Comparing X570 ASUS motherboards - why fewer slots in Crosshair Hero vs. Strix-E? and ASUS naming in general

philb2

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I was surprised to see that the CrossHair HeroVII had 1 less PCIE slot than the Strix-E, even though the Hero model was more expensive than the Strix model.

Is there a simple explanation of all the different sub-brands for ASUS? Like why would I want a TUF model instead of a Strix model, pricing aside?

Is there some underlying logic here, or does ASUS throw out names willy-nilly?
 
What would you even put in that slot anyway? It's right under the primary GPU slot. Whatever you put there is going to bake itself, and then reduce the airflow to your GPU.

The number of slots is pretty much irrelevant as you are unlikely to use all 4 slots simultaneously in the Crosshair. What really matters is how easily the lanes are manipulated between the slots as the chipset/CPU only has so many available PCIe lanes to the slots, m.2, and SATA ports. You wouldn't be able to have all the PCIe slots, all of the m.2, AND all of the SATA working at the same time even though they are all physically present on the board.
 
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Ive a strix x570 . I just upgraded to a 6800xt and I agree with kirbyrj, there is not a lot of room under it and with 250 watts of heat coming of the card you dont want anything in the way. My choice of the Strix x570 was based on the very good, according to the reviews, of the power supply to CPU, vital if you want to overclock. If you want to use a lot of fans you might want a pwm controller add on as the board is light on case fan connections points. One last point is that i bought a quality psu , probably the most important part of any build.
 
Ive a strix x570 . I just upgraded to a 6800xt and I agree with kirbyrj, there is not a lot of room under it and with 250 watts of heat coming of the card you dont want anything in the way. My choice of the Strix x570 was based on the very good, according to the reviews, of the power supply to CPU, vital if you want to overclock. If you want to use a lot of fans you might want a pwm controller add on as the board is light on case fan connections points. One last point is that i bought a quality psu , probably the most important part of any build.
Agree. I'm still rocking the Corsair AX850, old model, that is probably 8 years old now, I have a Thermaltake Power II PSU tester, good enough for "government work," and every so often I check the PSU. Still good.

I'm upgrading to a Corsair AIO cooler with its own PWM controller. My new Phanteks case also comes with a PWM controller.
 
Names alone don't dictate more more more slots and ports. Boards are crammed, real-estate is at a premium, and chipsets/cpus only have so many lanes to offer too! Split some lanes with bifurcation if you truly use them all, the last time I used them all was back in the PCI and ISA era...

Likely the strix model traded a PCIe slot for more M.2 or something, maybe a WiFi 6 card too?

You wouldn't likely pick a TUF over a Strix if money wasn't a concern, that's the point. It's like comparing a corolla and a supra, both go down the road but one is economy. More power phases, more cooling, more bling bling, everything cranked to 11 on the Strix.

MSI and ASUS and others have a range of professional/worker boards that are mid-range but run stock well, where you don't need to OC or have RGB, heavily decorated coolers, or anime characters on the box.
 
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