ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero Review – It’s All About ‘Q’

AMD’s new 800 series motherboards are now here, with the flagship X870E chipset leading the initial wave of high-end motherboards. ASUS, as usual, has its new ROG Crosshair X870E Hero to address the high-end segment, and there’s quite a few new features to check out, which we’ll do in this review.

Unboxing

The unboxing experience is about the same, short for a printed section to introduce users the motherboard’s new ‘Q-Designs’, which mostly involves the redesigned SSD installation mechanism.

In terms of accessories, you get notable inclusions like several sets of M.2 installation kits, a driver installation USB drive, front panel combo header, and a bottle opener. Yep – literally a piece of metal that you can use to open bottles. A bit of added value for the price you’re going to pay for such an expensive motherboard, I suppose?

Gone is the Hyper M.2 module that was popular in ROG motherboards several years ago, though it’s not necessary these days as the X870E Hero already comes with five M.2 slots available onboard.

Walkaround

The design changes ASUS made to the ROG Crosshair X870E Hero is mostly minor details, but there is a shift in design direction where the are more curves on the heatsink surfaces, unlike its predecessor which feature sharp edges all around. The new model also gets a new rear backplate, similar to that of the Maximus Z790 Dark Hero.

Another change is the amount of heatsinks installed on this motherboard: there are at least seven separate heat-dissipating surfaces (including the rear backplate) responsible for cooling the VRM, USB4 chipset, SSDs, and Promontory 21 chipsets.

The motherboard also features various quick-release features dubbed as ‘Q-Designs’, including the Wi-Fi 7 antenna first seen on the Z790 Dark Hero, as well as the new additions, like the M.2 Q-Slide and Q-Latch modules, plus the front panel combo header that certainly will be a huge timesaver.

For I/O, it’s mostly identical to its predecessor, except for the loss of two USB-A ports. In their place, you do get a 5GbE LAN port instead, alongside the existing 2.5GbE LAN port that has been a mainstay for high-end ASUS motherboard for a good while now. Additionally, audio output is now simplified to forego connectors of separate audio channels.

The only lighting surface available is, as usual, the Polymo Lighting located on top of the VRM heatsink. You can customize this via the Armoury Crate software as usual, and by default it seemed to turn red if high temperatures are detected.

Specifications

ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero

Full specifications available on product page.

CPU Support	Socket AM5 (AMD Ryzen 7000, 8000, 9000 Series)
Form Factor	ATX (12 x 9.6 in / 305 x 244 mm)
Chipset	AMD X870E (Promontory 21 x2)
Power & VRM	2x EPS 8-pin 18+2+2 stage (Vcore+GT+AUX), Vishay SIC850A (110A per powerstage) ASUS DIGI+ EPU ASP2205 PWM controller
Memory	4-slot Max. 192GB DDR5-5600 unbuffered Overclocking support up to DDR5-8200 (Ryzen 9000), DDR5-8600 (Ryzen 8000), DDR5-8000 (Ryzen 7000)
PCIe Expansion Slots	2x PCIe 5.0 x16 x8/x8 mode when both slots active Primary slot fallback to x8, secondary slot fallback to x4 when M.2_2 is active Secondary slot disabled when both M.2_2 + M.2_3 are active
Storage	4x SATA 6Gb/s 1x SlimSAS (PCIe 4.0 x4) 5x M.2 slots: – 3x PCIe 5.0 x4 (CPU) – 2x PCIe 4.0 x4 (PCH)
Networking	MediaTek MT7927 Wi-Fi 7 module* (M.2 2230) Bluetooth 5.4 Intel I226-V 2.5GbE LAN Realtek RTL8126 5GbE LAN *Wi-Fi 7 support requires Windows 11 24H2 and later
USB Outputs	Rear: 2x USB4 40Gbps 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Type-C 6x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Type-A Front (headers): 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gbps) with 60W PD 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gbps) 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) (splitting to 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1) 2x USB 2.0 headers (splitting to 4x USB 2.0)
Onboard Display	1x HDMI 2.1 2x USB4 40Gbps (DisplayPort 1.4a Alt Mode)
Audio	Realtek ALC4082 codec ESS ES9218 Quad-DAC 120dB output / 110dB input SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) 32-bit/192kHz output Auto impedance sensing
Peripheral Headers	Fan and Cooling 1x 4-pin CPU Fan header 1x 4-pin CPU OPT Fan header 1x 4-pin AIO Pump header 4x 4-pin Chassis Fan headers 1x W_PUMP+ header GPU 1x 8-pin PCIe power connector (USB PD) Miscellaneous 3x Addressable Gen2 headers 1x Alteration PCIe mode switch 1x FlexKey button 1x Front Panel Audio header (F_AUDIO) 1x ReTry button 1x Start button 1x 10-1 pin System Panel header 1x Thermal Sensor header 1x LN2 Mode jumper
Accessories	Cables 1x ARGB RGB extension cable 4x SATA 6Gb/s cables Miscellaneous 1x ASUS WiFi Q-Antenna 1x Q-connector 2x M.2 Q-Latch package 3x M.2 Q-Slide package 5x M.2 rubber package 1x ROG stickers 1x ROG thank you card 1x ROG Bottle Opener 1x USB drive with utilities and drivers Documentation 1x Quick start guide

Test System

CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
Cooling	Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 Flux 30th Anniversary Edition Cooler Master MasterGel Maker
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Maximus X870E Hero
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition
Memory	Kingston FURY BEAST DDR5 RGB (DDR5-6000 CL30, 2x16GB)
Storage	ADATA LEGEND 960 MAX 1TB
Power Supply	GameMax Rampage GX-1050 PRO (ATX 3.1) 1050W
Case	VECTOR Bench Case (Open-air chassis)
Operating System	Windows 11 Home 23H2

Teardown

VRM

We’ll start our teardown process by taking a look at the motherboard VRMs – and unsurprisingly, it’s mostly unchanged from the X670E counterpart. To be fair, the 18+2+2 stage is more than enough to feed the top tier Ryzen 9 processors, and these chips consume less power than Intel’s CPUs do. One interesting discovery is on the MISC powerstages, where the MOSFETs are now the Vishay SIC629 (also a 90A transistor according to ASUS’s claims), but we found no datasheet or entries on Vishay’s website to verify its capabilities.

Audio

The audio circuitry is somewhat simplified, despite featuring the same Realtek ALC4082 codec and the ESS Sabre ES9219 Quad DAC combination. Interestingly, the old SupremeFX shield cover is not present here, and instead we see the exposed Realtek chip. The number of capacitors has been reduced as well, from 10 down to 6. If we have to guess, it’s likely to make way for the M.2 modules as they can take quite a bit of space.

Storage & Expansion

The topology of the storage and expansion slots is a tad complicated – the diagram above assumes you have any Ryzen 9000 or Ryzen 7000 CPU. (Ryzen 8000 processors have different level of PCIe support.) The primary GPU slot runs at PCIe 5.0 x16 by default, unless the second slot is also active – which switches both slots to x8/x8 mode.

The second PCIe slot also shares bandwidth with M.2_2 and M.2_3 slots, and installing SSDs on both of them will disable the PCIe slot altogether; if M.2_3 is active, the PCIe slots will fallback to x8 (primary) / x4 (secondary) mode, with the M.2_2 slot disabled instead. The fourth and fifth M.2 slots are isolated from bandwidth sharing as they are powered by the onboard chipset, which also means they max out at PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds.

Besides those, there is a new obscure addition to the X870E Hero in the form of the SlimSAS 4i (Slimline SAS) connector. This connector is mainly found in workstation and datacenter motherboards, so it’s unlikely that any average Joe will be utilizing this connector. Home server builders might find this connector useful, though.

Connectivity

The ROG Crosshair X870E Hero has gained a second, faster LAN port that provides up to 5Gb/s of speeds courtesy of Realtek’s RTL8126 controller; however, the mainstay 2.5GbE LAN that is the Intel I226-V is also present. For wireless connectivity, you get the MediaTek MT7927 Wi-Fi 7 M.2 module, which has a layer of thermal compound pre-applied that comes in contact with the VRM heatsink.

It’s worth noting that the Wi-Fi 7 module used supports the full 320MHz bandwidth, which supports faster throughput (ASUS claims up to 6.5Gbps). Some lower-end Wi-Fi 7 modules only supports 160MHz and 1024-QAM, which is the same as existing Wi-Fi 6E standards (and is usually only half as fast as their fully-fledged counterparts).

I/O

Above is the controllers responsible for the various I/O this motherboard offers – one change comes in the form of the new ASMedia USB4 controller that replaces the Intel JHL8540 Thunderbolt 4/USB4 controller found in the predecessor. Notably, it has a dedicated piece of heatsink (a huge one at that) to help with cooling – whereas the old Intel chip never required such cooling.

The rear I/O only features USB4 and USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps) ports, both of which are powered by ASMedia controllers; as for the front panel, the Realtek chip is responsible for USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20Gbps) connections, while another ASMedia chip takes care of the USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps) for front panel connections.

Other Features

Here’s the big change ASUS has implemented into the ROG Crosshair X870E Hero: the M.2 installation mechanism has been entirely reworked to essentially follow the ‘push-fit’ principle. The primary SSD slot has two sets of notches – one for the gigantic heatsink, while the other is for securing the SSD into the slot.

There is a piece of base plate installed in three of the five SSD slots, and they are designed to accommodate the new ‘Q-Slide’ bracket. On paper, this enables you to installer shorter SSDs, but in my opinion it’s mostly redundant due to the new Q-Latch design. Since the new Q-Latch is essentially a screw that you can easily remove (and you have spares of it), it’s most certainly simpler to just relocate the screws to the appropriate SSD length anyway.

Besides that, given that all slots no longer fits the theoretical M.2 22110 modules, you most likely wouldn’t need the Q-Slide modules to fit a smaller SSD (we also find that sliding it often rubs against the thermal pads). You also wouldn’t just pay extra for a smaller M.2 2242 SSD unless it’s too big to fit, would you?

One thing we’d like to note though – since Q-Latch is simply a piece of flexible plastic, a bit of manufacturing deviations can cause the latch to be more difficult to unlock the SSD. We observed this on M.2_4 slot in particular, but your mileage may vary.

The PCIe slot release mechanism has also been reworked, and gone is the push button to unlock the slot. The new Q-Release Slim design simply adds a spring into the latch, which means you can now tilt the GPU to the right to unlatch the GPU. However, based on our usage we find that it’ll take a few tries as the GPU (a RTX 3080 Ti FE) collides with the PCH heatsink, thus limiting its movement. You’ll have to rock it back and forth to successfully eject the GPU from the slot, with relative ease.

Some other changes of the motherboard includes the re-introduction of dual-latch RAM slots, a new PCIe 8-pin connector (instead of 6-pin) to supply USB Power Delivery, with a dedicated LED detection that lights up if it’s not connected. The onboard boot controls remains unchanged, but no complaints here.

Thermals

We put the motherboard through a 20-minute stress test with the CPU power limits removed via Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) – we measured a consistent 250W+ power draw on the socket (PPT) that pushed the VRM up to 71°C at the end of the test, but this assumes the worst-case scenario where no airflow is present. When installed in a case with appropriate airflow, the thermals should be much lower even if the case temperature is higher than the ambient temperature.

BIOS & Software

The BIOS of the ROG Crosshair X870E has gained high-resolution support at last (though it runs at a rather odd 1920×1200 16:10 aspect ratio). Some of the more notable settings include the PCIe bifurcation mode that accommodates this kind of GPU, as well as the inclusion of additional hotkeys (F3/F4). Also, user profiles! If you’re a frequent visitor of the BIOS menu, this should be a big timesaver for you.

There’s also the Q-Dashboard that interactively displays the active connections on the motherboard for easy diagnostics. If your setup involves a lot of cables, this should help you easily track down which cable is loose or faulty.

Armoury Crate is the software that takes care of the motherboard tuning, including fan controls, RGB, and limited overclocking features. Additionally, ASUS also introduced the new ASUS DriverHub software that allows you to quickly update relevant drivers as needed.

Verdict

The ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero is overall a clear step-up over its predecessor, with notable improvements in its mechanisms to streamline the installation process. Improvements in PCIe 5.0 signaling means better futureproofing for future components that uses this standard, like the GPUs and SSDs.

As for the asking price: you’re looking at a staggering RM4,080 price tag, which is possibly one of the most expensive motherboards currently sold in the market. For that price though, you’re getting very little compromises – so if you want a motherboard capable of everything you could throw at it, this is quite possibly it.

Our special thanks to ASUS Malaysia for providing us the ROG Crosshair X870E Hero motherboard, as well as AMD Malaysia for providing the Ryzen 9 9950X CPU for this review.