Everything You Need to Know About X870 and X870E

Everything You Need to Know About X870 and X870E

The best motherboards for Ryzen 9000 – and beyond.

AMD’s Ryzen 9000 CPUs launched in August of 2024. In the months leading up to the launch, we expected AMD and its motherboard partners to release new 800-series motherboard platforms, but AMD chose to delay their release. There were a few reasons for this. Firstly, existing 600 series motherboards are compatible with the new CPUs. Secondly, some important updates have come in the interim, including an important Windows update that improves gaming performance. Some pre-release BIOS updates have also improved inter-core latency and memory performance, meaning the new motherboards are even better placed to extract the maximum performance on offer from Ryzen 9000 CPUs.

The first wave of motherboards to launch feature the X870E and X870 chipsets. These enthusiast-tier chipsets include all the key technologies you'd expect from a motherboard that'll power your system into 2025 and beyond.

X870E and X870 motherboards continue to use the AM5 socket. AMD has publicly committed to supporting AM5 until at least 2027, so investing in one now means you can expect support for at least one more CPU generation. If AM4’s longevity is any indicator, you can probably expect support for a generation beyond that, so not only will X870 motherboards almost certainly support Zen 6, but probably Zen 7 too. And, of course, that includes yet-to-be-announced V-Cache equipped X3D processors.

Both chipsets support DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0, meaning next-generation graphics cards and the latest and greatest SSDs are fully compatible with these new motherboards.

Here’s everything you need to know about X870E and X870, beginning with the most obvious question.

What’s the difference between X870E and X870?

AMD's naming scheme can appear a little convoluted. Even AMD's spec rundowns don't tell you much about the differences between X870E and X870, as you can see in this table:

The AMD 800 Series Chipset Family
Determine the best chipset for your PC.

In generic terms, both chipsets offer the same base feature set, just that X870E motherboards can offer more. Both support PCIe 5.0 graphics cards and SSDs, and support for USB4 is mandatory. However, the key difference is that X870E supports more general-purpose PCIe lanes. How these are used is at the discretion of motherboard manufacturers.

If you were to peer under the chipset heatsink of an X870 and an X870E motherboard, you’ll find that the X870 board features a single chip which AMD code names Promontory 21. However, X870E features two of them. The extra PCIe lanes available from two P21 chips allow motherboard manufacturers to include more PCIe expansion slots, more M.2 slots, or auxiliary controllers such as 5G or 10G LAN, more SATA ports, or additional USB controllers.

Users planning a relatively simple system with a single graphics card and a couple of SSDs will find X870 to be sufficient, but if you plan to add expansion cards or use a lot of external devices, then X870E is the superior option.

What’s the difference between X870E and X670E?

The short answer is not a whole lot in terms of specification. The biggest difference is that X870E boards must include USB4 support. That alone is unlikely to compel an upgrade, but it’s one of the key features that elevate X870E above X670E boards.

With X870E and X870, motherboard manufacturers are including many ease-of-use features. Things like graphics card quick-release mechanisms and M.2 heatsinks have been refined. This makes building and upgrading a much easier process. M.2 installation in particular has received a welcome upgrade, with most boards including quick-release heatsinks. Alongside being easier to use, heatsink quality has generally improved. Heatsinks with more surface area are better suited to the demands of hot-running PCIe 5.0 SSDs.

X870E is AMD's second-generation AM5 platform. It incorporates the tweaks and lessons engineers have learned since the release of X670E, which was AMD’s first DDR5 supporting platform. X870E boards are generally more refined. They support faster memory, come with cumulatively better BIOSes, and of course, they support Ryzen 9000 CPUs out of the box.

What about X870 vs X670?

The differences between X870 and X670 boards is more significant. X870 boards are required to support USB4 and a PCIe 5.0 SSD, but this time around X870 includes only one P21 chip, whereas X670 features two. That means some X670 boards include things like more expansion slots along with things like additional USB controllers, more M.2 slots, or more SATA ports.

X870 is more comparable with B650E in terms of maximum I/O potential and it effectively replaces it in the product stack.

Where is B850?

AMD has announced the B850 chipset, which will replace B650 products. These are not expected to launch until 2025. However, given X870 effectively displaces B650E and high-end B650 options, we'd expect B850 to be more of a budget-oriented platform, but we’ll have to wait and see what manufacturers are cooking up in their labs.

Summary

In some ways, X870E and X870 can be considered iterative updates, but there’s more to them than that. They are a vehicle for introducing features you’d expect from a 2024/2025/2026 system. You get 40Gbps USB4, WiFi 7, and the ability to use faster memory, or more of it. These features join the already available PCIe 5.0 next-generation GPU and SSD support.

With few exceptions, a second-generation motherboard is almost always superior to a first-generation one. You get refinements and electrical optimisations not present in the first generation. Look at how far AMD (and Intel for that matter) have come since the first days of DDR5 memory, when even some DDR5-6000 kits had some issues with early BIOSes. Nowadays, DDR5 is trending towards 10,000MHz, 24GB and 48GB sticks are now available and you can run up to 256GB. Such an amount was exclusive to much more expensive workstation products just a few short years ago.

If you've been waiting for X870/E before upgrading to a Ryzen 9000 series system, now is a good time to pull the trigger. Mwave offers a full range of X870E and X870 motherboards. A good quality 800-series board will last you for years to come, and pending official confirmation from AMD, you’ll almost certainly be able to drop in a future Zen 6 or X3D CPU after a BIOS update. It’s an open secret that AMD will release Ryzen 9000 X3D chips in the months ahead, and an 800 series motherboard will be the best platform to use with these chips.

Future and proofing are a couple of dirty words when it comes to PCs, but with PCIe 5.0 GPU and SSD support, WiFi 7, USB4, and a solid CPU upgrade path, investing in X870E or X870 is an investment that will last you for years to come.


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