ProArt X670E Creator Wi-Fi - Should YOU RUSH To Buy It?

[@miketooantuh]

As someone who games and also does audio-engineering on the side with an Apollo Twin Duo, a board like this is just a dream, especially since the same features on a gaming mobo are considerably more expensive. Not just justifying the price by any means, which is still high, but it's better than having to default to a crosshair hero/extreme. Thanks for the review!

[@A2KMedia]

Thanks!

[@dandanthesoundman7607]

Yea, this is exactly why I have decided to buy this MB as I too am a bit of a gamer and have a sound engineering background with an Apollo Twin Quad. Have you bought one of these yet? I bought the Asus Thunderbolt 4 PCIe to try to use with my Apollo, but didn't have any luck at all. So, that's why this is my plan b, I really hope having the USB4 / TB3 ports built-in will get it working:).

[@ChrisQuitsReality]

Very nice coverage got my like! I'm currently trying to decide between this board or the Asus Strix Gaming X670e-e would you happen to have any advice for me? This pc would basically be an all around workhorse, 4k editing, streaming, VR gameplay on high resolution headsets while recording etc. I'm pairing with a 4090 and a 7950x and plan to use it for the next 4-5 years. I don't need the 10gb lan but the usb 4.0 is appealing especially since I don't know what VR peripherals may use it down the line. One the other hand the Strix Gaming has a better power delivery and looks a bit more robust. I don't plan on overclocking past what the system can automatically do so think the 16+2 power phase of the ProArt should be enough. What's ur opinion what would you run with?

[@A2KMedia]

hey, thanks! If you don't plan to OC then either one will deliver great results so I would just pick based on the ports you require. Also 10Gbit lan may not be needed now but if you say this will be for 4-5 years then I suspect you may want it down the line

[@ChrisQuitsReality]

@@A2KMedia good call thanks for advice!

[@hangway2]

@@ChrisQuitsReality i have the same doubt. I think the ProArt has USB 4 ports, that Strix doesn't. I probably will pick the ProArt.

[@TokyoQuaSaR]

My biggest dislike is the lack of audio IOs, especially optical. For the rest it's pretty much perfect.

[@johnpaulbacon8320]

Thanks for this well done review. I'm gonna stay with my AM4 build with the X570 version of the board for a little while yet. But when I upgrade ; i will be switching to the X670 mb.

[@masterkek4243]

Hey, I just wanted to let everyone reading this know that according to the official operating manual the m.2_3 slot ONLY runs in x2 when the pciex16_3 slot is in use. Since almost nobody runs anything in that bottom slot, and I would wager even the most extreme users only use the middle slot for extra devices like video cards, it is effectively an x4 slot under most conditions.

[@rare6499]

Also means it’s one of the few boards that will run 4 Nvme without impacting the bandwidth of main or second PCIE slot! Pretty much every other Asus board (except the x670e-f and the hero?) will see a downgrade of PCIE slot #1 with 4x Nvme

[@kelvinjinxd]

Ironically, asus proart b650-creator got pciex4 on the last pcie slot. I would rather choose the b650 version.

[@TokyoQuaSaR]

If you actually don't want to disturb too much the airflow for your GPU, it makes more sense to use the bottom slot imo. In my own case I might end up buying an audio card with optical output like the Asus Xonar SE, which is cheap and low profile, and put it on this bottom slot. On the other hand I will definitely not use 4 M.2 slots so I am totally fine with the 4th one being halved.

[@TokyoQuaSaR]

@@kelvinjinxd What do you mean ? It's the same here, last PCIe slot is x4 as well.

[@TokyoQuaSaR]

@@kelvinjinxd Oh ok, I didn't get it that way, I thought it was x2 only when the last M.2 was in use. In anyway in my case it's perfectly fine since I would use it for audio which is x1.

[@GUY-on-Earth]

You know what I love about Pro Art x670e videos? Is how they never fail to include gaming benchmarks or go over the specifics in that area. I get that it’s a creators board but it’s still also a gaming mobo. How does it stand with gaming? I would love more info on ram speeds, cpu temps, etc. Also wish this motherboard had a backplate the proart is way to expensive to not come with one, I’m not trying to scrape the back of my mobo and lose out on $600 because Asus couldn’t slap at least $50 on the back

[@A2KMedia]

We use it in our gaming benchmarking and not had any issues there

[@Rosenrot1st]

@@A2KMedia Everything is pure marketing, let's all be honest. After all it doesn't matter what's written on the MB, Gaming, Creator, Extreme, Master, or whatever. All the motherboards in such class have absolute same performance.

[@SirHackaL0t.]

I installed mine last night. Couldn’t get the flashback to work. The lack of led lighting is a bonus for me. One thing you didn’t mention was how heavy the board is. Wow.

[@raised8471]

3:47 That is incorrect, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 supports up to 20Gb/s

[@A2KMedia]

Sorry if I made the mistake. 3.2 gen 2x2 is indeed 20Gbps

[@ChatGTA345]

Nice review! Btw it does include a temperature sensor header, which is a nice touch (though still lacks a flow header). I do plan on using an Aqua temp/flow sensor though, since their hardware and software is superior to any other vendor.

[@IndieAuthorX]

This board was egregiously expensive, but I was stuck with an 11 year old computer and I did not want my new PC to be an old dead end gen. So I had to pay the premium price for AMD 7000. With bios updates, it mostly works well but more work is definitely needed because the PC still restarts on itself once a week without warning, which is unacceptable and very much seems to be bios and/or memory related. Bios updates did improve stability dramatically. This platform is fast, everything about it is fast. Other than the aforementioned stability issue, this platform is so much better than I was expecting. When a 4090 finally arrives its going to be bonkers.

[@blkspade23]

I wouldn't call this board egregiously expensive. It's effectively a $300 board that has 10Gbe and thunderbolt added, which would be an additional $200 as add-in cards. At $500 it's the same MSRP as the 2 X570 boards that had those same features. I have the Asrock X570 Creator in my main system and I'm using all the PCIe slots in my X470 system, with one being dedicated to a 10Gbe NIC. While I don't like that there are less slots on these, it's made up for by the amount of IO options.

[@NateWheeler1]

Are you still having weekly restart issues?

[@IndieAuthorX]

@@NateWheeler1 no, not for a long time. Basically not since this comment. I needed a BIOS update.

[@NateWheeler1]

@@IndieAuthorX Thank you for the update. Think I'll pick one up. Can't find a MB with better options for the price.

[@mptrader1620]

Almost exactly the same situation for me. Would prefer to wait for some of the bugs to worked out but upgrading to old gen to do so is a waste of money imo so I will be doing as you did.

[@datriaxsondor590]

Curious if anyone has measured between the two primary pci-e slots? My 4090 is 76mm wide, and I'm getting the impression it will overtake the second slot. Can anyone attest to whether that wide of a card would overlap the second slot? Optical audio would be nice, but... I'd consider it a trade off for 10Gbe and 2x USB 4.0. I'd just drop a dedicated soundcard in there to restore optical, myself.

[@ChrisM541]

03:36 "I'm hoping that the next generation of graphics cards will not use the full 16 lanes but go down to 8, which will provide us with a lot more options in a board like this" --> All graphics cards from the last few generations will happily run on x8 or even x4. A 16 lane PCIe5 operating at x8 is IDENTICAL to PCIE4 at x16 A 16 lane PCIe4 operating at x8 is IDENTICAL to PCIE3 at x16 Here's the interesting part - all current non-pro gfx cards (even a 4090) will run at virtually full speed even at PCIe3 x16...a PCIe5 x8 in the Asus ProArt board seen here is waaaay overkill even for a 4090 !!! It'll take a couple of more GPU gens before this significantly changes. Stick any GPU into one slot the stick an SSD expander card into the other (adding 2 more nvme m.2 SSD's this way...and at PCIE5 x4 each). It's a damn pity AMD killed enthusiast (non pro) Threadripper when they eol'd TRX40. If AMD were still supporting enthusiasts, you'd have the option of a system with as much expandability and PCIe lanes as you could ever need. It is more expensive but the idea is that the manufacturer supports it with new CPU's similar to AM4, so it's something you keep for some years. I bought into AMD's infamous "long term support promise" for TRX40 but that unfortunately turned out to be the mother of all broken promises. However, the system is still excellent and has PCIE4 all round (even PCIE4 is overkill for today's gpu's). It's just a damn pity I can't upgrade to Zen3/3D or now Zen4 (thank you AMD).

[@A2KMedia]

that would only be true if 4090 was pcie gen 5 compatible, which it is not. since it is pcie gen4 - wth 8 lanes you will actually lose pefomance. 3090 on the other hand will be mostly fine

[@ChrisM541]

@@A2KMedia Which is why Nvidia (and AMD) stuck to PCIe4 interfaces for the new cards - the data throughput doesn't warrant the more expensive PCIe5 interface. My point is, PCIe3 x16 is MORE than enough for today's dGPU's, thus, you have a lot of options with a PCIe5 motherboard - providing the board doesn't gimp other features too much when populating those interfaces (which takes us to TRX40 as a PCIe4 comparison).

[@CreateNowSleepLater]

If you use that Display Port in, what does it support? The manual says 8K@60hz. Can it run 4k@120hz? Also I use a Wacom Cintiq which can send data and video over USBC (DP Alt Mode). I would assume 40 GBS is plenty to handle 4K@120hz plus the signal data. Can you just use the iGPU over USB4 withouth the Display Port cable from your dGPU?

[@zodiacman6802]

from what I've read its basically their Thunderbolt 4 solution. Without using the DPin USB4 is only 20ghz, not 40. I may be mistaken though! Many contradicting sources of information.

[@jean-pascaleudeseboua9952]

Please between the Asus pro art b650 and the pro art x670e which is better

[@0nnix]

i wonder will gigabyte gaming box with 4090 run in those type c that has similar characteristic to thunderbolt

[@klimbimbel6446]

Im @work and watching without audio :D Yeah ... Thats lame - i know ... What is with the VRM temperatures with the "design" heatsink? Thank you soooo much

[@ViciousXUSMC]

This board is in my top 2, but I ended up ordering the MSI Meg Ace. I think the Ace is overpriced, the EATX is going to make fit more difficult, but the fact it has 3 usabled PCI slots when the last slot on the ProArt is pretty much useless and also shares bandwidth with one of your M2 slots puts the Ace ahead. The biggest benefit for ProArt is USB4 and its price. But there is really not a whole lot of USB4 devices, external SSD sure but you can use 6x Internal SSD on the Ace out of the box with its included expander card. External graphics? Sure but who would need/want that? And again you could just slot a GPU in the last slot of the Ace and it would have better throughput than USB 4 speeds. Ace seems to be doing much better with RAM compatibility and has an overall better bios and bundled OEM software for monitoring and control. I just feel the Ace is overpriced honestly, but when your going to spend this much. It's hard to justify saving just a little when it has such potential impacts for long term usage.

[@SaschaRobitzki]

Are you happy with the MSI one?

[@jerryfaircloth]

I could not go with the ACE due to the EATX size, my case just cant do it. I also needed the thunderbolt 4 ports to use the same monitors I already have and to daisy chain. So this was my only choice. It should get here next week and I will know more about how stable it is. Got a good deal on cyber monday for $438. Hopefully it works out well for us both. :)

[@Razeri]

How many PCB layers it have?

[@droneforfun5384]

Great review. Very basic question: can I connect some of the high speed USB connections to the front of my case? Or are they only accessable from the back of the PC. I would like to have one of that USB4 connected to my USB-C connector on my case. Possible?

[@Anon-cv7ru]

I think the board only have USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 20Gbps to connect to the front panel Type-C port.... which supports QC 3.0 60W if you connect an additional PCIE 6pin connector to it also.. which I didn't as my PSU dun have an extra one, so it runs at 27W charging.. which is pointless since I dun charge anything using the PC front panel... my GPU 7900XTX uses all 3 x 8pin PCI-E.

[@TokyoQuaSaR]

@6:27 I think you are very pessimistic, I am actually hopeful AM5 will be kept for the whole life of DDR5, that is until around 2030. Remember AMD has used AM4 for all his DDR4 platforms and DDR4 platforms have been released for 8 years (if you include Intel's). Even though Intel has made it different, normally CPU sockets are supposed to change only when the memory interface changes.

[@EdwardSadzewicz]

Excellent job! I'm in the creator side and rarely game. Really like it with the USB4. I noticed that you showed a USB4 header. This is great is I can get it connected to a front I/O port. The use of the DP input is interesting. I'm wondering about this if there is an integrated GPU. I just need two monitors until I finally buy the super wide monitor. If i have a graphics card, would not be for gaming, so the DP input can get a line from it. Thanks for any feedback!

[@A2KMedia]

If you use Windows I would just connect monitors to the graphics card like normal unless you have to use USB type c due to funky monitor

[@EdwardSadzewicz]

Roger that. I would rather use the USB4 for high speed transfers. I keep a backup image for all my data in a water/fire proof safe. So high speed is huge plus! Thanks!@@A2KMedia

[@FoxSock]

Hello! Im a bit confused about the bifurcation between the two main pcie x16 slots, is it forced? Or can both slots run in x16 mode when in use? Thanks!

[@A2KMedia]

hey, the board does not support 32 lanes so they would be split to 8x2

[@madd5]

motherboard creators have gone insane with those prices. I won't be upgrading LOL

[@A2KMedia]

the prices are high thats for sure. what do you use?

[@mc_jimmy]

@A2K I can't find an answer to this question anywhere, does this Motherboard support a 4090? I'm looking to build a full new system and checking compatibility for everything but I can't tell of this Motherboard supports 4000 series???

[@mc_jimmy]

@naactuallyji I'm always just super careful about specing peices for systems because I hate ordering stuff and having to send it back cause it isn't compatible😭. I assumed it was since it was an am5 platform but always good to check

[@mc_jimmy]

@@NajiSibin I was planning on getting an O11 or something similar to hold a 4090, I'm still having trouble figuring out which 4090 I want

[@investmentresources7556]

Tried Asus tech support but still don't feel I have a clear answer to my questions. Does using USB share bandwidth with anything else on this board, specifically the NVMe drives? I need to use pro-audio converters that work through USB and want to make sure the NVMe drives that go through the chipset aren't affected. I know using the third PCIE slot will cut the third NVMe to x2, but it's not clear to me what happens if I'm using USB at the same time. The video did say SATA doesn't share bandwidth with anything else, which was helpful because that was another question I had. Second question: What's the best heatsink option for NVMe drives? Should the motherboard heatsinks be used, the heatsinks that come with drives themselves, or will this board allow using both at same time? Thanks in advance for your reply.

[@Dylanear]

The splitting of the bandwidth should be by PCIe lanes. Using USB ports won't take bandwith from an NVMEe device, unless perhaps the USB port is on an add in card in that third PCIe slot and then it might take some bandwidth from that one shared M.2 slot, but even then I don't think you'd notice that. On board USB controllers will have their own path of PCIe lanes. USB ports on shared controllers with other devices on the secondary or tertiary chipsets may share with other devices on those chips, but that's the same as on all chipsets Intel or AMD, I don't think that should cause any issues. This is surely going to be a screaming fast board and shouldn't be slowing down any attached devices. At least not more than any other motherboards in this class out now. You can't use any other M.2 heatsinks with the motherboard heatsinks, the MB heatsinks won't attach with anything more than some heat tape between them and the M.2 drive. You might be able to find a way to attach a heatsink on TOP of the MB heatsink, but I don't see much point. keep in mind some M.2 drives that have heatsink and non heatsink options have a heatsink on the heatsink version that is not meant to be removed. So, for all practical purposes, choose one or the other. Never heard of anyone trying to use more than one M.2 heatsink one on top of the other and wouldn't recommend it. Just keep airflow moving well through your case and use the MB or the one included with the SSD and keep it simple. It'll be fine.

[@investmentresources7556]

@@Dylanear Thanks for responding.

[@DJTURNCUT]

Just want to jump in now, before YT kicks in an Ad, and i cant find this again. 1/ You are now, the 2nd KZbinr ive subscribed to, in regards to "Creators." (also Tech Notice) However!! I feel, you may become my No1 for this part of my life (important part.) SO, ill spend tonight watching all your content (relevant.) As, you seem to me? Just more "Noob" friendly as opposed to "Tech" (both have relevance, but, yeah. (Its just a me thing, im not commenting to influence, this a private online social comment!) Id like to see what more i can learn.

[@A2KMedia]

Hey, thanks for subscribing and for taking the time to leave a comment! I'm glad you find our content helpful and that you're excited to dive in and watch more. Thanks for the support!

[@dylanbrown3869]

Could you use the display port in to connect to a nas video output for quick switching to it to monitor it

[@soran2290]

Support Thunderbolt?

[@dandanthesoundman7607]

Well, I'm getting one this Saturday and will be testing it. From what I understand, it has USB4 ports, which is equivalent to Thunderbolt 3 specs.

[@mysteriousstranger9496]

Hey, I am currently speccing up an upgrade for my all round system. I am still running a 4790k from 2013/2014? I am a professional music producer, but my work also includes graphic design, video production and I've gotten in to doing my own 3d assets. Plus enjoy playing games of course. I'm going for another top of the line system for longevity. A 7950x with a 4090, but I'm pretty stumped on which mobo to pick. Any suggestions based on my info? Also could you inform me as to what sort of features and specification I ought to be concerned with regarding which mobo to buy? Thanks.

[@A2KMedia]

heya, I think in many ways I covered that in the video. For professionals it is important to be thinking of storage and backups, and you should try to keep it away from your PC that's why I would choose networking as priority.

[@mysteriousstranger9496]

@@A2KMedia Apologies I did watch your video in full, I just still find the mobo somewhat esoteric between all the versions. Also, I do manual backups to external drives via USB. So the 10g LAN is a wasted feature on me.

[@fulldivemedia]

@@mysteriousstranger9496 you cn go with asus rog strix x670e-e gaming or msi meg x670e ace

[@Micromation]

I can't believe $500+ motherboard doesn't come with Q-code display... what the hell Asus? Surely it wasn't THAT expensive to add, no? Also, no Thunderbolt header? WHY? :X Also lack of quick CMOS reset is a travesty - it's not a gaming feature, it was a standard on X99 workstation motherboards O.O Do you perhaps have ability to try out and test whether USB4 ports on this motherboard support PCIe passthrough? The Intel controller used has such capability, question is whether there are required connections on the motherboard to support this feature. I really need desktop supporting eGPU...

[@blkspade23]

Well you'd only need the TB header if you needed to get TB through an Add-in card. The USB4 on these is functionally TB4 without having gone through Intel's validation.

[@Micromation]

@@blkspade23 we will see if that's the case (whether PCIe tunneling is possible) - I'm waiting for restock at the end of December (this is still IMHO the best AM5 mobo from usability standpoint) and will try eGPU with it once it arrives.

[@Micromation]

@@blkspade23 also I would like to have more bandwidth. 2 ports on the motherboard go to the same chip meaning both share PCIe 4x lane. With header you could get more ports with full bandwidth.

[@ChrisM541]

​@@Micromation It's a damn pity AMD killed enthusiast Threadripper when they eol'd TRX40. If AMD were still supporting enthusiasts, you'd have the option of a system with as much expandability and PCIe lanes as you could ever need. It is more expensive but the idea is that the manufacturer supports it with new CPU's similar to AM4, so it's something you keep for some years. I bought into AMD's infamous "long term support promise" for TRX40 but that unfortunately turned out to be the mother of all broken promises. However, the system is still excellent and has PCIE4 all round (even PCIE4 is overkill for today's gpu's). It's just a damn pity I can't upgrade to Zen3/3D or now Zen4 (thank you AMD).

[@rare6499]

I agree - it looks like Asus now use the Q-Code as one of the ‘features’ on its higher end boards. It should be on every board. And given the specs and price point and use case of the ProArt it makes NO sense not to have it. Honestly I’m getting annoyed at a lot of manufacturers especially Asus for their skimping of basic features like this on seriously expensive motherboards. The cost of adding a q-code and cmos reset switch would be pennies to a company like Asus.

[@jeremiahMndy]

Does this MOBO have NVlink built in, kinda like the ASUS X399-E?

[@A2KMedia]

Not anymore. Multiple gpus together in consumer market is officially dead

[@vargasjal2232]

Nice MB, I would like it, but Its like around 600+$ in Sweden. Just insane prices, the MB does not do anything crazy special to be so much higher price then other MB. Just bullshit price.

[@michaelrudert3406]

Hopefully the shown USB ports delivers 40Gbit/s. This have to be proven, cause in the PCGH review of the sister model the crosshair x670E, they delivered only 10Gbit/s.! It#s the same architechture....

[@LordRythorn]

Does it fit a 2.5 pcie slot gpu without interfering with the second pcie slot? I got the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, and the motherboard's manual doesn't tell us too much about...

[@A2KMedia]

2.5 slot no problem. I currently have founders edition 4090 in it and 2nd pcie slot is open but anything in there at this point would be right against the bottom of 4090.

[@LordRythorn]

@@A2KMedia Thanks, that was very helpful, your GPU is gigantic. I like the ProArt X670E Creator, does it have isolated audio signal for the onboard audio like the most msi motherboards? I will be using the onboard audio for gaming so as to get low output latency, and in the other hand I will be using my external dedicated DAC for just music. I own a good pair of KRK Rokit active monitor speakers, but in conjuction with an old motherboard I get hissing sound background noise using the onboard audio output jacks.

[@A2KMedia]

Sorry I am not sure. To be fair I use external dac and can't see a reason to use internal audio

[@LordRythorn]

@@A2KMedia There is a bit slightly out of sync audio lag using the current connection setup: Dedicated PC audio card ASUS XONAR ESSENCE STX > SPDIF output 5 feet cable > cambridge audio Dacmagic plus > stereo balanced output 5 feet cable > KRK monitor speakers balanced input. I believe all the external DACs get latency to audio due to audio processing load. I found that sound travel fasters with the current setup: PC onboard audio or dedicated audio card analog output 5 feet cable > directly connected to monitor speakers.

[@A2KMedia]

Oh, I use usb external dac and never really had any delays.

[@kenneth_jensen]

So this is not good for a water-cooled system? 🙂

[@SaschaRobitzki]

Why?

[@kenneth_jensen]

@@SaschaRobitzki it is missing a flow sensor. It will not shut down, if flow is not there anymore.

[@SaschaRobitzki]

@@kenneth_jensen Do you know an alternative board at that price point that has it?

[@dutchmilk]

own one, there are some odd stability issues at times but it is still worth the price (still on the high side)

[@samwisegamgee1739]

This or Hero?

[@A2KMedia]

depends what you need. if you need high speed networking then this if you just game then hero

[@samwisegamgee1739]

@@A2KMedia Won't vrm be a bottleneck for the next processors on proart?

[@A2KMedia]

Nah. All mid to high end boards are overbuilt

[@christopherfarrell-artist3557]

I am a professional artist, I know if a marketing department wants to charge me more just by putting the words 'ProArt' in their product line, I know it's to be avoided.

[@CreateNowSleepLater]

The board itself has sound features and most of these x650E boards are the same price. It does skimp out on some thing like SPDIF, Cmos reset, Qcode etc.

[@nostriluu]

The look is hokey. It's art deco. Why? If it's a real design board, then function dictates form. Things that need to be accessed should be easy to access, everything else should disappear. I am putting it in an XTIA case, which makes it very visible, so it's slightly embarassing, though not nearly as bad as a gaming board. Otherwise a nice board. I got the B650 version. PCIE-5 alots are probably not going to be important for a few years, I think you can get better 10GBe via an add-in card, and it has an SPDIF connection, which is important for direct audio connection if your setup doesn't support USB audio. Wifi isn't included, but it has a 2230 slot so I am adding a Intel ax210 kit. For about half the price, I hope it works out well, since I want it to last through upgrades.

[@thatdiyguyraymondmonk1225]

What they forgot with a board like this is that creators are creative and don’t all want a boring black board! I love what it offers, but I immediately start thinking, if I will need to paint some of the parts, my current system is purple and white…