Gigabyte X870E Aorus Xtreme X3D AI Top motherboard review: The latest and greatest Xtreme
The Gigabyte X870E Aorus Xtreme X3D AI Top is a high-end E-ATX motherboard designed for AMD AM5 processors, offering improved features over its predecessor, including five M.2 slots, dual 10 GbE ports, Wi-Fi 7, and a premium aesthetic with an LCD Edge View display. It delivers top-tier performance thanks to optimized RAM bandwidth and a robust 28-phase power delivery system. Despite its $999.99 price tag, it competes well with more expensive flagships in both features and performance. The board also includes AI-enhanced utilities and DIY-friendly design elements for easier build and tuning.
- ▪The motherboard features five M.2 slots (up from four) and two SATA ports, supporting PCIe 5.0 and 4.0 connectivity.
- ▪It includes dual 10 GbE ports, Wi-Fi 7, and a high-end ESS ES9080/ES9290 audio codec for premium audio performance.
- ▪Performance is enhanced by default RAM bandwidth optimization, delivering some of the fastest results in AIDA64 and gaming benchmarks.
- ▪The board comes with an LCD Edge View display, magnetic heatsinks, and a range of accessories including a CPU Thermal Matrix and DDR5 cooling fan.
- ▪Priced at $999.99, it is positioned as one of the more affordable flagship X870E motherboards despite its premium feature set.
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Tom's Hardware Verdict Like many refresh boards, the X3D AI Top improves upon the original with an increase in M.2 count and improved aesthetics. This top-of-the-line motherboard is one of the best X870E flagships available. $1,070.99 at Newegg $1,070.99 at Amazon $1,070.99 at Walmart Pros +LCD Edge View display +Dual 10 GbE +Robust power delivery +Updated Aesthetic +AI Top Utility for AI +AI/EZ DIY Features Cons -Flagship price Best picks for you Best Motherboards 2026 for Gaming, by Socket and Chipset The Best CPU for Gaming in 2026 Best PC builds for gaming 2026: From $800 budget rigs to $4,000+ dream machines Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. Go to page: Gigabyte X870E Aorus Xtreme X3D AI Top Features and Specifications Page 1: Gigabyte X870E Aorus Xtreme X3D AI Top Features and Specifications Page 2: Firmware, Software and Test System Page 3: Benchmark Results and Final Analysis Not long ago, we covered the non-X3D version of Gigabyte's X870E Aorus Xtreme AI Top motherboard and, in general, liked what it had to offer (especially at the lower refurbed price point). The elephant in that review, though, was that this X3D board was already on the market, with notable improvements in design and functionality. Like the original, the X3D is a flagship-class product through and through. From the appearance to the features, there’s no doubt it’s a premium offering. And now priced at $999.99, it’s one of the more affordable flagships. But as you’ll see, it measures up with the others.The Xtreme X3D AI Top comes with five M.2 sockets (up from four on the non-X3D) and two SATA ports (from four) for storage. Dual 10 GbE ports and fast Wi-Fi 7, unique flagship-class audio codec, plenty of USB ports including 10 on the rear IO (two USB4 40 Gbps Type-C), and multiple DIY-friendly features (including screwless M.2 designs, to EZ Wi-Fi plugs) sweeten the pot when considering this board against its high-end competitors. We love the appearance, and it is no doubt better than the non-X3D version all around. You even get a fancy LCD Edge View display like its peers, placing this in the crosshairs of other, more expensive flagships like the MSI X870E Godlike X, and the Asus X870E Extreme Glacial, both of which we reviewed in recent months.Performance on this board using the latest BIOS (F7a with AGESA 1.3.0.0a) was among the best we’ve seen, too. It’s this way because, by default, there’s some magic sauce in the RAM settings increasing bandwidth (we only enabled Expo profile for the RAM; Expo AI Boost, and high-bandwidth support were disabled). As you’ll see later, what Gigabyte is doing improves all facets of our AIDA64 testing rather significantly.The increased bandwidth and slightly reduced latency improved some of our results, yielding the fastest times we’ve seen in some tests. The board is a great gamer, and did well in productivity tests as expected. In short, this board performs quite well across a wide range of tests and games, thanks to the bandwidth increase that seems baked in when enabling the Expo profile on the base kit.Below, we’ll examine the Gigabyte X870E Aorus Xtreme X3D AI Top's performance and other features to determine whether it deserves a spot on our list of the best motherboards. But before we share test results and discuss details, here are the specifications from Gigabyte’s…
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