Like the MSI X870E motherboard we reviewed last week, GIGABYTE’s X870 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 takes a very consumer-focussed approach that makes it supremely easy to work with. There’s a real sense of relief you experience when building a system is effectively hassle-free, something you notice most after building dozens, and so our gut instinct would be to give it a hearty recommendation… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Those looking to upgrade to the AM5 platform may have been worried that X870 would be a neutered version of X870, the ‘cheap version’ that would be merely a consolation prize. If this design is anything to go by then that couldn’t be further from the truth.
GIGABYTE have endowed this model with plenty of features both core and bespoke that speaks to plenty of care and attention, enough to easily make it an aspirational product for early adopters. It’s very likely that you will not need the full suite of I/O X870E provides, in which case the X870 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 is hardly a runners-up prize. WiFi 7 (802.11be) and USB 4 support gives it a measure of future-proofing that complements the extended life-span expected from AMD’s AM5 platform.
We’re increasingly pleased to see manufacturers roll out proprietary ease-of-use features that help with component installation, removal and eventual upgrades. GIGABYTE have done a great job with EZ Latch for PCIe and M.2, and we’re starting to side-eye premium motherboards that don’t have such features. The jury is out on WiFi EZ Plug however as it breaks compatibility with antenna socket standards, something that could be a concern long-term or if the stock antenna fails.
The X870 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 performed well in tests, keeping up with the X870E boards as expected. Temperatures were also good, though we should note that the chipset heatspreader only needs to handle one rather than two PCH chips.
This design isn’t, however, a model for extreme overclockers. Sixteen 60A phases are unexceptional in allowance in a world with 22-phase power delivery, and other features are good but clearly not optimised for repeated overclocking attempts. Consumer enthusiast overclockers should be quite happy with the tools available as well as auto-OC features, so long as they have modest expectations and maintain sufficient VRM cooling.
Meshing well with its overclocking bona fides nonetheless are troubleshooting tools that should set a fundamental standard on consumer designs. DeBug codes and CPU-less BIOS Flashing are both very valuable to end-users with some knowledge and eagerness to fix any problems they have, and should boost the platform’s longevity well past warranty deadlines.
A final feature we’d like to explicitly call out is the internal HDMI header for a mini sensor-display. We’re not quite sure exactly who would use this feature regularly but we appreciate that it exists, helping owners craft their perfect aesthetic with sensor data or dynamic display just a glance away.
Speaking of aesthetic, there’s something very pleasant about GIGABYTE’s toned-down approach to this model. It’s not completely free from AORUS branding but nonetheless strikes a good balance, helping users express their creativity rather than having the canvas dominate the piece.
In the final tally $289 is perhaps a little expensive for the model in a vacuum, and that’s likely a consequence of early adopter status and a lack of B850 to draw down pricing. That being said, you get a lot of motherboard for your money and we wouldn’t be surprised to see it fly off the shelves alongside Ryzen 9xx0X3D chips when they arrive. It easily earns our Approved award.
Trepidation gives way to relief as X870, specifically GIGABYTE’s X870 AORUS ELITE WIFI7, doesn’t have the air of a neutered X870E. It’s streamlined for the more price-conscious enthusiast without ever appearing cheap, and still maintains an exceptional feature-set both stock and proprietary. A welcome first look at the X870-series, this <$300 design encourages us to see more of an underappreciated segment.
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Those looking to upgrade to the AM5 platform may have been worried that X870 would be a neutered version of X870, the ‘cheap version’ that would be merely a consolation prize. If this design is anything to go by then that couldn’t be further from the truth.
GIGABYTE have endowed this model with plenty of features both core and bespoke that speaks to plenty of care and attention, enough to easily make it an aspirational product for early adopters. It’s very likely that you will not need the full suite of I/O X870E provides, in which case the X870 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 is hardly a runners-up prize. WiFi 7 (802.11be) and USB 4 support gives it a measure of future-proofing that complements the extended life-span expected from AMD’s AM5 platform.
We’re increasingly pleased to see manufacturers roll out proprietary ease-of-use features that help with component installation, removal and eventual upgrades. GIGABYTE have done a great job with EZ Latch for PCIe and M.2, and we’re starting to side-eye premium motherboards that don’t have such features. The jury is out on WiFi EZ Plug however as it breaks compatibility with antenna socket standards, something that could be a concern long-term or if the stock antenna fails.
The X870 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 performed well in tests, keeping up with the X870E boards as expected. Temperatures were also good, though we should note that the chipset heatspreader only needs to handle one rather than two PCH chips.
This design isn’t, however, a model for extreme overclockers. Sixteen 60A phases are unexceptional in allowance in a world with 22-phase power delivery, and other features are good but clearly not optimised for repeated overclocking attempts. Consumer enthusiast overclockers should be quite happy with the tools available as well as auto-OC features, so long as they have modest expectations and maintain sufficient VRM cooling.
Meshing well with its overclocking bona fides nonetheless are troubleshooting tools that should set a fundamental standard on consumer designs. DeBug codes and CPU-less BIOS Flashing are both very valuable to end-users with some knowledge and eagerness to fix any problems they have, and should boost the platform’s longevity well past warranty deadlines.
A final feature we’d like to explicitly call out is the internal HDMI header for a mini sensor-display. We’re not quite sure exactly who would use this feature regularly but we appreciate that it exists, helping owners craft their perfect aesthetic with sensor data or dynamic display just a glance away.
Speaking of aesthetic, there’s something very pleasant about GIGABYTE’s toned-down approach to this model. It’s not completely free from AORUS branding but nonetheless strikes a good balance, helping users express their creativity rather than having the canvas dominate the piece.
In the final tally $289 is perhaps a little expensive for the model in a vacuum, and that’s likely a consequence of early adopter status and a lack of B850 to draw down pricing. That being said, you get a lot of motherboard for your money and we wouldn’t be surprised to see it fly off the shelves alongside Ryzen 9xx0X3D chips when they arrive. It easily earns our Approved award.
Trepidation gives way to relief as X870, specifically GIGABYTE’s X870 AORUS ELITE WIFI7, doesn’t have the air of a neutered X870E. It’s streamlined for the more price-conscious enthusiast without ever appearing cheap, and still maintains an exceptional feature-set both stock and proprietary. A welcome first look at the X870-series, this <$300 design encourages us to see more of an underappreciated segment.
Pros
+ Great proprietary features
+ Strong forward-looking chipset
+ GIGABYTE’s ‘EZ’ adaptations live up to the billing
+ up-to 3 PCIe Gen 5 M.2 slots (if you’re willing to sacrifice x16 GPU operation)
+ Q-FLASH PLUS CPU-less BIOS update functionality
= Cleaner aesthetic than many competing designs
= Also available in a white ‘ICE’ version
Cons
- A little expensive at $289 / £279 / AUD$599
- Not sold by a proprietary back panel plug for WiFi antenna
+ Great proprietary features
+ Strong forward-looking chipset
+ GIGABYTE’s ‘EZ’ adaptations live up to the billing
+ up-to 3 PCIe Gen 5 M.2 slots (if you’re willing to sacrifice x16 GPU operation)
+ Q-FLASH PLUS CPU-less BIOS update functionality
= Cleaner aesthetic than many competing designs
= Also available in a white ‘ICE’ version
Cons
- A little expensive at $289 / £279 / AUD$599
- Not sold by a proprietary back panel plug for WiFi antenna
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
Stay connected with the Vortez Social Media pages:
Join in with the discussions on Discord
