ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero WiFi Motherboard

The ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero stands as the definitive AMD X870E chipset flagship, meticulously engineered for enthusiasts demanding extreme performance from Ryzen 9000 series processors on the AM5 platform. This ATX motherboard features a massive 20+2+2 power stage VRM and revolutionary NitroPath DRAM Technology, pushing DDR5 memory limits while ensuring rock-solid signal integrity for record-breaking overclocks. Its elite connectivity suite is headlined by ultra-fast WiFi 7, dual USB4 40Gbps ports, and high-speed 5Gb/2.5Gb ethernet, alongside dual PCIe 5.0 x16 slots and five M.2 slots for massive storage bandwidth. Designed with a stealthy, dark aesthetic and enhanced by Polymo Lighting, the Dark Hero also incorporates DIY-friendly innovations like the PCIe Slot Q-Release Slim, M.2 Q-Release, and AI-driven optimisations, including AI Overclocking, AI Cooling II, and AI Networking II, to provide a high-bandwidth, intelligent foundation for the world's most powerful gaming and workstation builds.

Warning: This product contains a button battery
- If swallowed, a lithium battery can cause severe or fatal injuries with 2 hours.
- Keep batteries out of reach of children.
- If you think batteries may have been swallowed or placed inside any of the body, seek immediate medical attention.

Features

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ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero

Clad in a sleek, understated black design, the ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero delivers refined performance for high-end builds, featuring a robust 20+2+2 power stage design, support for high-speed DDR5 memory, and the latest PCIe® 5.0 connectivity. It offers five onboard M.2 SSD slots with heatsinks, including a 3D VC M.2 heatsink for advanced thermal performance, along with Realtek 10G Ethernet and USB4® ports for next-generation connectivity. ASUS-exclusive AI technologies and Polymo Lighting II complete the platform, balancing intelligent tuning with a clean, premium aesthetic.

Extreme Power & Performance

• Dual Procool II Power Connectors
• 20(110A) + 2(110A) + 2(80A) Power Stages
• Expansion Slots
  2 x PCIe 5.0 x16 Slots
• AMD AM5 Socket
  For AMD Ryzen™ 9000 & 8000 & 7000 Series Desktop Processors
• DDR5, 4 X DIMM
  Max. 256GB
  Dual Channel
• 5 x M.2 Slots
  1 x M.2 22110 (PCIe 5.0 x4)
  1 x M.2 2280 (PCIe 5.0 x4)
  2 x M.2 2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4)
  1 x M.2 2230 (PCIe 4.0 x2)

Comprehensive Cooling

• Integrated I/O Cover & VRM Heatsinks
• Heatsinks for Five M.2 Slots
  Five M.2 Slots with Backplates and Thermal Pads
• Multiple 4-Pin PWM Fan Headers

Total Gaming Immersion

• I/O Zone Polymo Lighting II
• SupremeFX 7.1 ALC4082 Audio Codec
  ESS® ES9219 QUAD DAC
  120 dB SNR stereo playback output
  110 dB SNR recording input
  Gold-plated audio jacks
• Dolby Atmos
  3 x 3-Pin Addressable Gen2 RGB Headers

Full Connectivity

• 9 x USB 10Gbps Ports (6 X Type-a + 3 X USB Type-c®)
• BIOS Flashback™ Button
• Clear CMOS Button
• 1 x HDMI™ Port
• 2 x USB4® (40Gbps) Ports
• Realtek 5G Ethernet Port
• Realtek 10G Ethernet Port
• Wi-Fi 7
• Optical S/PDIF Out
• 2 x Gold-Plated Audio Jacks
• 1 x USB 20Gbps (USB Type-C® Front Panel Connector Supports QC4+)
• 1 x USB 20Gbps (USB Type-C® Front Panel Connector)
• 4 x Sata 6Gb/s
• 2 x USB 5Gbps Headers (Support 4 Additional USB 5Gbps Ports)

Performance

Overclocking

Dynamic OC Switcher

Dynamic OC Switcher maximises CPU performance by letting you set current and temperature thresholds to automatically switch between a manual overclock for heavy multithreaded workloads and Precision Boost Overdrive for single-threaded tasks. The latest Overclocking Load Guard has an enhanced instantaneous current protection mechanism to prevent users from experiencing system crashes during overclocking.

Example:

If a user sets thresholds for current and temperature as shown, once CPU current exceeds 35A, the manual overclock engages until the temperature reaches 80°. At all other times, Precision Boost Overdrive will be used.

Core Flex

Core Flex empowers you to smash limits farther than ever before by letting you control clock, power, and thermals in creative new ways.

In its simplest form, you can maximise base clock during lighter loads and set breakpoints to gradually reduce CPU core frequency as temperature or current increases. But the system is extremely adaptable, supporting multiple user-controlled functions that can manipulate power, current, and temperature limits independently so that you can bend CPU performance to your will.

Examples:

Base Clock

• For this CPU, the base clock (BCLK) can be stably increased to give an extra boost during lightly threaded workloads.
• At Level 1, the BCLK is set to 104, and it remains at that frequency until the current reaches 35A.
• Then the BCLK drops down to 102, and stays in that Level 2 range up until 55A.
• From that point on, the CPU is using most or all of its threads, so the BCLK scales back to the default 100.

EDC

• By managing the Electrical Design Current (EDC) in tandem with the total current, this CPU can gain extra performance for short, demanding bursts.
• During lightly threaded workloads, below 35A, the Level 1 EDC is set to a low value, in this case 60.
• As more cores are needed, the EDC is set to 120, which was found by this user to be a sweet spot for performance.
• Once the CPU passes 70A, it is in multi-threaded territory, where it was found that a high EDC of 250 gave optimal performance.

PPT

• In order to let the CPU cool off if its temperatures go too high, this user constrains the Package Power Target (PPT) when thermals increase. Specifically the short-term value (“Fast”) is used.
• Until the CPU reaches 70°, it can run at full performance, so 350W is set to give plenty of overhead.
• At that point, the power limit reduces to 220W, to let the CPU start reducing heat.
• If it is still under sustained load and keeps getting hotter, then a more stringent 165W PPT is set at 85°.

Asynchronous Clock

For next-level frequency flexibility, the ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero features a built-in clock generator that isolates CPU base clock from memory, PCIe, and the Infinity Fabric speed.

Drive CPU performance to its absolute brink while maintaining the stability of related clock domains.

Separate CPU BCLK from other domains for unfettered overclocking

PBO Enhancement

AMD Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) pushes the CPU current and voltage budget to opportunistically increase performance. By aggressively tuning the PBO parameters, AMD's algorithm can leverage the motherboard's robust power solution to ramp up performance even higher.

• EDC
• P