MSI MEG X870E Ace Max Motherboard Review

The ACE series of motherboards from MSI have been some of the favorites of mine having considerably more bench time than any other board.  By bench time I am speaking about when I use previous review hardware for other projects and reviews from basic heatsink testing to overclocking and GPU testing.  About a year ago I was able to review the MSI MEG Z890 ACE and found it to be an exceptional product offering excellent out of box performance and a great deal of included features.

In this review we will be looking at the MSI MEG X870E ACE Max gaming motherboard.  The MSI MEG line of motherboards are the highest tier product in each segment offering the most features and the promise for better performance.  This board offers premium aesthetics with sleek black metal covers and heatsinks with polished gold accents to evoke a sense of prestige.

Motherboard color choices usually stem from brand recognition to help identify and separate quality brands in the marketplace.  While Black and Gold is an amazing combo I think we all can agree that this was done to appease a cultural request without offending everyone else.

• Supports AMD Ryzen™ 9000 / 8000 / 7000 Series Desktop Processors
• Supports DDR5 Memory, Dual Channel DDR5 9000+ MT/s (OC)
• Ultra Performance: 18+2+1 Duet Rail Power System, 110A SPS, OC Engine, dual 8-pin CPU power connectors, Core Boost, Memory Boost, 8-layer PCB made by 2oz thickened copper and server-grade level material.
• Frozr Guard: Wavy fin design, Direct Touch Cross Heat-pipe, MOSFET Baseplate, 9W/mK thermal pads, Double-Sided M.2 Shield Frozr and Frozr AI software ensure the utmost performance with low temperature.
• EZ DIY: 64MB BIOS ROM, EZ PCIe Release, EZ Magnetic M.2 Shield Frozr II, EZ M.2 Clip II, EZ Antenna and EZ Conn-Design.
• Ultra Connect: 10G LAN + 5G LAN, Full-speed Wi-Fi 7 Solution and USB4 - The latest solution for professional and multimedia use, delivering secure, stable, and high-speed networking and data transmission.
• Lightning Fast Game Experience: PCIe 5.0 slots, Onboard 5x M.2 Connectors with Lightning Gen 5 Solution, Front USB 20G with 60W USB Power Delivery.
• Audio Boost 5 HD: Ultimate audio solution with latest premium ALC4082 audio processor combining ESS audio DAC and amplifier deliver the breathtaking experience.

Chipset: AMD X870E

CPU: Supports AMD Ryzen™ 9000/ 8000/ 7000 Series Desktop Processors

Socket: AM5

Memory: 4x DDR5 UDIMM, Maximum Memory Capacity 256GB
Memory Support DDR5 9000 - 5600 (OC) MT/s / 5600 - 4800 (JEDEC) MT/s
Ryzen™ 9000 Series Processors max. overclocking frequency:

• 1DPC 1R Max speed up to 8400+ MT/s
  • 1DPC 2R Max speed up to 6400+ MT/s
  • 2DPC 1R Max speed up to 6400+ MT/s
  • 2DPC 2R Max speed up to 6400+ MT/s

Supports AMD POR Speed and JEDEC Speed
Supports Memory Overclocking and AMD EXPO™
Supports Dual-Channel mode
Supports Non-ECC, Un-buffered memory
Supports CUDIMM, Clock Driver bypass mode only*

* The DIMM slots on this motherboard only have single-sided latches.
** CUDIMM support and POR boot frequency may vary by CPU series, with manual overclocking available after boot. Certain CPUs may fail to boot, but future BIOS updates will improve compatibility.

*** Memory compatibility and supported speeds can vary depending on the CPU and memory configuration. For detailed information, please refer to the Memory Compatibility List available on the product’s Support page or visit https://www.msi.com/support/

Onboard Graphics:

• 1x HDMI - Support HDMI 2.1 FRL, maximum resolution of 8K 60Hz*
• 2x Type-C DisplayPort - USB4 port, supporting DisplayPort 1.4 with HBR3 over USB Type-C, maximum resolution of 4K@120Hz*

* Available only on processors featuring integrated graphics.
** Graphics specifications may vary depending on the CPU installed.

Slot:

• 2x PCI-E x16 slot
• 1x PCI-E x4 slot

PCI_E1 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x16 (From CPU)
PCI_E2 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x8 (From CPU)
PCI_E3 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x4 (From CPU)
PCI_E1 & PCI_E2 slots

• Supports up to PCIe 5.0 x16/ x0 or x8/ x8 (For Ryzen™ 9000/ 7000 Series processors)
• Supports up to PCIe 4.0 x8/ x0 (For Ryzen™ 8700/ 8600/ 8400 Series processors)
• Supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4/ x0 (For Ryzen™ 8500/ 8300 Series processors)

* PCI_E3 & M.2_1 share the bandwidth. M.2_1 will run at x2 speed when installing device in the PCI_E3 slot. You can switch PCI_E3 slot to x4 in the BIOS, but this will disable the M.2_1 slot.
** Please refer to the PCIe configuration table in the manual for more details.

Audio: Realtek ALC4082 Codec + ESS9219Q Combo DAC/HPA 7.1-Channel USB High-Performance Audio Supports S/PDIF output Supports up to 32-Bit/384 kHz playback on front panel

Storage: 5x M.2

• 2_1 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices
• 2_2 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices
• 2_3 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 22110/2280 devices
• 2_4 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices
• 2_5 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 2280 devices
• 4x SATA 6G

M.2_1:

• Supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 (For Ryzen™ 9000/ 7000 Series processors)
• Supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 (For Ryzen™ 8000 Series processors)

M.2_2:

• Supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 (For Ryzen™ 9000/ 7000 Series processors)
• Supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 (For Ryzen™ 8700/ 8600/ 8400 Series processors)

* The M2_2 slot will be unavailable when using Ryzen™ 8500/ 8300 Series processors.
** M.2_1 & PCI_E3 share the bandwidth. M.2_1 will run at x2 speed when installing device in the PCI_E3 slot. You can switch M.2_1 slot to x4 in the BIOS, but this will disable the PCI_E3 slot.
*** USB 40Gbps Type-C ports & M2_2 share the bandwidth. USB 40Gbps Type-C ports will run at x2 speed when installing device in the M2_2 slot. You can switch M.2_2 to x4 in the BIOS, but this will disable the USB 40Gbps Type-C ports.

**** Please refer to the manual for M.2 SSD heatsink restrictions.

RAID: Supports RAID 0, RAID 1 and Raid 10 for SATA and M.2 NVMe storage devices

USB:

• 4x USB 2.0 (Front)
• 4x USB 5Gbps Type A (Front)
• 9x USB 10Gbps Type A (Rear)
• 2x USB 10Gbps Type C (Rear)
• 1x USB 20Gbps Type C (Front)
• 2x USB 40Gbps Type C (Rear)

* USB 40Gbps Type-C ports on the back panel only run PCIe 4.0 x2 when install Ryzen™ 8500/ 8300 Series processors.
* USB 40Gbps Type-C ports & M2_2 share the bandwidth. USB 40Gbps Type-C ports will run at x2 speed when installing device in the M2_2 slot. You can switch M.2_2 to x4 in the BIOS, but this will disable the USB 40Gbps Type-C ports.

LAN: 1x Marvell® AQC113CS 10Gbps LAN - 1x Realtek 8126 5Gbps LAN

Internal IO:

• 1x Power Connector(ATX_PWR)
• 2x Power Connector(CPU_PWR)
• 1x Power Connector(PCIE_PWR 8pin)
• 1x Front Type-C Quick Charge Connector(PD_PWR1)
• 1x CPU Fan
• 2x Combo Fan (Pump_Sys Fan)
• 5x System Fan
• 1x EZ Conn-header (JAF_2)
• 2x Front Panel (JFP)
• 1x Chassis Intrusion (JCI)
• 1x Water Flow connector
• 1x Front Audio (JAUD)
• 2x Thermal Sensor connectors(T_SEN)
• 1x Tuning Controller connector(JDASH)
• 3x Addressable V2 RGB LED connector (JARGB_V2)
• 1x RGB LED connector(JRGB)
• 1x TPM pin header(Support TPM 2.0)
• V-check point
• 2x Direct OC Jumper (JBCLK)
• 4x USB 2.0 ports
• 4x USB 5Gbps Type A ports
• 1x USB 20Gbps Type C ports

WIRELESS LAN & BLUETOOTH: Wi-Fi 7 Solution The Wireless module is pre-installed in the M.2 (Key-E) slot Supports MU-MIMO TX/RX, 2.4GHz/ 5GHz/ 6GHz* (320MHz) up to 5.8Gbps Supports 802.11 a/ b/ g/ n/ ac/ ax/ be Supports Bluetooth® 5.4**, MLO, 4KQAM

* 6GHz band support may depend on every country’s regulations and Wi-Fi 7 will be ready in Windows 11 SV3.
** The Bluetooth version may be updated, please refer to the Wi-Fi chipset vendor's website for details. Bluetooth 5.4 support schedule depends on MSFT Windows 11 plan.

LED FEATURE:

• 1x EZ Digi-Debug LED
• 4x EZ Debug LED
• 1x EZ Memory Detection LED
• 1x EZ LED Control switch
• BACK PANEL PORTS:
• USB 10Gbps (Type-A)
• Flash BIOS Button
• Clear CMOS Button
• Smart Button
• 10G LAN
• 5G LAN
• Wi-Fi / Bluetooth
• HD Audio Connectors
• HDMI 2.1 Port
• USB 40Gbps (Type-C)
• USB 10Gbps (Type-C)
• USB 10Gbps (Type-A)
• Optical S/PDIF-Out

OPERATING SYSTEM: Support for Windows 11 64-bit