Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master Review: A Closer Look at the Features and Performance

The long-awaited release of the AMD Ryzen 7000 processor with the AM5 socket has prompted motherboard manufacturers to release new models. Solutions have appeared on the market, including for advanced users. One of these is the Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master gaming motherboard, which will be discussed in this review.

Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master specifications

• Socket: AM5
• Chipset: AMD X670E
• Memory type: DDR-5
• Number of memory slots: 4
• RAM: 4 x DIMM, Max. 128 GB, DDR5 6666(OC) – 5600(OC), 5200 – 4400 MHz
• Expansion Slots: PCI-E 5.0 x16, PCI-E 4.0 x16, PCI-E 3.0 x16, 4 x PCI-E M.2
• Type M.2: M.2_1 – 2260/2280/22110 (PCIe 5.0 x4), M.2_2 – 2260/2280/22100 (PCIe 5.0 x4), M.2_3 – 2260/2280/22110 (PCIe 4.0 x4), M.2_4 – 2260/2280/22110 (PCIe 4.0 x4)
• Audio: 8ch (7.1) Realtek ALC1220-VB
• Network interface: Intel 2.5GbE LAN, Wi-Fi 6E AX210, Bluetooth 5.3
• Form factor – E-ATX (305 x 269 mm)

Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master Review

Unboxing

The first thing that immediately catches your attention when you get acquainted with this product from GIGABYTE is the new packaging design. For the X670E AORUS MASTER, the manufacturer provided a large cardboard box, on the back of which he indicated the detailed technical characteristics of the device. A separate block also shows the rear panel connector map.

The following set of accessories is supplied with the motherboard:

• User guide
• AORUS branded stickers
• Aluminum AORUS badge
• Block G-connector
• Two Velcro clamps for cables
• Two temperature probes
• Two cables for RGB lighting
• Four SATA-3 6Gb/s cables
• Wi-Fi antenna
• Noise pickup cable

Design and features

The fact that the X670E Aorus Master is made on a grand scale is eloquently confirmed by the size of the motherboard. It is made in an E-ATX form factor with dimensions of 305 x 269 mm.

At the same time, the motherboard itself is more than half covered with massive cooling radiators. A durable metal backplate protects the X670E gaming computer motherboard from bending.

One of the key features of the X670E is a powerful 20-phase processor power system, covered with two massive heatsinks.

The main cooling radiator is a massive array of nano-carbon-coated plates. The additional heatsink has multi-level fins to increase heat dissipation efficiency. A heat pipe with a diameter of 8 mm is also used inside the CO design.

Power for the central processor on the board is supplied through two 8-pin power connectors wrapped in a metal casing.

The back connector panel contains the following interfaces:

• 1 x Q-Flash Plus button
• 2 x SMA antenna connectors (2T2R)
• 1 x DisplayPort
• 1 x HDMI port
• 1 x USB Type-C port (DisplayPort), with USB 3.2 Gen 2 support
• 1 x USB Type-C port, with USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 support
• 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red)
• 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
• 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
• 1 x RJ-45 port
• 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
• 2 x audio jacks

For new-generation memory, the motherboard has four DIMM DDR5 sockets. Thus, using capacious 32 GB modules, you can install up to 128 GB of RAM here. Speed ​​modes from 4400 to 6666 MHz are supported, as well as AMD EXPO and XMP technologies.

Half of the Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master is devoted to the chipset, storage connectors, and expansion slots.

A PCIe 5.0 x16 expansion slot serviced by the CPU is provided for the main graphics adapter. Considering the weight of modern graphics cards, it is reinforced with a metal casing. And the X670E has a dedicated button for easy removal of the graphics adapter. It is located to the right of the PCIe 5.0 x16 expansion slot.

The board also has PCIe 4.0 x16 expansion slots (operates in PCIe 4.0 x4 mode) and PCIe 3.0 x16 (operates in PCIe 3.0 x2 mode). Their functioning is provided by AMD X670 chipsets.

Also, the Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master is ready to offer four M.2 2280/22110 slots for installing solid-state drives at once. The top two slots, receiving PCI Express lanes from the CPU, can operate in PCIe 5.0 x4/PCIe 5.0 x2 modes. The other two M.2 slots can operate in PCIe 4.0 x4/PCIe 4.0 x2 modes, implemented using AMD X670 chipsets.

It is also possible to connect devices with a SATA-3 6Gb/s connector to the X670E. To do this, six corresponding connectors are soldered on the right edge of the board.

Two USB 3.2 Gen 2 and two USB 2.0 headers are soldered in to increase the number of connectors on the board. There’s also a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port not far from the RAM connectors.

Connection of backlight elements to the motherboard is possible via two +5V RGB and two +12V RGB connectors.

Fans and cooling systems can be connected to the X670E using ten 4-pin PWM connectors.

And this is what the metal backplate of the motherboard looks like. Along the way, part of the heat is diverted from the VRM power piping.

A feature of the Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master is the presence of two sets of AMD X670 logic at once. For their cooling, a massive aluminum radiator is used, contacting through thermal pads.

As for the power piping for powering the central processor, the X670E does it in a big way. Before us is a 20-phase power supply system built according to the formula “16 + 2 + 2”: 16 phases for CPU cores, 2 phases for SOC, and 2 phases for MISC.

For cores, the manufacturer uses the 105A assembly Renesas RAA22010540, and for the SOC and MISC – the 90A assembly ISL99390.

The controllers RAA229620 and RAA229621 are responsible for managing the processor power system.

The 2.5 Gigabit network on the X670E is implemented using the Intel S1373L40 controller.

And the wireless capabilities of Wi-Fi 6E AX210 and Bluetooth 5.3 using a separate module installed in the M.2 Key E slot.

A few words should also be said about the new AM5 connector. Structurally, it is similar to the solution from Intel, and the processor installation mechanism is identical here. We take the presser foot to the side, open the protective cover, install the processor, close the cover, and set the presser foot to its original position.

Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master review test configuration

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (12 cores/24 threads, L3 – 64 MB)
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE X670E AORUS MASTER (Bios F8c)
• Cooling System: EVGA CLC 280mm AIO
• Thermal Interface: Arctic Cooling MX-4
• RAM: Kingston FURY Renegade DDR5-6400 CL32 2×16 GB
• Graphics Card: Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB
• Storage: Samsung 970 Pro 512 GB (M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4)
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x 850W
• Monitor: LG UltraGear 32GP850, 2560×1440, 180Hz
• Operating system: Windows 11 Pro 64-bit 21H2

The X670E Aorus Master was tested with a 12-core AMD Ryzen 9 7900X processor and high-speed Kingston FURY Renegade DDR5-6400 CL32 2×16 GB memory. Immediately after the first launch of the system, the BIOS of the motherboard was updated to the latest version F8c.

Speaking of lighting, the RGB module is located in the upper right corner of the X670E. It works excellently, and most importantly, it makes the motherboard recognizable against the general background of the assembly.

BIOS

The setting interface of the Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master board is designed in black and orange colors. The user is met by “Easy Mode”, which displays the most important data about the system. Worked through in detail the BIOS Toolkit to control the fans.

A set of settings for overclocking the processor and memory is located in the “Tweaker” tab. Not only manual configuration of RAM parameters is available, but also the creation of user profiles.

The processor power calibration mechanism is also flexibly configured depending on the load. But the manufacturer deliberately limited the SOC voltage to a maximum of 1.40V, above which the Ryzen 7000 processor runs the risk of becoming inoperable.

The PBO settings will help you set up automatic overclocking of the CPU. Here you can also turn off the processor power consumption limits.

Curvy overclocking is also available in the X670E Aorus Master motherboard BIOS menu.

A list of other equally useful BIOS settings for the X670E gaming computer motherboard can be seen in the screenshot below. Among them, we would like to note the possibility of saving and loading user profiles separately.

Working with Ryzen 9 7900X and DDR5

The study of the overclocking capabilities of the Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master concerning RAM allowed us to establish positive facts. First, the board works without any problems with the XMP profiles of the memory kit that does not support AMD EXPO. In any case, the DDR5-6000 CL32 profile turned on with one click in the BIOS settings. And secondly, on the X670E, you can easily overclock the memory to the aggressive DDR5-6400 CL28 mode.

The operation of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X processor on the X670E motherboard has its nuances. Here the user needs to select the operating mode of the CPU. If these are the default settings of the motherboard, then the limit values ​​of PPT, TDC, and EDC will be limited to 230 W, 160 A, and 225 A, respectively.

Under these conditions, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X has enough limits to work at full strength. As a result, with a serious workload, the processor consumes up to 189 watts.

If we switch the X670E to automatic overclocking of the processor using PBO, then the PPT, TDC, and EDC values ​​will be increased to 720 W, 480 A, and 640 A, respectively.

With RBO enabled and an extended power range, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X consumes 196W. In both cases, you should pay attention to the temperature of the VRM MOS (power piping of the processor power system), which did not exceed 43 ° C. And this is an excellent result, which only emphasizes the super-efficient cooling of the motherboard.

Performance

To evaluate the benefits of enabling RBO and overclocking DDR5 memory, several benchmarks and in-game tests were conducted. AIDA64 most clearly showed the effect of overclocking RAM from 6000 to 6400 MHz.

Tests evaluating the system’s greater operational performance also showed acceleration.

It also showed positive dynamics in 3D Mark Time Spy and some games. At a resolution of 1920 x 1080, an increase in FPS was noted after applying manual settings.

Final line

Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master is good in terms of design and everything as well as the way it works. Here the processor power system is built with a clear margin. And if under heavy workloads the Ryzen 9 7900X only heats the board’s VRM by 43 degrees, then the flagship Ryzen 9 7950X X670E Aorus Master is unlikely to have any problems.

Modern connectors and interfaces on this board are a wagon and a small cart. The rear panel is replete with USB ports of various types and formats. And for installing NVMe drives, X670E is ready to offer four M.2 connectors at once. And, importantly, the user can use all four of them at the same time. And fans of assemblies with many fans will appreciate ten 4-pin PWM connectors at once.

DDR5 overclocking is still more limited by the RAM controller of AMD Ryzen 7000 processors. But even in this case, the X670E allows you to tune the memory to 6400 MHz without dancing with a tambourine. As for overclocking the processor, in the AMD Ryzen 7000 line, the manufacturer has already squeezed out all the juice at the factory. However, this is a story for another review.

Price and availability

Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master gaming motherboard is already available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk at $562.35 / £508.99.