I feel like ASUS had to come up with accessories to somehow justify the insane pricing of this board but somehow still managed to underdeliver ... I believe you have done a very good job describing the issues with this board , utlimately it boils down to this : For that sort of money i shouldn't have to go through complications , everything should be perfect yet it's far from being the case here .

Always love how you get down to the nitty gritty and don't sugar coat things. Rough start for AM5 itx so far lol

This channel is getting better and better!

Thanks for the detailed review. Helped me make my decision. :)

Definitely interested to hear your thoughts on the MSI board!

I have the exact same board. For me the four lights takes me 18s, 6s, 6s, and 8s. (39.33s combined to be exact). I am definetely pissed that they removed HD Audio. I thought they only removed the audio jacks from the IO panel. The FPS card was no problem to me though. This is my first ever built and it's a A4 H2O. Cable routing was definitely time consuming but not hard at all. I did have to use clear CMOS twice and bios flashback once. I was leaving my board in my case and just poked the pins with a small knife. That did not bother me too much as a first time builder, but your mileage may vary. I liked the feature of the Hive thing, and the thing I wanted most was a dp in for thunderbolt pass-through. I would've definitely bought the msi unify itx if it still exists... That's honestly too sad and left ROG with zero competition. I also had a lot of problems with boot and the motherboard sometimes wants to be stuck at any part of the boot and I had to manuelly force reboot as well. By the way I also experienced a lot of problem with Intels 2.5g network card driver. The new driver from ASUS did resolve it for me. Overall I still enjoyed the features of this board. Just didn't want to invest in intel plattforms since I knew I want to upgrade the CPU from i7/R7 to the next Gen i9/R7 in the future. Future Bios update are still kind of needed to conclude this board as a Recommendation from my side.

I totally agree with your take on the Asus board, I have buyer's remorse.

For post times, after the first memory training time if you disable XMP/EXPO it boots much quicker. You can then re-enable EXPO in software via ryzen master and it still keeps the faster boot times. For BIOS updating, you can actually update the BIOS from any usb port using the old method (i use the one on top of my case) from within the EZflash utility located in your bios as long as you can post - you only need to use the hive if you are using its built in new bios flasher that doesn't require posting.

I hooked up reset button to clear cmos headers. 👍👍. I don’t need onboard audio. Board run crazy good. Make sure to set memory 1:1 timing , I forget the setting name.

kudos for checking coil whine (my asus 650e-i had coil whine only when idling in Windows or moving in mouse, not during bios or load)

My noob mistake on this board was using a pci-3 gen three riser cable with my new build. I blamed this board for boot failures... but it was just the riser. For the memory learning boot time, I dont notice them after making the bois changes recommended. (Gskill 32g 6000-30).

same problems and headache for the equivalent intel version (rog strix z790-i). drove me up the wall with memory training and boot times. too late to return cause my build took a while longer than the return period amd combined with waiting for custom psu cables. fortunately the intel version has a clear cmos button on the back. i hope asus watches and reads these comments. there is no excuse considering their current pricing. my next itx build for my sim rig will be with an msi board instead.

Hey, are you going to be testing the new Cooler Master V SFX Platinum PSU's? Have been waiting to the pull the trigger and buy one, as I am worried about issues with the high power density, noise, etc.

The latest BIOS update 1616, for me, has dramatically reduced the boot time and I'm able to update my BIOS through any of the usb 2 ports on the motherboard instead of the BIOS flashback on the Hive.

Really wish that this board could be as good as the dtx x570 board, that board is just insane with all those features, it could almost match the functionality of the x670 gene, for the price I think we should get a board at that level.

Bought it myself. Wasn't really a big fan the volume nob only controlling the volume on that specific headphone jack on the hive. Would be nice if I can control the volume on that nob on other sound devices. The 64gb of DDR5 RAM I bought didn't work with the motherboard. Needed it to work asap so I had to run by Best Buy and buy some random DDR5 sticks, hoping that it'll work. It did and had to update the bios and manually install all chipset drivers one by one, ie wifi, ethernet, Bluetooth, etc. I carry my pc in a duffle bag a lot, and the fps card, where I have my sata drives and front io header connected, gets loose and disconnects. I added tape around it, but it still gets loose some time to time and have to reach around and push it in. And I think those were pretty much all the complaints I have to it that wasn't mentioned.

what ddr5 do you use? i have asus b650e and with context restore on auto, it boots up as fast as x570.

Looking to build a high end itx rig in the Cooler Master NR200P Max case using either the AMD 7800X3D or 7950X3D with an AMD 6950xt or 7900xt, which motherboard would you suggest I check out? Ive heard several boards have super loud fans on them?

Generally speaking I really like ASUS motherboards, but I don't think I'd ever own that one. I had a devil of a time finding an adequate motherboard for my (Intel 12th/13th gen based) m-ITX build, though (and I mean a REALLY hard time), but I eventually chose ASRock's H670M-ITX/ax: it has all the features + connectivity I need (I'm not too concerned with aesthetics, although it *does* look a lot better in person than online), the price point was right, and it has none of the apparent deltas of the ASUS X670E-I.

Could you please review the Asus B650E-I in a NR200P with noucta air cooler?

I’ve got this board and share many of the same concerns about it, especially how often I’ve wondered “Is this memory training or do I need to reseat the RAM?” One other issue I have is that the USB-C cable for the hive seems to be unique. If you ever lose that cable, who knows if the Hive will work with a replacement, especially when the C end of the cable is strangely oriented and not reversible like other C cables. So many odd decisions on this board.

I can't help but notice that at the boot-up timestamp it seems like you're using the NH-L12S. Will it fit this board?

Does the new x670i have the same spacing from the top to the ram clips as the x570i? Wondering if will fit with the slim rad setup like the x570i does.

So, do you need a driver/software running in the background in windows to use this "hive" sound system?

What other AM5 ITX boards have a temp sensor header? I know the Asus B650E-I does. But any others?

i am about to do a new build and was thinking of this board, but now i think not lol. will check out other boards,

Wouldn't Asus B650E-I be preferrable over Asus X670E since it avoids most of the Asus X670E issues while keeping the vast majority of the features? Essentially everything but USB 4 support? And the MSI MPG B650I seems seriously cut down in comparison - Asus B650E-I has 1x more USB-C, SPDIF out, better power delivery and PCIE5 for both x16 slot & 1x m.2. The black IO shield on the Asus boards also makes your system run 2-3 degrees cooler (chromax style) vs the off white shield on the MSI board.

My main quesiton I cant seem to get an answer to, can its m.2 heatsink handle a gen 5 SSD? I know its a dual setup (1 gen 5, 1 gen 4)

Being a big fan of ASUS, I have the same qualms about this MB. The ROG B650E-i looks to be a better option IMO.

It is wild how hard it is to find ASUS Motherboards at a reasonable price or not thrashed ... even the previous series.

I have a Gigabyte Z790 (DDR4) and have similar issue with memory training, where it takes a very long time to start after power has been interupted. Unplugging all USB things seems to help for some reason (sometimes). Water temp sensors seem to be gone from all mid-range boards this generation, not just Asus. There's not much they can do to make the $800 boards better so they make the $300 boards worse.

Hi, I'm wondering if this mobo can fit my Deepcool Assassin 4s cooler, can you please tell me?

if i primarily use a wireless bluetooth headset do I really need to use the Hive?

thanks for this review can you run a egpu test with this board i cannot find any info if it will work even though it has usb4 support and is the only am5 itx MB that has those ports. I plane on putting this in a velka 3 with a 7800X3D and a 3060 aero ect.. as a super portable workstation that i can hook up to a egpu dock for more power when needed might even skip the 3060 if it works and get buy on the igpu when on the road for emulation low tier gaming watching movies ect.. then dock when i get back home for hi resolution thanks in advance

When is the MSI board review coming :) ?

If that hive could have a power button functionality it would be in my opinion a lot more usefull. Anyway I'm very intersted in geting that board for upcomming 7000x3d cpu, but now You planed doubts in my head...

Which M.2 is gen 5 lower or upper slot?

7600 or 12600k /13400f for game dev build? (blender, Unity3D, visual studio) for pricing it's same about 600us : (z690itx+12600k +32gb ram =600us) or (msi mpg B650i +7600+32gb of ram =600us)...

Will probably get the gigabyte 650i for the 7950x3d. Seems almost to good. 3 nvme and all the other jazz I care about. Good on Asus for their matx board tho!

I have this motherboard and have had zero issues and do NOT experience boots half this long (longest is maybe 20 seconds after changing a component). I also have the button set to sleep so waking takes about 3 seconds.

I have the asrock b650e pg-itx and it's perfect.

does the assassin 4s fit on this mobo? thanks

So the 2 storage slots is confusing me just a little. One is a gen 4 and one is a gen 5 right? So you cannot just get 2 samsung 990 pro and use both, can only use 1 and other slot needs to be a different one? I was planning on this motherboard to pair with a 7900 xtx and a 7950x3d, but more and more I look it just doesn't seem to be the move, unrelated to my confusion with the storage of course. Edit: Hit send before adding that I can never find anything related to current usage based on if anything has been fixed from updates either so as is that is another reason why it seems like a poor choice

I had Asus B650E-I for about a week and I am almost happy with it. Very clean look, decent vrm, better nvme radiator, spdif-out port for external DAC. The biggest issue so far is CPU cooler output cannot be attached to any temperature reading (t-sensor as well). So I am forced to use it as pump header in my custum loop. But use motherboard pump header for fans. While bios booting pump header get 100% pwm signal so my tiny SFF case sounds like a jet :(

This board was an immediate no-go for me when they announced it and showed that hive nonsense. The fps2 card is equally terrible. If I was in the market to build in the next few months, I would be considering the Asus B650E-I over this. It still has a PCIE Gen 5 slot (for whatever that's worth), no hive, apparently no fps2 card, and a relatively lower price tag (but still too expensive). My current setup is still more than sufficient though, and I really don't like the current state of the DDR5 memory training issues you mentioned. Plus, after dealing with some unfixable USB dropout issues on my last AM4 board, I'm still wary of similar annoyances on AM5.

I wanted this board, but the lack of onboard audio is ridiculous. Having an external dongle is just stupid. I moved down to B650E itx. Still has the pcie gen 5 nvme support on the main slot so I'm good to upgrade my storage down the road.

Can you put a audio interface like a scarlett into the motherboard without using the audio interface that comes with the motherboard?

One of the disappointments of current gen motherboards, both AMD and Intel, is the lack of USB4 in mid to budget options. Even the Asus B650E-i only has one 20GB/s USB-C, which is a $300 motherboard. Same for MSI B650i Edge, one 20GB/s USB-C, for $250. This Asus has two 40GB/s USB-C ports but it is a $450 highend board. Many mini PCs from Miniforum, Beelink, have two or more USB4/Thunderbolt 4 ports now. I just don't understand why any motherboard less than $400 will have no USB4/Thunderbolt 4 connection(I know there are a few exceptions, but very limited).

In 2013 I had an Asus mITX board with 6 SATA ports and now we're down to 2. This is a weird board, it is like a Porsche GT3, pay more for less!

Asus should have just made an updated DTX board! Plenty of room to properly include all the things enthusiasts want!!

i have this board and the VRM fan is spinig very loud at start while the mamory training

B650e-i over this then? I want USB4 so I was leaning towards this board sadly.

To everyone - do you think the B650/X670 chipset will be the only one for AM5? What are the odds that future chipsets will be released considering how overbuilt they currently are. I imagine only likely the inclusion of PCIe Gen 5 (NB: and USB 4) will be the upsell.

That's why I still use only X570 mother boards no problems

the hive makes this a no go

Yeah I regret getting the ASUS X670E ITX I should have gone with B650i Aorus Ultra instead. Would have saved me money and headaches.

What's the m-ATX equivalent like?

I bought this mobo few months ago to feel AM5 platform, there was no b650e-i available at that time. If you like ASUS, then B650e-i is far better choice. otherwise, go MSI instead.

What is the temperature of the chipset?

So here's the thing: I'm apparently stuck with this board if I want to cram like-a-lot-of-punch (7950x/3D) into something like-really-small (S4 Mini) and connect it to a TB4 monitor (Studio Display). Don't ask why... Also, my build hypothesis is contingent on not using the vertical daughter board for the second M.2 drive and containing the second Promontory 21 chip as that tower is consuming too much space. Another long story. I can totally live without a second M.2 but have not found a satisfying answer (or a board specific block diagram) to which ports or I/O I lose without it (LAN would be traumatic, no Wifi/ BT would suck). Question: Can anyone pull the vertical daughter board and confirm which ports and devices go offline without the second Promontory Chip? Rumour has it that the board boots just fine without it... much appreciated and a great service to science!

Is there Coil Whine?

That's not an NR200P case ;(

I've started to move away from Asus however, MSI needs constant BIOS updates.

More expensive than a 7900x...

Wtf? 50s+ boot time? What is this? 1998 HDD era?

the b650e itx version of this board is much better for the price, still overpriced tho

u have so huge room why build so tiny PC?

Nothing but errors for me> This is the last Asus product that I purchase.

First!

B650e itx has coil whine so that means this overpriced shit is the only viable option lol