What qualifies as "budget" in the motherboard market is relative. Asus' TUF Gaming X870-Plus WiFi ($309.99) motherboards are budget-class for AMD's top-shelf X870 chipset, and, according to Asus these boards are “engineered with military-grade components, an upgraded power solution and comprehensive cooling system [, which] also undergo rigorous endurance testing to ensure they can handle conditions where others may fail.” While the modern TUF boards are a far cry from the wholly robust early-generation TUF boards with all of the physical armor, protections, and shrouds, it’s still further than most go. The TUF Gaming X870-Plus WiFi has everything the new X870 chipset provides: USB4 (via the CPU), PCIe 5.0 connectivity, and Wi-Fi 7 (via a third-party controller). On top of all that, the board has your usual fare of additional USB ports, M.2 sockets (four total), and DIY-friendly features like the PCIe Slot Q-Release, Asus' new M.2 latch, and the Q-Antenna/LED. This board is a fine X870 option—just watch out for a scarce two SATA ports, and prepare to pay a bit more than for some competing models.
X870E vs. X870: What's the Difference?
Before I begin, I'll lay out the differences between the X870E/X870 chipsets and the X670E/X670. In summary, the X870E and its dual-chipset configuration provide the same number of total PCIe lanes (44) and guarantee the boards will have PCIe 5.0 NVMe and 5.0 PCIe slots. Additionally, the updated chipset has baked-in USB4 support that gives 40Gbps bandwidth (double the bandwidth of USB 3.2 Gen 2x2) and video support for integrated graphics via DisplayPort through the USB4 Type-C ports.
The X870 differs from the X870E because only one chipset chip exists in the former (one Promotory 21 chip). This change reduces the total number of PCIe lanes to 36. You’ll still get PCIe 5.0 on the NVMe storage and primary PCIe slot, as well as USB4, but you lose some back-end bandwidth for USB ports and expansion. Still, 36 lanes are plenty for most users, but the number of PCIe lanes didn't shrink until the “B”-series chipsets in earlier generations. You won't see a big difference bandwidth/lane-wise, but both natively support the Zen 5-based AMD chips, whereas X670/X670E does not (but does if you flash the BIOS to a supported version).
Board Design: A Less Ostentatious TUF
The TUF Gaming X870-Plus sits on a black, eight-layer PCB with black heatsinks on any hot components. The VRM heatsinks have plenty of mass and surface area to cool the MOSFETs below effectively. The design element on top is large silver “TUF” branding with a matte finish. The primary M.2 socket uses a simple plate-style heatsink, while the two sockets in the middle of the board share a ribbed-style plate with the chipset. Asus has several features to make building and using your PC easier, but you’ll have to use tools to remove these M.2 heatsinks. You'll find more TUF branding on the chipset's EMI shield, which totally encapsulates the audio chip on five of six sides, covering the bottom left.
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The TUF Gaming has a single RGB lighting element underneath the board by the chipset. In the same area, you'll find a translucent part of the PCB illuminated from behind with the “TUF” branding. It won’t light up the room, but it gives off a neat glow inside your chassis. Overall, it’s an improvement compared with the X670E version. A neutral design theme will fit most build concepts well.
When discussing the board design, it's important to address Asus' heavy emphasis on AI features and what's actually going on with the boards that use them. To be clear, these Asus motherboards have no AI-accelerating hardware resident on them but rather use Asus-made algorithms leveraged by the connected processor to power these features. On a related note, AMD Ryzen 9000 Zen 5 CPUs do not have dedicated AI processing hardware on their dies.
CPU & Memory
Thanks to this board's native support, you don’t have to flash the BIOS to get any Ryzen 9000 series AMD processor to work (though you should update the BIOS to the latest version for best results). Additionally, this board supports any Zen 4/Ryzen 7000 series desktop CPUs and the Ryzen 8000 series APUs.
Memory support on this platform increased, and in the case of our TUF, it is listed up to DDR5-8000+(OC), which is around the average for a budget-friendly X870 board. The four slots are reinforced (SafeDIMM) and support up to 256GB, which is plenty for even the most hard-core home users. Securing the RAM in place is a single-sided mechanism that locks at the top/away from the PCIe slot (where you have room to lock or unlock).
The baseline kit I use for testing and gathering data, a Kingston 2x16GB DDR5-6000 set, and a Teamgroup DDR5-7200 kit, both worked by enabling the baked-in profile on the sticks. I tried a Klevv DDR5-8000 kit, and it ran the AIDA64 bandwidth benchmark but wasn’t stable enough to complete a stress test. (It’s done that across four X870/X870E boards now.) That kit isn’t on Asus' QVL list and is at the fastest supported speed, so I’m not surprised it wasn’t entirely stable out of the box. AMD’s sweet spot is still squarely along the 6,000-to-6,400 speeds (using 1:1 with UCLK).
If you’re into tweaking memory timings, you'll find plenty to adjust within the BIOS to get even more out of your system. One cool feature on this board is the Asus Enhanced Memory Profile (AEMP). This feature in the AI Overclocking part of the UEFI allows for automatic memory overclocking when the DDR5 memory lacks XMP or EXPO profiles. In other words, users often buy budget memory kits that are JEDEC-rated only, without XMP profiles (especially using boards like this). This feature automatically overclocks the RAM for you to increase performance.
Asus’ AiOC feature uses an integrated microcontroller to track telemetry (temperature and frequency) to judge the characteristics of your CPU and system. It continuously tracks those system stats and makes profile adjustments as needed. You won’t find a more advanced auto-overclocking feature on other boards. You can also overclock through PBO and Curve Optimizer and Shaper, giving users CPU-specific VF curve assessment so you know exactly how your CPU will boost.
Layout & Internal Connectors
Starting our tour in the top left corner, you'll find two eight-pin EPS connectors (only one is required) with sturdy pins to power the processor. Large VRM heatsinks surround the power leads with a ribbed surface for cooling the power delivery hiding below.
To the right of the top VRM heatsink, you'll find the first three (of eight) fan headers. Each header supports PWM and DC-controlled devices, with only one outputting up to 1A/12W. The W_PUMP+ header outputs 3A/36W, which is plenty for your custom loop and water pump. Control over these devices is handled through the BIOS or Asus' Armoury Crate utility under the Ai Cooling II umbrella, balancing noise and thermals with a single click.
Moving past the four DRAM slots to the edge of the board, you'll spot the Q-LEDs (troubleshoot boot issues) and the first (of three) 3-pin ARGB headers to add RGB lighting. Control over any integrated or attached RGBs is handled through the BIOS or Armoury Crate/Aura Sync software. Below is the 24-pin ATX connector for board power, a front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps) Type-C connector, and finally, a 19-pin front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) header.
Audio, Expansion, Storage & Rear I/O
The audio section is in its usual location at the bottom left side of the board. Although this is a budget X870 motherboard, the audio is centered around the last-gen flagship Realtek ALC1220P codec with a few yellow audio caps and the audio separation line. While I would like to see the 408x codecs used, most wouldn’t notice a difference between the 7.1 channel solutions, and the 1220P is a high-quality codec. Also worth a mention is the DTS audio suite, which includes presets and an EQ Curve for fine-tuning.
Two full-length PCIe slots sit in the middle of the board. The top slot connects through the CPU and runs up to PCIe 5.0 x16 speeds, regardless of what M.2 sockets are in use. Asus implemented its SafeSLOT technology to keep the connector attached to the board, while the PCIe Slot Q-Release feature keeps the card locked in place and allows easy access to unlock and remove.
Four M.2 sockets are mixed in and around the slots. From top to bottom, the board has two PCIe 5.0 x4 (CPU-connected) and two PCIe 4.0 slots (chipset-connected). The top three sockets support up to 80mm modules, while the bottom (not under a heatsink) supports up to 110mm devices. The TUF Gaming supports PCIe RAID 0/1/5/10 modes, while the two SATA ports support RAID 0/1 modes.
Several headers rest along the bottom edge of the board, including two additional USB 2.0 ports, three fan headers, front-panel audio, a COM port, a clear CMOS jumper, a 2-pin temperature-probe header, two 3-pin ARGB headers, and finally, the front-panel header. The two horizontally oriented SATA3 6Gbps ports sit on the right edge, past the chipset. The M.2 and SATA support RAID 0/1/5/10 modes for added speed, redundancy, or both. Asus' six total storage options should be enough for a wide range of buyers and uses, though people with more than two SATA-based storage options will need to do some soul-searching, purchase an add-in card, or choose a different motherboard with more ports.
The preinstalled I/O plate provides users with easy-to-read labels (black background with white text) on all the ports and plenty of connectivity. The 10 USB ports are as follows: two USB 4.0 (40Gbps) Type-C, three USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps), four USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps), and one USB 2.0 port (your BIOS Flashback port). The 2.5GbE port is on the top left, and the quick-connect Wi-Fi 7 connections are on the right. Video output is handled by either the HDMI or USB4 ports. The audio stack consists of five 3.5mm analog jacks (no S/PDIF), and finally, Asus included reset and BIOS Flashback buttons.
A Quick Tour of the UEFI BIOS & Utilities
The TUF Gaming X870-Plus WiFi’s UEFI matches the board’s color scheme with black and gold highlights along with white text and gold section headings. The X870 BIOS wasn’t changed much outside of adding any new options for the processor (think: a 105W TDP option, among others). It still starts in EZ Mode, which displays high-level system information, including CPU temperature and core voltage, DRAM status, fan profiles, and access to the Q-Fan functionality and EZ System Tuning.
Inside the advanced portion of the BIOS is the standard configuration with major headings across the top, including My Favorites (customizable by the user), Main, Ai Tweaker, Advanced, Monitor, Boot, Tools, and Exit. All the advanced functionality is in this much more comprehensive mode.
The Ai Tweaker section contains all the options to tweak and overclock your system. Here, you can adjust voltages, RAM speeds, and timings; you can also access CPU overclocking options, including the AI overclocking functions.
Several sub-headings sit inside the Advanced section, where you can tweak the CPU, chipset, USB, audio, and network functionality.
The monitoring section displays detailed information about temperatures, fan speeds, and voltage; it's also where you access the Q-Fan configuration to adjust your fan profiles. You'll find canned profiles and the ability to create and save custom fan curves, which is all I can ask for from the BIOS. Asus’ new Q-Dashboard is a unique BIOS page that displays hardware connections and their BIOS settings (speed/connectivity) to simplify system setup. On the page, if hardware is populating the slot, socket, or port, a green dot shows it’s active and shows details on the right when you click on it.
Asus’ BIOS is laid out logically and is easy to navigate. The X870 version has a full array of tweaks, including those to overclock RAM and the processor. It’s typically my favorite, as everything is easy to read, and the options are easy to find. It provides all the necessary selections, and my version (0607) was stable during my time with the board.
On the software side, Asus has its Armoury Crate, which houses several functions, including system tweaking, monitoring, and control over RGB lighting and fans. The application matches the ROG theme and is easy to work with. The first screenshot below shows the landing page, all the hardware it can control on our test system, and the functions (such as fan control and RGB).
Fan Expert 4 within Armoury Crate controls all your fans and water pumps connected to the 4-pin headers. You can adjust through four canned settings or customize each header with your custom curve(s). Within this framework, Asus also includes an eight-point fan gradient accessible through the UEFI or Fan Expert, which offers more granularity over fan control than competitors do.
The Aura Sync section controls all the RGB lighting. It includes several preset modes (static, breathing, color cycle, rainbow, starry night, and partition) that you can also tweak individually.
Asus’ software suites provide complete Windows-based software solutions for controlling almost anything. It is worth noting that I don’t see the Ai Suite 3 software to overclock the processor. It looks like any manual overclocking has to be done in the BIOS, or you can download the AMD Ryzen Master software and do it there. (Update, Oct. 22: Asus confirmed that Ai Suite 3 software has been retired. All overclocking is done in Armoury Crate and Ai OC, through the Turbo V software, or in Ryzen Master.)
Verdict: A TUF-Enough Board With Lots of DIY & Automation
Asus’ latest TUF motherboard improves upon the last generation with updated looks, more robust power delivery, and additional DIY-friendly features. Our only notable quibble with this board is the anemic plate heatsink on the primary PCIe 5.0 socket. While it’s true that most of those hot-running drives include a cooler or are compatible with one, we’d still like to see something more robust for PCIe 5.0, even at this price level. Sure, the audio solution is from the last generation, but it's a well-performing one and not the basic ALC897 we’re used to seeing, so kudos to Asus on that.
The competition has plenty of options around the $300 price bracket. The ASRock X870 Riptide WiFi sits at $279.99, followed by the Gigabyte X870 Aorus Elite WiFi7 at $289.99 (the "ice" version is the same price), and the MSI X870 Tomahawk WiFi at $299.99. Aside from aesthetic differences, the biggest draw for these other X870 boards could be the four SATA ports versus the two on the TUF Gaming, how the PCIe lanes are split up, or even the audio codec. (ASRock has the latest-gen flagship, for example.) At the time of writing, ASRock, Gigabyte, and MSI all provided rebates, which also slides the value proposition in their favor.
The TUF Gaming X870-Plus WiFi is undoubtedly an upgrade from the X670E version, but only users new to the platform, upgraders from the B650 series, or folks who want or need the latest and greatest should be in line to get this (or any) X870/X870E board. If you don’t need those features, the X670/X670E and B650 boards support Zen 5 and will be easier on the wallet, even if you’ll need to update the BIOS first. Still, for a bit more than $300, it’s a well-equipped option among budget X870 boards, and while the price is higher than the competition, the TUF's DIY-friendly features and automation add value for many users. If you’re in the market for a budget X870 board, it should be on your shortlist.
[Editors' Note: This review was updated on Oct. 22 to correct the number of M.2 slots and add detail on overclocking and other software-based features.]
The Asus TUF Gaming X870-Plus WiFi is a worthwhile-value X870 AMD motherboard. It brings native Zen 5 support, new looks, the latest connectivity, and several DIY-friendly and AI features for easier use.
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About Joe Shields
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