AMD X870E Motherboard Mash-Up: Three Socket AM5 Mainboards Reviewed
Starting from the least expensive of the bunch, we have ASRock's Phantom Gaming X870E Nova WiFi. At $350, this is not a cheap motherboard by any means. In fact, we'd really consider it the start of the "high-end" range. Even though it has somewhat fewer features in comparison to the other boards in this review, this mainboard still comes with a pile of high-end connectivity and an array of interesting features.
Going over the specifications, a few things stand out. First of all, as we noted, this board actually has the most robust power delivery of the three—although given that all three have effectively more than a dozen 110A power stages, it really doesn't matter much in the real world, as these boards can easily handle any Socket AM5 CPU, even with extreme overclocking. The Nova is the only one of the three boards that supports multi-bit ECC memory, though.
It's also swathed in RGB LEDs in a way that neither of the other two boards are. Some may find this garish, since they're certainly very bright when set up on a test bench. Of course, you can disable the RGB LEDs in the BIOS, or using software while in Windows. However, we have to note that the extra RGB LED lighting may be welcome by those who don't have the desire to string lightstrips throughout their case.
The top M.2 socket, which is the only one on this board to support PCIe 5.0, is hidden under a sizable heatsink that can be removed without any tools. Simply push back on the bronze knob just below the CPU socket and the whole heatsink assembly pops right off. You can install an SSD there, again, without any tools. If, like most users, you're only using one M.2 SSD, then this makes your build very quick and convenient.
The other four M.2 SSD slots are hidden under plates that require unscrewing to access. It's not a problem at all, but given the convenience available on MSI's board, it does feel a little dated. Similarly, the PCIe EZ Release bar is a welcome convenience, but not as fancy as the equivalent mechanisms on the other two boards. We're glad to have it either way, though.
ASRock includes this helpful block diagram in the manual that illustrates how everything on the board is connected. This makes it very easy to understand what will be enabled or disabled if you fully load up the system with storage and other devices. Fortunately, on this board it's quite straightforward; only the last M.2 socket and the bottom PCIe slot share bandwidth.
On the Nova's rear panel, we have convenient CMOS-clear and BIOS Flashback buttons, the usual RP-SMA connectors for the Wi-Fi antenna, an HDMI 2.1 port with FRL support, an RJ-45 jack for the 5-Gigabit Ethernet connection, a pair of 3.5mm audio jacks, an optical port for digital audio, and then a whole pile of USB ports.
The two Type-C ports are the mandatory-for-X870E 40Gbps USB4 ports, and they support DisplayPort mode as long as you install a CPU with integrated graphics. The "Ultra USB Power" and "Lightning Gaming" ports are somewhat upgraded too; the former means that the power is converted from 12V instead of fed from the 5V, while the latter means that the two ports are connected to separate USB host controllers, supposedly reducing input latency. You're really better off plugging your keyboard and mouse into the two USB 2.0 ports to save the faster ports for other devices, though.
The X870E Nova's UEFI setup utility will feel very familiar to anyone who has used an ASRock UEFI in the last few years. It's fundamentally the same interface as on boards like the 2019-vintage X570 Taichi. While the interface is simplistic, it's also functional and responsive. The BIOS is replete with a full set of overclocking tools and controls, although we couldn't say what it's missing, if anything. For our purposes, we don't have any particular compliments or complaints about the Nova's UEFI setup utility. It does the job it's supposed to do, very well.
