ASUS Introduces X870 MAX Gaming WiFi7 Motherboard

ASUS has unveiled the X870 MAX Gaming WiFi7 motherboard, featuring Socket AM5. This motherboard is available in two color variants - the default black version, and the white X870 MAX Gaming WiFi7 W, which comes with a white PCB and white/silver heatsinks. Positioned below the TUF Gaming X870 Plus, this motherboard is separate from ASUS's Prime series and aims to attract gaming PC builders away from competitors like GIGABYTE Gaming X and MSI Gaming Plus series.

The X870 MAX Gaming is built in the ATX form-factor and is powered by a combination of 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS connectors. It boasts a 12+2+1 phase CPU VRM with 80 A-rated power stages.

The Socket AM5 is connected to four DDR5 DIMM slots, a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 slot, and one M.2 Gen 5 x4 NVMe slot. Another CPU-attached NVMe interface is available as M.2 Gen 4 x4, while the third M.2 slot is Gen 4 x4 and wired to the X870 FCH. The board also includes four SATA 6 Gbps ports. In addition to the main Gen 5 x16 PEG slot, there are three other physical x16 slots - two Gen 4 x1 and one Gen 3 x1. Display options include HDMI and DisplayPort, connected to two 40 Gbps USB4 type-C ports. Other USB ports include 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2, three 5 Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 1, and four USB 2.0 ports. There is also a 20 Gbps USB-C header and two additional 5 Gbps ports through a standard header.

Networking features of the ASUS X870 MAX Gaming WiFi7 include Wi-Fi 7 + Bluetooth 5.4 WLAN module, likely sourced from MediaTek, and a 2.5 GbE interface powered by a Realtek controller. The onboard audio solution utilizes a Realtek ALC892 HD audio CODEC. These motherboards are expected to be competitively priced, starting at just over $200.