Before the Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard's instructions were exposed, showing that it gave up making the graphics card PCI-E x16 5.0, but retained a PCI-E 5.0 M.2, confirming the previous statement that "General X670 motherboards may indeed abandon the support of PCI-E 5.0 (PCI-E x16 slot)". At that time, Nvidia's new generation of graphics cards had not been officially released, and now we clearly know that the RTX 40 series graphics cards are still PCI-E 4.0 interfaces, so to a certain extent, it shows that the X670 motherboard is the normal high-end motherboard positioning of this generation of AMD platform based on pragmatism. The X670E motherboard can be said to be forcibly improving the configuration, but it is actually not available at the moment.
AMD may be because of Intel. After all, the previous generation of Intel has begun to support PCI-E 5.0. AMD needs to not lose in publicity with its competitors. On the other hand, the reason may be to fight the future. After all, although this generation of new graphics cards is still a PCI-E 4.0 interface, motherboard users are likely to use it for many years. The support for PCI-E 5.0 (PCI-E x16 slot) of the X670E motherboard can avoid the embarrassment of the next generation of graphics cards using PCI-E 5.0 but the motherboard does not support it. However, in my opinion, the current time point is not very meaningful.
AMD X670 chipset introduction
AMD's 600 series motherboard currently has only one FCH chip, which distinguishes X670/X670E and B650/B650E products through different combinations. This FCH has 16 PCI-E channels, 4 of which are PCI-E 3.0 channels, which share the channel with SATA 6Gbps port, and the remaining 12 are PCI-E 4.0 channels, and 4 of them are uplink communication channels, which means that only 8 are actually available. At the same time, this FCH chip can also provide 6 USB 3.2 Gen 2, 2 of which can be combined into 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface, and 6 USB 2.0 interfaces are also provided.
B650/B650E motherboard only uses one AMD 600 series FCH chip, so the motherboard layout is basically the same as the previous AMD 500 series motherboards. The X670/X670E is directly composed of two AMD 600 series FCH chips. The two chips are connected to IOD in a daisy-chain manner. The main FCH chip and the secondary FCH chip are connected through 4 PCI-E 4.0 channels. Therefore, there are 12 PCI-E 4.0 channels that can be expanded in reality, and the number of USB interfaces is twice that of B650/B650E.
Here we summarize, X670/X670E can provide a total of 12 PCI-E 4.0 channels, 12 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports or 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 with 8 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and 12 ports for USB 2.0 ports. As for the SATA 6Gbps interface, it depends on how the PCI-E 3.0 channel is used. If you use it all, you can expand up to 8 SATA 6Gbps interfaces.
Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard introduction
gimage X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard is an ATX-specification motherboard with a size of 30.5*24.4cm. The overall design style of the motherboard is very regular and tough, and the overall weight is very heavy, the materials are very solid, and the surface is covered with a large amount of heat dissipation armor. The overall color matching is also made of elegant gray-black colors.
memory interface
Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard has four DDR5 memory slots, which support EXPO and XMP 3.0 at the same time, which has good compatibility. EXPO is a memory overclocking technology introduced by AMD in the Ryzen 7000 series processors. Similar to Intel X.M.P technology, users can enable the memory to work at the best frequency by turning on BIOS. The motherboard will automatically detect two profile formats in SPD. Users can choose to enable one of the profiles from the BIOS menu to easily enable memory preset overclocking frequency.
Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard memory slots all adopt traditional double-sided snap-on design, which can support up to dual-channel DDR5-5200 (enable EXPO or XMP 3.0 to higher), and a maximum memory capacity of 128GB (up to 32GB per piece). There are also power switches and restart switches next to the memory slot, but they are not made into large head buttons that are easier for users to operate.
PCI-E and M.2 interfaces
motherboard has three PCI-E x16 slots, among which the metal armor is wrapped in the PCI-E 4.0 x16 slot provided by CPU, and the other two PCI-E x16 are provided by FCH. The middle one runs in PCI-E 4.0 x4 mode, and the bottom one runs in PCI-E 3.0 x2 mode.
For the PCI-E 4.0 x16 slot provided by the CPU, it is usually used to plug in the graphics card. The Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard specially designed a tool-free quick disassembly design, with a larger disassembly button. In the past, due to the graphics card, back plate and radiator, the safety buckle on the slot is sometimes difficult to press with bare hands. "Screwdriver bucket buckle" has become a common operation, which is not only inconvenient but also the risk of damaging the motherboard. This larger disassembly button is much more convenient for disassembling the graphics card.
motherboard provides four M.2 interfaces, one M.2 interface is located between the CPU and the first PCI-E x16 slot, and the other three are located between the first PCI-E x16 slot and the PCI-E x16 slot in the middle of the motherboard. The positions of the four slots are arranged in a row from top to bottom. All of these four M.2 SSD positions support the maximum size specifications of 22110, and are equipped with tool-free quick-install designs in the most commonly used 2280 specification positions. The four M.2 slots of
are covered with two heat sinks. The closest to the CPU is a separate heat sink, and the three below share a heat sink. From top to bottom, the top two are directly connected by the CPU, while the bottom two are provided by FCH. Among the two M.2 interfaces directly connected to the CPU, the one above supports PCI-E 5.0, while the one below only supports PCI-E 4.0. When SSD is installed, both interfaces will automatically run on the bandwidth of x4 or x2 according to the CPU's condition. As for the two M.2 interfaces provided by FCH, they support PCI-E 4.0 and will automatically run on the bandwidth of x4 or x2 according to the CPU.
SATA and USB expansion ports
Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard has 4 SATA 6Gbps interfaces, all provided by the FCP chip, all rotated 90° and arranged on the right edge of the motherboard. On the left side of SATA interface , there is a set of 19pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 expansion pins, which can expand out 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, and there is a THB_U4 expansion card socket on the other side.
and there is also a set of 19pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 expansion pins and two sets of USB 2.0 expansion pins, which can expand 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports. After all, there are also many high-end cases with 4 front USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports. As for the two sets of USB 2.0 expansion pins, most of the current USB 2.0 expansion pins are used to connect to other devices, such as integrated water cooling devices.
rear I/O interface
Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard is equipped with an integrated I/O backplane, and its rear I/O interface is very rich. One of the major design highlights is to design the expansion antenna interface of wireless network card at the top end of the motherboard when the motherboard is upright, which avoids the external expansion antenna after inserting a lot of wires to the other I/O interfaces. (In fact, the expansion antenna of the motherboard is not the simplest straight rod type, but this design can also be beautiful and beautiful even if it uses that simple antenna), and it is difficult to kill players with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
wireless network card chip AMD RZ616 (MT7922A22M), WIFI 6E 160 MHz specification
extended antenna interface is an HDMI 2.0 interface. Note that 2.0 is not 2.1, and supports maximum 4K60 frame output. The motherboard only has one video output interface for core display. Although the conventional Ryzen CPU series of AMD this generation integrates core display, the design of the Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard is still almost only for users with independent displays. This is actually very normal for the positioning of the motherboard. For office users who want to use the Ryzen 7000 series core graphics to perform multi-screen high-resolution output, the Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard is not suitable. You can choose other motherboards of Gigabyte .
and down, these 4 black USB Type-A ports are ordinary USB 2.0 ports, and the 4 blue USB Type-A ports are USB 3.2 Gen 1, and the two red USB Type-A ports are USB 3.2 Gen 2, and the USB Type-C ports in the same row are USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, which is 20Gbps speed.
You can see the wired network port when you continue down. This RJ-45 is .5Gbps. The two blue USB Type-A interfaces in the same row are the same as the four blue ones in front, and are USB 3.2 Gen 1. Then the bottom row is a group of 3 3.5mm audio interfaces.
motherboard disassembly
Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard
FCH chip
16+2+2 phase power supply design
Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE The AX motherboard is very solid, using an 8-layer PCB board with 2 ounces of copper. The CPU is powered by dual 8pin. The CPU core powered by 16 phases in parallel, which can fully and stably exert the performance potential of multi-core CPUs. MOSFET is TDA21472 from Infineon, with a maximum output current of 70A, while the PWM controller is XDPE1 from Infineon. 92C3; The core display power supply has 2 phases, which can ensure efficient operation of the core display. The MOSFET is from ON Semi’s NCP303160, with a maximum output current of 60A. In addition, it is also designed with a two-phase auxiliary power supply to provide stable power supply to the CPU-integrated PCI-E and memory controller . This part of the MOSFET is from Renesas’s ISL9390, with a maximum output current of 90A. The heat dissipation of the
VRM power supply part also has strong guarantees. An 8 mm heat pipe is used, and a 7W/mK high-quality thermal pad is used. It is equipped with two larger radiators, especially the one on the side of the I/O baffle, which directly acts as I/O armor. These radiators are designed with multiple layers to expand the heat dissipation area. In addition to helping MOS heat dissipate, it also takes care of the power supply inductor. After adding a radiator, it can effectively reduce the working temperature of the VRM power supply parts, so that they can provide power to the CPU more stably. The
X670 motherboards will use two FCH chips. The Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard is placed in a row, just like its 4 M.2 interfaces, which is very regular. These two chips use a heat sink together. There are also many grooves on the surface of the heat sink here to increase the heat dissipation area.
motherboard audio circuit
The audio circuit of the motherboard is arranged in an independent PCB interval. The audio chip is Realtek ALC897, and there is no electromagnetic shielding cover wrapped. Like the previous core video output, the audio does not seem to be what the Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard attaches great importance to. After all, this is not a flagship motherboard, and there will definitely be a trade-off.
audio chip ALC897
motherboard BIOS introduction
Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE The motherboard interface of the AX motherboard is very friendly. When you first start the computer, it is a simple mode by default, which is convenient for novices to set common options, including whether to enable memory EXPO or XMP, select the startup order, etc. Although the default interface language is English, it also supports multiple languages including Chinese. You only need to adjust the Earth icon option of this interface. At the same time, the simple mode also clearly states some shortcuts, including F2 entering advanced mode, F7 loading default settings, etc.
can make more adjustments after entering the advanced mode. It has a favorites tab, which can collect the adjustment items you often use for easy operation.
The second Tweaker tab is almost all related to adjustment overclocking.
There is a PBO for AMD processor . This default is automatic, which means that it will be automatically turned on if the processor supports it.
Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard also has AM5 DDR5 memory performance improvement function. For memory that supports EXPO or XMP, after EXPO or XMP is enabled, the "Low Latency Support" or "High Bandwidth Support" options can be enabled in the BIOS. Then the motherboard will fine-tune the CPU internal registers and memory timing to achieve lower memory latency and higher memory bandwidth to achieve better overall memory performance.
Settings tab is some of the system's functional settings. The Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard has enabled Resizable BAR by default, which is an additional function for the graphics card hosting PCI-E 4.0.
If you change the settings, press F10 to save and exit, and then display the changes on the interface, which options have been changed for players to confirm.
Ryzen 7 7600X overclocking experience: 83W full core 5.435GHz
AMD Ryzen series processors all support overclocking, and the latest Ryzen 7000 series is naturally no exception. Although for the X670 motherboard, the most suitable processors should be Ryzen 9 and Ryzen 7-level processors, such as the Ryzen 9 7950X among the first four products, the processor itself is more extreme in frequency setting, and by default, it has already tapped its own potential.
, and it is very different for the Ryzen 5 7600X processor positioned in the mainstream market. Its frequency is relatively reserved for larger space. Therefore, in terms of potential exploration, it is easier and more obvious than the Ryzen 9 7950X.
Here we use the curve optimization function of Ryzen Master to match the Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard to overclock the Ryzen 5 7600X processor on the hand. The radiator uses the 399 yuan Yajun EA5 360 integrated water. Let’s first look at the status of using the Ryzen 5 7600X processor for AIDA 64 FPU copying machine with the PBO function enabled by default. You can see that the CPU’s main frequency is approximately stable at 5.3GHz in the entire core, and the CPU Package power consumption is around 108W.
Then we use Ryzen Master software to optimize and correct the CPU frequency through Curve Optimizer, which is the curve optimization function. Optimization is divided into full-core optimization and core-by-core optimization. The former is the same as all cores, which takes a shorter time but the correction accuracy is also lower. The latter is longer time but the correction accuracy is better, and more improvements can be obtained within the allowable range. This time we performed a verification-by-check correction. The correction process is fully automatic and takes about 1 hour.
, and the results are quite considerable. At this time, the Ryzen 5 7600X can run stably at 5.435GHz while running an AIDA 64 FPU copy machine. More importantly, the power consumption of the CPU Package dropped to 83W, a huge drop, and then accordingly, the full load temperature also dropped to 68 degrees Celsius, which is very cool.
Summary: The practical and high-end new generation of Xiaoyu
Overall, the Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard gave me the impression of a pragmatic X670 motherboard. Its key skills are used in the most basic and important power supply. It uses 2-ounce copper 8-layer PCB board, 16-phase CPU core power supply, 2-phase core display power supply and 2-phase auxiliary power supply to allow this motherboard to run efficiently and stably even if it carries this generation of flagship processors, and also ensures very good overclocking performance. This can be seen from our overclocking test just now.
In other aspects, the Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard also supports the latest DDR5 memory, and supports both EXPO and XMP 3.0, which has good compatibility and also has AM5 DDR5 memory performance improvements, enabling the "low latency support" and "high bandwidth support" options in the BIOS to achieve better overall memory performance. At the same time, it is also equipped with its luxurious power supply configuration with sufficient thermal armor coverage, as well as an M.2 interface that supports PCI-E 5.0, 3 PCI-E x16-sized slots, and 1 THB_U4 expansion card socket, which highlights its high-end positioning.
Finally, the Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard also has 2.5Gb wired and WiFi 6E wireless, with a total of 4 M.2 interface locations, and the 4 M.2 interface locations all have tool-free quick installation design. Plus the tool-free quick installation design of the graphics card, the overall experience is very good. The rear I/O interface is also very good. It has a 20Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C interface, and there are 12 USB Type-A interfaces of various speed specifications, which is enough. These configurations are priced at only 2,499 yuan, making them a more practical high-end car with this generation of Ryzen 7000 series processor.
