Gigabyte X870E Aorus Master VS Pro

[OverDrive]

Hi everyone,

I am starting to consider board options for my upcoming move to AM5/X850E.

I have been very happy with my Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra, which I understand to be a mid-tier board in that range. Is the X850E Aorus Pro the equivalent of it? Also, why is there such a big price difference between the Master and Pro? (circa £150).

The following is from the descriptions for each on the OCUK store. I would be grateful if someone would help me understand this. In particular the PCIEX16 lanes / shared bandwidth part. I think I understand that using either of the specified M.2 slots will reduce the PCIEX16 lane to x8 mode. However, am I right in thinking that this can be avoided by using an M.2 slot that is controlled by the chipset instead?

I plan to move my 4090 and 1TB Corsair MP600 M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD over. However, I don't want to cripple the speed of anything by doing this, should I just upgrade to a PCIe 5.0 SSD too?

Master:

• 1 x PCI Express x16 slot (PCIEX16), integrated in the CPU
• 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, supporting PCIe 4.0 and running at x4 (PCIEX4_1)
• 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, supporting PCIe 3.0 and running at x4 (PCIEX4_2)

Pro:
1x PCI Express x16 slot (PCIEX16), integrated in the CPU:
AMD Ryzen™ 9000/7000 Series Processors support PCIe 5.0 x16 mode
* The M2B_CPU and M2C_CPU connectors share bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot.

When theM2B_CPU orM2C_CPU connector is populated, the PCIEX16 slot operates at up to x8 mode.
AMD Ryzen™ 8000 Series-Phoenix 1 Processors support PCIe 4.0 x8 mode
AMD Ryzen™ 8000 Series-Phoenix 2 Processors support PCIe 4.0 x4 mode
(The PCIEX16 slot can only support a graphics card or an NVMe SSD. If only one graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.)

Chipset:
- 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, supporting PCIe 4.0 and running at x4 (PCIEX4_1)
- 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, supporting PCIe 3.0 and running at x4 (PCIEX4_2)

I have been very happy with my Gigabyte board, however, I am happy to consider other options too.

Thank you.

 

[OverDrive]

Thank you for the informative reply.

 

[OverDrive]

Thank you for the replies. I am only planning to run 1 or 2 M.2 SSDs. So that would initially be just my 1TB PCIe 4.0 drive, and then when I upgrade to a larger PCI 5.0 drive, I may just run the old drive as a secondary/storage drive. So for my use case these boards should be fine.

Will there be any disadvantage to running a PCIe 4.0 drive over a 5.0 drive? I.e. would it have any detrimental impact on the PCIEX16 speed/bandwidth? (I think the answer is no, so just checking).

Really appreciate the help and advice

Also, in general, would you say these are good boards, or am I overlooking others that may be better value/design?

 

[OverDrive]

Thank you for the info and HUB link, i'll have a watch. That's a good point re: checking the features that I need. As you say, for my use, I prob. don't need the Master. I think the only easily overlooked feature that I really need is the optical S/PDIF out connector. Also, WiFi (I don't have a WiFi 7 router yet) and Bluetooth. Although the WiFi would just be as a backup in case I have to temporarily relocate my PC - it came in handy recently when I had the office redecorated! I will be running the CPU at stock, the only thing that's important to me is that the PCIEX16 lanes are not impacted by the use of 1-2 SSDs. Great tip re: checking the manuals before purchase. thank you!

 

[OverDrive]

Thank you, this is a very handy spreadsheet.