Published: September 30, 2024 | Source: Gigabyte | Author: Tom Logan

Gigabyte X870 Aorus Elite WiFi7 Review

Board Tour

We being as we always do with the two plugs that PSU manufacturers thing are nearer the PSU than they are, the 8pin 12V CPU power connectors. We’d wager if you’ve ever brought cable extensions it’s for this connector.

Onboard power and reset switches grace the top right hand corner, along with the requisite CPU fan and AIO pump headers. Gigabyte have followed the trend and given us 3 ARGB headers to a single RGB.

If you have been wanting to invest in the Gigabyte Sensor Panel Link then you’ll be pleased that the X870 Aorus Elite still has the HDMI header necessary to connect it all up.

Four SATA ports is the norm on this newest AMD chipset. Gigabyte have used the space freed up to squeeze in a USB Type-A front panel header. We like the CMOS battery being easy to reach too, rather than hidden beneath a monster heatsink.

With the majority of your cool air coming either from the front or base of your case – chiefly depending on if your build orientation is regular or chimney style – having a lot of fan headers here is the perfect spot. Anything that makes system building easier scores highly in our books.

If the three fans you’ve just seen aren’t enough then you’ll be pleased to note Gigabyte have put another three here. With front USB and ARGB headers also on this edge of the PCB a lot of your lighting and cooling is handled in this small area. Neat and tidy.

Beneath this heatsink is the 16+2+2 (8+8 parallel) Twin Digital VRM design. Gigabyte’s information is currently mute on what their Amp rating is. We are assuming about 80A like the other mid-range models we’ve seen so far, but we don’t know for a fact.

Take off that big heatsink – easily done with the EZ-Latch system – and you reveal three of the M.2 slots, with the fourth in its usual spot above the main PCI Express slot. We are particular fans of the onboard writing explaining which slot is controlled via the chipset and which by the CPU. Helpful if you haven’t got the manual to hand.

Lastly around the back we have the USB setup we spoke about in our intro. We know USB 2.0 is fine for a lot of simple things, but it feels a bit shady under an Aorus banner, especially when the other motherboards we’ve seen so far are USB 3 externally at minimum.