This was the year that AMD finally moved to a new platform. PC enthusiasts are in two minds over the move. AMD’s AM4 platform had been around for quite some time and that allowed for folks to simply update the BIOS and upgrade to a new and powerful CPU without changing any of the other components. Yes, first gen Ryzen processors will continue to work with any of the most recently released X570 boards with an AGESA 1.0.0.4 motherboard. That’s nearly five years of processors (or four generations) on a single socket. Hopefully, AM5 will continue to support processors released by AMD for an equally long period. With the X670E platform, AMD went all out and added DDR5 support, PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes and the socket moved from a PGA (Pin Grid Array) to LGA (Land Grid Array). This happened a few months after Intel’s Alder Lake launch but now both platforms have competitive features. AMD’s new boards, be it on the X670 platform or the B650 platform, the cost is a little prohibitive compared to what Intel has with their 600 series and 700 series motherboards. As a result, folks wanting to get onto the AMD Ryzen 7000 bandwagon have a little extra to pay. Hopefully, in the coming months, we’ll get more economical boards entering the market. Lastly, AMD came out with EXPO, a standardised timing scheme for memory that allows memory manufacturers to store profiles on the DIMMs the same way that Intel has done with XMP. This gives folks a much easier time getting memory sticks to work with new builds. And if you’re wondering which is the best board for your Ryzen 7000 PC, then this year’s Zero1 Winner will be a great candidate.
Price: ₹65,815
Straight off the bat, you get two USB4 ports on the ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X670E HERO along with a flagship-grade audio CODEC along with an integrated DAC. Unlike the Z790 boards, this flagship only comes with a 2.5 GbE port but there’s still Wi-Fi 6E for those who prefer to keep things wireless. Aside from that there are two PCIe 5.0 slots and even two PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots. AMD had introduced PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots in the mainstream market and they’re doing it again with PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots. And like last time, there aren’t any SSDs that can take advantage of the bandwidth that boards such as this one have to offer. We’re talking speeds that easily hit 12 GBps. For folks who like to push their processors to the extreme, there’s an 18+2 teamed VRM design along with overclocking features that allow you to leverage the architectural improvements that the new Ryzen 7000 processors ship with.
Price: ₹51,049
The STRIX line up is a little tame compared to the CROSSHAIR HERO but not by a huge margin. The board also features an 18+2 VRM design and has a competitive set of connectivity options. There’s a lot less of the aluminium shielding but those things don’t affect performance anyway. For folks wanting to save a little on their build, this is a pretty decent buy without losing out on most of the features.
Price: ₹48,590
Honestly speaking, the MSI MPG X670E CARBON WIFI motherboard and the ASUS ROG STRIX X670E-E GAMING WIFI aren’t that apart. ASUS has higher memory speed kits validated and a better audio solution since its CODEC is paired with an AMP. The MSI board is simply a little cheaper and that easily makes it a better buy.
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