Two new high-end ASUS motherboards have just been launched by the brand. We’re talking about the ASUS Crosshair X870E Glacial and Dark Hero. These are more like technological showcases than anything else, especially given the prices charged by the brand… The Glacial goes even further than the Dark Hero!
ASUS Crosshair X870E Glacial and Dark Hero: top of the range!
With the Glacial, ASUS offers us a white motherboard in E-ATX format. It benefits from a number of features such as a screen covering the I/O section and 90° connectors. It also has a specific connector next to the socket. This is intended for certain water cooling kits offered by the brand and allows for cable-free installation.
The connectivity is necessarily very comprehensive, and the storage section features up to seven M.2 slots via two PCIe 5.0 x4, with the rest being PCIe 4.0 x4. The same number of storage slots are possible via a DIMM2 expansion card. Otherwise, the power supply section is solid, almost too much so in the end, as there are 24+2+2 phases cooled by massive heat sinks.
As for the Dark Hero, we find a high-end card, but one that is more “reasonable.” First of all, it adopts a standard ATX format, while its power supply stage is less advanced: 20+2+2 phases. The screen has also been removed, and the storage section is less comprehensive: five M.2 slots, including two PCIe 5.0 and fourS ATA. The card still has the famous ASUS AIO connector, and we have all the options to make installation easier: tool-free main M.2 slot, simplified graphics card removal button, and easy WiFi antenna connection, for example.
In short, with these two cards, we have two unreasonable models serving as technological showcases. But we have to dream, especially when we see the prices: very, very expensive for the Glacial ($1,270) and very expensive for the Dark Hero ($870) according to the first listings.
Check out the ASUS product sheets here and there!