ROG Crosshair X870E Hero preview: Quite possibly the best looking X870E motherboard

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The ROG Crosshair X870E is ASUS's top-of-the-line AM5 socket motherboard based on AMD's latest X870 chipset.

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While the Crosshair X870E Hero looks similar to its predecessor, the Crosshair X670E Hero, there are some noticeable differences. For instance, the new motherboard now comes with a reinforced metal plate at the back to better protect and provide overall structural stability.

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ROG has even made the Crosshair X870E Hero even more bling bling. Thanks to Aura Sync, you can adjust the RGB settings here. It's a pity you can't add your own animations or custom design here though.

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The VRM here features 18+2+2 power stages, with each rated to handle up to 100 amps. The aluminium I/O headsink (pictured here) has an embedded heatpipe to increase mass and surface area for heat dissipation.

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AMD Ryzen owners now have full access to PCIe 5.0 support. Both x16 expansion slots run on PCIe 5.0, while three of the five onboard M.2 slots run on the latest bandwidth standard (the other two runs on PCIe 4.0).

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Each USB4 port here delivers up to 40Gbps of bidirectional bandwidth for the latest super-speed devices and drives. The Crosshair X870E Hero's external display support also reaches up to 8K output if one of the ports is in use, or both can be employed for dual 4K displays.

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Unless you're doing some insane data storage (you might as well build a NAS), the Crosshair X870E Hero has ample storage capacity support.

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Seen for the first time on an ROG motherboard, the new M.2 Q-Release allows you to remove the heatsink (for the SSD) by simply "pressing and releasing" this clip here. It's brilliant and works very well.

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But that's not the only innovative feature. The Crosshair X870E also has a new "PCIe Slot Q-Release Slim" feature, that allows you to remove your graphics card without having to reach for the locking clip or a quick release button. Simply tug the graphics card, and it will pop out. This is a god-send for DIY enthusiasts or for tech reviewers like me.

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There are plentiful of details to spot in the Crosshair X870E Hero motherboard too. At the end of the day, it's hard to disagree that ASUS ROG makes some of the best motherboards around. In the meantime, stay tuned to our performance comparison between the ROG Crosshair X870E Hero and its predecessor, the Crosshair X670E Hero.