Questions about the Asus ROG X670E Hero Crosshair mb and if its worth upgrading to

[g335]

Hello,

 

I have the Asus ROG B650E-E with a 7950X. Board works but thinking about changing to the Asus ROG X670E Hero Crosshair.

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare?CompareItemList=13-119-582%2C13-119-593

 

I want to run 5 m.2's.  THe B650E-E has 2 5.0 x4 m.2 spaces and 2 4.0 x 4 m.2 space. The 2nd  5.0 x4 m.2 space changes the main  PCIe 5.0 x16 slot to x8 if used.      The X670E Hero can have 5 m.2d drives, 2  5.0x4 m.2 spaces, 2   4.0 x4 m.2 spaces and a 5.0x4 m.2 add on card.  If use the m.2 add on card in the Crosshair PCIEx16 slot, changes main PCIE 5.0 x16 slot to x8.

 

The B650E-E has 2 PCIE 5.0 x16 slots ( x16 0r x8/x4)  and one PCIE 4.0x16 slot .   The X6570E Hero has 2 PCIE 5.0x16 (x16 or x8/x8) and one PCIE x16 slot.  What is the big difference between the PCIE 4.0x16 and PCIE x16?  Which is more useful?

 

The X670E Hero has 2 USB 4  type C rear ports.  The B650E-E has only a Thunderbolt  header(my case doesnt have any Thunderbolt  ports) and 1 USB C Gen 3 Type C  2x2 rear ports. (20gps)

 

The Crosshair has a  better audio board. 

 

The B650E-E has 1x24 pin Main power connector and 2x8pin + 12V power connector.   The X670E Crosshair has 1x24 pin Main power connector, 2x8 pin  +12V power connector and a 1X6 pin PCIE  Power Connector.  What is a 1x6 pin PCIE Power Connector? Is it worth using?

 

The VRM on the B650E-E are 16+2 and 70A  powerstages  and the VRM on the X670E Cross hair are 18+2  and 110A powerstages.

 

I am using the computer for heavy 3D animation, rendering, gaming and video editing.   The computer will be on sometimes up to 24 hours depending on the work I am doing, rendering.

 

Which board is better to have?  Should I keep the ROG B650E-E board that I have?  Good idea to upgrade to the X670E Crosshair?     I do have multiple type C devices, including externally ssds.   Big thing I wish one of the boards had is 10gig lan.  I will use 2 gpu's if I can find 2nd one cheap.  I have a 3090Ti

 

 

 

 

 

[RONOTHAN##]

4 minutes ago, g335 said:

I want to run 5 m.2's.  THe B650E-E has 2 5.0 x4 m.2 spaces and 2 4.0 x 4 m.2 space. The 2nd  5.0 x4 m.2 space changes the main  PCIe 5.0 x16 slot to x8 if used.      The X670E Hero can have 5 m.2d drives, 2  5.0x4 m.2 spaces, 2   4.0 x4 m.2 spaces and a 5.0x4 m.2 add on card.  If use the m.2 add on card in the Crosshair PCIEx16 slot, changes main PCIE 5.0 x16 slot to x8.

You can use that same AIC on the B650E-E to get 5 M.2 slots of the same generations. 

 

I struggle to see why you would need 5 M.2 drives however. 

 

6 minutes ago, g335 said:

The B650E-E has 2 PCIE 5.0 x16 slots ( x16 0r x8/x4)  and one PCIE 4.0x16 slot .   The X6570E Hero has 2 PCIE 5.0x16 (x16 or x8/x8) and one PCIE x16 slot.  What is the big difference between the PCIE 4.0x16 and PCIE x16?  Which is more useful?

You're misreading the spec sheet. Both boards have PCIe x16 physical slots, and they're both wired for PCIe Gen 4x4. 

 

7 minutes ago, g335 said:

The X670E Hero has 2 USB 4  type C rear ports.  The B650E-E has only a Thunderbolt  header(my case doesnt have any Thunderbolt  ports) and 1 USB C Gen 3 Type C  2x2 rear ports. (20gps)

Do you need Thunderbolt? Also, that Thunderbolt header is so you can add in a Thunderbolt AIC like this in there, not for a front panel Thunderbolt connector. 

 

8 minutes ago, g335 said:

The Crosshair has a  better audio board.

Does this actually matter though? Either you care about audio and should buy an external DAC, or you don't and this makes zero noticeable difference. 

 

9 minutes ago, g335 said:

The B650E-E has 1x24 pin Main power connector and 2x8pin + 12V power connector.   The X670E Crosshair has 1x24 pin Main power connector, 2x8 pin  +12V power connector and a 1X6 pin PCIE  Power Connector.  What is a 1x6 pin PCIE Power Connector? Is it worth using?

It's to give extra power to the PCIe slots if you're using something that draws a lot of power from them, like 3 way Crossfire RX 480s. It rarely makes sense to use, and this board is no exception. 

 

10 minutes ago, g335 said:

The VRM on the B650E-E are 16+2 and 70A  powerstages  and the VRM on the X670E Cross hair are 18+2  and 110A powerstages.

Doesn't make a difference as both are an insanely overkill for a 7950X. AM5 CPUs just don't draw that much power, and those VRMs wouldn't look out of place on a Threadripper system. 

 

11 minutes ago, g335 said:

Which board is better to have?

The Crosshair. 

 

11 minutes ago, g335 said:

Should I keep the ROG B650E-E board that I have?

Yes. 

 

12 minutes ago, g335 said:

Good idea to upgrade to the X670E Crosshair?

No. It might be better, but that doesn't mean you'd actually notice a difference. 

 

13 minutes ago, g335 said:

Big thing I wish one of the boards had is 10gig lan.

Then get a 10GbE add in card and use it on your current board. 

[Tetras]

10 minutes ago, g335 said:

Should I keep the ROG B650E-E board that I have?

I think the question is: how many of those features do you actually need for your work?

 

If the answer is: I NEED more USB Type-C, 10Gb LAN and an extra M.2, then it might be worth it for you, given the cost (or feasibility) of adding these features to your existing board through add-in cards.

 

If you only need one of those features, then your existing board can address that by getting a 10Gb LAN adapter, or a USB4/Thunderbolt expansion card.

 

For the average user/gamer, I would have just said: "no", because it's hardly ever worth bothering with an upgrade on the same socket.

 

 

[g335]

11 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

You can use that same AIC on the B650E-E to get 5 M.2 slots of the same generations. 

 

I struggle to see why you would need 5 M.2 drives however. 

 

You're misreading the spec sheet. Both boards have PCIe x16 physical slots, and they're both wired for PCIe Gen 4x4. 

 

Do you need Thunderbolt? Also, that Thunderbolt header is so you can add in a Thunderbolt AIC like this in there, not for a front panel Thunderbolt connector. 

 

Does this actually matter though? Either you care about audio and should buy an external DAC, or you don't and this makes zero noticeable difference. 

 

It's to give extra power to the PCIe slots if you're using something that draws a lot of power from them, like 3 way Crossfire RX 480s. It rarely makes sense to use, and this board is no exception. 

 

Doesn't make a difference as both are an insanely overkill for a 7950X. AM5 CPUs just don't draw that much power, and those VRMs wouldn't look out of place on a Threadripper system. 

 

The Crosshair. 

 

Yes. 

 

No. It might be better, but that doesn't mean you'd actually notice a difference. 

 

Then get a 10GbE add in card and use it on your current board. 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I want 5 total m.2 spaces. Not necessary all 5.0x4 m.2 spaces. How would I add an extra m.2 and a thunderbolt card and 10gig lan to the motherboard I have now?

[g335]

11 minutes ago, Tetras said:

I think the question is: how many of those features do you actually need for your work?

 

If the answer is: I NEED more USB Type-C, 10Gb LAN and an extra M.2, then it might be worth it for you, given the cost (or feasibility) of adding these features to your existing board through add-in cards.

 

If you only need one of those features, then your existing board can address that by getting a 10Gb LAN adapter, or a USB4/Thunderbolt expansion card.

 

For the average user/gamer, I would have just said: "no", because it's hardly ever worth bothering with an upgrade on the same socket.

 

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I am using Macs also, Macs are used for some programs.  So I will be transferring files sometimes large between the Mac and PC.   That is why I am interested in USB 4/Thunderbolt or 10Gb lan if I do a NAS or use router to transfer files between computers.

 

How would I connect a Thunderbolt card and a 5th m.2 drive to the board I have now?

[Blue4130]

9 minutes ago, g335 said:

Thanks for the reply.

 

I want 5 total m.2 spaces.

But why? Most people say they want X amount of storage space, as total amount is more important than number of drives.

[RONOTHAN##]

5 minutes ago, g335 said:

Not necessary all 5.0x4 m.2 spaces.

I understand this part, but why 5 drives in total? 3 drives could get you 12TB easily, 24TB if you use rather expensive 8TB M.2s, and a 4th would be 16TB/32TB respectively. If you need more than that amount of space on a system, you really should be using an external NAS. If you aren't using all of the M.2 slots, they aren't necessary. 

 

7 minutes ago, g335 said:

How would I add an extra m.2 and a thunderbolt card and 10gig lan to the motherboard I have now?

For Thunderbolt, you'd buy that card I linked above, install it in the bottom PCIe slot, connect the cable up to the Thunderbolt header, and you're done. For the 10GbE adapter, you find one of the dozens that exist and install it in the 2nd PCIe slot. This will limit your GPU to PCIe Gen 4x8, but that doesn't affect performance too much, and what you could end up doing is getting a Thunderbolt 10GbE adapter and using that instead, then daisy chaining your external SSDs off of that. For the 5th M.2 slot, you wouldn't be able to have the internal 10GbE adapter and it installed at the same time, but if you go the external USB4 adapter route, you just get one of the dozens of M.2 to PCIe adapters that exist and install that in the 2nd PCIe slot. 

[g335]

1 minute ago, Blue4130 said:

But why? Most people say they want X amount of storage space, as total amount is more important than number of drives.

Because I have already three m.2 filled and not going to go back and replace all with 4tb drives.  I use one drive for OS and main programs, one for games, one for 3D programs project drive, and the forth on the board will be project drive for video editing/photoshop etc. 5th will be for storage or any future uses I may have.

[Tetras]

9 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

For the 5th M.2 slot, you wouldn't be able to have the internal 10GbE adapter and it installed at the same time

The bottom full length PCI-E slot has 4 chipset lanes which could be used for an M.2, but since the use of M.2 slot 3 reverts the primary PCI-E to 8 lanes, that seems to suggest that the secondary PCI-E would only have 4 lanes left. Is that enough for a 10Gb adapter?

[g335]

6 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I understand this part, but why 5 drives in total? 3 drives could get you 12TB easily, 24TB if you use rather expensive 8TB M.2s, and a 4th would be 16TB/32TB respectively. If you need more than that amount of space on a system, you really should be using an external NAS. If you aren't using all of the M.2 slots, they aren't necessary. 

 

For Thunderbolt, you'd buy that card I linked above, install it in the bottom PCIe slot, connect the cable up to the Thunderbolt header, and you're done. For the 10GbE adapter, you find one of the dozens that exist and install it in the 2nd PCIe slot. This will limit your GPU to PCIe Gen 4x8, but that doesn't affect performance too much, and what you could end up doing is getting a Thunderbolt 10GbE adapter and using that instead, then daisy chaining your external SSDs off of that. For the 5th M.2 slot, you wouldn't be able to have the internal 10GbE adapter and it installed at the same time, but if you go the external USB4 adapter route, you just get one of the dozens of M.2 to PCIe adapters that exist and install that in the 2nd PCIe slot. 

Thanks

 

Because I have already three m.2 filled and not going to go back and replace all with 4tb drives.  I use one drive for OS and main programs, one for games, one for 3D programs project drive, and the forth on the board will be project drive for video editing/photoshop etc. 5th will be for storage or any future uses I may have.

 

My 2nd 5.0x4 PCIEx16 slot is covered by my 3090ti. 

 

The B650E-E only has 4 m.2 slots. The B650E-E only has USB 3 Gen 3 2x2 Type so no 40Gbs only 20Gbs but has the Thunderbolt header on the board. The X670E Crosshair only has 4 m.2 slots but comes with a 5.0 x4 m.2 add in card for a fifth drive.

[RONOTHAN##]

4 minutes ago, Tetras said:

The bottom full length PCI-E slot has 4 chipset lanes which could be used for an M.2, but since the use of M.2 slot 3 reverts the primary PCI-E to 8 lanes, that seems to suggest that the secondary PCI-E would only have 4 lanes left. Is that enough for a 10Gb adapter?

I should've written "For the 5th M.2 slot, you wouldn't be able to have the internal 10GbE adapter, the USB4 adapter, and it installed at the same time." You are correct that you can have a 10GbE and M.2 slot installed at the same time. 

 

1 minute ago, g335 said:

Because I have already three m.2 filled and not going to go back and replace all with 4tb drives.  I use one drive for OS and main programs, one for games, one for 3D programs project drive, and the forth on the board will be project drive for video editing/photoshop etc. 5th will be for storage or any future uses I may have.

I would like to remind you that SATA SSDs exist as well, and you can install 4 of them in your system. They're still plenty fast for most uses. Besides, replacing those SSDs and migrating all the data over is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a $650 motherboard. 

 

2 minutes ago, g335 said:

The X670E Crosshair only has 4 m.2 slots but comes with a 5.0 x4 m.2 add in card for a fifth drive.

Yeah, and you can buy that same M.2 adapter to use on the B650E-E Strix, the only problem is that the slot you'd use it in is covered by your 3090 Ti. 

 

4 minutes ago, g335 said:

The B650E-E only has USB 3 Gen 3 2x2 Type so no 40Gbs only 20Gbs but has the Thunderbolt header on the board.

I know, you've said that a couple times. That's what the Thunderbolt adapter is for, then you can daisy chain a 10GbE Thunderbolt adapter to use at the same time. 

[g335]

7 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I should've written "For the 5th M.2 slot, you wouldn't be able to have the internal 10GbE adapter, the USB4 adapter, and it installed at the same time." You are correct that you can have a 10GbE and M.2 slot installed at the same time. 

 

I would like to remind you that SATA SSDs exist as well, and you can install 4 of them in your system. They're still plenty fast for most uses. Besides, replacing those SSDs and migrating all the data over is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a $650 motherboard. 

 

Yeah, and you can buy that same M.2 adapter to use on the B650E-E Strix, the only problem is that the slot you'd use it in is covered by your 3090 Ti. 

 

I know, you've said that a couple times. That's what the Thunderbolt adapter is for, then you can daisy chain a 10GbE Thunderbolt adapter to use at the same time. 

Well prices for 4tb m.2  drives are about 300 dollars apiece. The X670E Crosshair is only about 600 dollars.   I think the 5.0x4 PCIE x16 slots on the Crosshair are spaced further apart than on the B650E-E.   So I can buy a add on card that holds a m.2 drive and is a 10Gb lan?  So can I use the PCIE 4.0 x16 slot for the m.2 add on card on the B650E-E?   Can I connect 10Gb lan to the USB 3 Gen 3 2x2 Type C port on the computer?

[RONOTHAN##]

21 minutes ago, g335 said:

Well prices for 4tb m.2  drives are about 300 dollars apiece.

Closer to $200 last I checked. 

 

25 minutes ago, g335 said:

So I can buy a add on card that holds a m.2 drive and is a 10Gb lan?

You can buy one that is either, I don't believe there's a combination of them. 

 

26 minutes ago, g335 said:

So can I use the PCIE 4.0 x16 slot for the m.2 add on card on the B650E-E?

Yes. 

 

26 minutes ago, g335 said:

Can I connect 10Gb lan to the USB 3 Gen 3 2x2 Type C port on the computer?

Theoretically yes, though as far as I know none of them actually exist. You can find 5GbE adapters that fit into those USB 3 ports, however, and I see no reason why you couldn't aggregate two of those together, effectively getting 10GbE (I'm not gonna say this for sure since I'm not great at networking). 

[Blue4130]

1 hour ago, RONOTHAN## said:

 

 

You can buy one that is either, I don't believe there's a combination of them.

Qnap makes one. Can't say anything about it. Never used it and it seems pretty niche.

 

https://www.amazon.com/QNAP-QM2-2P410G1T-Expansion-Enhance-Performance/dp/B09VK4XDRS