The long-awaited 800 series motherboards are finally arriving to leverage the full power of the AMD 9000 Series CPU, and the latest from GIGABYTE, the X870 Aorus Elite WiFi 7, promises some significant updates to the Aorus Elite motherboard series. After the successful launch of the X670 series earlier this year, which offered Gen 5 PCIe support, the new X870 series aims to bolster this capability with full Gen 5 PCIe support for both x16 graphics and SSD, thanks to the inclusion of USB4. Additionally, the X870 Aorus Elite (along with all X870 series boards) offers optimized overclocking support, allowing for DDR5 8000 and higher, depending on the specific hardware.
The X870 Aorus Elite motherboard design carries over many quality-of-life improvements seen in the X670 series. The EZ-Latch Plus and EZ-Click features are back, allowing for quick swapping of PCIe cards and easy access to and swapping of NVMe drives. Mounting screws are easily accessible for the most part, and, as has been the trend with the last couple of generations of motherboards, the cheese grater-like aluminum plate covering the I/O has been replaced with a built-in plate cover.
One feature I appreciated in the X670 that has carried over to the X870 Aorus Elite WiFi 7 is the inclusion of plate covers for all the NVMe slots. This offers both a clean aesthetic and additional protection for the drives. These covers also act as passive heat sinks for Gen 5 NVMe drives, helping dissipate heat away from the board. Additionally, the X870 Elite includes an EZ-Debugging Zone that relays pertinent information, as well as power and reset switches for easy resets if needed, and a sensor panel link for an external display.
“Quality-of-life features like EZ-Latch Plus and EZ-Click make building and upgrading your PC with the X870 Elite a breeze.”
Another area the X870 Elite has refined is fan control and passive cooling. Along with the heat sinks mentioned earlier, the X870 supports both PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) and DC fans, offering flexibility for gamers’ cooling solutions. The BIOS also provides significant control over fan usage, allowing for multiple fan speed points and profile saves to cater the cooling experience to users’ needs.
The X870 Aorus Elite WiFi 7 fully supports AMD 9000, 8000, and 7000 processors. As mentioned, with the release of the 800 series boards, the new AMD 9000 series CPUs can optimize the usage of both Gen 5 PCIe for graphics cards and simultaneously handle the needs of Gen 5 NVMe drives. This is a welcome upgrade over the previous generation of X Elite series motherboards.
Along with these updates, the X870 Aorus Elite WiFi 7also supports DDR5 with AMD EXPO memory modules. For those new to EXPO (Extended Profiles for Overclocking), these modules offer an easy way to push your RAM’s performance and safely overclock it. While overclocking has been a feature for years and a point of pride for many PC builders, AMD EXPO support makes it accessible to the average consumer without requiring prior knowledge or experience.
Accessible through the BIOS, enabling EXPO profiles is as simple as selecting a drop-down option. Once enabled, the system restarts, and your new profile is activated. It worked without issue, with the RAM speed increasing from its default 4800 MHz to 6000 MHz. It’s a straightforward experience, ideal for gamers looking to get into overclocking without much prior experience.
In terms of RAM, GIGABYTE has added solid performance features to the X870 Elite to streamline and protect memory signals and data transfer. This is achieved through the inclusion of additional shielding in the 6-layer PCB (printed circuit board), which helps reduce memory interference. Less interference means faster, cleaner data transfer.
The X870 Aorus Elite WiFi 7 is equipped with Daisy-chained routing technology to further boost RAM efficiency. In layman’s terms, this technology chains together DIMMs in a linear progression and aids in overclocking RAM. There are a couple of caveats to be aware of, though. First, Daisy-chained routing is best used with one DIMM per channel and only two DIMMs total. This allows the motherboard the best routing for safely maximizing overclocking. The result is a two-DIMM setup with RAM installed in banks two and four.
“Onboard WiFi 7 and 2.5GbE port provide top-tier network performance, making the X870 Elite ideal for high-speed gaming and streaming.”
The other caveat is that if you prefer a 4-DIM setup, while still usable, Daisy-Chained routing isn’t as efficient or powerful as a T-topology-enabled board. In a T-topology setup, the DIMMS are connected together in a ring pattern, which optimizes data transfer more efficiently across this many DIMMs.
Ultimately, both will aid in overclocking, but your use case will determine which method will maximize your hardware setup. In most cases, though, where a 2 DIMM setup is preferred and more cost-effective, the Daisy-Chained routing available on the X870 Aorus Elite WiFi 7 is going to be the best option. It is also a more compact solution from a design perspective and takes up less space on the motherboard.
The X870 Elite also comes with onboard WiFi 7 with a quick antenna connection for easy setup and play. The onboard 2.5GbE port maximizes network connection as well. The X870 Elite also has the latest in Bluetooth allowing for easy peripheral connection. Onboard audio has also seen an update to previous generations and now includes an optical out port, something that was lacking on the X670 board. Hi-Fi audio support is back as well and improved capacitors ensure that the audio output experience can keep up with an audiophile’s needs.
On the note of connection, the X870 Aorus Elite WiFi 7 offers a host of connection options. Along with the standard USB-type A connections, the motherboard also includes two 40GBps USB 4 Type C ports that can handle insane speeds of 40GBps. Additionally, they can act as Ultra HD Displayport connections if needed. With so many options for peripheral and data connection, the X870 Elite offers some of the best IO support I’ve tested this year.
The GIGABYTE X870 AORUS Elite WfFi motherboard is a superb piece of hardware. It offers excellent current and future-gen hardware support thanks to the concurrent Gen 5 PCIe support along with the aforementioned UBS4 connections. Quality of life features such as EZ-Latch Plus, EZ-Click, and sensor panel link make building a beautiful PC easy and accessible. On that note, the one-click safe overclocking afforded by the X870 Aorus Elite WiFi 7 via the BOIS ensures gamers can maximize their setup without risk of damage. It’s a smart and innovative update to the already solid X Elite motherboard series and a board I would recommend for those looking to future-proof their PC setup.
