X870 vs X870E: Which chipset should you choose?

AMD recently launched its Ryzen 9000 processors and only announced the associated X870 and X870E chipsets. In general, AMD launches chipsets at the same time as its processors, in order to offer the latest functionality and compatibility for its motherboards. Although these chipsets normally come in several ranges (high-end “X” series, mid-range “B” series and entry-level “A” series), AMD has so far only announced the “X” variants of its new 800 series chipsets. In addition, AMD requires a certain level of connectivity for its high-end chipsets, which means, for example, that they guarantee PCIe 5.0 connections for SSDs and GPUs.

These new chipsets use the AM5 platform, which is expected to be maintained until at least 2027, meaning that CPUs from the Ryzen 7000 and Ryzen 9000 series are supported, and that one or two additional generations are likely to follow.

*Usable lanes. Some PCI-e lanes are dedicated to connecting the CPU and chipset chips, or reserved to enable other connections.

Sources : AMD’s AM5 chipset landing page

The main feature of these chips is that the 16 PCI-E lines of the processor are dedicated to the "GPU" connection. They also support RAM and CPU overclocking.

Unlike the 600 series chipsets, the difference between the X870E and X870 is quite significant for this generation. While both guarantee PCI-e 5.0 for your GPU and main M.2 SSD, the X870E offers twice as many USB and SATA ports as the X870, as well as additional PCI-e lanes that can be used for additional controllers (SATA/USB/WIFI/RJ45) or more PCI-e slots.

If you're configuring a new system, the main factor that will determine whether you choose an X870E or an X870 is the level of connectivity you need for expansion cards, storage, and peripherals. For a stripped-down configuration with a minimum of USB peripherals, the X870 version will probably be sufficient. However, if you're using a lot of USB peripherals or a capture card, the X870E chipset is probably preferable.

Although both X870 & X870E chipsets offer similar features, as they use a common chip (AMD Prom21). However, the "extreme" version features two of them working in tandem to provide more functionality.

So what's special about this "extreme" generation? How does it differ from the is the previous generation?

Previously, the "E" designation meant that the processor's 16 PCI-e lanes for connecting the GPU were wired to support PCI-e 5.0. However, in this generation, the "E" designation indicates much greater connectivity in ports such as USB and SATA. So the X870 (not E) is essentially a B-series chipset from previous generations, but with native USB 4.