The Gigabyte Aorus Master will hit stores at $499.99 upon release, placing it in the upper mid-range price range in today’s world of ridiculously expensive board options. For that price, you get a board with two PCIe 5.0 M.2 sockets, excellent power delivery, and an above-average well-equipped board. Have been described Peer-to-peer memory support for the same price range, high-quality audio solutions, and a premium neutral look that looks great in-chassis with the new Zen 4 processors and hardware.
Gigabyte’s current X670E lineup consists of four motherboards. From the top, the current flagship X670E Aorus Extreme ($699.99), followed by Aorus Master, X670 Aorus Elite AX ($289.99), X670 Gaming X AX (not listed at the time of this writing, but Aorus It should be less than Master ) ). This chipset doesn’t have many options at the moment. But if you’re open to what the B650E has to offer, Gigabyte has 13 options in every shape and size. There’s also an Aero board for creators and his MiniITX and MicroATX form factors that are smaller. I expect there will be some new X670/E boards as time goes on. We hope the Halo-class Aorus Extreme Waterforce is one of them.
You can take full advantage of almost everything AM5 has to offer from Aorus Master. There are two PCIe 5.0 M.2 sockets and two PCIe 5.0 slots connected to the CPU. The look is quite updated from the X570 Master released a long time ago, and it closely matches his Z790 Master that he reviewed for the Raptor Lake release, with a contrasting black and gray theme. Networking is provided by Intel on both 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6E. The audio codec is a flagship class, but from the last generation codec.
The Aorus Master’s performance traded blows with other boards we tested, but overall it was negligibly slow. More than enough. In most tests, it’s hard to tell which board is which without looking at the benchmarks.
Take a closer look at the board’s features and performance below to get a better idea of how this motherboard compares to the competition. For more information on platform differences, see our X670 Motherboards Overview article. Or if you want to know what we think is the best ever, check out our best motherboards article. Before we get into all the details, here’s the complete list of specs for the MEG X670E Ace, straight from MSI.
Specifications: Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
| socket | AM5 |
| chipset | X670E |
| form factor | E-ATX |
| voltage regulator | 20 Phase (16x 105A SPS MOSFET for Vcore) |
| video port | (1) USB Type-C (DisplayPort v1.4) |
| row 5 – cell 0 | (1) DisplayPort (v1.4) |
| row 6 – cell 0 | (1) HDMI (v2.1) |
| USB port | (1) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Type-C |
| row 8 – cell 0 | (1) USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gbps) Type-C |
| row 9 – cell 0 | (4) USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps) |
| row 10 – cell 0 | (4) USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps) |
| Row 11 – Cell 0 | (2) USB2.0 (480Mbps) |
| network jack | (1) 2.5GbE |
| audio jack | (2) Analog + SPDIF |
| Legacy Port/Jack | ✗ |
| Other Ports/Jacks | ✗ |
| PCIe x16 | (1) v5.0 (x16, x8) |
| Row 17 – Cell 0 | (1) v4.0 (x4) |
| Row 18 – Cell 0 | (1) v3.0 (x4) |
| PCIe x8 | ✗ |
| PCIe x4 | ✗ |
| PCIe x 1 | ✗ |
| Crossfire/SLI | AMD Crossfire |
| DIMM slots | (4) DDR5 6666+(OC), 128GB capacity |
| M.2 socket | (2) PCIe 5.0 x4 (128Gbps) / PCIe (up to 110mm) |
| Row 25 – Cell 0 | (1) PCIe 45.0 x4 (64Gbps) / PCIe (up to 110mm) |
| Row 26 – Cell 0 | Supports RAID 0/1/10 |
| U.2 port | ✗ |
| SATA port | (6) SATA3 6Gbps (supports RAID 0/1/10) |
| USB header | (1) USB v3.2 Gen 2×2, Type-C (20Gbps) |
| Row 30 – Cell 0 | (2) USB v3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) |
| Row 31 – Cell 0 | (2) USB v3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) |
| Row 32 – Cell 0 | (2) USB v2.0 (480Mbps) |
| fan/pump header | (10) 4-pin (CPU, liquid CPU, system fan) |
| RGB header | (3) aRGB (3 pin) |
| Row 35 – Cell 0 | (1) RGB (4 pin) |
| diagnostic panel | (1) Debug LEDs (4x) |
| Row 37 – Cell 0 | (1) 2-digit debug LED |
| Internal button/switch | Power button and reset button |
| SATA controller | (1) ASMEDIA ASM1061 |
| ethernet controller | (1) Marvell AQC113-BC (10GbE) |
| Wi-Fi/Bluetooth | Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 (2×2 ax, MU-MIMO, 2.4/5/6 GHz, 160 MHz, BT 5.2) |
| USB controller | Realtek RTS5411T |
| HD audio codec | Realtek ALC1220-VB |
| DDL/DTS | ✗ / DTS:X Ultra |
| guarantee | 3 years |
Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master Box Contents
Included in the box are several Gigabyte accessories to help you get started. Includes regular SATA cable, RGB extension and Wi-Fi antenna. It also includes several temperature sensors to monitor case temperature and adjust fan speeds. This sample did not include a disc/USB stick for the drivers. Even if the commercial Aorus Master is not, you can download all the drivers from the website. Below is a complete list of included accessories.
- Wi-Fi antenna
- (4) SATA cable
- RGB extension cable
- (2) Temperature sensor
- speaker
- G-connector
- velcro strip
- sticker
- manual
Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master design
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Hidden beneath the master’s matte black and gray exterior is an 8-layer PCB with ‘2x’ copper to aid in power and cooling. The VRM heatsink differs from most boards in that it uses fins (Gigabyte’s Fins-Array III) instead of giant chunks of metal. It looks great and works well, especially if the airflow is good. The bottom of the board is mostly grey, with a large heatsink above the PCIe 5.0 M.2 socket. A large Hestink covers the chipset (remember the X670E uses two of his PROM21/chiplets) and features mitered cutouts and Aorus branding.
The master contains RGB lighting just above the IO area on the back, illuminating the outline of the Aorus Falcon and the checkerboard-like design below. Colors are saturated, but not too bright. If you’re looking for a light show, you’ll need to add your own strip to your onboard his header. But it’s a classy implementation that matches the board.
A closer look at the top half reveals the Fin-Array III heatsink and the distinctive matte gray NanoCarbon finish. Just above his VRM bank on the left are dual 8-pin EPS power connectors (one required) for powering the CPU. RGB design elements cover some of his VRM fins, with his Aorus branding added on top.
To the right of the socket area are four hardened DRAM slots with locking mechanisms on both sides. I prefer the one sided locking mechanism with the latch on top. This way you don’t have to push your fingers into the bottom lock between the graphics cards. Like all 4-slot boards, the master supports up to 128 GB of DDR5 RAM. Memory speeds are listed on the website up to DDR5-6666(OC). It’s in the middle of the pack and well past AMD’s sweet spot.
Just above the DRAM slots are the first three (out of ten) 4-pin fan headers. All headers support PWM and DC controlled fans, and each header (CPU_FAN, SYS_FAN1-4, SYS_FAN5-8_PUMP and CPU_OPT) can output 2A/24W. Each header has enough power, often enough to run an entire system from the motherboard without piggybacking on the same header.
In the upper right corner are 3 of the 5 total RGB headers. In this area we spy on a 4-pin RGB header (labeled LED_CPU) along with two other 3-pin ARGB headers. Along the bottom edge are his RGB headers (3-pin and 4-pin headers), one of each type. If the integrated RGB isn’t enough, there are plenty of headers for connecting third-party strips. Control RGB lighting via Gigabyte Control Center and RGB Fusion app.
Down the far right are two character debug LEDs, a 24-pin ATX connector for board power, two system fan headers, a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbps) port, and four basic debug LEDs (CPU, Boot , VGA, DRAM). Next in this area are the PCIe latches. Pressing the square button unlocks the top PCIe latch for easy removal of the graphics card. If you need to check the actual voltage (because the software may be inaccurate), the Aorus master has several voltage read points next to the PCIe latch to do so.
The AM5 Aorus Master’s VRM is a 20-phase system, with 16 dedicated to the Vcore in a ‘teamed’ configuration (no phase doubler, but one signal going to two MOSFETs). Power is supplied to the Renesas RAA229620 PWM controller through an EPS 8-pin connector. From there move on to 16x 105A Renesas RAA22010540 SPS MOSFETs. The 1,680A available isn’t the biggest we’ve seen for a consumer-class motherboard, but it’s enough to handle our flagship Ryzen 9 7950X without worrying.
The bottom half of the board, on the left under the shroud, has most of the audio bits. Underneath the metal cover is the Realtek ALC1220-VB codec. There are also some gold Nichicon branded audio caps and the typical audio isolation lines from the rest of the motherboard that generate EMI, as on other boards. Also, this is a flagship class codec and not an acceptable solution, but I wish the 4080/4082 codec was used like some of its peers, but few people would notice the difference .
There are three full-length PCIe slots in the middle of the board. The top throw (white) uses reinforcement and is the PCIe 5.0 x16 primary graphics slot. The bottom two slots (black) both feed lanes from the chipset. The top black slot (PCIEX4) runs PCIe 4.0 x4 and the bottom socket (PCIEX2) is PCIe 3.0 x4. For those who still find multi-GPU configurations useful, Master supports AMD Crossfire.
Between the PCIe slots are mixed four M.2 sockets. The top socket (M2A_CPU) and the second socket (M2B_CPU) are two sockets that support PCIe 5.0 x4 (128Gbps) modules up to 110mm in length. The top socket has an oversized heatsink and the second socket uses a simple “plate” style heatsink like the others. The bottom two sockets (M2C_SB and M2D_SB) also support drives up to 110 mm, but run at PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) speeds. The number of PCIe lanes available from the CPU and chipset (dual PROM21 chips) allows all four M.2 sockets and all six SATA ports to run simultaneously. Both SATA-based storage and NVMe drives support RAID0/1/10 mode.
Moving along the edge of the board past the chipset heatsink to the right reveals the PCIe latch, Thunderbolt 4 header, six SATA ports, two 4-pin system fan headers, a reset button, and a reset jumper. A few more headers are exposed at the bottom of the board. Here you can find typical fares that include an extra USB port, an RGB header, and a 4-pin fan header. Below is the complete list from left to right.
- front panel audio
- 3-pin ARGB header
- SPI TPM header
- (3) 4-pin system fan headers
- (2) USB 2.0 headers
- (2) USB 3.2 Gen 1 headers
- front panel
- clear CMOS jumper
The rear IO of the X670E Aorus Master ships pre-installed on the motherboard. The black/dark gray background and light gray labels make it difficult to read in low light conditions.On the left are the Q_Flash+ button, Wi-Fi 6E antenna connection, DisplayPort and HDMI video ports. The rear IO has a total of 12 USB ports. 2 USB Type-C ports (10 Gbps for video and 20 Gbps) on the bottom, 4 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) ports, 4 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) ports and 2 USB 2.0 ports I have. If you need more than this in your rear IO, I recommend re-evaluating your peripherals. Last but not least is the audio stack with line-out and mic 3.5mm ports, as well as SPDIF output.
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