A Limited Edition Monster Motherboard
The MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition might be the most over the top AM5 motherboard on the market right now. It is also one of the hardest to actually buy. MSI created this X Edition as a tenth anniversary celebration of its Godlike series, and only 1,000 units exist worldwide.
They are restricted to a few retailers Micro Center and Newegg in the US and Scan in the UK. So even if you have the cash, your chances of grabbing one are slim. That makes this board more of an enthusiast collectible than a realistic upgrade for most gamers.
Under the fancy packaging though, this board is basically a standard MSI MEG X870E Godlike with a few cosmetic extras. The real story is what the Godlike platform itself brings to high end Ryzen 7000 8000 and 9000 gaming rigs.
Specs and Features: Everything and the Kitchen Sink
The Godlike X Edition is built for AMDs AM5 socket and X870E chipset, supporting Ryzen 7000 8000 and 9000 desktop CPUs. It uses the larger E ATX form factor and supports up to 256 GB of DDR5 memory, from DDR5 4800 up to very high overclocked speeds like DDR5 9000 if your kit and CPU can handle it.
On paper the feature list is absurd in the best way.
- Expansion slots: Three PCIe slots. The top slot is x16 Gen 5 for your main graphics card. The second is x8 Gen 5 and the third is x4 Gen 4, although that bottom slot can drop to x2 if you fully load certain M.2 slots.
- M.2 storage: Onboard you get two x4 Gen 5 M.2 slots, two x4 Gen 4 slots, and one more flexible Gen 4 slot (x2 or x4). On top of that MSI bundles its M.2 Xpander Z Slider card, which adds two hot swappable Gen 5 M.2 slots on a PCIe card. That is up to seven M.2 SSDs in one system.
- SATA: Four SATA ports for older drives.
- Rear USB: Fifteen rear ports in total. Eight USB 3.2 Type A at 10 Gbps, five USB 3.2 Type C at 10 Gbps, and two USB4 Type C ports at up to 40 Gbps. For anyone with lots of peripherals and external SSDs, this is close to heaven.
- Networking: 10G Ethernet, 5G Ethernet, plus Wi Fi 7. This board is ready for serious home networks and high speed NAS setups.
- Display support: USB4 ports that can output DisplayPort 1.4 for integrated graphics or dock setups.
- Audio: A high end Realtek ALC4082 codec paired with an ESS9219Q DAC and headphone amp for cleaner sound than basic onboard audio.
The X Edition extras are surprisingly minor. You get a numbered custom M.2 heatsink with a little display and a USB powered stand to show it off, plus an MSI dragon plushy keyring and slightly tweaked visuals in the BIOS and IO shroud display. Functionally, the standard Godlike and the X Edition are the same board.
There are some trade offs hidden under all this excess. For example, if you fully load the second M.2 slot, the USB4 ports can drop from 40 Gbps to 20 Gbps and that SSD will run at x2 instead of x4. This is not MSI being lazy. It is a limitation of the PCIe lane budget on AM5 CPUs and the X870E chipset. If you truly need more lanes without compromises you are looking at workstation platforms like Threadripper or a different ecosystem entirely.
Build Experience, Cooling and Real World Performance
The Godlike boards are clearly aimed at experienced builders, especially overclockers and serious tweakers. MSI covers the PCB in metal heatsinks for the VRMs and M.2 slots, and adds some unique build quality of life features.
The EZ Bridge module attaches magnetically to the board and brings a lot of connectors to a neat cluster, including:
- Power and reset buttons
- A quick release mechanism for the main PCIe slot to make GPU removal easier
- Headers for an included fan hub and thermocouple sensors
- Front panel connectors and a combined header for fans, USB and ARGB
- MSI Dynamic Dashboard III a customizable four inch LCD display
Everything is laid out horizontally to help with cleaner cable routing. It looks great in a show build, but it can be overwhelming if this is your first custom PC. There are simply a lot of headers, options and potential tweaks.
Cooling wise, the VRM heatsink is huge and the board is plastered with chunky metal all around. In testing though, the reported VRM temperatures looked higher than many cheaper AM5 boards. It is hard to know if that is an actual issue or just a difference in how and where temperatures are measured, especially since enabling more aggressive CPU power modes did not significantly change the VRM readings. The takeaway is that cooling is adequate for high end Ryzen but not magically better than reasonably priced alternatives.
The primary M.2 slot is where the design shows some weakness. The included heatsink looks slick, with a reflective top and an integrated screen on the X Edition version, but that stylish surface is not ideal for heat dissipation. Under load, a Gen 5 SSD can hit the mid 70s in degrees Celsius. That is within normal operating limits but not impressive given the boards price tag.
Performance in games and productivity workloads is very ordinary which is exactly what you should expect. On modern platforms motherboards rarely add much raw performance on their own. The Godlike X Edition does not deliver higher frame rates than mid range AM5 boards that cost a quarter of the price. Out of the box MSI seems to favor stability and compatibility with fairly conservative CPU and memory settings.
If you are willing to spend a lot of time in the BIOS playing with options like Enhanced PBO, Game Mode and memory tuning you can squeeze more out of a Ryzen 9, but that is true of almost any decent AM5 board. The Godlike X Edition is not a guaranteed shortcut to higher FPS.
Enabling more aggressive power limits in tests like Cinebench pushed CPU power over 200 W and drove temperatures near 97 degrees Celsius without improving performance. That suggests the CPU or cooling becomes the limit before the motherboard does.
Who Is This Board Really For
The MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition is a showcase board. It exists to demonstrate what a fully loaded AM5 motherboard can look like when price is almost an afterthought. You get incredible connectivity, ridiculous storage options and loads of visual flair but not higher actual performance than sensibly priced alternatives.
Most gamers should not chase this X Edition even if they could afford it and find one in stock. Availability is tiny and the extras over the standard Godlike are mostly cosmetic. If you love the idea of a Godlike board the regular MSI MEG X870E Godlike gives you the same platform, the same features and the same performance for a little less money and without the artificial scarcity.
For everyday PC builders, mid range AM5 motherboards remain the sweet spot. For extreme enthusiasts with big budgets who want a centerpiece for a dream Ryzen build and care about having every possible port and slot, the Godlike series delivers that sense of excess. Just do not expect it to magically boost your frame rate.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/motherboards/msi-meg-x870e-godlike-x-edition-review/
