Biostar X870E Valkyrie Review: Still improving, still a ways to go

Biostar’s Valkyrie line of motherboards has been on the market for a few generations and is available in AMD and Intel flavors. Each generation has brought improvements in appearance and functionality. Fast-forward to today, and we get a chance to look at the AMD-based X870E Valkyrie, the latest and greatest in the series. The updated Valkyrie receives a minor facelift, faster memory support, an improved audio solution, and more robust power delivery.

At the time of this writing, Biostar’s X870/X870E product stack consists of the Valkyrie and nothing else. There are no budget offerings, MicroATX, or Mini-ITX form factors, just the X870E Valkyrie in all its mid-range ATX glory. The company has three boards at varying price points (though all ATX) for Intel, but, for now at least, there is only one for the AMD X870E.

Hardware-wise, the X870E Valkyrie gets you almost everything you expect and want from the platform: native support of the Zen 5 processors (including the recently announced X3D chips with a BIOS update), 40 Gbps Type-C support (Thunderbolt 4 in this case), robust power delivery with 110A MOSFETs, four M.2 sockets and six SATA ports, a quality audio solution, and 2.5 GbE. Even though you see Wi-Fi antenna connections on the rear IO, this board does not include Wi-Fi, which is misleading.

The Valkyrie performed well overall, allowing our Ryzen 9 9900X to let loose and mix in with the other tested boards. We expect nothing less. It did better in gaming than productivity, but as we know, it would be difficult to discern between them in most tests as many of the results are very close.

Below, we’ll examine the board's details and determine whether it deserves a spot on our Best Motherboards list (spoiler: it will not). But before we share test results and discuss details, we’ll list the specifications from Biostar’s website. 

Specifications of the Biostar X870E Valkyrie

Inside the Box of the Biostar X870E Valkyrie

The X870E Valkyrie’s accessory stack is surprisingly light, offering stickers, an easy-connect header for the front panel, and four SATA cables. That said, you should be fine as the M.2 sockets all have a quick connect (read: not screws!).  

Design of the Valkyrie

Image 1 of 2

The updated Valkyrie presents users with a mid-range vibe and, at least to this reviewer, it’s improved over the X760E version. The matte black PCB is still high-quality, with eight layers, and uses two ounces of copper. Above the rear IO, on the beefy VRM heatsink, is the Valkyrie branding backlit with RGB LEDs. The Valkyrie symbol graces the chipset area, with plate heatsinks covering all the M.2 sockets. A pink stripe shoots through those same plates as well. Overall, I like the look, and it will blend in with most build themes. But I would have liked to see a large heatsink for the PCIe 5.0-capable M.2 socket - an impossible feat with this design due to its location below the primary PCIe slot. 

Starting in the top left, we get a better look at the oversized, heatpipe-connected VRM heatsinks and the RGB feature. The VRM heatsinks are heavy, and the miter cuts increase surface area for what looks to be an effective solution. Above are the two 8-pin EPS connectors to power the processor.

Moving our focus right and past the socket area, we find the four reinforced DRAM slots with locking mechanisms on both sides. Biostar lists capacity up to 192GB and speeds to DDR5-8000 (an improvement of 2000 MT/s over X670E Valkyrie). We had no issues running our DDR5-6000 kit for baseline testing, but our sample quit working (never to work again) after we installed our Klevv DDR5-8000 kit and enabled XMP. Much more on that later.

Just above the DRAM slots are the first two (of six) 4-pin fan headers. Each header supports PWM and DC-controlled devices. The manual doesn’t list the output, and we’re also waiting for Biostar's reply with the details on that front. Until then, assume each has 1A/12W available, and do not overload the headers. The BIOS and Aurora software can control these headers through presets or manually.

Tucked in the upper-right corner are three of five RGB headers. Here, there are two 3-pin ARGB headers and one 4-pin RGB header, with the other two ARGB headers located along the bottom edge. Looking down the right side, we spy power and reset buttons labeled with LED backlit “P” and “R” letters and another system fan header just below. Following that is the 24-pin ATX to power the board, a front panel USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) Type-C header, and a 19-pin USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) connector.

The X870E Valkyrie's power delivery has plenty of oomph to power flagship-class Zen 4 and Zen 5 processors. Biostar lists the VRMs as 22 phases, with 18 dedicated to Vcore. Power travels from the EPS connector(s) onto a Renesas RAA229628 20-phase PWM controller. From there, it hits the 18 Renesas R22209004HBO 110A MOSFETs in a teamed configuration. The 1,980A available is more than enough for any overclocking you may do with any compatible processor. Per usual, you’ll be limited by your cooling before the power delivery.  

The audio section is on the bottom half of the board (left) and is mostly hidden from the user. Under the shroud is the high-end, last-gen Realtek ALC1220-VB2 codec, and four dedicated audio capacitors poke out through the shroud. We’d like to see the latest generation Realtek audio based on the Realtek 408X series. Still, the last-gen flagship is a fine audio solution that an overwhelming majority would find acceptable.

In the middle, between all of the heatsinks, are three reinforced full-length PCIe slots. The top two slots connect through the CPU with the primary graphics (top) slot running at PCIe 5.0 x16 or x8/x8, with the middle running at a maximum of PCIe 5.0 x8 when using a desktop-class processor. The bottom full-length slot connects through the chipset and runs at PCIe 4.0 x4. With this configuration, there is plenty of room physically and also bandwidth-wise for expansion cards.

A total of four M.2 sockets sit among the PCIe slots. The topmost M.2, just below the primary PCIe slot, supports up to 80mm PCIe 5.0 x4 modules. The bottom three slots connect via the chipset and run up to PCIe 4.0 x4. The M2M_SB_2/3 connector supports up to 80mm devices, while M2M_SB_1 is 110mm. When using M2M_SB_3, the bottom PCIe slot (PCIEX16_3) will be disabled. Moving right, past the chipset, are six SATA ports for additional storage. If you’d like to RAID these, the Valkyrie supports RAID0/15 modes, but only on the SATA ports. I would like to see an additional PCIe 5.0 M.2 socket, but otherwise, there are plenty of storage options, especially if you have a lot of SATA-based drives.

Across the bottom of the board are several exposed headers. You’ll find the usual, including additional USB ports, RGB headers, and more. Below is a complete list from left to right.

• Front panel audio
• (2) 3-pin ARGB header
• (2) System fan headers
• COM Port
• Thunderbolt AIC header
• (2) USB 2.0 headers
• System fan header
• Debug LED
• Front panel
• Clear CMOS button

The rear IO has a lot going on, with a wide range of connectivity. Starting with USB, there are 10 total ports out back: eight USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-A ports and two Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps) Type-C ports. On the left are the HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs (don’t forget the TB4 ports also offer video). Next to that is the Smart BIOS Update option (which can be used without a CPU), while on the right is the 2.5 GbE LAN port and audio stack (5x 3.5mm analog, plus SPDIF optical output). We do see antenna headers for Wi-Fi. However, this board does not include Wi-Fi! You will have to buy the CNVI-based Key-E card separately.

MORE: Best Motherboards

MORE: How To Choose A Motherboard

MORE: All Motherboard Content