ASUS has revealed two new motherboards, part of their ROG STRIX series made for the new AMD Zen 3 processors. The new motherboards are the ROG STRIX X570 Crosshair VII DARK Hero and the ROG STRIX B550-XE. Both these motherboards are designed to support AMD’s next-generation Zen 3 based Ryzen 5000 CPUs which are soon to be unveiled.
The ASUS ROG STRIX motherboards have been specifically designed for the next-gen Ryzen 5000 series processors but will also have backward compatibility for AMD’s 2nd and 3rd gen processors. ROG STRIX X570 Crosshair VII DARK Hero and the ROG STRIX B550-XE are updated variants of existing models and feature superior power designs and much better cooling capabilities and more I/O options.
Are you ready for Zen 3?#ROG is ready!
Two new beefed-up boards have joined our @amd stack. 💪ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero: https://t.co/t9OQJIadA1
ROG Strix B550-XE Gaming: https://t.co/tJWIzcNT2l#AMD #B550 #X570 pic.twitter.com/g8KA9duSlq— ROG Global (@ASUS_ROG) October 8, 2020
The top model is the ROG STRIX X570 Crosshair VII DARK Hero which has an updated power design from its predecessor. It has a high-end 14+2 phase design which is made up of titanium power stages that are rated for 90A. The CPU is powered through an 8+4 pin connector configuration and two large aluminum blocks cover the VRMs which are interconnected by a chunky heat pipe for efficient heat dissipation and cooling.
The ROG STRIX X570 Crosshair VII DARK Hero has 4 DIMM slots that support high-frequency memory. For expansion options, it features three PCIe 4.0 x16 slots and a single PCIe 4.0 x1 slot. There are two M.2 slots on the motherboard which are PCIe Gen 4.0 ready. Storage connectivity includes 8 SATA III ports and front panel USB comes in the form of a two USB 2.0, a single USB 3.0, and also a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 connector.
Coming to the other motherboard, the ASUS ROG STRIX B550-XE also comes with a 14+2 phase power design, and the CPU is powered by an 8+4 pin connector configuration. The board has a power stage of 50-60A which is lower from the X570 chipset. The VRM and heatsink design is quite similar to the X570 crosshair and this board also has 4 DIMM slots.
Expansion slots in the ASUS ROG STRIX B550-XE include triple PCIe 4.0 x16, two PCIe 4.0 x1 slots, and dual M.2 slots. Storage options include 6 SATA III ports while there is a large number of I/O ports on the B550 ROG STRIX XE. Unlike the Crosshair VIII revision, there is no PCH active cooling solution installed on the board. The updated ROG STRIX B550 variant still relies on active cooling in the form of a VRM cooling fan.
Pricing for these motherboards is currently unknown but it will most probably be similar to the prices of their predecessors.
