AMD Motherboard Partners Introduce More Enthusiast AM5 Motherboards

What just happened? ASRock, ASUS, Biostar, Gigabyte and MSI revealed more details about their upcoming high-end X670 and X670E motherboards. Some of the most notable features include PCIe 5.0 and USB4 support, extreme power delivery design and a wider M.2-25110 slot. However, the two companies did not mention their B650 motherboards, suggesting that these boards may not launch alongside AMD’s Ryzen 7000 processors next month.

In AMD’s latest Meet the Experts webinar, motherboard partners showcase some of the features and designs of their upcoming X670 and X670E motherboards. As a reminder, AMD’s AM5 platform will support CPUs with a TDP of up to 170W, 28 PCIe 5.0 lanes (x16 for graphics, x8 general-purpose lanes for storage and USB4/Thunderbolt 4 controllers, x4 for connecting chipsets), up to four DisplayPort 2 or HDMI 2.1 outputs, and dual-channel DDR5 memory.

ASRock revealed only one new model, the X670E PG Lightning, but also talked about some new features for their X670E motherboard, including a USB4 port that supports 27W fast charging, an eight-layer PCB, and an active cooling M.2 heatsink to prevent PCIe 5.0 SSD overheating.

ASUS showed off two of its upcoming motherboards, including the flagship ROG Crosshair X670E Extreme and the high-end ROG Crosshair X670E Hero. They will feature an impressive VRM solution with 110A power stages (20+2 phase design for Extreme and 18+2 phase for Hero), each with five M.2 slots (some of which are in separate add-on card), and high-end audio solutions based on the ALC4082 codec.

Extreme rear panel has 9 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) ports, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gbps), 2 USB4 40Gbps, 10GbE and 2.5GbE jacks, audio port and Wi-Fi 6E antenna connector. Hero swapped the 10GbE jack for an HDMI port.

Meanwhile, Biostar’s X670E Valkyrie will feature a 22-phase VRM design with a 105A power stage, two PCIe 5.0 x16 slots, and four M.2 slots ( Two of them support PCIe 5.0).

Gigabyte showcased four motherboards, including the X670E Aorus Xtreme, X670E Aorus Master, X670 Aorus Pro AX, and X670 Aorus Elite Axe. All models will feature at least one wider M.2-25110 slot and one THB_U4 Thunderbolt header. It’s worth mentioning that the X670E motherboards will each have a PCIe 5.0 x16 graphics card slot, while the X670 variant will use PCIe 4.0.

MSI talked about four motherboards: the flagship MEG X670E Godlike, MEG X670E Ace, MPG X670E Carbon Wi-Fi and Pro X670-P Wi-Fi. Godlike will have the best VRM solution in its class with a 24+2+1 phase design and a 105A Vcore​​​​power stage. Other notable features include MSI’s new screwless M.2 cooler and a PCIe adapter card that supports two M.2-25110 SSDs and a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface.

These motherboards will likely be released next month with AMD’s Ryzen 7000 series processors. Considering the company hasn’t announced anything about them so far, cheaper B650-based boards may arrive at a later date.