Analysis shift for the X670E AORUS XTREME , Gigabyte sends us its most powerful Zen 4 motherboard that further raises the performance of the Master model. It has an 105A 18-phase VRM for the CPU, under a complete configuration of finned heatsinks that give the best results of all the boards we have tested. The aesthetics are perfectly combined with large passive blocks for its 4 M.2 slots, all of them Gen5 , along with a triple expansion slot, 12 USB ports with Gen2x2, Wi-Fi 6E and much more. Let’s get to know her in detail!
We thank Gigabyte for their trust in us by sending us this board for review.
X670E AORUS XTREME technical features
Unboxing
The X670E AORUS XTREME is presented to us in a rigid cardboard box with a vinyl-style finish where we have representative images with outstanding information about it. Inside we find the product on a cardboard mold with an insulating plastic lid , and under it the rest of the accessories in cardboard cases.
The contents of the box will be as follows:
- Baseboard X670E AORUS XTREME
- DAC ESSential USB
- 4x Cables SATA a 6 Gbps
- 2x external antennas for Wi-Fi
- 2x Thermistors
- 1x noise sensor
- Extension cable for RGB strip
- 4x Screws for M.2
- Adapter for F-Panel
- Velcro loops to hold cables
- User’s manual
The content is very similar to that included in the MASTER model, only in this case a USB DAC is also inserted as a high definition audio output.
external design
To achieve greater breadth on the PCB and be able to give the SSD space for formats up to 11220 and to locate the double chipset, the X670E AORUS XTREME starts from an E-ATX format of 269 mm width , so it must be taken into account when choosing a suitable chassis for it. It is being considered as a common format for high-end X570E motherboards, much more so than in previous generations.
We start from the upper area where the VRM is located around the socket, which will be passively cooled through two large Fins-Array II aluminum blocks with NanoCarbon coating to maximize thermal performance. In turn, these are attached to chokes and MOSFETS by means of 12 W/mK thermal pads , and maximizing their performance by means of the metal extension that acts as a cover for the rear port panel. On it we have a plastic frame with a mirror finish where RGB Fusion lighting is integrated .
This model does add steel covers for the memory slots with Ultra Durable certification , as is the case with the main PCIe x16 slot that stands out for its different color from the rest. In the PCB extension we find the Debug LED panel on the top right corner next to the power button on the board . The ATX connector and the EPS inputs for Vcore are also externally reinforced.
We go to the bottom of the X670E AORUS XTREME where we find the 4 M.2 slots for SSDs covered by aluminum blocks with double-sided thermal pads to cool the SSDs. The aesthetic design blends seamlessly with the top and its mirror-like finish all the way down to the chipset block, with a small RGB area under the main PCIe slot. We have a PCIe EZ-Latch Plus unlocking system for the main PCIe slot, consisting of a button connected to the tab to be able to extract the cards comfortably without putting your fingers in impossible holes.
Just above the aforementioned unlocking system, we see the Post Boot panel with its 4 indicator LEDs and a panel for taking voltages manually. If we continue down this area we have the usual SATA port panel facing to the right for better access to SSD cables placed behind the plate. A little further down, without a cover and in an inconspicuous way, we find the Multi-Key button that we can configure from the BIOS with functions such as reset, RGB switch, direct access to BIOS and boot in safe mode.
Returning to the heatsinks, AORUS has opted for a specially large Thermal Guard III block for the main M.2 slot as it is the one that theoretically should house the most powerful SSD in the system. This and the rest of them are separated from the chipset block for better DIY, although the three lower slots share the same cooling block, which also acts as a cover for the sound card area.
The external finish is completed with a NanoCarbon back cover , which insulates and cools key areas of the board such as the VRM and 10G LAN chip. In order to separate the VRM or chipset heatsinks, you need to remove the entire cover, revealing the thermal pads placed on the VRM and how the RAM solders remain sunk into the PCB.
The cooling configuration consists of 10 PWM headers up to 24W with Smart Fan 6 management , 1 noise sensor header and 2 external temperature sensor headers. So mime we have a total of 7 temperature sensors in VRM, Socket, PCIe slots, Chipset and plate in the lower right corner. All this will be managed through the BIOS tool or Smart Fan 6 Software, one of the most complete available.
VRM and phase configuration
We enter the power section of this X670E AORUS XTREME , improving with respect to the AORUS MASTER model in 2 more phases for Vcore, making a total of 18 , accompanied by 2 extra phases for VSoC and 2 phases for VMem . Two 8-pin EPS power headers along with the ATX header take care of the entire power supply. There is no header support for the PCIe slots.
The main DC – DC conversion stage for Vcore has 18 Renesas RAA22010540 MOSFETS of 105 A nominal capacity. They are configured in direct mode without signal doublers, generating a total capacity of 1890 A, more than covering the needs of an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. The Renesas 229628 controller will take care of their digital PWM signal management.
The two clusters for SoC and Memory are located at each end of the VRM and consist of two Renesas ISL99390 MOSFETS rated at 90A each , along with an extra Renesas RAA 22961 controller . The signal smoothing stage consists of 22 metal choke coils , and Black electrolytic capacitors for filtering.
X690 chipset and RAM capacity
This X670E AORUS XTREME installs the AM5 socket for the new generation Zen 4 and later, made up of a 1718-pin LGA matrix on a bracket socket similar to LGA1700. A notable extension that also includes some pins to support both ECC and Non-ECC memories, covering the needs for professional environments, although not all boards will use them, in fact this board does not mention support for ECC.
The X670E chipset is split into two 7W + 7W PROM21 twins to improve power efficiency and heat generation. We have a count of 12 PCIe 4.0 lanes across three x4 interfaces alongside 8 PCIe 3.0 lanes . However, 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes are required to connect PROM21-1 to the CPU, which in turn daisy chain PROM21-2 to PROM21-1. The usable distribution on the chipset for expansion will be 8x PCIe 4.0 + 8 PCIe 3.0. Board builders can allocate multiple M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots, up to 8 SATA 6 Gbps ports, 8 USB 3.2 Gen2 maximum, 2 USB 3.2 Gen2x2 maximum , and up to 12 USB 2.0 ports . we must add28 PCIe 5.0 lanes of AMD CPUs , 4 of them consumed for connection to the chipset in PCIe 4.0 mode, for a total of 42 useful lanes.
This board, like the others for Zen 4, offers compatibility with DDR5 modules up to a total of 128 GB of capacity through 4 DIMM slots in Dual Channel. Although not specified in the documentation, it should support speeds up to 6400 MHz on Non-ECC modules compatible with AMD EXPO and XMP technology according to specifications.
Storage and PCIe slots
X670E AORUS XTREME provides the block diagram to represent the different connections and distribution of the same in CPU and chipset, which will greatly facilitate the work of understanding. We have a total of 3 PCIe slots in x16 format , although not all of them work at their maximum capacity, as we will now see. They will support AMD CrossFire MultiGPU and expansion cards with bootable SSDs.
The operating conditions will be as follows:
- PCIEX16– This primary slot will be connected on 16 CPU PCIe 5.0 lanes sharing bus with M2A_CPU and M2D_CPU slots.
- PCIEX4: second slot that only has 4 active PCIe 4.0 lanes, which connects to the PROM21-1 chip without shared bus.
- PCIEX2– The third slot only has 2 lanes operational which are PCIe 3.0. It is connected to the PROM21-2 chip, without sharing the bus with other connections.
Next we have a count of 4 M.2 slots, all of which are connected to the CPU as we will now detail. The width of the plate is enough to support SSDs up to 22110 (110 mm in length) with high-performance passive cooling. It is accompanied by 6 SATA III ports at 6 Gbps , these and the M.2 slots themselves support RAID 0, 1 and 10 configurations natively.
In this case, we have the following operating conditions:
- M2A_CPU: First slot according to its location closest to the socket, which is connected to 4 PCIe 5.0 lanes of the CPU without shared bus.
- M2D_CPU: second slot according to the position on the board, also using 4 PCIe 5.0 lanes of the CPU to complete the 24 available.
- M2C_CPU and M2B_CPU– Third and fourth M.2 slots in order of implementation, which are again connected to the CPU via 8 PCIe 5.0 lanes that they share with PCIEX16. It means that if we use any of the two slots, or both simultaneously, PCIE16 will switch to x8 mode.
- SATAports: The ports are distributed among the PROM21 chips, one of them housing 2 connections and the other 4, none of them sharing the bus with other slots.
This distribution of PCIe lanes is quite peculiar compared to other boards, as AORUS has prioritized the maximum speed available in the PCIe interface by connecting all available M.2 slots to the CPU. This will be a double-edged sword if we plan to use more than 2 slots and at the same time a graphics card that consumes 16 lanes.
This is a very rare case, as even the most powerful graphics cards will have enough with 8 lanes to connect up to 2 8K monitors. We therefore see a fairly intelligent distribution to seek maximum storage performance . But there is another detail in the diagram that could have been optimized, and it is the fact of connecting the network interfaces to PCIe 4.0 lanes instead of 3.0, leaving the PCIEx4 slot empty when the roles could have been perfectly exchanged.
Connectivity and sound card
Network connectivity is also increased substantially to justify its belonging to the very high range. It has equipped a Marvell Aqtion AQC113C chip that offers no less than 10 Gbps of bandwidth , which is connected to 2 PCIe 4.0 lanes of the PROM21-2 chipset.
It is accompanied by an Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 wireless network card , which supports tri-band connection at 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz with speeds of up to 2.4 Gbps in the two most powerful frequencies. Now it makes sense to see all the M.2 slots connected to the CPU, taking advantage of the free lanes to connect other high-speed interfaces.
The audio codec is connected to the north bridge, this time being a Realtek ALC1220-VB , the same one present in the AORUS MASTER and which incomprehensibly has not been updated to ALC4082 . In any case, it is a high-end chipset, which is accompanied by an ESS SABRE9118 DAC/Amplifier (also not the most current) together with Nichicon Gold and WIMA capacitors . The rear panel consists of only 1 3.5mm jack for audio output and another for microphone input, along with an S/PDIF port for digital output.
I/O ports and internal connections
We continue to analyze the connections of the X670E AORUS XTREME , where the manufacturer will take advantage of the remaining PCIe lanes.
On the rear panel we find:
- Button Q-Flash Plus
- Clear CMOS button
- 2x 2T2R connectors for external Wi-Fi antenna
- 1x USB 3.2 Gen2x2
- 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C
- 6x USB 3.2 Gen2 (Red)
- 4x USB 2.0 (Negros)
- HDMI 2.0
- DisplayPort 1.4
- RJ-45 LAN 10 Gbps
- S/PDIF optical audio output
- 2x Jack de 3,5 mm
AORUS has decided not to adopt Thunderbolt connections for its motherboards as MSI has done, a perhaps relevant difference for some regarding the Asus Hero and ASRock Taichi. In any case, we will have a rear and a front Gen2x2 port with 20 Gbps to cover the needs of any external SSD, although a DisplayPort 1.4 video interface is not integrated in any of the connections, and this could have been useful.
We continue with the internal ports of the motherboard:
- 10x Fan Heads (8x SYS_FAN, 1x CPU_FAN, 1x AIO_PUMP)
- 5x cabeceras RGB (2x 5VDG A-RGB, 2x 12VRGB RGB, 1x para disipador de CPU)
- AAFP audio connector for front panel
- F_Panel Connections
- 1x USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C Header
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 (supports 4 ports)
- 2x USB 2.0 (supports 4 ports)
- Header for Thunderbolt 4 cards
- TPM 2.0
- Jumper Clear CMOS
- 2x Headers for external temperature sensors (included)
- 1x Header for external noise sensor (included)
- Voltage Record Points
The front panel is exactly the same as the X670E AORUS MASTER model, so in this aspect, the PCB has a design with the same capacity, except for the detail of having added a Clear CMOS button on the back .
testing bench
We proceed to test the X670E AORUS XTREME on our test bench, in which we will use the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X . We will use the following components:
| TESTING BENCH | |
| Processor: | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X |
| Base plate : | X670E AORUS XTREME |
| Memory: | 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR5 6000 MHz |
| heatsink | MSI Coreliquid S360 |
| HDD | ADATA Gammix S70 |
| Graphic card | Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti |
| Power supply | Corsair RM1000 |
BIOS
The AORUS BIOS uses the skin and data presentation seen in previous generations, betting on a simple handling , but quite complete in control options. In Easy or Standard mode we have a lot of information about hardware, cooling, installed storage, memories and their frequency. Through a panel on the right we will access important options such as Smart Fan 6 as a complete tool for cooling control, Q-Flash or saved OC profiles . A switch allows you to activate RAIDXpert2 mode to access advanced RAID configurations.
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In Advanced we have the Tweaker section , where we find the overclocking options for the CPU and memories, although Precision Boost Overdrive is found in the Settings> CPU Overclocking section, a common section in all BIOSes for AMD CPUs. We are allowed to adjust LLC voltage curves for CPU and SoC , CPU and RAM frequencies, uclk/memclk ratio, including some exclusive features like low latency and high bandwidth mode for AMD EXPO.
VRM temperatures
We will perform a stress test on the CPU in its stock configuration, collecting surface temperatures with a thermal camera and internal temperatures using HWiNFO software .
| X670E AORUS XTREME | ||
| Relaxed Stock | Full Stock | |
| Board | 42ºC | 45ºC |
| Chipset (sensor) | 49ºC | 53ºC |
| VRM (exterior) | 35ºC | 44ºC |
| VRM (Sensor) | 38ºC | 47ºC |
As expected, temperatures are perfect on the VRM under normal room temperature conditions and with the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at maximum performance for several hours. These finned blocks will be the ones that offer the best performance in high-end plates because they have more contact surface with the air.
Overclocking and voltages
We have overclocked directly from the BIOS setting a frequency of 5.4 GHz on all cores, at a voltage of 1.272 V – LLC Low, identical parameters as for other boards and reviews with our 7950X unit . On neither board have we been able to get the CPU stable over 5.4 GHz at least with our current benchmark configuration. The margin with air/liquid cooling is 5.5 GHz, so we are satisfied, and the board performs well in the tests.
The default voltages supplied by this board with BIOS version F5c will be 1.25V at 5.2GHz on all cores , a minimum of 0.99V and a maximum of 1.45V when Boost mode is set to 5, 7 GHz. Expected figures for this CPU, similar to those obtained in the AORUS MASTER.
Final words and conclusion about the X670E AORUS XTREME
This X670E AORUS XTREME is the best that AORUS has (for now) for the Zen 4 platform, a model that improves on the AORUS MASTER in practically all aspects , only keeping the front connection capacity and integrated ventilation configuration unchanged.
The exterior aesthetics is a complete wonder for those who give importance to this section, although be careful with the elements with a mirror finish as they are susceptible to scratches. Most important for performance are the huge finned blocks for the VRM that deliver excellent surface temperatures without the need for integrated fans. Likewise, it shows great consistency in the M.2 slot heatsinks , especially the main one, and adds a NanoCarbon back cover to complete the pack.
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We recommend reading our guide on the best motherboards on the market
Regarding connectivity, we have important modifications in the interfaces, and despite being the same count as in the lower model, speed has been prioritized in the 4 M.2 slots by connecting them all to the CPU. Although they share a bus with the main PCIe, it is a smart choice in the practical section, since practically in no case will the x16 slot effectively use its full capacity. Added to this is a 10G LAN connection, Wi-Fi 6E and 2x USB Gen2x2.
As for the BIOS serial configuration , we have the brand’s usual and simple interface, with a large number of well-distributed options, as well as correctly adjusted voltages in the stock parameters. It is stable in overclocking , although finding the power parameters in it is more critical than for example in Asus or ASRock BIOS (at least the ones we have tested so far). We do not yet know its price, but it will surely be around €700 , just like its direct rivals, waiting for the values to become a little more affordable as the days go by.
| ADVANTAGE | DISADVANTAGES |
| PREMIUM LEVEL AESTHETICS | ALC1220 AUDIO CODEC INSTEAD OF THE LATEST |
| HIGH PERFORMANCE PASSIVE HEATSINKS, ESPECIALLY VRM | PCIEX4 SLOT COULD BE 4.0 INSTEAD OF 3.0 |
| ALL M.2 SLOTS ARE PCIE 5.0 | PRECIO |
| WI-FI 6E Y LAN 10 GBPS | |
| COMPLETE SMART FAN 6 TOOL FOR COOLING AND WELL TUNED BIOS |
The Professional Review team awards you the platinum medal:
X670E AORUS XTREME
COMPONENTS – 95%
COOLING – 96%
BIOS – 90%
EXTRAS – 92%
PRECIO – 86%
92%
X670E AORUS XTREME is the top of the range Zen 4 motherboard for Ryzen 9, overclocking ready with 105A phases and perfectly cooled M.2 PCIe 5.0 slots