More or less the same thing happens with the expansion slots as with the storage slots: the main one for the graphics card is PCIe 5.0 but it will only work this way if the processor used is a Ryzen 9000, and if a previous generation processor is installed, it will run on PCIe 4.0 x16. The other PCIe are 4.0 natively.
In terms of connectivity you can see in the table: we have 2.5 GbE Ethernet, WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, a large number of USB ports including USB4 and a large number of internal ports for fans etc. Of course, we can build a high-performance PC without any problem using this motherboard.
Finally, we have the typical Realtek 7.1 sound card with separation on the PCB to avoid interference and the usual ASUS technologies that we already know, such as DIGI+ VRM, TUF LANGuard or the very useful Q docking and undocking systems -Latch for holds. M.2 and Q-Release for PCIe graphics. It’s a very complete card, given its technical specifications, but we’re going to start looking at it and above all testing it to see if it’s up to par, right?
Unboxing and external analysis
Like almost all of the brand’s motherboards, the TUF.
The box opens in the shape of a chest, and as usual we find the motherboard protected by antistatic plastic and embedded in the cardboard structure to protect it from possible knocks during transport.
Under the motherboard (and in this box on the left) we have the accessories, so as always this is the first thing we will see. To begin with we have the usual information brochures, to which in this case some branded stickers are added.
Among the accessories we find:
- Wi-Fi antenna.
- Rubber mounts for M.2 SSD.
- Additional screw for M.2 SSD.
- One pair of SATA 3 cables.
Now yes, here we have the ASUS TUF Gaming X870 Plus WiFi. Right off the bat, this is a motherboard that looks aesthetically quite striking, not least because of those gold accents common in the TUF family on a black background. Also striking is the huge heatsink at the rear connectors with the large letters TUF.
Let’s look at its main parts, starting with the top one. Here we have the connector panel cover, the huge passive VRM heatsinks surrounding the socket and the AM5 processor socket itself, as well as the DDR5 RAM memory sockets and the 24-pin power connector.
Detail of the gigantic heat sink in the connector area. You can see that, hidden a little, here are also the two 8-pin EPS power connectors.
Detail of the socket, with the standard AMD anchor.
Detail of the memory locations, which in this case are not reinforced. You can also see here the 24-pin ATX power connector and the internal USB 3.0 and USB 3.2 connectors for the front of the case, as well as various connectors for fans and ARGB.
Now let’s look at the lower part, dominated by the heat sinks of the M.2 SSDs, which is already quite common on almost all motherboards to have them integrated as standard.
Here you can take a closer look at the AMD X870 chipset heatsink. On your right, the SATA 3 ports.
The main PCIe 5.0 socket is reinforced with metal and just above it is the heatsink for the system’s main SSD. The PCIe socket has a mechanism to easily remove the graphics card without having to insert your fingers or a tool to unclip it.
We go further down, where we have the audio chip and a dual heatsink for more SSD. Also another PCIe socket, this one not reinforced, and another M.2 socket which in this case does not have a heatsink.
The SSD heatsinks are easily removed with separate screws, giving us access to the sockets. As you can see, they come with thermal pads already attached, and by removing the plastic seal they are ready to use.
All that remains is for us to see the rear connection panel, which if I may, has an unusual layout due to the position of the RJ-45 port, which is at the top whereas it is usual for it to be or in the center. From left to right we have RJ-45 2.5 GbE, two 10G USB, one HDMI output, two USB-C, one USB 2.0 specifically designed for use with the ASUS FlashBack BIOS tool, another 10G USB, three USB 3.1, another USB. 2.0, connectors for WiFi antennas, the FlashBack BIOS switch and 7.1 analog audio connectors.
After seeing the motherboard, we will proceed to assemble it and test its operation.
ASUS TUF X870 Plus WiFi review
Before mounting the motherboard in a PC case, we like to first prepare it by installing a few components, starting with the CPU. For this test we will be using one of the latest AMD Ryzen 9 9900X.
We also mounted the SSD (in this case we used a PCIe 4.0 since we didn’t have a PCIe 5.0 on hand).
And the RAM, in this case DDR5 with EXPO profile at 6000 MHz from XPG.
Before mounting the card in the test PC case, we also installed the heatsink anchor to make it more comfortable to handle, and once that’s done, we can now dock it to the case.
Connect everything, mount the heatsink and graphics card and we have the equipment ready to go.
The equipment used for the tests was as follows:
- AMD Ryzen 9 9900X
- ASUS TUF Gaming X870 Plus Wi-Fi
- Noctua NH-D15 G2
- PNY GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER
- 2 × 16 GB ADATA XPG Lancer Blade RGB DDR5 6000 MHz
- TeamGroup Cardea A440 2TB PCIe 4.0
- Corsair Obsidian 4000D Airflow
- Corsair RM1000x Swift
Synthetic benchmarks
When everything is ready, we start with the required capture of CPU-Z which shows us information related to the processor, motherboard and RAM memory.
And although we analyze the motherboard, we also leave you a screenshot of GPU-Z so you can see the chart used.
Let’s go with the performance tests, although it is true that the results we are going to obtain with this card should not differ much from those obtained when we analyze the Ryzen 9900X.
We start with the CPU-Z benchmark to have reference data.
We continue with Cinebencha test that will force the processor to go at full speed to render a 3D scene.
It’s the turn of Aida64 to measure RAM and CPU cache performance. With the new generation, AMD continues to have a bit of a bottleneck in its memory controller.
We will now use SuperPi in its longest test, which will require the processor to calculate 32 million decimal places of the number Pi and store them in RAM. The sooner this happens, the better.
Swindle Brand CrystalDisk We will measure the performance of the SSD. Remember, this is unfortunately PCIe 4.0 and not PCIe 5.0.
Now a more global test with PCMark 10.
And finally, some tests with 3DMark Time Spy to see graphics performance.
Conclusion and verdict
The new generation of X870 motherboards for AMD’s new Zen 5 processors is already here, and ASUS once again demonstrates that it is at the forefront of manufacturers with this excellent TUF GAMING with robustness and stability without a doubt, in addition to an unprecedented list of technical features. characteristics and capacity for future expansion.
The ASUS TUF Gaming family is all about stability and durability, and with this new generation of AMD motherboards, it is no exception. If you buy this motherboard, you know that you are doing it to have a PC that works without problems for many years (at least as far as the motherboard is concerned, of course, other things can fail), and for this reason, we can only give it our Gold Award, as well as our recommendation for its design.
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