The E Means Gen4x4 Functionality On The Third M.2
There are now a lot of choices when it comes to X870 motherboards, so if you are building a new AMD based system you can pick the model that best meets your needs. This MAG X870E TOMAHAWK WiFi is almost the same as the non-E version, except it will cost you an extra $20 and that gets you an extra two lanes of PCIe 4x on the third M.2 slot. Apart from that it is the same eight-layer server-grade design with 2oz copper layering and 14+1+1 Smart Power Phase setup with 80 amps across the VCore.
As with the majority of X870 boards the PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot and USB4 share lanes so you need to chose between Gen5x2 and USB4 or Gen5x4 and no USB4. The amount of bandwidth offered by PCIe 5.0 suggests you shouldn’t worry about having only two lanes except in very specific usage scenarios. The FPS Review has seen both the MAG X870E TOMAHAWK WiFi and the MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WiFi, with a link to the latter review included in this review if you aren’t sure which model to choose.
