What AM5 MB for a workstation?

[piranha32]

I'm slowly getting ready to upgrade my 7 years old desktop, and after about 20 years of hiatus, I think I'm ready to get back to Team Red. Looking at the current processor portfolio, I narrowed my choice down to 9900x with 96GB of RAM (2x48G).

However, choosing the motherboard is much more tedious task. Many desktop MBs looking interesting at the first glance, turn out to suffer from all kinds of lane sharing and bifurcations limiting their functionality depending on set of installed components. The chipsets I'm considering are x670(e) and x870(e), as they offer most connectivity, but as long as a board fits my requirements, other chipset should be fine.

Hare are my requirements:
WiFi: None
Lan: 10G min, option to upgrade in the future to 25G would be nice, but not a hard requirement. I can live with copper link for 10G (currently I use fiber)
NVMe: 2-3 slots. PCIe Gen5 not required.
Sata: at least 2-3 ports
PCIE slots: Depends on the built-in NIC. Currently I use 3 slots, one for GPU, one for network card, and one for PCIe storage. GPU will stay (I'm planning to upgrade to 5090), storage probably will stay too. With network card I have more wiggle room, I'd prefer a built-in NIC, but if the board has more NVMe slots than I can use, I can install something like https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807757865510.html
Budget: $450-$500-ish
Rear USB: 3-4 USB3 ports min, USB hubs exist if I need more.

Sifting through manufacturer's web sites I narrowed down the list of possible boards with built-in 10G NICs to:
- GIGABYTE X670E AORUS XTREME (a bit on the expensive side)
- GIGABYTE B850 AI TOP
- ASUS ProArt X870E-CREATOR

Any other recommendations?
Would you go with 9900x now, or wait for 9900x3d?

 

[Tech Junky]

I use a PG Lightning for avoiding the auto split issue but am swapping to a MSI Carbon to consolidate a few things to the board itself and reduce consumption a bit possibly in the process.

on board NIC ports are at best 2.5/5gbps on most boards unless you pay for the convenience of 10gbps where you just burn a slot for a dual port card for $60 and avoid the stupid tax.

The X3D will have a lower TDP but, you lose some raw performance for that snappy ram on top.

 

[louie1961]

I think this one ticks all the boxes for you. I am looking at getting one for my next home server build

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www.newegg.com

 

[piranha32]

I think this one ticks all the boxes for you. I am looking at getting one for my next home server build

Supermicro H13SAE-MF Motherboard Micro-ATX AMD EPYC™ 4004 series, Ryzen™ 9000 & 8700G* & 7000 Series single socket LGA-1718. - Newegg.com

Buy Supermicro H13SAE-MF Motherboard Micro-ATX AMD EPYC™ 4004 series, Ryzen™ 9000 & 8700G* & 7000 Series single socket LGA-1718. with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

Looks interesting, but has one problem: the two PCIe5 slots are very close, and if I install a GPU in the x16 slot, the other will be either inaccessible, or anything installed in it will block air flow for the GPU fans

 

[Patriot]

Looks interesting, but has one problem: the two PCIe5 slots are very close, and if I install a GPU in the x16 slot, the other will be either inaccessible, or anything installed in it will block air flow for the GPU fans

Install in the bottom slot, or get a dual slot gpu.

 

[piranha32]

Install in the bottom slot, or get a dual slot gpu.

5090 FE is a dual slot card, so it would barely fit. Installation in the top slot may not be such a bad idea. It's only x8, but looking at the block diagram I see that if two slots a re populated, they both drop to x8 anyway

 

[piranha32]

I'm sure I'm not the only one looking for an AM5 motherboard, so I thought I'd share my notes. All CPU PCIe and M.2 specs apply to 9000/7000 series processors. I'll update the list if I find more boards which catch my eye. Prices are as of 2025-01-14

MSI MSI MEG X670E ACE
LAN:
- 10G Copper (Marvell AQC113-B1-C )

PCIe:
- PCI_E1 PCIe 5.0 supports up to x16 (From CPU)
- PCI_E2 PCIe 5.0 supports up to x8 (From CPU)
- PCI_E3 PCIe 5.0 supports up to x4 (From CPU)

M.2:
M2_1 slot (From CPU) - Supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4
M2_2 slot (From X670 chipset) - Supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4
M2_3 slot (From X670 chipset) - Supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4
M2_4 slot (From X670 chipset) - Supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4

SATA:
6x SATA6G
- SATA_P3~P4 & SATA_S3~S4 (From X670 chipset)
- SATA_A1~A2 (From ASM1061)

Price:
Newegg: $499
MSI: $499
Amazon: -

Bandwidth sharing:
- The rear USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 20Gbps Type-C port and PCI_E3 slot share the same bandwidth. When installing a device in the PCI_E3 slot, the port would be unavailable by default. You can go to BIOS > Setting > Advanced > PCIe/PCI Subsystem Setting > PCI_E3/Rear USB-C 20 Switch to select the available device.
- PCIe lane allocation: x16/x0/x4 or x8/x8/x4 (For Ryzen™ 9000/ 7000 Series processors)
Other:
- Comes with M.2 Xpander-Z Gen 5 Dual card
- No ECC support?

GIGABYTE X670E AORUS XTREME (rev. 1.x)
LAN:
- Marvell® AQtion AQC113C 10GbE

PCIe:
AMD Ryzen™ 7000 Series Processors/ Ryzen™ 9000 Series Processors:
- 1 x PCI Express x16 slot (PCIEX16), support PCIe 5.0 x16 mode

Chipset:
- 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, supporting PCIe 4.0 and running at x4 (PCIEX4)
- 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, supporting PCIe 3.0 and running at x2 (PCIEX2)

M.2:
CPU:
- 1 x M.2 connector (M2A_CPU), integrated in the CPU, supporting Socket 3, M key, type 25110/22110/2580/2280 SSDs: AMD Ryzen™ 7000 Series Processors/ Ryzen™ 9000 Series Processors support PCIe 5.0 x4/x2 SSDs
- 2 x M.2 connectors (M2B_CPU/M2C_CPU), integrated in the CPU, supporting Socket 3,M key, type 22110/2280 SSDs

Chipset:
- 1 x M.2 connector (M2D_CPU), integrated in the CPU, supporting Socket 3, M key, type 22110/2280 SSDs: AMD Ryzen™ 7000 Series Processors support PCIe 5.0 x4/x2 SSDs

SATA:
- 6 x SATA 6Gb/s

Bandwidth sharing:
- The M2B_CPU and M2C_CPU connectors share bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the M2B_CPU or M2C_CPU connectors is populated, the PCIEX16 slot operates at up to x8 mode.

Price:
Newegg: -
Amazon: -
B&H: (no longer available)

GIGABYTE B850 AI TOP
LAN:
- 2 x Marvell® AQtion AQC113C 10GbE

PCIe:
CPU:
- 1 x PCI Express x16 slot (PCIEX16), integrated in the CPU: AMD Ryzen™ 9000/7000 Series Processors support PCIe 5.0 x16 mode
- 1 x PCI Express x16 slot (PCIEX8), integrated in the CPU: AMD Ryzen™ 9000/7000 Series Processors support PCIe 5.0 x8 mode

Chipset:
- 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, supporting PCIe 4.0 and running at x2 (PCIEX2)

M.2:
CPU:
- 1 x M.2 connector (M2A_CPU), integrated in the CPU, supporting Socket 3, M key, type, type 25110/22110/2580/2280 SSDs: AMD Ryzen™ 9000/7000 Series Processors support PCIe 5.0 x4/x2 SSDs
- 1 x M.2 connector (M2B_CPU), integrated in the CPU, supporting Socket 3, M key, type, type 25110/22110/2580/2280 SSDs: AMD Ryzen™ 9000/7000 Series Processors support PCIe 5.0 x4/x2 SSDs

Chipset:
- 1 x M.2 connector (M2C_SB), integrated in the Chipset, supporting Socket 3, M key, type 25110/22110/2580/2280 PCIe 4.0 x2 SSDs

SATA:
- 4 x SATA 6Gb/s

Bandwidth sharing:
- The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot operates at up to x8 mode.
- The PCIEX2 slot shares bandwidth with the M2C_SB connector. The PCIEX2 slot becomes unavailable when a device is installed in the M2C_SB connector.

Price:
Amazon: -
Newegg: -
B&H: $329.99 (preorder)

Other:
- Supports ECC

ASUS ProArt X870E-CREATOR
LAN:
- Marvell ® AQtion 10Gb Ethernet
- Intel® 2.5Gb Ethernet

PCIe:
- AMD Ryzen™ 9000 & 7000 Series Desktop Processors:2 x PCIe 5.0 x16 slots with Q-Release Slim (supports x16 or x8/x8 or x8/x4/x4 modes)
- AMD X870E Chipset: 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 slot (supports x4 mode)

M.2:
AMD Ryzen™ 9000 & 7000 Series Desktop Processors:
- M.2_1 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280 (supports PCIe 5.0 x4 mode)
- M.2_2 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280 (supports PCIe 5.0 x4mode)
AMD X870E Chipset
- M.2_3 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)
- M.2_4 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)

SATA:
- 4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports

Bandwidth sharing:
- When you use both PCIEX16(G5)_1 and PCIEX16(G5)_2, they will run at x8 each.
- PCIEX16(G5)_2 shares bandwidth with M.2_2 slot. When M.2_2 is enabled, PCIEX16(G5)_1 will run x8, and PCIEX16(G5)_2 will run at x4

Price:
ASUS: $479.99 (wifi 7)
Newegg: $473.22 (wifi 6e)
Amazon: $459.99 (wifi 6e)

Other:
- Supports ECC and Non-ECC Un-buffered DIMM


Supermicro H13SAE-MF
LAN:
- 2x 1Gbe
- 1 x 1Gbe IPMI

PCIe:
- PCIe 5.0 x16/x8
- PCIe 5.0 x8
- PCIe 4.0 x4 (chipset)

M.2:
CPU:
- M.2 PCIe 5.0 x2

SATA:
- 4 x SATA 6 GB/s

Bandwidth sharing:
- PCIex8 shares lanes with PCIex16.

Price:
Newegg: $434.00
Amazon: $459.99

Other:
- Supports ECC
- IPMI
- B650
- Support for EPYC 4004

Asrock Rack AM5D4ID-2T/BCM
LAN:
- BCM57416: 2 RJ45 (10GbE)
- IPMI

PCIe:
- 1 x PCIe5.0 x16 [CPU
- 1 x OCuLink1 (PCIe4.0 x2) [CPU

M.2:
- 1 x M-key (PCIe4.0 x4), supports 2280 form factor

SATA:
None

Bandwidth sharing:
None

Price:
- Newegg: $424
- Amazon: $424

Other:
- IPMI
- mini-ITX! (deep, 17.0cm x 20.8cm)
- Occulink 4.0x2
- Supports ECC

 

[louie1961]

I think you forgot a PCIe 4.0 X4 slot on the Supermicro. That x4 slot looks to be open ended too.You could easily stick a 10gbe NIC in that x4 slot

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StarTech.com Dual Port 10G PCIe Network Adapter Card, Intel-X550AT 10GBASE-T PCI Express 10GbE Multi Gigabit Ethernet 5 Speed NIC 2 Port - Newegg.com

Buy StarTech.com Dual Port 10G PCIe Network Adapter Card, Intel-X550AT 10GBASE-T PCI Express 10GbE Multi Gigabit Ethernet 5 Speed NIC 2 Port with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

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[piranha32]

I think you forgot a PCIe 4.0 X4 slot on the Supermicro. That x4 slot looks to be open ended too.You could easily stick a 10gbe NIC in that x4 slot

Good catch! Copy&Paste error, thanks for spotting it.

The B850 AI board looks very interesting. Bearable bandwidth sharing, two 10G ports, and is the cheapest. It seems to be not released though. I wonder how many teething problems it will have. It is included in a mail-in rebate which expires at the end of January, so hopefully it will ship soon.

MEG X670E ACE seems to have the least annoying bandwidth sharing.

 

[Tech Junky]

annoying bandwidth sharing.

https://pg.asrock.com/mb/AMD/X670E%20PG%20Lightning/index.asp#Specification

CPU:
- 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16 Slot (PCIE1), supports x16 mode*
- 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 Slot (PCIE3), supports x4 mode*
Chipset:
- 1 x PCIe 4.0 x1 Slot (PCIE2)*
- 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 Slot (PCIE4), supports x1 mode*

CPU:
- 1 x Blazing M.2 Socket (M2_1, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen5x4 (128 Gb/s) mode*
Chipset:
- 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_2, Key M), supports type 2280 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s & PCIe Gen3x4 (32 Gb/s) modes*
- 1 x M.2 Socket (M2_3, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen4x2 (32 Gb/s) mode*
- 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_4, Key M), supports type 2260/2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode*
- 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MPG-X870E-CARBON-WIFI/Specification

3x PCI-E x16 slot
PCI_E1 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x16 (From CPU)
PCI_E2 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x4 (From CPU)
PCI_E3 Gen PCIe 4.0 supports up to x4 (From Chipset)

4x M.2
M.2_1 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices
M.2_2 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices
M.2_3 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 22110/2280 devices
M.2_4 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices
4x SATA 6G

It's all about planning if you're after bandwidth/performance. Sticking to CPU only slots for what you want to be able to run a full specs at any given time and lower priority devices beyond the chipset.

For me I'm usually running 3 cards at any given time so a little planning helps. For instance my reasoning for moving to the carbon was to drop needing the TBT card for the sake of the dual ports on the IO plate. This allows me to shift more focus to networking and dropping in a X550-T2 for $60 and only needing X4 slot to do so. One of my cards is a dumb OTA card that just needs a X1 slot. Of course handling media with AMD means a GPU if you don't want to waste resources processing media in terms of time and $. i could swap in an external OTA box if I need the slot for something else and fill a NIC port instead. if i need more ports i have a quad port card sitting around for that purpose as well.

Also, for the M2 it's preferable to have 2 slots off the CPU for the drives I'm using though the 670 hasn't been bad for the speed on the U3 drive as it benches at 6.5GB/s even though it's off a chipset socket. It's all a shake and shimmy game to get the best performance without draining the bank account.

 

[piranha32]

Turns out impossible exists: Asrock Rack AM5D4ID-2T/BCM deep mini-ITX server motherboard with 2 10GbE interfaces, PCIe 5.0x16 slot, M.2 and Occulink 4.0x2.
Maybe it is possible to build a powerful but minimalistic workstation with bulk data storage on a NAS?