MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition review: a no compromise, opulent board with a price to match
AM5 is a well-established platform that delivers some of the best gaming performance available, hosting many of the top CPUs currently on the market. This is complemented by an excellent range of motherboards that offer far more than simply housing your components. High-end X870E boards, in particular, provide extreme overclocking capabilities, allowing users to push their hardware to its limits.
MSI has recently refreshed its lineup, including the flagship Godlike series with the introduction of the X Edition. This 10th anniversary model builds on the original X870E MEG Godlike by adding an expanded accessory bundle, more robust components, and a noticeably more striking design. We put the board through its paces in our testing and took a close look at its features in our full motherboard review.
Specifications
- Socket: AM5
- Chipset: X870E
- Form factor: E-ATX
- PCIe version: Gen 5 PCIe and Gen 5 NVMe
- Memory speed: 9000 – 5600 (OC) MT/s / 5600 – 4800 (JEDEC) MT/s
- Memory capacity: 256GB DDR5
What We Think
The MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition is an ultra-premium motherboard that pairs AMD’s top-tier AM5 chipset with an abundance of features – arguably more than most users will ever need. Designed with enthusiasts in mind, it is an overclocker’s dream, thanks to an exceptionally robust power delivery and cooling solution that enables hardware to be pushed to its limits. That level of performance and engineering does come at a price, however, with the board firmly positioned in the four-figure range.
In return, you get an exceptionally well-built and thoughtfully designed motherboard that leaves little to be desired. A comprehensive set of quality-of-life features and MSI’s EZ DIY systems make both building and troubleshooting significantly easier, whether inside or outside the case. It also delivers the fastest speeds and most advanced features of the current generation, while offering a strong degree of future-proofing.
Reasons to Buy
- Excellent build quality and well-built design
- All the connectivity you might need
- Plenty of EZ DIY features to make building easier
- Great power and performance setup
- Impressive accessories and nice-to-have features on it
Reasons to Avoid
- Ludicrously expensive
- Overkill for most PC builders
- Doesn’t come with a manual
- Some of the metal plates pop off easily
Design and usability
Created for the 10th anniversary of the line, the Godlike X Edition brings opulence and high-quality design to the top AMD chipset right now, the X870E. MSI looks back on the 2015 X99A motherboards and celebrates the premium mobo with an even fancier edition.
Just the package we received was absolutely massive; you’d think it was a laptop or something other than just a motherboard inside. The package it comes in opens up into a premium black box that proudly displays the X edition branding, while also showing off the top-end experience as it takes you through the unboxing process.
Unfolding the box and then expanding the wings certainly provides you with a unique feeling. Inside, it packs a whole bunch of accessories and extras beyond the mobo itself. That includes a lucky keyring, fan controller, M.2 PCIe card, and a collector’s stand that comes with a powered mounting place for the NVMe heatsink that, in the collector’s edition, is numbered and special. In our case, it came with PC Guide engraved on it, so that it can be displayed and flick through the RGB lighting on there.
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MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition box open, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition box first layer, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition top heatsink, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition socket and IO cover, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition on table, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition box, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition box contents, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition NVMe heatsink, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition unfolded box, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition bottom half, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition in box, Image by PC Guide
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Even getting to the motherboard, there are extra cables and additions to utilize, be it the EZ cables, expansions, or thermistors that add to the features of the board. After all that, once you get to the board itself, you finally get to see and feel the Godlike X Edition X870E.
It is a massively covered motherboard, with metal plates and heatsinks covering the entire thing. Covered head to toe in these, and even covering the back protecting the solder, little chips, and even your fingers, the plates serve for both protecting itself and you, as it’s certainly more comfortable to handle. All this results in a fairly hefty board that requires quite some strength to move around, and you definitely want to use all the screws to mount it.
With it all in place, the design is very sleek and stylish. Although massive, it has that premium and impressive look that’s stealthy but bold at the same time. While also adding a lot of convenience and EZ features to the board, such as all the quick releases on the NVMe heatsinks. With so many slots to use, there’s a quick-release button for each one to access the drives, which then have thermal pads and an easy lock, so adding storage is fast and toolless.
The Godlike also adds that to the top PCIe slot, as it moves the unlock to the EZ Bridge in the top right next to the RAM slots. Expanding the width of the mobo, adding the PCIe lock toggle, power, and reset buttons right on the face of it, along with a dashboard and a whole load of EZ connectors on the side.
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition fan controller, Image by PC Guid
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition connectors top right, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition Xpander-Z back, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition top edge, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition right side ports, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition RAM slots, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition NVMe heatsink display stand and Lucky, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition M.2 Xpander-z slot, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition M.2 Xpander-Z Slider Gen5, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition Lucky keyring, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition Lucky box, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition Lucky & extras, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition IO, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition heatsink display, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition EZ Control Hub, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition EZ Control Hub rear, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition EZ Control Hub ports, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition EZ Control Hub Bridge port, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition disassembled, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition back, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition back name, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition triangle mirror, Image by PC Guide
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It further simplifies connectivity by relocating key headers to the right-hand side, spanning both the edge of the board and the bridge itself. This includes moving the fan control hub to the rear and routing all cabling away from the front-facing side, keeping visible cables to a minimum. MSI also includes an EZ Front Panel connector cable, which neatly consolidates connections for cases that do not already support a unified front-panel layout.
On the front of the bridge, the traditional debug LED readout has been upgraded to a full display. This screen not only shows boot codes but can also track temperatures and display a range of other customizable system information. Together, these additions make the building process more convenient and significantly improve troubleshooting – an area where high-end motherboards like this, with their heavy focus on power delivery and thermal performance, tend to excel.
Specifications
| Socket | AM5 |
| Chipset | X870E |
| Form Factor | E-ATX – 277×304.8mm |
| RAM | 4x DDR5, Maximum Capacity 256GB Memory Support DDR5 9000 – 5600 (OC) MT/s / 5600 – 4800 (JEDEC) MT/s |
| VRM | 24+2+1 Duet Rail Power System, 110A SPS |
| PCIe | PCI_E1 x16 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x16 (From CPU) PCI_E2 x16 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x8 (From CPU) PCI_E3 x4 Gen PCIe 4.0 supports up to x4 (From Chipset) |
| Storage | M.2_1 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4, 2280/2260 devices M.2_2 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4, 2280/2260 devices M.2_3 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4, 22110/2280 devices M.2_4 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x2, 2280/2260 devices M.2_5 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4, 2280/2260 devices 4x SATA 6G M.2_1 Source (via M.2 XPANDER-Z SLIDER GEN5) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4, 2280 devices M.2_2 Source (via M.2 XPANDER-Z SLIDER GEN5) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4, 2280 devices |
| Fan Headers | 1x CPU fan 2x Pump 1x EZ control hub (7x system fan) |
| Back panel connectivity |
8x USB 10Gbps (Type-A) 2x USB 40Gbps (Type-C) 5x USB 10Gbps (Type-C) Flash BIOS Button Clear CMOS Button Smart Button 10G LAN 5G LAN Wi-Fi / Bluetooth HD Audio Connectors Optical S/PDIF-Out |
The specs of the X870E motherboard are rather featureful, to say the least. Firstly, it supports a rather impressive RAM overclock of up to 9,000MT/s, ensuring you get the top-performing memory if you can afford it (although if you can afford this motherboard, you can probably get some of that too).
Then, on the add-in boards side, you may only get three expansion slots, with two x16s, with one only at half speed, and then a x4 Gen 4, seemingly not so amazing for a top-end board. But it is to focus on speed and only provide what most people use, and most likely a use case for your GPU, its M.2 Xpander card, and a last addition small slot for a dongle or something similar.
But with the lack of PCIe slots, it makes up for it with the number of M.2 slots that utilize the PCIe lanes. With 5 onboard, split between gen 5 and 4, with an extra 4 SATA connectors that offer a lot of storage options for one motherboard.
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On the other hand, it cuts back on the fan connectors onboard. With the connectors getting unified on the motherboard, it cuts back on the fan availability. Providing just CPU and pump, it moves the fans to the hub it throws in, which does help with cable management for the front, but now you have to deal with mounting a bulky box in your case.
As for the power management on the motherboard, it does come with quite a powerful setup, with a massive rail power system and smart power stages. Combined with plenty of PCB layers of high quality, it’s made for overclocking your CPU beyond the usual limitations, as it also brings dual PCIe connectors to it. So with the mass of power components, the heatsinks are a necessary addition that have their own heatpipes to ensure clean power for your processor.
It also packs a lot into the rear IO, with plenty of connectivity accessible to you once it’s in your build. Utilizing a combination of fast Type-A and Type-C USBs for peripherals, 10Gbps and 5Gbps Ethernet ports for networking, WiFi 7 for wireless, and even a load of high-quality audio outputs. Alongside this, you’ll also get a range of control buttons for BIOS, CMOS, and smart features, so you can utilize those things easily and quickly without opening up your case.
Performance
| Component | Name |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D |
| GPU | ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5090 |
| Memory | Corsair Dominator Titanium 64GB DDR5 @ 6800MT/s |
| Motherboard | MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition |
| CPU cooler | ROG RYUJIN III 360 |
| Power supply | Seasonic Prime TX-1600 Seasonic |
| Case | be quiet! Light Base 500 LX |
After going over the whole motherboard and building with it, I put it through our testing lab. Putting it to the test and checking its temps and the power supplied to the CPU to see how well it could do so. Putting the BIOS into PBO and X3D gaming mode should give the 9800X3D some top-level performance to utilize on the platform.
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition temperatures, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition synthetic multi core scores, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition Blender average package power, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition Cyberpunk 2077 power, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition synthetics ssingel core scores, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition synthetic temperatures, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition CS2 fps, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition Blender scores, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition Cyberpunk 2077 temps, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition Blender temperatures, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition CS2 temps, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition Cyberpunk 2077 fps, Image by PC Guide
MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition CS2 power, Image by PC Guide
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Starting off with some quick Blender renders via its benchmark mode and running on the CPU. During the three-scene benchmark, it averaged out 68W, with some idle periods in there, so not too close to the 120W TDP rating. But the temperatures stayed cool as the system reached a temperature of 27.5°C, the MOS capacitors averaged 42.5°C, and the chipset rose to 40°C.
Running a range of CPU tests on the 9800X3D via Cinebench, CPU-Z, and Geekbench 6, they all benchmarked the CPU and the power the motherboard supplied to it. Via the single and multicore tests of each, the CPU power averaged at 100.4W while running consecutively, with idle times kept low. At this time, the system temp was at 28.5°C, the MOS temperatures were 40.6°C, and the chipset reached 43.9°C.
Then I tested the gaming performance, running the games at their top settings. In these scenarios, your GPU is doing the majority of the work, so it’s no surprise to see the CPU running more lightly. As in Cyberpunk 2077, the CPU averaged 80W with the system reaching temps of 30°C, the MOS capacitors averaged 41.9°C, and the chipset averaged 44.9°C.
As for CS2, the power averaged to 65W, as the system temps averaged 31°C, MOS averaged 43°C, and the chipset reached 46°C. So the motherboard manages to keep the temps in check even when running some intensive scenarios.
Also running stress test of Furmark on the CPU and GPU for 20 minutes, we see how it held up over time, too. During which the MOS temps reached a high of 52.5°C with an average of 46.4°C. While the system temp reached 34.5°C and an average of 31.9°C, the chipset in turn reached 51°C and averaged 47.7°C.
Conclusion
Specifications
- Socket: AM5
- Chipset: X870E
- Form factor: E-ATX
- PCIe version: Gen 5 PCIe and Gen 5 NVMe
- Memory speed: 9000 – 5600 (OC) MT/s / 5600 – 4800 (JEDEC) MT/s
- Memory capacity: 256GB DDR5
There’s no doubt the MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition is one of the best motherboards out there. It has everything you might need from a mobo and more, with the top-level chipset bringing plenty of fast connectivity in the PCIe lanes, USBs on the rear, wireless and wired connectivity, and then a top power setup for the job. It ensures you can get the most out of your hardware.
That, of course, comes at a rather expensive cost, even though not in stock, it is expected to hit shelves at over $1,000, as the previous version did, if not more. While that’s a crazy number for most people, those who want the absolute best, with powerful overclocking abilities, plenty of nice features like EZ connect and an integrated dashboard, and a lot of extras on top, the Godlike X Edition might just be for you.
