The NEO lineup is here, and it brings some noticeable changes vs the existing variants, but mostly remains unchanged.
ASUS Showcases Six 800-Series NEO Motherboards Under Various Families, Featuring Some Layout and Connector Changes
ASUS announced its new 800 series NEO motherboard lineup a few days ago, which we talked about recently. However, we were able to get some pics of almost all the new models in the series at CES. The new lineup is introduced for both the B850 and X870 chipset and we have various models launched under different families, such as ROG Strix, TUF Gaming, and ProArt. Most motherboards were launched under the ROG Strix family, expanding the mid-range segment with newer variants of the existing X870 and B850 models.
In the ROG Strix family, we have four motherboards: Two with the X870E chipset and two with the B850. The X870E chipset models, including the ROG Strix X870E-E Gaming WiFi7 NEO and ROG Strix X870E-A Gaming WiFi7 NEO, now bring some noticeable changes to the design. The X870E-E model is particularly more distinguishable from the non-NEO model when it comes to aesthetics, and now you can see an additional connector near the CPU socket. It's the new ASUS AIO Q-Connector for AIOs that enables a wireless connection between the new ROG Strix LC IV series AIO coolers and the motherboard.
Both motherboards also boast DIY friendly design, but you can see that ASUS brought back the PCIe Q-Release button, as the existing one was causing scratches on the PCB. The same can be seen on other models, including both the ROG Strix B850-A Gaming WiFi7 NEO and ROG Strix B850-F Gaming WiFi7 NEO, both of which now bring the previous PCIe Q-Release mechanism for a safer GPU removal. However, there aren't a lot of noticeable changes on these, but ASUS says that the NEO motherboard brings an optimized PCIe lane layout for easier upgradability.
In the TUF Gaming series, we currently have one model launched in the NEO series called TUF Gaming B850-PRO WiFi7 W NEO. This motherboard brings a 14+2+1 power phase VRM with 80A DrMOS. Equipped with a 64 MB BIOS chip, these are ready to support the existing and the next-gen AMD Ryzen processors. We have the EZ DIY friendly design on this one as well, and a distinguished heatsink for the M.2 SSDs. It's an all-white motherboard that comes with plenty of connectors for good upgradeability.
The last one is the ProArt B850-CREATOR WiFi NEO, which is another solid mid-range B850 motherboard for professionals. It has excellent connectivity, multiple PCIe x16 slots, and M.2 Q-Release slots for easy PC building. ASUS didn't share the pricing and availability details of these, but expect them to hit the retail shelves soon.
Update: With an interview with Paul's Hardware, ASUS said that the future BIOS updates may need more space for future CPU support, which may result in dropping the WiFi driver.
Future BIOS updates might require us to allocate more of this space for CPU support, limiting our ability to store the WiFi driver on-board. But we'll include the driver as long as space permits.
- ASUS to Paul's Hardware
About the author: Sarfraz Khan is a hardware reporter with a focus on PC components and the builder community. With years of experience writing about PC hardware and laptops, his work has been featured on several reputable technology publications. Sarfraz's hands-on experience is demonstrated through his first-person accounts of using and comparing different hardware configurations, providing practical and relatable insights for everyday users. His technical analysis is respected by peers in the enthusiast community and has been cited by specialized hardware sites such as Germany's Igor's Lab.
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