Space is tight on Mini-ITX mainboards. So there are no such small AM5 boards with X670(E) chipset – with one exception, which is the Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WIFI. In order to get all the necessary components on the Mini-ITX board, the manufacturer uses a few tricks, as the pictures now show.
A Promontory 21 between two M.2 slots
If you are looking for particularly small mainboards for AMD's Ryzen 7000 processors in the price comparison, you will only find four different Mini-ITX models with an AM5 socket. If you are also dependent on the large X670 chipset or even the “Extreme” version X670E, you can only reach for the Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WIFI, which is currently listed in the price comparison from 475 euros*. The high price is also due to the fact that Asus has to dig deep into its bag of tricks to place the necessary hardware, including the two Promontory 21 chips required for the X670E chipset, on a Mini-ITX board.
Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming (Image: Asus)
The comparatively high structure between the AM5 socket and the PCIe x16 slot catches the eye when you first look at the mainboard. Among other things, Asus stacks two M.2 slots for corresponding SSDs here – one PCIe 5.0 and one PCIe 4.0 – and a total of three heatsinks on top of each other, whereby the lowest cooling block is responsible for the first Promontory 21 chip of the X670E chipset. The second promontory 21 is again in a vertical position on a separate PCB, which also serves as a connection between the mainboard and the upper M.2 slot. In this case, the middle heatsink is responsible, which is also labeled accordingly with “M.2 Gen 5 and Chipset Heatsink”.
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Structure of the Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming (Image: JeffreyF)
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Second X670 chipset on M.2 expansion card ( Image: Uniko's hardware)
The Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming with accessories (Image: Uniko's hardware)The small circuit board, which thanks to Uniko's hardware can now be seen in detail in pictures for the first time, is connected to the Promontory 21 and M.2 Gen 4 slot, again via an M.2 slot, which, however, is associated with standard M .2 SSDs is incompatible. The third and top heatsink in turn cools the M.2 SSD inserted here. The manual (PDF) also provides details on the structure of the Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WIFI.
With a Promontory 21 only a B650E- Board?
The question is now open as to whether the mainboard can also be operated without the second Promontory 21 chip being plugged in – and what effects that would have. Theoretically, the X670E chipset could be clipped to the B650E, which obviously means that a slot for M.2 SSDs would be physically eliminated, but also potentially some USB ports could no longer be supported.
or 2 × PCIe 5.0 x8 1 × PCIe 4.0 x16
or 2 × PCIe 4.0 x8 1 × PCIe 5.0 x16
or 2 × PCIe 5.0 x8 1 × PCIe 4.0 x16
or 2 × PCIe 4.0 x8 NVMe 1 × PCIe 5.0 x4 1 × PCIe 5.0 x4 1 × PCIe 5.0 x4 1 × PCIe 4.0 x4 (optional PCIe 5.0) GPP* x4 x4 x4 x4 PCIe lanes (max.) 44 44 36 36 PCIe 5.0 (max) 24 8 24 0 (optional 4) PCIe 4.0 (max) 12 16 + 12 8 16 + 4 + 8 PCIe 3.0 (max) 8 8 4 4 USB 3.2 20Gbps 2/1/0 ** 2/1/0** 1/0** 1/0** USB 3.2 10Gbps 4+8/10/12** 4+8/10/12** 4+4/6** 4 + 4/6** USB 2.0 480 Mbit/s 1 + 12 1 + 12 1 + 6 1 + 6 SATA*** (max.) 8 8 4 4 italics = from Ryzen SoC
*General Purpose = universally usable lanes
**different configurations possible, see diagrams
***then replace the PCIe 3.0 lanes
An X670E chipset offers up to twelve USB 2.0 ports and eight USB 3.2 ports with 10 Gbit/s. Four more 10 Gbps ports can be used instead of the two 20 Gbps fast USB 3.2 ports. The third configuration is one USB 20 Gbps and two USB 10 Gbps. With only one Promontory 21 chip, the B650 chipset offers almost half the number of interfaces of the X670 models.
- Chipsets for Ryzen 7000 : AMD X670E, X670, B650E and B650 in comparison
Meanwhile, Asus is not the first manufacturer to place a Promontory 21 on an expansion card. Recently, ASRock attracted attention with the X670 Xpansion Kit, which allows users to upgrade B650 boards to X670 motherboard in a limited way.
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