Next to those are the first two (of four) 3-pin ARGB headers. If the integrated lighting isn’t enough, you can connect compatible RGB strips and jump into the GCC and RGB Fusion app to control the light show. There’s also a 4-pin ‘legacy’ RGB header as well. Moving down the right edge of the board is the 4-LED POST Status Checker and the 2-character Debug LED. Both serve to identify problems during the POST process, while the latter provides a more unambiguous indication of the problem. An HDMI port sits between them and is designed for connecting sensor panel Displays or small internal LCD screens for system monitoring or just adding some flair to your build. Continuing down the edge, we find another 4-pin fan header, the 24-pin ATX connector to power the board, a vertical 8-pin PCIe power connector to support power-hungry graphics cards, as well as the front panel USB Type-C ports, QC-USB 65W capability (otherwise it’s 15W). The Smart Fan 6 application in GCC controls all of these headers. Just behind them are two 2-pin temperature sensors (included), allowing you to monitor temperatures in addition to the integrated ones. Next is another 4-pin header (Fan/Pump), and finally, a truly unique feature, two PCIe EZ-Latch Plus Duo buttons to easily secure/eject any graphics cards in the top two PCIe slots.
Power delivery on the Aorus Master X3D Ice consists of 22 phases, with 18 dedicated to Vcore. Power heads from the 8-pin EPS connectors to an Infineon XDPE192C30 dual loop 12-phase controller. The next stop is the 18 Infineon PMC41430 110A SPS MOSFETs in a ‘parallel’ configuration. The 1,980A available will handle anything you throw at it, even if you want to go extreme overclocking and use subambient cooling with a Ryzen 9 9950X3D .
On the bottom of the board, starting on the left, is the audio section. Gigabyte kept the Realtek ALC1220 codec, a last-gen flagship. But for the X3D, the company spiced it up with an ESS ES9118 DAC chip, an improvement from the non-X3D X870E Aorus Master. This solution should be sufficient for most users.
In the middle of the board, we’ll start with the three full-length PCIe slots. The top two slots (reinforced) connect through the CPU and split 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes. The top slot supports PCIe 5.0 x16, and the second slot supports PCIe 5.0 x8. When both slots are used, it’s x8/x8. The bottom slot connects through the chipset and is PCIe 4.0 x4.
Mixed in and around the PCIe slots are five M.2 sockets. M2A_CPU (located at the top under the large individual heatsink) and M2B_CPU (left-most), as the names imply, connect through the CPU and are your PCIe 5.0 x4 (128 Gbps) sockets. M2C/D/E_SB, as their names suggest, connect through the chipset and run up to PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps). All sockets support devices up to 80mm in size, as well as RAID 0/1/5/10 for even faster speeds or redundancy. M.2 EZ-Latch Click and EZ-Latch Plus are a plus, simplifying installation or removal of the heatsink (Latch Click), and securing the M.2 module (Latch Plus) in place, making for a true tool-free drive design.
To the right, past the dual PROM21 chip chipset, several connectors are located along the right edge of the board. Top down are the front panel USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C port (PD 3.0/QC 4+ 65W fast charging when connecting supplemental power connector), the 3-in-1 fan header, 19-pin front panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), and finally, one of the two SATA ports (which support RAID0/1). The other sits vertically along the bottom edge.
Across the bottom of the board are several exposed headers. You’ll find the usual, including additional USB ports, RGB headers, and more. Below is a complete list from left to right.
The backplate is equipped with numerous ports, connectors, and features, including ventilation slots to aid VRM cooling. Being an ‘Ice’ board, it has a white background and grey writing/labels on the ports. Starting from the left is the Q-Flash+, followed by the Clear CMOS button (a large, black button), and two small power and reset buttons (white). Next to that is the HDMI output for using integrated video. There are seven USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-A ports, which may be limiting for users who primarily use Type-A devices and do not have many Type-C devices. Gigabyte utilizes four in total here. Two are USB4 (40 Gbps) and support DisplayPort out as well. The others run USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbps) and Gen 2 (10 Gbps). Although there may not be many Type-A ports, at least they are all 10 Gbps. Finally, on the right is the quick-connect Wi-Fi 7 connector and the 3-plug audio stack (line/mic out, SPDIF).
Current page: Features and Specifications
Key considerations
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/motherboards/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/motherboards/gigabyte-x870e-aorus-master-x3d-ice-motherboard-review#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.