIe gen 5 - there is an extra NVMe sporting 5.0 bandwidth where it shouldn’t. That port shares its bandwidth and PCIe lanes with the USB4 ports. If it’s not populated, the PCIe lanes are dedicated to the USB4, but their bandwidth gets halved if it is populated. The gen 5 NVMe slot can be set to another 4x, but this will disable the 2 USB4 ports on the back panel. I had no debate here in my build - I sport a single 2TB gen 5 drive, and 2 * 4TB gen 4.0 drives, so I populated M.2_4 and M.2_5 which have no sharing limitations. All in all on my setup, I was able to use both USB-C onboard connectors, and all 3 USB2 connectors - giving me a grand total of 6 USB-C ports and 17 USB-A ports (with room to add 2 more USB-A 3 ports). That is a massive set of USB expansion ports, and allows some serious professional bandwidth. So beyond connectivity, how does this baby perform? Well, replacing my old Asus TUF X670e, I wasn’t expecting my 7950x3D to increase much in the way of performance. In fact on my first boot memory overclocking I had to do a bios reset due to a bad overclock. That said, my RAM is very voltage sensitive and 1.4v tends to be a bit too much. Once I dialed in my correct settings for my SK Hynix ram, I was able to hit a steady 6000 MT/s with decent timings. Pushing the Asus X3D profile, which does some per CCD tweaks for X3D chips actually helped increase my clocks, coupled with previously stable negative offsets in curve optimizer, I was able to hit 5k MHz on the non-x3D CCD, and 4.8GHz on the X3D all core during cinebench and lay down over 36k on Cinebench R23. While this is marginally faster than my old board, it’s definitely stable. It didn't take me long to reach the same performance I was getting with my older Asus board, and I haven’t even really started tweaking yet. One interesting point I want to highlight on this board is its 64MB bios chip. This chip is double what many X870 boards include (32MB), and given the age of AM5, this is an important distinction. Those of you that were on AM4 first generation will remember the BIOS updates that would remove CPU support due to the 16MB BIOS images not being large enough to include support for the full range of chips. Having an oversized BIOS chip means more flexibility for this board moving forward. The Asus software, love it or hate it, is pretty comprehensive. Despite some rocky history, the current Armory Crate does what it says on the tin: I get complete control over fans, RGB, and some basic overclocking - all of which historically is a mixed bag on most boards. The RGB effects are even AI enhanced now (yay, just what we needed), and the WiFi Q-Antenna is actually a pretty helpful utility. It provided visibility and helped me diagnose my lack of MLO, and correct it on my WiFi 7 network. Overall, this is a pretty expensive board, but it earns its keep. If you are in need of extensive connectivity, flexible M.2, and USB4 support, this board has it all. If you’re looking for something prepared for the next generation of Ryzen, this seems like the right board with its larger BIOS chip, and more than even power delivery capability. Coupled with its high frequency memory capabilities, this might be the board to get as we await Zen 6, and hopefully component price drops. Highly recommended.

The Asus ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming Wi-FI 7 Neo (Socket AM5) motherboard is a full featured, mid to high end motherboard. I recently build with the Intel version of this motherboard. Both were very easy to set up and booted immediately. What sets Neo apart for me is the UEFI (BIOS) interface. Looks: For those that care about how a motherboard looks, this one is a mix of clean and angular shapes that define the ROG Strix look. Being a higher end MB, it is a little more on the clean side but still has more than its share of technical graphics. The shield that covers the interior parts of the rear IO components has an LED panel that is broken up into large pixels. It creates an RGB stained glass effect that is unique. Even if you pick a solid color, the LEDs display shades of that color. It even illuminates when the PC is off to let you know it’s plugged in. Assembly: No issues. Best features: (1) The integrated rear IO shield. This makes installing MB much easier and just looks better. Most mid-upper range boards have this feature and it is appreciated. (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. (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. UEFI (BIOS) interface: The UEFI interface on this motherboard is different from what I’m used to. 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. 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. There are three (3) ARGB headers and four (4) 4-pin case fan headers. Enough for most modest builds. I also like the fact that this MB has a Q-Code display for troubleshooting and the more typical 4 LEDs. I wish this was on all motherboards. There is also a power button integrated into the motherboard. This is very helpful for initial setup and troubleshooting. Storage There are 5 M.2 slots. Two (2) are PCIe 5.0x4 (Gen 5) compliant and have direct connections to the CPU (See note 2 below). These two also have a unique Q-Slide feature that allows you to have a quick release for shorter (2242, 2260) and standard (2280) M.2 cards. The other three (3) are PCIe 4.0x4 (Gen 4) compliant. 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: You must use Ryzen 7000 or 9000 Series processors to have the two 5.0x4 operate at full speed. They drop to 4.0x4 with 8700 & 8600 & 8400 series processors and you lose the second slot with 8500 & 8300 processors. Note 2: Some slots and ports share band width. As noted on the Asus Specs for this board – ** USB 40Gbps Type-C ports on the back panel and M.2_2 slot share the bandwidth. Both run at x2 when a device is installed in the M2_2 slot. You can switch M2_2 to x4 in the BIOS, but this will disable the USB 40Gbps Type-C ports. *** M.2_3 shares bandwidth with PCIEX16(G4). When an M.2 drive is installed on M.2_3, PCIEX16(G4) will be disabled 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 nine (9) 10 Gbps USB-A ports, two (2) 10 Gbps USB-C ports, and two (2) 40 Gbps USB-C ports (USB4). One of the 10 Gbps C ports supports up to 30W PD/PPS Fast-charge. 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 Realtek RTL8126 5Gb. I would have expected 10Gb or an additional Ethernet port at this price point, but I guess they saved that for the Dark Hero. Motherboard and Windows 11: Once MS Windows is loaded on the PC, if the WiFi Driver wasn’t installed, there is a pop-up asking to install the WiFi driver for the motherboard. This was very convenient. I didn’t have to go looking for it on another PC or plug the MB into my network to download it. Similarly, there was a pop-up for the Asus utility software called Armoury Crate. This software is a bit bloated for what it does. I wish it was more modular so I could just take the pieces I like. For some reason, I’ve had a lot of issues with certain peripherals. In the past, it wasn’t nearly as bad. I do like the Asus Driver updates in Armoury Crate and Driver Hub. I just wish they could be combined into one standalone piece of update software. Asus fan control has also worked well to keep the fans moderately quiet. The Build: MB - Asus ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming Wi-FI 7 Neo (Socket AM5), Processor - AMD Ryzen R9 9900x (12 Core) CPU. GPU - RTX 5070 FE Memory - RGB 32GB DDR5 RAM Kit (2x16GB) CL38 6000 MHz with the RGB enhancement kit. Storage - Primary M.2 = 1TB NVMe PCIe Gen5. Secondary M.2 = 2TB SSD NVMe PCIe Gen3 Power Supply - Asus TUF Gaming 850 Watt 80 Plus Gold ATX Fully Modular CPU Cooler - Asus Prime LC 360 ARGB LCD 360mm All-in-One Liquid CPU Cooling Kit – Black Additional Fans - Asus Prime MR20 ARGB, Black, 28mm thick, Aura compatible. For top exhaust. Additional RGB - Two (2) Generic, flexible ARGB Strips Conclusion: I know this board is intended for gaming, but it is also very good 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 and need a ton of fast storage, 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, especially the Strix variants. I would recommend this board to anyone looking to build a higher end gaming PC or personal workstation with a little “bling”.

Right off the bat you can feel the quality of this motherboard because it is monstrously heavy. I’ve installed 10+ mobos in the last year and this one outclasses them all. So what’s weight have to do with anything? It’s a reflection of the materials used to make the motherboard. Most use plastic to save on weight and cost but not this one, everything is metal everywhere minus the cool LED panel. Starting with performance everything was rock solid. Did a burn in test overnight and all components come back good. Internet speed using the onboard LAN and WiFi was spectacular (which if you’ve used a lan cable lately, most mobos scrimp heavily on that connection as they assume everyone uses WiFi.) Probably the first time I haven’t had to finagle with drivers or use an add-on card to get good speed. Overall build is rock solid, all expected connections are well thought out and in the expected locations. PCI-e has good spacing so your gpu doesn’t overlap your other connection. Just honestly a joy of a mobi to work with.

I’ve built enough PCs over the years that it takes quite a bit to get me excited about a motherboard. Most of the time they’re just the thing everything else plugs into. As long as it’s stable, has the features I need, and doesn’t give me headaches, I’m happy. This one is different. Instead of relying on flashy marketing, ASUS actually looked at what builders have been asking for and fixed a lot of the little annoyances. The biggest improvement for me is the redesigned PCIe lane layout. If you’ve built enough PCs, you’ve probably played the game of “What do I lose if I install another SSD?” Add another NVMe drive and suddenly your GPU drops to x8 or you’re digging through the manual trying to figure out which slots share bandwidth. Not here. The X870E-E NEO lets you run up to five NVMe drives while keeping your graphics card running at a full PCIe 5.0 x16. Since I’m already running three NVMe drives, this was one of the first things that stood out to me. ASUS also doubled the BIOS size to 64MB. That means more room for future CPU support and even Wi-Fi drivers built into the BIOS. It’s one of those improvements you don’t think about until you need it. The updated NitroPath memory design is another welcome change. Marketing name aside, the goal is simple: better DDR5 compatibility and an easier time running high-speed EXPO memory. Speaking of EXPO, the BIOS is one of the easiest I’ve used. Finding EXPO, Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO), Secure Boot, fan controls, and other common settings was quick and intuitive instead of feeling like a scavenger hunt. Better yet, it recognized my Windows installation USB on the very first try. If you’ve built enough PCs, you know that isn’t always the case. Another feature I really appreciate is the rear I/O layout. Having a dedicated power-on button on the board and BIOS FlashBack button on the back of the motherboard makes a big difference when you’re building or troubleshooting. Being able to test bench the system outside the case, or update the BIOS without even having a CPU installed or a full boot setup, saves a ton of time. It’s one of those features you don’t think about until you’re in a situation where it matters, and then it becomes a lifesaver. The Q-Design features continue to be some of my favorite quality-of-life improvements. Tool-less M.2 installation and the easy graphics card release don’t make your games faster, but they make building and upgrading a lot less frustrating. I also love that ASUS included two USB4 Type-C ports with 40Gbps bandwidth and DisplayPort support. Whether I’m connecting a fast external SSD, a dock, or a USB-C monitor, I don’t have to play the “what gets unplugged today?” game. A lot of boards give you one. ASUS gave us two. Connectivity is exactly what I’d expect from a flagship board: Wi-Fi 7, 5Gb Ethernet, plenty of USB ports, excellent VRMs, and enough expansion that you’ll probably run out of devices before you run out of places to plug them in. Armoury Crate deserves a mention too. Motherboard software usually ends up getting uninstalled after setup, but this is one of the few utilities I actually keep. Out of the four motherboard software suites I’ve used, ASUS’ has been the least buggy and the most useful. I can update drivers, adjust fan curves, and even enable PBO without rebooting into the BIOS. It’s genuinely convenient. I built this system with a friend who’s assembled even more PCs than I have, and he was just as impressed with how well thought out everything was. We both noticed the little details that made the build easier, and getting everything up and running was one of the smoothest builds either of us has done. Now for the elephant in the room: the price. At around $600, these quality-of-life improvements don’t come cheap. There are plenty of motherboards that’ll deliver nearly the same gaming experience for a lot less money. You’re not buying this board for more FPS. You’re buying convenience. You’re buying premium build quality. You’re buying thoughtful engineering. The VRMs are honestly overkill for anyone who isn’t chasing extreme overclocking records. The illuminated ROG STRIX logo looks fantastic, but it won’t make your games run any faster. If this board were closer to $400, I’d call it one of the best values on the market. But PC hardware has gotten expensive, and part of what you’re paying for is the ROG STRIX name and everything that comes with it. I do have two complaints. First, ASUS includes a two-digit Q-Code display for troubleshooting but doesn’t include a printed list of what those codes mean. The full manual is only available through a QR code. If your PC won’t boot, the last thing you want is to search the internet from another device. At this price, include a proper paper manual with the Q-Code list. Second, ASUS advertises built-in Wi-Fi drivers to make Windows setup easier. That didn’t work in my case, and I had to plug in an Ethernet cable to finish the installation. I game over Ethernet anyway, but not everyone has a cable handy. Even with those complaints, I walked away genuinely impressed. This isn’t the motherboard you buy because it’s the cheapest. It’s the one you buy because you appreciate thoughtful engineering and all the little things that make building and owning a PC more enjoyable. No, it won’t give you more FPS. But it might make building your next PC a whole lot more enjoyable. And honestly, I think that’s exactly what ASUS set out to accomplish. ⸻ Pros * Exceptionally well thought-out design and build quality * Excellent BIOS that is easy to navigate * Fantastic PCIe lane layout supporting up to 5 NVMe drives without sacrificing GPU bandwidth * Dual USB4 Type-C ports with 40Gbps + DisplayPort support * Rear I/O power button + BIOS FlashBack make bench testing and troubleshooting easy * Great Q-Design features (tool-less M.2, easy GPU release) * Armoury Crate is one of the best motherboard software suites I’ve used * Smooth and frustration-free building experience Cons * Expensive at around $600 * VRMs are overkill for most users * No printed Q-Code reference or full paper manual included * Wi-Fi driver did not work during Windows installation as advertised * Premium pricing tied heavily to ROG STRIX branding and feature set Overall Rating: 4.5/5

The Asus Rog Strix x870E-E Gaming Wifi7 Neo is an extremely capable motherboard, boasting many high-end features built for any PC enthusiast. Out of the box impressions were great as the layout of the motherboard's headers were visible and in convenient positions for assembly. The 9 USB Type-A ports, along with the 4 USB Type-C ports, allow for many peripherals to be connected at the same time, which is always an important aspect of one's setup. The quick-release latches for the GPU and the 5 M.2 drive bays made the assembly process go smoothly, as there are no screws necessary during or after the build for these components. There are also two 8-pin CPU headers, which allow for extra power delivery on high-end CPUs during overclocking. The motherboard has a digital Q-Code display, which displays error codes and can show you current CPU temperatures during use, perfect for overclocking and benchmarking. This model also has a NEOPixel LED display, which is vibrant and has plenty of customizable options in Armory Crate or other RGB software. Once the build was complete, I was able to boot into the BIOS right away, and flash the latest BIOS update to the motherboard before use. I also enabled the EXPO profile to boost my RAM to the expected MHz, which went well. The BIOS allows for full fan curve control, displays proper information about your system and its temperature ranges, and allows you to control motherboard RGB during sleep or boot. The only unfortunate thing with this motherboard is the lack of customizable RGB on the NEOPixel LEDs, which is forced into a cycling RGB colorway until the Operating System is entered, meaning that there are no onboard color profiles available on this motherboard. When booted into Windows 11, the included Armory Crate application detects the motherboard and allows for further customization. RGB is controllable through the application, and you are further able to customize the RGB colorways while your PC is turned off, which can also be disabled upon the user's discretion. I enabled PBO through Armory Crate, and updated the motherboard's chipsets with ease. Overall, this motherboard has a ton of useful features fit for any user, including overclocking and RGB control that will take your build's look to the next level.

TLDR: This is a premium motherboard. It supports pretty much everything you’d want. With near top-of-the line specs. 5 SSD slots (but they do share so some compromise there) that are easy to swap and access, 2 PCIe Slots (5.0 and 4.0), 13 USB ports (plus 12 extra on headers), a crazy Power Stage, supports up to 256 GB of RAM (DDR5 up to 9600+ MT/s), the PCIe Slot Q-Release makes getting your graphics card out easy, and has some fancy RGB (which can be turned off). I absolutely love it. However, in day to day use I notice no difference compared to my other motherboard which was probably half the price of this. This is by far the best and most expensive motherboard I’ve ever owned. I’d also expect for the price that I’m not really having to compromise on anything. Therefore, this review is with that in mind. With this being a motherboard, especially an expensive one. I’m going to get nerdy. However, I’m going to try and keep it simple for anyone to be able to understand. For reference, I have a 9950X3D w/ RTX 4090, 64 GB of DDR5 RAM at 6,000 MT/s, and 3 m.2 SSDs (1 5x4, 2 4x4), with a 1300 watt power supply. I typically use this computer for A) Gaming, B) AI work (Large Language Models (LLM’s), image generation, etc. Just for fun. C) Video Editing D) Anything else that is highly demanding and needs multiple screens. I was interested in this motherboard for the following reasons. Along with what I’ve actually seen from those. A) I use way too many USB’s testing out peripherals. This allows me to have everything plugged in and at the maximum speeds. Which I have seen an improvement with. B) I have laptops that use Type-C. Which makes it a pain when trying to use those on my main machine. But this has multiple USB-C slots (yay!). This is especially helpful for certain high end peripherals (Finalmouse Centerpiece Pro) and external SSD’s (makes transferring files WAYYY faster with the 40 Gbps USB-C ports). C) It said it could increase my AI speed. Which I never figured out how to activate, or anything so undecided about. Especially, since that is mostly on my graphics cards VRAM and CUDA cores… So, I’m a bit lost on that one. D) Massive connectivity upgrade due to extreme I/O bandwidth improvement (USB-C, excessive USB-A ports (high speed), 5G LAN, WiFi-7). E) Massive quality of life upgrade with top-tier quality of life features for building/troubleshooting/testing/play. As I’m constantly swapping out components (Q-Release for GPU, Q-latch for SSDs, BIOS Flash Button + slot, Post Code Display (that also reports what the temp of my CPU), massive heatsinks. Which all allow me to know all my components are at 100% top speed. But with that said I only saw a mild bump in my Cinebench scores. Along with some lower latency in general. STORAGE: This comes with 5 m.2 SSD slots. Two of those are Gen 5x4. The other three are 4x4. All support 2280 length (normal size). Along with something called “Q-Slide” which allows you to take two of those Gen 5 slots (Slot 1 and 2) and put 2230 (mini size) SSD’s in them. Additionally, they all have something called “Q-Latch” which simply means you don’t have to screw anything in. You just press it with your nail and the SSD pops out. Last, the primary drive has a ridiculously large heatsink on it. The other four slots have a large heatsink covering as well. Meaning it should keep all your SSDs cool during intense loads. Which you also just press to eject. Which makes swapping out SSDs INCREDIBLY EASY. Which I love, and what spending this type of money gets you. However, this is where one of the main cons of this entire motherboard comes in. Essentially all of these “share” with each other. To put into simple English, and this will be where we get the nerdiest. You have 5 normal size SSD slots. For two of those slots, you have an attachment for shorter SSD drives (like those in the steam deck) (Slot 1 and 2). However, out of the five slots (we will go from top to bottom, left to right) they are labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. - Slots 1 and 2 are Gen 5x4 (current top of the line SSD speeds). But if you use slot 2, you cut the speed in half of your two USB-C 40 Gbps slots and the SSD. Or if you turn off those slots you can get full Gen 5 SSD speed. - If you use slot 3, it will disable your secondary PCIe 4.0 x16 Slot (x4) [chipset]. - You can use 1, 4, 5 without any issues. Making it so technically, I would say you can only use 3 SSDs on this board without compromise. But I don’t think ANY of the slots will cut your main PCIe 5.0 slot in half (from x16 to x8). Which I appreciate and think is a better call. So was a good choice with the modern boards (as older ones would decrease the speed of that which for gaming was negligible 0 – 2% decrease but for heavy data-transfer tasks like professional video editing or rendering could be up to 25%). USB: This was one of my main reasons for this board. It comes with 13 USB ports total. Which is absolutely beautiful! It comes with two USB-C 40 Gbps which support display port 1.4a (meaning you can attach this to monitors assuming your CPU has a GPU built-in). Along with 2 USB-C 10 Gbps ports (bottom port supports fast-charging). Then 9 10 Gbps USB-A ports (without any USB 5 Gbps or 2.0). Since I’m someone who uses way too many USB’s this is heaven for me. - Of note: The USB-A BIOS goes directly to the CPU along with the two USB-C 40 Gbps ports. Meaning if you’re looking for lowest latency possible for your mouse/keyboard/controller/etc. use those slots). Additionally, through other “headers” on the motherboard you can get an additional 12 USB ports. - 2 USB 20 Gbps (which support Type-C or Type A) one front facing, one right angle on the right side of the board. - 2 Dual USB-A 5 Gbps, again one straight one right angle, on the right side of the board. - 3 USB 2.0 headers. Which means a total of 6 USB 2.0 ports. OTHER: It also has some very nice features. Such as supports base clock adjustment (overclocking), a Clear CMOS button (so you can easily reset your BIOS settings if you mess it up overclocking), BIOS Flash button + slot (makes updating bios way easier), Post Code Display (allows you to see why your computer didn’t boot making troubleshooting easier. Also, doubles as CPU temp while using, which you can turn off). It has an HDMI 2.1 port through the CPU (if applicable for your CPU). They say 4K 60 Hz. Though I’m sure that depends on your CPU and likely would do 4K 144 Hz. Supports the not yet released as time of writing (I don’t think) Asus AIO Q-Connector. Which sounds pretty awesome. Its just right of the CPU. Usually, an AIO cooler requires multiple cables (pump, fan, RGB). However, this is a spring-loaded pin putting all that data into a simple connector without any wires. It comes with a 64 MB Bios. Which essentially means you have a lot nicer and more powerful BIOS interface. Which is nice and purdy. It also has something called BIOS Q-Dashboard. Which allows you to see what configuration you currently have and what points to what (so if you're noticing a slowdown of say your SSD you can see why and then switch it up). It has something called “PCIe Slot Q-Release” which means for your graphics card you press a button (which is easy to access even when you have a graphics card plugged in) which allows you to easily disconnect it. This works so-so. I still find I have to kind of pull my graphics card out with a bit more force than I’d like. But compared to the old style (like the RAM) where you’d have to slide a finger or something else thin to activate or the newer style that was a bit better than that. I find this superior. INTERNET: It comes with a 5G ethernet port (LAN RTL8126). I would have preferred 10G for this price. But alas. It does come with WiFi-7 2x2 with 320 MHz channel bandwidth (MediaTek MT7927) along with a Q-Antenna (essentially a magnetic antenna that is rather large to help get good signal to the PC). SOUND: Comes with a really nice ALC4080 + SV3H712 with 2 jacks and S/PDIF. I use an external DAC/AMP so I didn’t test this out. But seems pretty beefy and I noticed that my DAC/AMP was a lot louder with this motherboard than my previous one for some reason. NERD TALK: It has a ridiculous Power Stage of 18 (110amps) + 2 (110A) + 2 (80A). EPS 12V 8+8. Two PCIe slots (PCie 5.0 and PCIe 4.0), M.2 Slots x5, Sata ports x4. It is in the ATX Form Factor. PCB layers are x8. 8 fan headers. USB 2.0 x2, USB 3.0 x2, USB-C x2 (but x4 on the back panel, with USB-A x9). Supports up to 256 GB of RAM (DDR5 up to 9600+ MT/s). It even comes with a fancy little cooler to help cool the RAM.

The ASUS ROG STRIX X870E worked flawlessly. Super easy install, minimal updating to make it work. This was definitely an upgrade from the old motherboard i had. Biggest difference is the additional ports. The ports are up to 4 additional ports for traditional DD/SSD and 5 NVME's. Two of the ports run at gen 5 speeds while the rest run a 4 gen. Currently using 96 GB DDR 5 Ram and no issues. It is more stable than the previous motherboard i had so this has helped tremendously. Overall, very satisfied with this new motherboard and it seems ASUS did an amazing job with this build and the look is great. Worked fine with my current CPU, feels heavy but not an issue. The main thing would be just knowing to tweak some of the bios if you are swapping the motherboard like i did to avoid issues with windows. With that said it was well packaged and i had no issues swapping it and would totally recommend the ASUS ROG STRIX for anyone looking to upgrade their current gaming set up. All i can really say is my computer runs better and smoother now thanks to this upgrade.

The ASUS ROG Strix X870E is a powerhouse AM5 motherboard built for serious performance. With PCIe 5.0, USB4, Wi‑Fi 7, and rock‑solid VRMs, it keeps high‑end Ryzen chips running cool, fast, and stable. The layout is clean, the heatsinks are beefy, and ASUS’s quality‑of‑life features (Q‑Release, Q‑Latch, AI OC) make building and tuning effortless.If you want a board that’s fast, future‑proof, and genuinely premium without going into ultra‑flagship pricing, the X870E Strix hits the sweet spot.

Excellent motherboard for high-end builds. The BIOS is easy to navigate, and it handles my new processor perfectly with great VRM cooling. It has plenty of connectivity options and ports. Highly recommended for gamers and PC builders

Looks great has awesome lighting and has a great mount for my heavy 4090

Awesome, powerful, motherboard by Asus. Great performance

Every so often a motherboard crosses my bench that clearly wasn't built to hit a price target. This is one of them. It sits in that awkward space just below ASUS's true flagship AM5 boards, and it reads like a spec sheet designed to make you forget the cheaper options exist. AM5 socket, room for the current Ryzen chips, five M.2 slots, dual USB4, WiFi 7, and a power stage setup that's frankly more than most people will ever lean on. If you're putting together a high-end build and want a board that won't be the thing holding you back, it belongs on your shortlist. Where it earned its keep in my testing was the actual building process. Heatsinks are heavy, and the whole board feels dense in a way cheaper models don't. But the real wins are the small conveniences. Tool-free M.2 mounts, so you're not chasing tiny screws across the desk. A push-button release for the graphics card, which anyone who's fished a finger under a giant GPU to reach the latch will appreciate. Onboard power button for bench testing. And a code display that flags where a boot hangs instead of leaving you guessing. There's even a cable-free connector for compatible ASUS liquid coolers that folds several runs into one block. Little stuff. But it adds up. BIOS is one of the better ones I've used in a while. ASUS added a middle tier between the simple and advanced menus, so you can reach the settings most people actually touch, memory profiles, fan curves, power tuning, without wading through the rest. Loading an EXPO memory profile took a couple of clicks. You also get a WiFi driver kept on board, so you're not hunting for network access on a fresh Windows install. Armoury Crate, the companion software, is still heavier than it needs to be. I'd love a version that let me install only the pieces I want. Worth knowing you can hand RGB control to Windows itself and skip a good chunk of it if you'd rather. On raw performance there's not much drama, which is exactly what you want. I ran it with a power-hungry chip and the power delivery stayed composed, temperatures well in check. That primary M.2 heatsink is one of the chunkiest I've come across and keeps a Gen 5 drive happy. Connectivity is where it flexes hardest. You get a wall of fast USB on the back, two of them the 40Gbps USB4 type that also push video out, so docks and quick external drives are covered. WiFi 7 has been quick and stable in my time with it. Wired networking caps at 5 gigabit, which is plenty for almost everyone, though at this tier a 10-gigabit port wouldn't have felt out of place. Now the fine print, because there's some. Those five M.2 slots come with strings attached. Depending on which ones you populate, you can end up splitting bandwidth with the USB4 ports or knocking out the second expansion slot entirely. If you plan to load it with drives, read the sharing table in the manual before you buy, because five slots doesn't mean five slots running full speed at once. Fan headers also don't push much current, so if you're running several high-power fans off one header you'll want to spread the load or add a hub. Neither is a dealbreaker. Both are the kind of thing you'd rather know going in. So who is this really for? Much of what you're paying for is polish and headroom, not more frames per second. A cheaper board will game just as well. What you get here is a smoother build, cooler drives, a sharper BIOS, and connectivity you won't outgrow for years. If you're building a high-end AM5 machine and you care about the building experience and connectivity you won't outgrow, it's easy to recommend. If you just want your parts to work and don't care about the extras, you can spend less and not miss much.