Conclusion
This review evaluated the GIGABYTE X870E AERO X3D DARK WOOD motherboard. We have previously reviewed the light wood-themed X870E AERO X3D WOOD Edition motherboard. The DARK WOOD motherboard is a black version with broader-toned “wood” accents. This is also a high-quality board supporting AM5 CPUs, DDR5 memory up to 9000 M/T, Gen5 PCIe and NVMe, and all the connectivity one could need. Performance was on par with all the X870E boards we have reviewed.
Installation and Use
The GIGABYTE X870E AERO X3D DARK WOOD was a pleasure to work with. With that being said, there were a couple of issues encountered that are more exclusive to the components we had on hand, rather than the performance of the motherboard. Our trusty older Corsair Vengeance DDR5 memory modules failed to run in XMP. The motherboard consistently faulted at the BIOS loading screen. If we disabled XMP, the board and memory ran fine. This is undoubtedly a memory kit-specific issue. Our GSkill Trident modules performed flawlessly with EXPO enabled.
The other issue was physical. To start, the TEAMGROUP T-FORCE GR PRO Airflow NVME we use is a bit wider than a standard NVME due to its active cooler. In M.2 slot number two, it would not completely seat, and in CrystalDisk gave several different results. This was due to interference between the primary PCIe slot clasp and a screw-head on the drive. Again, this is most likely an individual issue rather than a major problem. Other than those small issues, we had no problems with installations or first boot. The board is spacious, well-organized and nearly tool-less.
Once again, the location of the GPU and the placement of M.2 drives are going to be an issue. You will need very flat NVMe drives to be able to use the native motherboard heatsinks. Again, we emphasize that the full function of the second Gen5 M.2 slot depends on going into the BIOS and switching off the USB4 ports. This is not exclusive to this motherboard. We have seen this on a number of like-equipped X870E boards. It is just the nature of what the CPU has in terms of PCIe lanes. If you enable the USB4 ports, the speed of the M.2 drive will be halved.
First boot, BIOS navigation, and Windows 11 installation were without a single hitch. Since the board came with an outdated BIOS version, we used “Q-Flash” to update, which was very simple to use and proceeded without an issue. The BIOS is very similar, if not identical, to the other GIGABYTE X3D motherboard we have reviewed in the recent past. The UC 2.0 BIOS is very responsive and well-organised. All benchmarks ran without error. VRM temperatures were very unremarkable on this board during prolonged Cinebench R23. There were no thermal issues.
Final Points
The GIGABYTE X870E AERO X3D DARK WOOD motherboard does not disappoint. GIGABYTE hit all the marks with this board, and we feel it represented the “Wood accent” as they conceived it. The board is high-quality. Every piece is well-designed and fits perfectly. You can see and feel the quality. The performance is right where it should be. We really like the look of this board, a big improvement over the “plain Wood” we reviewed previously. If you are looking for something with a little refinement to build around, you don’t need to go any further.
GIGABYTE also sampled us a LIAN LI LANCOOL 217 Black Genuine Walnut Trimmed PC Gaming Case that pairs nicely with this motherboard in aesthetics. Please check out our full LIAN LI LANCOOL 217 Black Genuine Walnut Trimmed PC Gaming Case review, where we explore that case, and how this motherboard and case combo provides a cohesive design-scheme.
