With AMD's Ryzen 7000 introduction scheduled for August 29, it is time for motherboard makers to unveil their parts. A couple of weeks ago, all five makers of enthusiast-oriented mainboards gave a sneak peek at their AMD X670/X670E-based AM5 platforms. Still, Asus today was the first company to formally announce its initial AM5 family that contains several motherboards set to be sold at different price points.
In addition to the ROG Crosshair X670E Hero Extreme motherboard for gamers with deep pockets, Asus also introduced its ROG Crosshair X670E Hero as well as ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming Wi-Fi designed for those who do not want to pay for crème-de-la-crème flagship yet want to have everything that the new AMD X670E platform has to offer, and the TUF Gaming X670E-Plus Wi-Fi aimed at those who seek for premium features yet does not want to spend a small fortune on a motherboard.
In addition to the ROG Crosshair X670E Hero Extreme motherboard for gamers with deep pockets, Asus also introduced its ROG Crosshair X670E Hero as well as ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming Wi-Fi designed for those who do not want to pay for crème-de-la-crème flagship yet want to have everything that the new AMD X670E platform has to offer, and the TUF Gaming X670E-Plus Wi-Fi aimed at those who seek for premium features yet does not want to spend a small fortune on a motherboard.
All Asus' AMD X670E-based motherboards will naturally support AMD's Ryzen 7000-series processors with up to 16 Zen 4 cores in AM5 packaging aimed at enthusiasts and overlockers. In addition, all four mainboards will feature formidable CPU VRMs capable of delivering hundreds of watts of clean power to CPUs to maximize their overclocking potential.
The motherboards will carry four slots for DDR5 memory, several PCIe 5.0 slots, USB ports (including two USB 4 ports on some modes), and Wi-Fi 6E support on higher-end ROG motherboards. In addition, select AM5 mainboards will also offer M.2-22110 slots for high-capacity SSDs via an adapter, 2.5GbE, or even 10GbE connectivity.
Meanwhile, Asus ROG motherboards will also support the company's Q-Design features, including quick release buttons for PCIe, RAM, and M.2 slots to make it easier and faster for enthusiasts to uninstall and uninstall and uninstall and install new components.
We have built a table that gives a quick look at the key features of Asus' upcoming AM5 motherboards and their differences.
Asus AM5 Motherboards at a Glance
| Header Cell - Column 0 | ROG Crosshair X670E Hero Extreme | ROG Crosshair X670E Hero | ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming Wi-Fi | TUF Gaming X670E-Plus Wi-Fi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VRM | 20+2 power stages, 110A | 20+2 power stages, 110A | 18+2 power stages, 110A | 16+2 |
| Vcore PMIC | Infineon ASP2205 | Infineon ASP2205 | ? | ? |
| Power Stage | VishaySIC850 | VishaySIC850 | ? | ? |
| PCIe 5.0 x16 slots | 2x PCIe 5.0 x16 | 2x PCIe 5.0 x16 | 3x PCIe 5.0/4.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |
| PCIe slots | - | - | - | PCIe x16, PCIe x1 |
| M.2 slots | 5 slots, PCIe 5.0 + PCIe 4.0 | 5 slots, PCIe 5.0 + PCIe 4.0 | ? slots PCIe 5.0 + PCIe 4.0 | 4 slots PCIe 5.0/4.0/3.0 |
| M.2-22110 card | + | + | + | - |
| Ethernet | 10GbE + 2.5GbE | 2.5GbE | ? | ? |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6E | Wi-Fi 6E | Wi-Fi 6E | - |
| USB4/TB | Two USB 4 ports at 40Gbps | Two USB 4 ports at 40Gbps | ? | ? |
| Audio Codec | ALC4082 | ALC4082 | ? | ? |
| Audio DAC | ESS ES9218PQ Quad DAC | ESS ES9218PQ Quad DAC | ? | ? |
| Q-Design Features | + | + | + | - |
Eventually, Asus will add the ProArt X670E Creator Wi-Fi for content creators and the Prime X670-P/X670-P Wi-Fi for more provident buyers (and those motherboards will still be quite expensive, as we already know). Meanwhile, there will also be cheaper B650-based motherboards, as Asus' AM5 page title suggests.
