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The Gigabyte X870 Aorus Master is an AMD X670E chipset motherboard that targets power users and enthusiasts. It is a part of Gigabyte’s Aorus subsidiary that focuses on gaming and liquid cooling and, as such, it comes fully equipped with high-end bits and lots of style. We will look at what Gigabyte X870E Aorus Master has to offer in this guide on motherboard review.
Out of the Box Impressions
Popping open the box unveils a compact black PCB arrangement that is bedded down with RGB lighting across various areas. That’s right; even if you are not fond of considering yourself as a gamer, you cannot deny that the angular design coupled with an integrated rear I/O cover is designed to look and perform like one. When coupled with a tempered glass PC case, it looks fantastic to showcase the looks of it.
In addition to that are various additional parts which will come in handy such as the rear I/O shield, antenna set for the integrated WiFi, RGB LED strip, cable stickers among others. While for anything over $500, one can feel grateful for these extras.
Key Specifications
– Chipset: AMD X670E
– CPU Socket: AM5
– Memory: DDR5 up to 128 GB operating frequency 5000+ MHz overclocked
– Expansion: 3x PCIe 5.0 x16 slots
– Storage: 5x M.2 PCIe 4.0/5.0 slots
– Networking: 2.5GbE LAN, WiFi 6E
– Rear I/O: 1 x HDMI, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, 5x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 2x USB 2.0
So on its own it meets all the requirements for building a high performance system on paper. New to the platform is PCIe Gen 5 and high speed DDR5 memory. As we are going to see when assembling a system.
BIOS and Software
The BIOS of Gigabyte is still above average. As for the X670E Aorus Master, there’s the Easy and Advanced modes in the UEFI BIOS. Easy provides an introduction to all the main settings whilst Advanced expands the options available and also activates overclocking. This however can be done with an extra twist in the @BIOS app found in the Gigabyte System Information Viewer package.
RGB Fusion 2.0 is used for all the customizable lighting controls for the product in the 3 zones. You can even link the LED color and the effects with other compatible device at RAM, case fans, and others. For networking, the Killer Control Center offers tools for traffic viewing and analysis, application prioritization and settings adjustments. Completing the picture are other application such as Smart Fan 6 for Fan Control; App Power Saving for GPU boost; EasyTune for over/undervolting, and the memory boost.
Design and Features
The motherboard from Gigabyte is the X870E Aorus that comes with a dual Intel NICs together with the Killer E2500 and the LAN Manager; a premium 12-layer PCB with large, angular heatsinks covering the VRMs and chipset. It offers great heat management qualities for stable overclocking when combined with the cooler. The blacked-out aesthetic with etched lining patterns look great and even better when the integrated RGB lighting turns ion.
For expansion you are getting three fully shielded PCIe 5.0 x16 slots that work up to x16/x8/x4. There are also five M.2 slots all of which has its own heat sink making it very good for cooling of NVMe SSD. All the M.2 slots come as either PCIe 5.0 or PCIe 4.0.
At the back you also have both USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 connectivity and numerous USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports. Wireless connectivity comes through WiFi 6E from an Intel AX211 card. For wired networking, there is a 2.5GbE Realtek port instead of a 10GbE, which would be expected at this kind of price. thanks to the HDMI 2.1 port it is possible to use integrated graphics when necessary.
Performance and Overclocking
Companion with components such as the Ryzen 9 7950X and RTX 4090 makes the Aorus Master an incredibly potent gaming machine. If society is viewed as a black box and all its processes jump into an optimized state of correct functioning outside everything is okay. Overclocking capabilities are impressive, the VRM has sixteen phases and there is a massive heatsink.
Overclocking the Memo’s CPU and DDR5 RAM on my own, I managed to lock the 7950X at 127-135 GHz on 91x with all cores. While this the G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB RAM achieved 8000Mhz+ clocks with very close timings. The temperatures did not go high showing that the VRMs can easily cope with the extra load.
This was also seen for GPU OC, where PCIe 5.0 slots offered significant headroom in achieving higher clock speeds and voltage. In general, for those who like driving benchmarks for maximum performance it can satisfy. Of course the advanced power design and the thermal dissipation are as always considerably helping to push things further.
Who Is It For?
The Gigabyte X870 Aorus Master is obviously aimed directly at high-performance gamers, enthusiasts who intend to overclock and any user planning to construct an AMD premium PC. The power delivery and cooling are somewhat overdesigned, which lets you overclock the new Ryzen 7000 series processors and the newest and fastest PCIe 5.0 graphics cards further. And it has all the network ports such as WiFi 6E, 2.5GbE port networking, and front panel USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 for the creation of a competent multimedia station.
With glossy looks and enough RGB lighting to complement, it would be great to see it in well-built gaming PCs. Just be ready to pay the hefty amount which falls between $500-$550 for this gaming notebook. For budget conscious system builders there are Gigabyte boards of the X670/E series that are cheaper than the presently reviewed but perhaps lack in some enthusiast’s options.
Conclusion
In conclusion, one can make Gigabyte X870E Aorus Master a recommendation for builders who want to build an X670E system with all the frills. OC performance is excellent, as is the efficient power delivery that also enables the full PCIe 5.0 bandwith.
A few minor drawbacks are there such as no 10GbE networking at this price. In a nutshell, the styling, features and performance puts it firmly amongst the best X670E motherboards that you can get your hands on right now. And if you are indeed going to stress an AM5 build, then the Gigabyte X870E Aorus Master should be on your hit list.
