$199.99 | MSI PRO X870E-P WiFi Motherboard at Amazon

punkdigerati

Apr 3, 2026 12:35 PM

189 Comments

Joined Dec 2005

punkdigeratiApr 3, 2026 12:35 PM

189 Comments

Except in some very specific use cases where you need maximum USB ports, I think the Pro X870-P non E is a better value at the $180 it's been at lately, and if you don't need USB 4 but better nvme connection, the Pro B850-P also has a CPU connected nvme 4x4, whereas the x870 ones only have the single 5x4 on the CPU and the rest are chipset connected, though the B850 hasn't been dropping in price recently.

Lazarous86

Apr 3, 2026 1:36 PM

242 Comments

Joined Jul 2016

Lazarous86Apr 3, 2026 1:36 PM

242 Comments

I got this board in a microcenter bundle. Something is seriously wrong with it running with my 9900x and GSkill Ram. Did a Microcenter bundle, but waited too long before installing. It works but the bios locks up for me within 20 seconds. So I couldn't do anything besides use the quick settings to set smart overclocking and XMP profile on the ram. But timings and all that are whatever is autoset by the bios auto tuner.

1

ElatedSpaniel543

Apr 3, 2026 4:00 PM

1.1K Comments

Joined Nov 2020

ElatedSpaniel543Apr 3, 2026 4:00 PM

1.1K Comments

Quote from Lazarous86

:

I got this board in a microcenter bundle. Something is seriously wrong with it running with my 9900x and GSkill Ram. Did a Microcenter bundle, but waited too long before installing. It works but the bios locks up for me within 20 seconds. So I couldn't do anything besides use the quick settings to set smart overclocking and XMP profile on the ram. But timings and all that are whatever is autoset by the bios auto tuner.

The BIOS locks up inside the BIOS config screen? That sounds nasty, but sounds like a defective board.

ElatedSpaniel543

Apr 3, 2026 4:02 PM

1.1K Comments

Joined Nov 2020

ElatedSpaniel543Apr 3, 2026 4:02 PM

1.1K Comments

Quote from punkdigerati

:

Except in some very specific use cases where you need maximum USB ports, I think the Pro X870-P non E is a better value at the $180 it's been at lately, and if you don't need USB 4 but better nvme connection, the Pro B850-P also has a CPU connected nvme 4x4, whereas the x870 ones only have the single 5x4 on the CPU and the rest are chipset connected, though the B850 hasn't been dropping in price recently.

oh! I didn't realize that about the NVMEs... damn. I have an B650E-F and I need a minimum 2x USB4 ... and was thinking to upgrade to X870E... Thanks for highlighting this. I might hold out for a better X870E to go sub-$200. They've been trending down for a while now.

punkdigerati

Apr 3, 2026 8:56 PM

189 Comments

Joined Dec 2005

punkdigeratiApr 3, 2026 8:56 PM

189 Comments

Quote from ElatedSpaniel543

:

oh! I didn't realize that about the NVMEs... damn. I have an B650E-F and I need a minimum 2x USB4 ... and was thinking to upgrade to X870E... Thanks for highlighting this. I might hold out for a better X870E to go sub-$200. They've been trending down for a while now.

There's only so many PCIe lanes, 24 for components, the only thing x870e does is add another chipset so you can connect even more stuff to the same shared lanes at the same time. USB 4 takes 4 gen 5 lanes, primary PCIe slot 16 gen 5, that only leaves 4 for a single gen 5 nvme. There are boards that will decide to split the PCIe slot to x8 for a second gen 5 nvme, most split the USB 4 and second nvme to 2 lanes each. But it's always going to be a compromise somewhere if you need both USB 4 ports and two CPU connected nvme.

$199.99 | MSI PRO X870E-P WiFi Motherboard at Amazon

$200

$300

Community Voting

Join The Conversation

5 Comments

Join The Conversation

Related Searches