B650E AORUS PRO X USB4 is actually X870 in disguise

Gigabyte offers a pre-launch demo platform with specs matching X870 series, reports Benchlife.

Gigabyte currently offers only three B650E (Extreme) motherboards featuring full support for PCIe Gen5 SSDs and GPUs. These boards include TACHYON (for overclocking), MASTER, and ELITE. It appears that Gigabyte will soon showcase a new motherboard, as users should be expecting updates on next-gen AM5 motherboards.

Benchlife has revealed that AMD’s next AM5 motherboards will carry a different naming schema than expected. Instead of the X770/B750, the new names are presumably X870 and X850. The media claim that the B650E AORUS PRO motherboard they received for testing should have specs and features expected from the X870 motherboard. This could be Gigabyte’s way of demonstrating the new features without breaking the embargo by launching a new motherboard series before AMD greenlights it.

The full name of the board is B650E AORUS PRO X USB4 , and as the name suggests, it offers USB4 support. It also features WiFi 7 and some innovative features like the Sensor Panel Link , a connector that allows users to connect special panels to display system information in real time without an external GPU. While Gigabyte does not appear to be selling these panels at the moment, there is a guide from Gigabyte showing how to connect one. This connector is already available on motherboards like the Z790 AORUS PRO X.

Looking at the specifications, it turns out that this board is designed for Granite Ridge, which is AMD Ryzen 9000 series processors. In other words, the B650E AORUS PRO X USB4 motherboard matches the specifications of most AMD X870 motherboards. […]

When it comes to PCIe EZ-Latch Plus, of course we must also mention PCIe UD Slot X, a PCIe 5.0 slot design that can withstand a maximum weight of 58KG.

— Benchlife

The board also includes the M.2 EZ-Latch Click and EZ-Latch Plus systems. The latter is for the graphics card, making GPU changes much easier than on traditional boards. However, the most interesting feature is the PCIe 5×16 slot itself, which features Ultra Durable PCIe Armor —a special backplate that supports the connector up to 58 kg, although no company is likely to release such a heavy GPU. The same interface is used by Z790 AORUS PRO X and Gigabyte confirms up to 10x load-bearing capacity.

Gigabyte B650E AORUS PRO X USB4, Source: Benchlife

The board will be showcased at Computex, perhaps serving as a demo of the X870 features.

Source: Benchlife