ASRock X870 Nova WiFi Motherboard Review: Lots of storage, not without sacrifice

This sub-$300 board gives you five M.2 slots, but be aware of the consequences.

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ASRock X870 Nova WiFi
(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

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Firmware

Like the other ASRock boards, the X870 Nova WiFi starts in the informative Easy Mode, but it allows you to adjust several options (XMP, profiles, boot order, access to Fan-Tastic Tuning, etc.). The Nova uses a black background with light gray characters, making it easy to read. The standard BIOS displays headings across the top, with subheadings and details below.

You can tweak everything here, as ASRock includes every option you can think of. Overclocking is straightforward, with most options readily available. The layout is logical, and the mouse movement is smooth. We have no significant complaints about the ASRock firmware. But, it’s due for an update to match Gigabyte and MSI UEFIs on their new X870/B850 offerings.

Image 1 of 25
ASRock X870 Nova WiFi
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Software

ASRock offers several different software options. These include the App Shop, which allows users to install drivers and software, the Nahimic 3 audio control panel, the A-Tuning application, which enables users to overclock their systems and control fans, the Polychrome RGB software, and more. There’s also a Blazing OC Tuner and a pop-up to install drivers when the system first boots. ASRock’s software provides everything users need to manage and tweak their systems.

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ASRock X870 Nova WiFi
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Test System / Comparison Products

We’ve updated our test system to Windows 11 (23H2) 64-bit OS with all updates applied as of late September 2024 (this includes the Branch Prediction Optimizations for AMD). Hardware-wise, we’ve updated the RAM kits (matching our Intel test system), cooling, storage, and video card. Unless otherwise noted, we use the latest non-beta motherboard BIOS that is publicly available. The hardware we used is as follows:

Test System Components

Swipe to scroll horizontally

CPU

AMD Ryzen 9 9900X

Cooling

Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420

Storage

 Crucial 2TB T705 M.2 PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD

RAM

Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-6000 CL36 (KF560C36BBEAK2-32)

RAM

Teamgroup T-Froce Delta DDR5-7200 CL34 (FF3D518G7200HC34ABK)

RAM

Klevv Cras XR5 RGB DDR5-8000 (KD5AGUA80-80R380S)

GPU

 Asus TUF RTX 4080 16G

PSU

EVGA Supernova 850W P6

Software

Windows 11 64-bit (23H2 - 22631.4169)

Graphics

NVIDIA Driver 561.09

Sound

Integrated HD audio

Network

Integrated Networking (GbE to 10 GbE)

ASRock X870 Nova WiFi

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Benchmark Settings

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings

Row 0 - Cell 1

Procyon

Version 2.8.1352 64

Row 2 - Cell 0

Office 365, Video Editing (Premiere Pro 24.6.1), Photo Editing (Photoshop 25.1.2, Lightroom Classic 13.5.1)

3DMark

Version 2.29.8294.0 64

Row 4 - Cell 0

Speed Way and Steel Nomad (Default)

Cinebench R24

Version 2024.1.0

Row 6 - Cell 0

Open GL Rendering Benchmark - Single and Multi-threaded

Blender

Version 4.2.0

Row 8 - Cell 0

Full benchmark (all three tests)

Application Tests and Settings

Row 9 - Cell 1

LAME MP3

Version SSE2_2019

Row 11 - Cell 0

Mixed 271MB WAV to mp3: Command: -b 160 -- (160Kb/s)

HandBrake CLI

Version: 1.8.2

Row 13 - Cell 0

Sintel Open Movie Project: 4.19GB 4K mkv to x264 (light AVX) and x265 (heavy AVX)

Corona 1.4

Version 1.4

Row 15 - Cell 0

Custom benchmark

7-Zip

Version 24.08

Row 17 - Cell 0

Integrated benchmark (Command Line)

Game Tests and Settings

Row 18 - Cell 1

Cyberpunk 2077

Ultra RT Preset - 1920 x 1080,  DLSS - Balanced.

F1 2024

Ultra High Preset - 1920 x 1080, 16xAF/TAA, FPS Counter ON, Great Britain (Clear/Dry)

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Joe Shields
Joe Shields
Staff Writer, Components

Joe Shields is a staff writer at Tom’s Hardware. He reviews motherboards and PC components.

19 Comments Comment from the forums
  • monkey_biz
    Maybe my reading comprehension is lacking, but do you mention the differences to the X870E Nova anywhere? Is it the exact same board but only with an X870 incl all the lane sharing implications, or are there other differences..?
    Reply
  • Math Geek
    i would have loved to see the board with all the heatsinks/covers off the m.2 slots.

    nothing special i'm sure but would have been nice to see it that way :)

    otherwise interesting mobo.
    Reply
  • Makaveli
    Why is there zero mention of these boards frying cpus?

    Kind of important for a buyer to know.
    Reply
  • adamXpeter
    Makaveli said:
    Why is there zero mention of these boards frying cpus?

    Kind of important for a buyer to know.
    Choose wisely
    It's not clear how widespread this issue actually is, but some users—and not just crazy overclockers—have definitely experienced a problem where AMD CPUs fail in spectacular fashion, scorching the bottom of the CPU package and the socket it was in. Initially, it was Gigabyte and ASUS motherboards known to have this problem, but it's also been observed on MSI, and most frequently, ASRock motherboards, too.
    Reply
  • pikeman666
    ASRock has usually received favorable reviews and these influenced my choice of an X370e MB about 18 months ago when building a fresh PC. The rig wouldn’t POST, and I screwed around with getting an outside shop to troubleshoot the assembly. I repeatedly contacted ASRock tech support and received ZERO help. So I returned it. Unnecessarily, because the Gigabyte replacement threw faults on the CPU and memory. Once those were replaced, it POSTed. Assembly and troubleshooting was done under strict ESD protocols so let’s not go there.
    It might be worth knowing that if you need help, you’re not going to get it from ASRock!
    Reply
  • spoidz
    I actually bought the ASROCK X870E Phantom Nova Plus WiFi before I saw the reports and was very worried as I had both a 9800X3D and a 9950X3D to play with. I wanted the PCI-E lane configuration.

    But after I scrubbed the interwebs I came across two very detailed Videos showing exactly what the issues were and how to mitigate them in BIOS.

    The guides were for safe PBO2 setup but also detailed what the board was doing at stock that was likely a source for some of the reports - extreme SOC and PPT/TDC/EDC over-voltages in Stock BIOS.

    ASROCK is up to 3.40 BIOS now and I suspect they may keep working on those stock BIOS settings.

    My 9950X3D is higher idle than my old 9900KS but it is benched on Furmark/Cinebench with no issues:

    SOC @1.135v - Core Power @158.089v - CPU @ 70.5C - Clock @5236.5 peak

    If anyone needs the Videos - his testing may work well on other X870/E boards.

    TofvZbLE3XQView: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TofvZbLE3XQ - 9950X3D

    OcG1XANqRYQView: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcG1XANqRYQ - 9800X3D
    Reply
  • Mr Majestyk
    on features and value I was all set to give Asrock a go this gen, but with X3D-gate, not a chance in hell. However, if Arrow Lake weren't a dead-end socket, I would have gone Asrock for sure with Intel. Maybe for Nova Lake which is rumoured to have a 4 gen socket I'll finally give them a go. Sick of Asucks that's for sure.
    Reply
  • adamXpeter
    pikeman666 said:
    ASRock has usually received favorable reviews and these influenced my choice of an X370e MB about 18 months ago when building a fresh PC. The rig wouldn’t POST, and I screwed around with getting an outside shop to troubleshoot the assembly. I repeatedly contacted ASRock tech support and received ZERO help. So I returned it. Unnecessarily, because the Gigabyte replacement threw faults on the CPU and memory. Once those were replaced, it POSTed. Assembly and troubleshooting was done under strict ESD protocols so let’s not go there.
    It might be worth knowing that if you need help, you’re not going to get it from ASRock!
    Interesting, they even made a special BIOS for me when I have pointed out that according to their website marketing material D-Sub output should work in CSM mode, too.
    Reply
  • drajitsh
    adamXpeter said:
    Choose wisely
    Please link
    Reply
  • drajitsh
    "But if you don’t want any lighting, you should probably look elsewhere".
    1. Buy a windowless case (availability).
    2. Buy a case with a acrylic window and replace the acrylic with a aluminium/aluminium composite sheet from a building supply store.
    I did the latter.
    Reply