ASRock B860 Motherboards Review – RIPTIDE, LIGHTNING, STEEL LEGEND & LiveMixer All Great Value For Intel Builders

ASRock B860 Steel Legend WIFI - Unboxing & Close Up

The ASRock B860 Steel Legend WiFi motherboard comes in a standard white-colored package. The front features a picture of the motherboard & this is a Steel Legend product, which offers great value along with a great set of features. The packaging also lists a few features such as Polychrome SYNC, Thunderbolt, Intel Core Ultra Series 2 support & HDMI.

The backside of the package lists the specifications and special features of the motherboard, such as the 14+1+1 phase power design, Wi-Fi 6E, Thunderbolt 4 Type-C, Lite release design, Tool-less M.2 heatsinks, and 20K high-end capacitors.

Inside the package is another box that contains the accessories and is located right below the box holder for the board itself. These include:

• - 2 x SATA Data Cables
• - 2 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5/6 GHz Antennas
• - 1 x Thermistor Cable

With all the accessories done, it's time to put that box aside and take the motherboard out of its package. The ASRock B860 Steel Legend motherboard is a standard ATX offering that measures 305x244 mm.

ASRock has opted for a white and silver color scheme for its Steel Legend series, making them a perfect option for those investing in white PC builds while staying on a budget.

The board uses the LGA 1851 socket to support Intel Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake" processors. So far, the LGA 1851 socket will only support the Arrow Lake CPUs though we can expect a brand new family in the coming years.

Next to the socket are four DDR5 DIMM slots that can support up to 256 GB of dual-channel memory.

These slots are rated to support EXPO/XMP profiles up to 8666 MT/s (OC Plus). Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation. DDR5 memory comes with a different latch position so forcing a DDR4 module into a DDR5 slot will cause permanent damage. The full QVL list can be found here. The memory signals also integrate a new PCB design feature called "Memory OC Shield" which reduces EMI and offers enhanced memory overclocking and stability, especially at higher frequencies.

The ASRock B860 Steel Legend WIFI motherboard features a 14+1+1+1+1 (VCore+GT+SA)  phase Dr.MOS power delivery that utilizes 80A Power Stages.

The VRMs and power delivery solution are scattered around the LGA 1851 socket. The board uses a 6-layer server-grade PCB with 2oz Thickened copper. This VRM is very similar to the other RIPTIDE offering. As for the cooling, you get bigger heatsinks in the form of the Enlarged Heatsink Armor.

The CPU is supplied power through an 8+8 pin power connector configuration. This will feed the CPU with up to 600 Watts of power. Intel's Arrow Lake "Core Ultra 200S" Desktop CPUs can sip up to 250W of power by default.

Expansion slots include two PCI Express x16 (1 x Gen 5.0 x16/8 / 1x Gen 4.0 x2) and four M.2 slots.

• CPU:
  - 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16 Slot (PCIE1), supports x16 mode
• Chipset:
  - 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 Slot (PCIE2), supports x2 mode
  - 1 x M.2 Socket (Key E), supports type 2230 WiFi/BT PCIe WiFi module and Intel CNVio/CNVio2 (Integrated WiFi/BT)

The motherboard utilizes a full metallic slot and ASRock also uses a new mechanism called Graphics Card Lite Release which has an enlarged latch for easy pressing that should help in removing the graphics card from the slot.

There are a total of four M.2 slots on the motherboard which include one PCIe Gen5 Blazing M.2 slot, two Hyper M.2 Gen4 x4 slots, and a single Gen4 x2 slot. Three of these slots are cooled by M.2 heatsinks which include an XXL M.2 heatsink with anti-drop screw design. The top design features a toolless design, too, which makes it easy to access the slot.

Following is the full list of M.2 ports and their details on the ASRock B860 Steel Legend WIFI motherboard:

• CPU:
  - 1 x Blazing M.2 Socket (M2_1, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen5x4 (128 Gb/s) mode
• Chipset:
  - 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_2, Key M), supports type 2230/2242/2260/2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode
  - 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_3, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode
  - 1 x M.2 Socket (M2_4, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen4x2 (32 Gb/s) mode
  - 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors

The motherboard has a few RGB LEDs around the PCH and the bottom M.2 heatsink, plus it also comes with 3 ARGB and 1 RGB LED connector for users to personalize their PCs using the ASRock Polychrome RGB software.

Storage options include four SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support 4 different storage devices at once. For the front IO, you get a total of 19 ports which include a single Thunderbolt 4 Type-C, 1 USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C, 2 USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, 8 USB 3.2 Gen1, and seven USB 2.0 ports.

The full list of connectors on the motherboard is listed as follows.

• - 1 x Thermistor Cable Header
• - 1 x SPI TPM Header
• - 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
• - 1 x RGB LED Header
• - 3 x Addressable LED Headers
• - 2 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 5 x Chassis Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 1 x AIO Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Connector
• - 2 x 8 pin 12V Power Connectors (Hi-Density Power Connector)
• - 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector
• - 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports)
• - 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports)
• - 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Header (20 Gb/s)

ASRock is using the latest WIFI 6E Module to power wireless connectivity and Bluetooth 5.3. In terms of Ethernet, there is a single LAN port powered by the 2.5GbE Dragon RTL8125BG controller. Audio is run by the ALC1220 controller.

The motherboard comes with the following I/O connectors:

• - 2 x Antenna Ports
• - 1 x HDMI Port
• - 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
• - 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
• - 1 x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C Port (40 Gb/s for USB4 protocol; 40Gb/s for Thunderbolt protocol)
• - 2 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Ports (10 Gb/s)
• - 4 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports
• - 3 x USB 2.0 Ports
• - 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port
• - 1 x BIOS Flashback Button
• - 1 x Line Out Jack (Gold Audio Jack)
• - 1 x Microphone Input Jack (Gold Audio Jack)

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