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The Asus ROG Strix X870-A Gaming WiFi has been launched this generation for high-end systems and with gaming enthusiasts in mind. The board continues the legacy of the last-gen X670E-A but with a slightly toned-down chipset and a fully-white PCB on top of the finishing on the heatsinks. Asus has also significantly refined the design language with efficient RGB integration to even beefier heatsinks. From the look of it, the X870-A is a fancy upgrade, making it more lucrative than before.
I got to spend a couple of weeks with the board, testing high-end hardware such as AMD's Zen 5 CPUs and Nvidia's RTX 50 series cards. Here's my review of the ROG Strix X870-A Gaming WiFi.
The Asus ROG Strix X870-A Gaming WiFi is a high-end motherboard
The Asus ROG Strix X870-A Gaming is designed for high-end PC builds. It is filled to the brim with the latest hardware, RGB lighting, ample heatsinks for cooling, and support for the latest connectivity standards such as PCIe Gen 5 and DDR5 memory.
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It is a step below the highest-end X870E offering, with the only cut being the absence of multiple Gen 5 PCIe ports and M.2 headers. You get one of each, which should be enough given the exclusivity and premium prices of next-gen hardware.
The detailed specs sheet of the board is as follows:
Overall, the X870-A is as high-end as it gets when it comes to boards. With extra USB ports, an on-board power-on switch, ample expansion slots, and solid heatsinks, it is built for overclockers. If you aren't an enthusiast, though, the board still has a beautiful design with ample RGB to fit in fancy builds. However, it can be pretty expensive, coming in at $330.
Read more: Nvidia RTX 5080 review: Can AI replace gen-on-gen improvements?
Unboxing experience
The ROG Strix X870-A Gaming WiFi's packaging is pretty standard. The board is packed in a high-quality white box, which contains the board in an anti-static bag and the WiFi antennas stowed away in a different compartment. Paperwork and extra screws, and stand-offs are stored in a sneaky lower compartment.
That's it. Unlike some other flagship boards I have unboxed in the past, namely, ASRock's Taichi, Asus hasn't over-complicated this part, and this is a welcome move.
Components
The ROG Strix X870-A is dressed in a premium white livery. This adds to its visual appeal as when paired with other white components and some well-thought RGB, your build will look superb. For starters, aspects of the boards are Gundam-inspired, making it perfect for a themed build. Moreover, you also get I/O cover-mounted on-board RGB, which adds to its appeal.
In terms of the supported CPU and RAM, you can pair this motherboard with any Zen 5 chipset and DDR5 RAM sticks. However, given the extra feature set the board supports, we recommend opting for at least a Ryzen 7 7000/9000 chipset paired with 32 GB of DDR5-5200 memory. If you're building something not as high-end, get the cheaper ASUS TUF or MSI Tomahawk for a well-rounded build.
The ROG Strix X870-A is built insanely well. You get all aluminum heatsinks with a high-end laser-etched PCB. Asus has left no stone unturned in making sure the board feels high-end from every angle: from M.2 quick releases to a soldered back plate and the polished software, everything is immaculately thought out.
Coming to the heatsinks, you get ample weighty dissipators with the X870-A. The board packs a massive M.2 SSD fanless aluminum block alongside a sizeable I/O cover and VRM covers. This makes it look better while also allowing the high-quality 16+2+2 phase power solution to remain unbearably cool even under peak load.
Coming to the expansion slots and storage support of the X870-A, you won't be disappointed. You get a PCIe Gen 5 GPU and M.2 SSD slot, which should suffice for most users. Only the latest RTX 50 series GPUs and premium SSDs support the standard, which limits only high-end systems to use.
Moving on, the remainder of the slots are all Gen 4. You don't get any last-gen Gen 3 hardware with this board, which is a welcome move. The board also packs a ton of USB ports.
The rear I/O has a whopping nine USB Type-A ports, a mix of 5G and 10G. There are three Type-C ports; two of them are 40G with display output support, and the third is a 10G thunderbolt cable with fast charging support. Other than this, you get built-in WiFi and Bluetooth with a separate receiver to help with range.
On top of this, you also get a 2.5G ethernet port, which should suffice for home and office routers. The board also has your regular SPD/IF digital audio out and two AUX cables for supporting a variety of audio equipment. In the rear I/O, you also get buttons for BIOS flashback and clearing CMOS, which should be helpful for overclockers.
In terms of internal hardware, you get 1x USB 20Gbps header, 2x USB 5Gbps headers, and 2x SATA 6GB/s ports. Given the huge connectivity array on the rear and the four M.2 SSDs you can fit on the board, the internal setup doesn't feel lackluster — most modern cases don't have more than two to three USB connectors anyway.
Read more: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X worth buying for gaming?
Motherboard operating temperatures
During a GPU stress test with Furmark 2 at 1080p, the motherboard's internals managed decent temperatures. Do note these numbers are self-reported by the ROG Strix X870-A using its onboard sensors. We haven't performed any external calibrations to verify the numbers. Ambient temperatures for both tests were 21°C.
The testbench used for the benchmarks is as follows:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X
- Motherboard: Asus ROG X870-A Gaming WiFi
- RAM: 2x G.Skill Trident Z DDR5-6000 16 GB
- Storage: 1x Gigabyte Gen 4 NVMe 1 TB, 1x Patriot P300 M.2 PCIe Gen 3 x4 128GB
- Cooler: Cooler Master Atmos 240mm liquid cooler
- Storage: Cooler Master MWE 1050W 80+ Gold
- GPU: Nvidia RTX 5080 16 GB Founder's Edition
Let's dive into the temperature characteristics.
Given the over-the-top cooling hardware the ROG Strix X870-A Gaming is packed with, it's no wonder the components don't heat up during heavy usage. The motherboard reported a 36°C operating temperature, with the Southbridge chipset maintaining an average of around 47.5°C.
In a CPU torture test with AIDA 64, we observe similar patterns. The southbridge ran slightly hotter this time, with average temperatures around 48.3°C. The motherboard, on average, however, reported a similar 36°C on average.
Overall, the motherboard's components are quite over-the-top. Coupled with the insane amounts of heatsink Asus has packed it with, you can get respectable performance without any hiccups. The X870-A is designed for overclockers and is future-proof enough to handle the flagship Ryzen 9 for a few years to come.
Value and conclusion
Overall, the Asus ROG Strix X870-A Gaming WiFi is a fantastic high-end motherboard designed with enthusiasts and overclockers in mind. In my testing, it handled the Ryzen 9 9900X and the RTX 5080 like a champ.
The ample connectivity and Asus' software features came in handy. However, I must say that Armory Crate isn't the best motherboard control software out there, and it can be pretty heavy on your system.
Moreover, the RGB effects the software offers, while plentiful, aren't impressive. I have the nerve to pick the music sync option, which generally tends to be my favorite. Besides being basic, the RGB LEDs often misbehave with the sync turned on. In my testing, the mono-color Beatbox setting worked best, which did leave quite a lot to desire. The board could utilize a Razer Synapse integration.
If you're building a high-end rig and don't want to spend dearly on a motherboard, the ROG Strix X870-A will give you most of the desired features at a decent price. The board is much cheaper than the Asus X870E-E, ASRock Taichi, or MSI's Carbon/Unify lineups.
We recommend it because it has all the features any regular user could want coupled with the white aesthetic, which helps it blend with all types of high-end setups.
