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Benchmark Results
Our standard benchmarks and power tests are performed using the CPU’s stock frequencies (including any default boost/turbo) with all power-saving features enabled. We set optimized defaults in the BIOS and the memory by enabling the XMP profile. For this baseline testing, the Windows power scheme is set to Balanced (default) so the PC idles appropriately.
Synthetic Benchmarks
Synthetics provide a great way to determine how a board runs, as identical settings should produce similar performance results. Turbo boost wattage and advanced memory timings are places where motherboard makers can still optimize for stability or performance, though, and those settings can impact some testing.
The X870E Hero performed OK across the synthetic benchmarks. It was below the early average, but like all of the results, not by a noticeable margin in most tests.
Timed Applications
The Hero did well in our timed applications, blending seamlessly into the Corona and LAME results. Handbrake tests were also OK, showing better in the x265 than in the x264. There is nothing to be concerned about here.
3D Games and 3DMark
Starting with the launch of Zen 5, we’ve updated our game tests. We’re keeping the F1 racing game but have upgraded to F1 24. We also dropped Far Cry 6 in favor of an even more popular and good-looking game in Cyberpunk 2077. We run both games at 1920x1080 resolution using the Ultra preset (details listed above). Cyberpunk 2077 uses DLSS, while we left F1 24 to native resolution scaling. The goal with these settings is to determine if there are differences in performance at the most commonly used (and CPU/system bound) resolution with settings most people use or strive for (Ultra). We expect the difference between boards in these tests to be minor, with most falling within the margin of error differences. We’ve also added a minimum FPS value, which can affect your gameplay and immersion experience.
Our Hero also proved to be a competent gamer. It led both new 3DMark tests by a small margin and had the highest average in both games. If gaming is your primary use, you’re in good hands.
Overclocking
Over the past few CPU generations, overclocking headroom has been shrinking on both sides of the fence while the out-of-box potential has increased. For overclockers, this means there’s less fun to have. For the average consumer, you’re getting the most out of the processor without manual tweaking. Today’s motherboards are more robust than ever, and they easily support power-hungry flagship-class processors, so we know the hardware can handle them. There are multiple ways to extract even more performance from these processors: enabling a canned PBO setting, manually tweaking the PBO settings, or just going for an all-core overclock. Results will vary and depend on the cooling as well. In other words, your mileage may vary. Considering all of the above, we’re not overclocking the CPU. However, we will try out our different memory kits to ensure they meet the specifications.
Out of the first four X870/X870E motherboards we’ve reviewed, all booted our fastest kit. We could complete AIDA64’s memory bandwidth test, but most wouldn’t pass the stress test. However, the Hero was the first board to successfully run that stress test without tweaking settings. The Klevv kit isn’t on Asus’ memory QVL yet, either. If you’d like to get every last MHz out of your processor and prefer not to tweak it yourself, Asus’ AI Overclocking, part of their intelligent features, will help get you there.
Power Consumption / VRM Temperatures
We used AIDA64’s System Stability Test with Stress CPU, FPU, Cache, and Memory enabled for power testing, using the peak power consumption value from the processor. The wattage reading is from the wall via a Kill-A-Watt meter to capture the entire PC (minus the monitor). The only variable that changes is the motherboard; all other parts remain the same. Please note we moved to use only the stock power use/VRM temperature charts, as this section aims to ensure the power delivery can handle flagship-class processors.
The Ryzen 9 9990X's power consumption is tame compared to the 7950X we used for X670/X670E. Where, in the past, high-end boards would peak at nearly 300W, the systems now top out at 250-270W during the CPU stress tests (gaming with the Nvidia RTX 4080 compared to the RTX 3070 is another story). That said, the Crosshair X870E Hero peaked at 245W under load, with the CPU using around 145W. Idle power use for this board was higher than the rest, settling to 103W on our test system.
VRM temperatures on the Taichi peaked at just under 46 degrees Celsius, close to the Taichi’s actively cooled results. It’s clear the power delivery bits are more than capable of handling our processor or even an overclocked, high-power flagship Ryzen 9 9950X.
Bottom Line
The Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Hero is a worthwhile update from the X670E Hero. In addition to the native support for Zen 5-based processors, USB 4.0, Wi-Fi 7, and guaranteed PCIe 5.0 on the NVMe and graphics, the new Hero gets a facelift, faster memory support, new EZ PC DIY features like the Q-Release Slim and updated M.2 Q-Latch, plus 5 GbE wired networking. Performance in our testing was satisfactory, but it wasn’t the leader in our tightly grouped pack.
There is little competition at the $699.99 price point. MSI’s X870E Godlike costs nearly double that at a reported $1,299, and the Gigabyte X870E Aorus Extreme will likely be $999 or more. In the midrange realm, we covered the Gigabyte X870E Aorus Master ($499.99 or less with rebates), the MSI X870E Carbon WIFI ($499.99), and the current value leader, ASRock’s X870E Taichi ($449.99). We’ll cover Asus’ X870E-E Gaming WIFI ($499.99) soon, as it is a direct competitor to the boards we’ve covered already.
You can look at this in two ways. The Hero is either the least-expensive (current) flagship model with a few things missing from the other, more expensive models, or a more expensive upper-midrange class solution. Either way, we like the improvements Asus made with the new Hero and that it kept the same MSRP as the previous generation. Between the EZ PC DIY features and the AI ‘suite’ of tools (Overclocking, Networking, Cooling), robust hardware, and copious connectivity, there’s a lot to like. I would like to see more Type-A ports on the rear IO (there are, at least, plenty of front panel headers), but features-wise, that is my only complaint. While this is an excellent motherboard with many features, the $699.99 price tag will be hard for some to justify.
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Joe Shields is a Freelance writer for Tom’s Hardware US. He reviews motherboards.
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Krusher One more minor edit, the ProArt X870 Creator WIFI ($479.99) should be the X870E. Mine is sitting here in the box yet waiting for the 9800X3D. The reason why I bought this model over the others is that it actually has a 10G Ethernet port built-in already.Reply -
bit_user
Yes, this. I checked the article and every reference correctly used the lowercase "b". So, it's really just an issue with the title.jackoblacko said:Typo on the title, the 5Gb (gigabit) ethernet, not 5GB (gigabyte)!
BTW, I'm glad to see the enthusiast tier already moving beyond 2.5 Gigabits/s. Adoption of 2.5 seemed to start sometime around 2018, but then stalled out during the pandemic, probably due to supply chain issues. I have it on pretty good authority that ethernet chips were one of the hardest-hit components. I'm not sure if that was entirely an issue of demand, or maybe due in large part to the actions of scalpers.