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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 offer a valuable method for evaluating a board's performance, as identical settings are expected to yield similar results. Turbo boost wattage and advanced memory timings are areas where motherboard manufacturers can still optimize for stability or performance, though, and these settings can impact specific testing scenarios.
The X870 Aorus Xtreme AI Top performed very well in our synthetic benchmarks, posting some of the best scores we’ve seen across the suite, thanks to higher bandwidth (by default) on our base DDR5-6000 sticks. Be it office apps, encoding, or rendering, the Xtreme was one of the best overall in our tightly packed group of results.
Timed Applications
In our timed applications, LAME fell into the slower of the two times, while the Corona benchmark was the fastest, matching multiple other boards. Handbrake performance was the best we’ve seen, clearly responding well to the memory bump, posting the fastest times across over 30 motherboards.
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 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. We’ve also added a minimum FPS setting, which can affect your gameplay and immersion.
In our 3DMark and game tests, the board was average to above average in the really tight 3DMark results, and did really well in our actual games posting the best non-9800X3D FPS we’ve seen in Cyberpunk 2077 (145, also with the highest minimum), and did well in F1 24, running slightly faster than the average (134 min, 173 avg) In short, this is one of the better performing boards we’ve covered. Regardless of whether you’re gaming, a creative, or just general productivity, the X870E Aorus Xtreme AI Top can get the most out of any installed processor.
Overclocking
Over the past few CPU generations, overclocking headroom has been shrinking on both sides of the fence, while the out-of-the-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; 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 the above, we will not be overclocking the CPU. However, we will try out our different memory kits to ensure they meet the specifications.
For memory testing, we start with our fastest non-clock driver kit: Klevv 32GB (2x16) DDR5-8000. Per usual on this platform, it booted to Windows but wouldn’t pass a stress test with our 9900X, and the Team Group DDR5-7200 kit worked without issue. Those speeds are well past the ‘sweet spot’ for the AMD platform, and with today’s outlandish RAM (and video card and storage) prices, we imagine few people are considering them in the first place. Dropping in our Ryzen 5 8600G APU, we were able to run our Klevv DDR5-8000 kit without issue, as we can on most motherboards. There’s plenty of headroom for anyone who can afford faster speeds.
Power Consumption / VRM Temperatures
We used AIDA64’s System Stability Test with Stress CPU, FPU, cache, and Memory enabled for power testing, using the processor's peak power consumption value. The wattage reading is obtained from the wall via a Kill-A-Watt meter, capturing the entire PC (excluding the monitor). The only variable that changes is the motherboard; all other parts remain the same. We've moved to using only the stock power use/VRM temperature charts, as this section aims to ensure the power delivery can handle flagship-class processors.
Stress-testing the X870E Aorus Xtreme AI Top with our DDR5-7200 kit showed it drawing more power than most boards. At idle, it sat around 96W and peaked at 267W. This averages out to 182W and puts it towards the higher end of power use. That said, you’d be hard-pressed to notice it on your bill. There’s nothing out of the ordinary here either.
VRM temperatures were good, peaking at 49 degrees Celsius on the internal sensor and 48 degrees on our own. The 18 110A SPS MOSFETs, combined with the large heatsink, mean you can overclock any processor, with the only limitation being your cooling.
Bottom Line
Although the Gigabyte X870E Aorus Xtreme Ai Top has been out for a while, it’s still a great all-around motherboard, even though the refresh boards have some added tweaks. The biggest problem with the board at this time is that it’s still fetching a premium (over $1,200). That said, there are several refurbished models available at Newegg and Amazon for an incredible $599.99, which is much more reasonable considering the age and is priced less than the X870E Godlike released around the same time.
The flagship boards it competes against include the Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Glacial ($1,199.99 - or the Extreme at $998.99), and the MSI Godlike X ($1,300 at Newegg). The Glacial and Godlike X are refreshed boards, both with large displays on the VRM heatsink, unlike the Aorus Xtreme AI Top. The ‘original’ Godlike is available but still $1040.11. These also have more M.2 storage (and more PCIe 5.0-capable M.2 sockets), a better audio solution (at least the latest-gen flagship codecs instead of last-gen), and arguably a more premium appearance. The real competition for these boards is the updated X870E Aorus Extreme X3D AI Top ($1,099.99), which mitigates most of the shortcomings of the original by adding more M.2 sockets (now two PCIe 5.0 x4), a large display, an updated audio solution, and improved aesthetics.
While this board doesn’t make our best motherboards list, overall, we do like the Aorus Xtreme AI To. It’s just not ‘the one’ at this time because of the refresh boards, current prices, and availability (or lack thereof). If you’re good with a refurbished board, you can find these at a hell of a deal, $599.99, and it’s worth the cost at that price. But if you have to pay full price, you’ll want to move to the refreshed X3D AI Top instead.
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