MSI MEG X870E Godlike Motherboard Review: Seven USB-C and M.2 sockets, $1100 price

A Godlike number of Type-C Ports, M.2 Sockets, with the looks and price to match

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MSI X870E Godlike
Editor's Choice
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Firmware

With X870, MSI has updated its BIOS, renaming it “Click X,” and improved the aesthetic and functionality in the process. The company changed up the format with the headings on the left side, details in the middle, and system status information on the right side. Like most other board partners, it has an informational EZ Mode that allows for limited functionality, such as Game Boost, PBO, and more. Overall, I like the new layout, and maneuvering around is intuitive after a short time, though it does take some getting used to. The dark, fading gold background and white labeling are easy to read, and most of what you need is at your fingertips.

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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.

21 Comments Comment from the forums
  • HardwiredWireless
    Lose the lights and name logo, give it an Intel chipset and socket and I'll buy two for my upgrades that I've been putting off. I need the processor that does best in compute tasks as I don't just use it for playing games and currently that's Intel.
    Reply
  • thestryker
    HardwiredWireless said:
    Lose the lights and name logo, give it an Intel chipset and socket and I'll buy two for my upgrades that I've been putting off. I need the processor that does best in compute tasks as I don't just use it for playing games and currently that's Intel.
    You can turn off all the lights on MSI boards (first thing I did with mine though I did have to use software to turn off the RGB on my DRAM) and they will have a Z890 version: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MEG-Z890-GODLIKE
    Reply
  • 8086
    Premium to me these days is having lots of fully functional x16 pci-e slots so I can add more USB or NVME at my own leisure or even upgrade my sound or networking as needed.
    Just a few years ago the X570 Godlike sold for around $600 and had more PCI-e connections... so in my mind the X870E is a $600-650 motherboard with a "$500 gamer tax added"

    In many ways now, the PC gamer hobby is going the way of the Audiophile.... simply charging more for something because you give it a more special sounding name which appeals to a certain group of enthusiasts. It reminds me of about 10 years ago when a bunch of hi-fi brands were gutting Oppo players and then sticking them in to their own billet faced chassis with no other improvements made and charging 10x the price.
    Reply
  • HideOut
    HardwiredWireless said:
    Lose the lights and name logo, give it an Intel chipset and socket and I'll buy two for my upgrades that I've been putting off. I need the processor that does best in compute tasks as I don't just use it for playing games and currently that's Intel.
    LOL no it isnt. The AMD 9950x is the best. But ok.
    Reply
  • newtechldtech
    $1100 price and no PLX chip for dual 16 lanes slots ?

    Given the huge Gen 5 PCIe bandwidth , a switch chip 16 to 16+16 is a must for such high end Priced motherboards. like in old times. in old times for $400 only we could get a PLX motherboard .
    Reply
  • Li Ken-un
    newtechldtech said:
    $1100 price and no PLX chip for dual 16 lanes slots ?

    Given the huge Gen 5 PCIe bandwidth , a switch chip 16 to 16+16 is a must for such high end Priced motherboards. like in old times. in old times for $400 only we could get a PLX motherboard .
    It’s a choice between consumer motherboard with server PCIe switch or a workstation/server system.

    I’m running the former, and the PCIe switch alone is $1,500 plus the cost of cabling and enclosure/adapter. The workstation/server route looks a lot more attractive now for lots of PCIe lanes. Built-in PCIe switch on a consumer platform motherboard might not be much cheaper than a PCIe switch AIC.
    Reply
  • SomeoneElse23
    Joe TH: the specs list on page 1 has incorrect data for the network jacks. You correctly state in a few places there are 10GbE and 5GbE, but on the specs list you says 2.5GbE and 5GbE for network jacks.
    Reply
  • logainofhades
    No consumer board is worth $1100.
    Reply
  • pug_s
    The only godlike thing about this motherboard is the price.
    Reply
  • FITCamaro
    logainofhades said:
    No consumer board is worth $1100.
    This.

    I get inflation but high end boards used to be $400, maybe $500. $1100 is an entire computer. Tell me what this does significantly better than a $200-300 board.
    Reply