Whereas AMD’s top-of-the-range X670E chipset for AM5 motherboards provides expandability by permitting daisy-chaining of the chipsets, it’s quite onerous to construct a Mini-ITX motherboard that includes this dual-chip core logic. However it seems to be like Asus has discovered an answer: its ROG Strix X670E-I motherboard for AMD Ryzen 7000-series processors locations the second chipset chip (Promontory 21) on an add-on PCIe card, as proven in a picture revealed by Uniko’s {Hardware}.
One of many peculiarities of AMD’s newest 600-series chipsets is that B650E and B650 depend on a single Promontory 21 chip, whereas the I/O-rich X670E and X670 daisy chains one other Promontory 21 chip utilizing a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface so as to add extra PCIe lanes, USB ports, and different enter/output interfaces. However the second Promontory 21 chip does not must be put in on the motherboard itself. Asus, for instance, installs it on a particular PCIe 4.0 x4 add-on card that permits a further M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 slot and I/O controllers.
By utilizing the dual-chip X670E chipset and a further Promontory 21 chip, Asus frees up PCIe lanes of the first X670E platform controller hub (PCH) for Intel’s JHL8540 controller that permits two USB 4 Kind-C ports with a 40 Gbps throughput in addition to DisplayPort help (the chip connects to PCH utilizing a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, so the utmost uncooked bandwidth is about 3.938 GB/s in each instructions), a Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.2 adapter, a 2.5GbE controller, and a number of USB ports.
Since AMD’s Promontory 21 chip absolutely helps I/O virtualization options like IOMMU, utilizing it to attach a PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD to the host guarantees predictable efficiency for each the drive and peripherals linked to the second Promontory 21 PCH.
In whole, the Asus ROG Strix X670E-I helps two M.2 slots (one with a PCIe 5.0 x4, one other with a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface), two SATA ports (utilizing one other bundled add-on card), two USB4 Kind-C connectors, one USB 3.2 Gen2 Kind-C port, six USB 3.2 Gen 1 Kind-C connectors, and 5 USB 2.0 ports. Additionally, the unit has a 2.5 GbE (enabled by the Intel I225-V controller), and a complicated audio subsystem powered by the Realtek ALC4050 codec and ESS Sabre 9260Q DAC.
Talking of the audio subsystem, it’s essential to notice that to completely benefit from it one might want to use the corporate’s bundled ROG Strix Hive adapter which additionally has two USB ports.
Apparently, Asus shouldn’t be the one firm that determined to put a Promontory 21 on an add-in card. Not too long ago, Level1Techs demonstrated ASRock’s X670 Xpansion Equipment card for the corporate’s B650 motherboards, remodeling them into X670 mainboards. The cardboard has a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface that carries the Promontory 21 chip so as to add two M.2 slots, one USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Kind-C port, three USB 3.2 Gen1 Kind-A connectors, two SATA connectors, and a 10GbE port (utilizing the Marvell AQtion AQC113C controller).
The growth board requires UEFI help, so it can’t be put in on platforms whose firmware doesn’t help it. Level21Techs put in it right into a customized ASRock B650 LiveMixer motherboard with an acceptable UEFI, so the X670 Xpansion Equipment card labored high quality. Whereas the cardboard’s PCIe 4.0 x4 interface can be a efficiency bottleneck when the board is absolutely populated with a few SSDs, linked to a 10GbE community, and with a number of high-performance USB gadgets plugged into it, I/O virtualization help ought to assist to make sure flawless operation and predictable efficiency.