ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero

I don't think you'll see any improvements over a 9800X3D and a solid B850 if we're talking just gaming. I honestly think only heavy overclockers and content creators need an X870E, and I wouldn't consider more than an 8-core CPU unless you plan on doing heavy productivity tasks.

There is no reason to get the Hero motherboard. Outside of bragging rights, it provides no performance benefit over the other motherboard options and is essentially a waste of $200.

Both the motherboard and the CPU were faulty. They replaced both components under warranty and the system now boots and works correctly.

I’m experiencing an intermittent and very inconsistent cold-boot issue with my system, and I’m hoping someone else might be seeing the same behavior or has found a reliable fix.