MSI MEG X670E ACE Motherboard Review - Unboxing and Overview

A look at an AMD X670E motherboard from MSI, including the unboxing and detailed overview
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[@StevesHardware]

Part 2 is here! Teardown and IC Analysis video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZq0YoSOepyfa5Y Written version of both: steveshardware.com/2022/10/08/msi-meg-x670e-ace-motherboard-review-overview-and-ic-analysis/

[@dangingerich2559]

Wow. This board is about perfect for my needs. It has everything I'm looking for. I'm not planning on getting a Ryzen 7000 CPU, as I have a 5800X3D, but I'll keep this thing in mind when the Zen 5 chips come out.

[@GAMarine137]

Hope your channel grows. A bit disappointed they didn't include a paper manual. I find those very handy.

[@cymoler6614]

This was a terrific walkthru of this board. Thank you! I’d love to see the save treatment for an the Asus 670 Hero board which is the same price.

[@StevesHardware]

Thanks, I'll send them an email

[@brianlead494]

I just wanted to congratulate you on your content and your dedication/ commitment towards your knowledge of the clear explanation of the product you represent, you make life easier for people like me, I’m planning on purchasing a MSI ACE motherboard and just based off your experience, it was a no brainer for me, again THANK YOU for making life easy 👌🏿👏🏿👏🏿💯💯💯💪🏿👏🏿👑

[@martinplacher7704]

Great work, part 2 please...focusing on BIOS would be valued.

[@StevesHardware]

Thanks! Been using this board to review the CPUs and OC, do you have specific questions?

[@martinplacher7704]

@@StevesHardware Nothing specific, just thought it might be beneficial for rookie HW geeks... ;) But thanks for asking, personally I am interesting about this motherboard, unfortunately here in EU price is in stratosphere.

[@derekbishop4891]

I love the MSI MEG ACE mobo layout. I started with X570, X570S, now I have the X670E coming today, I cant wait although I do feel like I overspent, maybe buyers remorse, as I was planning on getting the X670E Carbon instead. But I do feel better after watching this video. I'm taking my time with this build and waiting on the 7000X3D models and RDNA3 as there really isn't much of an upgrade to price point, from my 5950X/6900XT. Surprised it didn't come with a paper manual, I find that a little disappointing.

[@derekbishop4891]

@An Equal you do make some valid points, but the reason why I bought it now was so I didn’t have to buy everything at once, I’m just buying piece by piece when I have the money, I know the risk on the possible DOA mobo and it was a calculated thought months ago when I decided to go this way. Hoping MSI doesn’t screw me here, Iv never had an issue with them so far..

[@derekbishop4891]

@An Equal So I actually took your advice and returned it today lol. The E-ATX is just too massive and too much for the build I want to do. Great mobo but Im going to go with the carbon.

[@MrAcuta73]

Recently bought this board to run a 7900X3D. This was a great guided tour! No paper user manual is crap. Don't know if I just had bad luck or what, but M-Flash refused to work on my board. NOTHING I did would flash BIOS. Went back and forth with MSI, they were no help at all. I ended up corrupting BOTH BIOS RoMs. Thought I had a bricked board, but I used the BIOS recovery button and flashed both RoMs to the X3D update without a single issue. So I guess I will never use M-Flash for future updates (there will be many), I will just use the recovery option. Kinda dumb, but it worked, so w/e.

[@StevesHardware]

Glad you got it working! I also just used this board with the latest win11 media creation tool, and Microsoft in there very loving way made it very hard to install it without internet. So during install you'll need to launch cmd when prompted for internet (shift+f10) and type oobe\bypassnro. The system will restart and let you continue aetup without internet. WIN11 doesn't have a driver for the wifi or lan controller on this board.

[@MrAcuta73]

@@StevesHardware Thanks for the heads-up! Never a dull moment building new machines.

[@purpasmart_4831]

Honestly if I didn't have a 5800X3D with my msi X570S carbon wifi motherboard, I would get this motherboard or the carbon. I have been using Msi motherboards since the z77 days, I will pretty much always stick with them.

[@puciohenzap891]

Ouch, extra 6 pin for that adapter card seems super inconvenient if you run sleeved cables, that's another bunch of wires to neatly tuck away. I wonder why they didn't go with using PCI-E slot's up to 75W power capacity since the card uses a physical x16 anyway.

[@stoneangier9093]

@StevesHardware I’m going to buy a 4090 for this motherboard, but I also want 2 PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSDs, and the 4090 is a x16 PCIe connector. So am I able to plug the 4090 into the top PCIe slot, one gen 5 SSD into the lightning M.2 slot, and then the second gen 5 SSD into the expansion card, plugged in to the x4 PCIe slot at the bottom of the motherboard? I understand that the M.2 expansion card is a x8 connector, but if only 4 of those lanes are being used by one x4 5.0 SSD, does it really matter?

[@huntertainment720]

This is an excellent review + overview! I've got a Samsung 980 PRO SSD that I want to use as my main boot drive - I want to get a Gen 5 SSD later on, though. Should I install the 980 in the Gen 5 slot to the right of the RAM and swap it out later (so it's faster), or just use one of the other slots to preserve the thermal pads?

[@ChrisM541]

(the bottom PCIe slot) 10:02 "So this is for something else...eh...maybe a capture card...I'm sure there's some PCIe single slotted additional card too" --> That bottom slot is a PCIe 5 x4 slot !!! PCIe 4 x 8 PCIe 3 x16 Take a think about that !!! With a PCIe riser cable (and the right case) you can put a GPU into that slot, freeing up the primary PCIe 5 x15 slot for a 4 x NVME Gen 5 SSD expander card !!!! Even today's top GPU's RARELY max a PCIe 3 x16 slot in gaming...!!!

[@StevesHardware]

That bandwidth is thing very true, but it is electrically x4, so while it does have that higher bandwidth equivalence to larger lower gen slots, the number of physical connections are limited to support x4 lanes.

[@ChrisM541]

@@StevesHardware All current AMD GPU's (not sure about Nvidia) can use a x16 slot that's wired at x4, such as the bottom one here. It's the bandwidth that's crucial, but we have plenty to spare with a Gen 5 slot. We do need updated testing for this now that we're at Gen 5. Previous GPU testing showed that GPU throughput was, for gaming, still rarely maxed on a PCIe 3 x16. It's an option, that's all, but one that does free up that primary Gen 5 x16 slot for an additional 4 NVME drives through expander card bifurcation.

[@Methodical2]

Nice detailed overview.

[@Niflheimrr_EL]

This board has a blazing white light on the bottom for the bios switch that can not be turned off and ruins rgb in a dark setting. Also the on board power and reset stay white light.

[@onedeadcat]

This is the ONLY X670E motherboard I know that assigns CPU lanes to all 3 PCIE slots plus 1 M.2 slot. If you are using a PCIE SSD like the Optane 900P and also use 2 GPUs, this is the only motherboard that can support these devices without needing to draw bandwidth from the chipset.

[@Sl0th150]

Hello, is there no cmos battery on this motherboard?

[@BonesoulTV]

where is the cmos battery?

[@ChrisM541]

Fantastic review, thanks for the upload. An excellent MB, but damn....it's waaaaay overpriced. However, if you're keeping it for 3-4 years (or more) then ok...ish.

[@schnepie2957]

Thanks Steve! But I was wondering what you think of the quality of the capacitors on the board? Unless I'm mistaken, you don't talk about them in the review. Moreover, regarding the M.2 extension card, I suppose that it requires PCIe 5.0 x8 when fitted with 2 drives, but if you use only 1 PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSD on it, would it work properly if inserted into the PCIe 5.0 x4 slot? And would it be possible to create a raid drive by combining a M.2 SSD in the onboard M.2_1 PCIe 5.0 x4 + a drive on the extension card?

[@ickyendeavors4179]

The card that comes with it only has lanes for x4. No matter if you put it in an x8 slot, it couldn't use the x8, as it doesn't have x8 on the card.

[@JamesAColemanFan]

Stupid question, so the cpu has 20 pci ex lanes? 16-0-4 8-8-0. But what are the 4 nvme slots on the board ? Pci ex 5.0 off the chipset or 4.0? Do they disable any Sata ports if all 4 pci slots are in use? I think you mention it in the video but not sure I understood correctly

[@StevesHardware]

All the PCI-E 5.0 is from the CPU, which has 28 PCI-E 5.0 lanes, four reserved for the chipset link. So MSI allocated, x16 to the top slot, x4 to the bottom slot, and x4 for the M.2 slot. The PCI-E layout layout is x16/x0/x4 or x8/x8/x4.

[@WilliamChoochootrain]

Any chance u could show or tell us what the boot splash screen of this board looks like? Is it a gold dragon logo like the z690 ace or something else?

[@StevesHardware]

Yea, I'm actually working on doing the second part of this video right now, but I will check again this weekend. If I remember correctly, it's the MSI shield with perhaps a dragon on it. Half the time it goes from video post to windows so fast you miss it.

[@WilliamChoochootrain]

@@StevesHardware icic, can't wait!

[@generalgrevous1984]

Thanks for the vid. Very informative. But will adding a M.2 in a Gen 4 slot cut down PCIe lanes on the M.2 Gen 5?

[@StevesHardware]

Do you mean the add in card (AIC) or do you mean the PCI-E 5.0 m.2 slot? All the PCI-E 5.0 slots and pcie 5.0 M.2 are wired to the CPU, and all the M.2 x4 pcie 4.0 slots are wired to the chipset. The only slot bandwidth switching on the board is between the first and second pci-e x16 slots, so they work as x16/x0 or x8/x8. I think you could run 6x m.2 on this motherboard; three at x4 pcie 4.0 and three at pcie 5.0 (with the AIC), it's mentioned in their marketing. But you would lose x8 from the top x16 slot.

[@generalgrevous1984]

@@StevesHardware Guess I wasn't clear. It's all Greek to me. Thanks

[@StevesHardware]

@@generalgrevous1984 sorry about that, like @JoeyRKDP said the short answer is no.

[@generalgrevous1984]

@JoeyRKDP Thanks. That cleared it up for me. ☺👍

[@generalgrevous1984]

@@StevesHardware Thanks Steve.

[@masonconnor7356]

hey uhh a pin on one of the usb 3.0 sockets are bent

[@StevesHardware]

Thanks for the heads up, I will look into that!

[@sebastianmurawski8960]

When is the MSI MEG Z790 ACE review?

[@marcocervesato115]

Should have gone with the dimm .2 card instead of that abomination with multiple cables to connect

[@sblantipodi]

what about the PCIe5 m.2 slot? can the heatsink handle a PCIe5 SSD like the T705 from Crucial?

[@juliangrinblat955]

Thanks for the vid!! what sizes of nvme does the expansion card support? Any chance it supports 25110? haha

[@StevesHardware]

Actually, yea both of them are compatible with 25110.

[@juliangrinblat955]

oh wow that's great to know 😄 thanks!

[@StevesHardware]

@@juliangrinblat955 yea I had to dig through their marketing by googling the model number, MS-4472, the revision of the included card is 3.1

[@juliangrinblat955]

Ah, that's a bit disappointing but yeah, was very surprised to hear it supported 25mm drives

[@StevesHardware]

@JoeyRKDP it says 25110 here www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-X670-motherboards-and-AMD-Ryzen--7000-Series-processors-are-finally-here--140900

[@axi6ne8us]

What has this board got over the Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master?

[@keithd5181]

US Engrish to English translation: dool = dual. anyways = anway. stickers = labels. zee = zed.

[@EKclick]

Ok so what’s the biggest difference between this and the x670e godlike?

[@josetejeda5627]

which would be the cheapest 2tb m.2 I can buy to use for storage? using a 2tb WDSSn770 for windows and games

[@GuestOfGregoryHouse]

Will you be looking at the z790 version?

[@StevesHardware]

I will look into it :)

[@Paradigmfusion]

Ive been thinking about grabbing this, theres one concern I have, MSI suggests you put the NVME card in slot 2, however I have a 4 slot GPU so this isnt possible, will it work ok in slot 3 WITHOUT knocking the top slot into 8x?

[@StevesHardware]

Yes, the last slot doesn't share bandwidth with the top slot.

[@StevesHardware]

But, I will add if you are using the card, it might have trouble with more than one m.2 drive in that last pcie slot since it's only x4. Are all your m.2 slots filled?

[@Paradigmfusion]

@@StevesHardware on my current board yes they are all filled. I was wanting to do a pair of arrays, 1 with a pair of 980 Pro 1tb 4.0 drives and the other with a trio of 2tb 970 Plus 3.0 drives.

[@StevesHardware]

@xerino1 you might have to use the second slot, because that's a x8 card and it doesn't have a multiplexer on it to reduce required bandwidth.

[@StevesHardware]

@xerino1 and I just doubled checked as I'm using the board now for somthing I'll put up tomorrow

[@generalgrevous1984]

One more question if you don't mind. Which of the 3 usb-3 ports is best for VR?

[@StevesHardware]

type-C or type-A?

[@generalgrevous1984]

@@StevesHardware Type-C

[@Tigerxx89]

Does it come with the nine screws to mount it? I don’t see them in the box?

[@StevesHardware]

I've only seen it once(xpower to maintain a silver theme), cases typically come with standoffs and screws to mount the board.

[@AntonelloM]

no thunderbolt?

[@ers-tj4to]

Does this board have RGB? Yeah I’m an RGB freak. Sue me lol!😂

[@StevesHardware]

Yea it has RGBs built into the chipset heatsink, io cover, and bottom m.2 slot heatsink, an rgb header, and two addressable rgb headers. It also has a switch to turn them off lol

[@redbullsauberpetronas]

​@@StevesHardwareis there anyway to control it without downloadings MSI's software?

[@generalgrevous1984]

I just realized, "Magnets and electronics do not get along.' Probably best MSI didn't add those magnets.

[@zkilla4611]

Only for very old spinning HDDs. It won't affect m.2

[@StevesHardware]

Yea they wont be doing anything really, and plus a lot of other components on this motherboard and outside of it generate magnetic fields. For instance, the simplest example is the right hand rule, which is how clamp meters measure current going through a wire.

[@generalgrevous1984]

@@zkilla4611 🙂👍

[@generalgrevous1984]

@@StevesHardware That's a relief. Just put MSI back on top for potential board. Cheers.

[@generalgrevous1984]

@@StevesHardware Bit the bullet and bought the board. Very nice! But finding RAM isn't going to be easy. Probably have to wait.