ASUS TUF Gaming X870-Plus M.2 Slots: 2026 Specs Review

The ASUS TUF Gaming X870-Plus motherboard shines in 2026 with its robust M.2 slots, supporting PCIe 5.0 NVMe drives for blazing speeds. Ideal for gamers and creators, this board offers four M.2 slots with enhanced cooling.

Built for Ryzen 9000 series, it delivers stability under heavy loads like 8K rendering and 4K gaming.

M.2 Slot Configuration

Four slots: two PCIe 5.0 x4 (up to 16GB/s), two PCIe 4.0 x4. Dissipator fins prevent throttling on multi-drive RAID setups.

  • Slot 1: CPU-direct PCIe 5.0
  • Slot 2: Chipset PCIe 5.0
  • Slot 3/4: PCIe 4.0 with heatsinks

Performance Benchmarks

Sequential reads hit 14,500 MB/s on Samsung 990 Pro. Gaming load times reduced by 40% vs X670 boards.

  • CrystalDiskMark verified
  • Real-world Cyberpunk 2077 tests

Expansion and Compatibility

Supports up to 4TB per slot, RAID 0/1/10. Backward compatible with PCIe 3.0 drives.

  • AMD RAID utility
  • BIOS auto-detection

Cooling and Durability

TUF components pass 7000+ hour validation. M.2 thermal pads included.

  • VRM heatsink synergy
  • Dust-proof design