ASRock X870 Steel Legend WIFI Motherboard Review – White Aesthetics With Upgraded Features For Mainstream Builders

Conclusion - White Aesthetics For Mainstream AM5 Builders

The ASRock Steel Legend series is known to be a strong mainstream positioned product and with the X870E variant, the motherboard maker is offering better features, extended IO capabilities, and better power delivery, all in a stunning white design.

In terms of performance, the ASRock X870E Steel Legend didn't disappoint, delivering great CPU performance with the top Ryzen 9 9950X chip and it also overclocked well though we might have been pushing the limits given the temperatures on the VRM heatsinks. The 20K caps and power delivery is designed for stable operation and that much is true. Memory support is also great with up to 8000 MT/s verified across multiple DDR5 memory kits with support for XMP/EXPO.

ASRock made a wise decision in changing the Steel Legend design from the older camo (white/black/grey) color scheme to a full-on white-colored motherboard that even comes with a white-colored PCB. Many PC builders are selecting white PC chassis and white components these days and the Steel Legend will complement that look well.

In terms of storage options, you are getting three M.2 slots, two of which sit under the same heatsink (Gen4 x4), and one Gen5 x4 with a dedicated and large aluminum heatsink. This heat sink will ensure around 50-60C operating temperatures running the fastest 14 GB/s+ NVMe drives so you don't have to worry about heat accumulation. The PCIe slot configuration includes two slots with 1 Gen5 x16 and 1 Gen4 x4 options. There's enough space to run two dedicated GPUs which is good for AI setups and having metallic shielding means that you can ensure your PCIe slots don't wear away over time.

The things we loved about the ASRock X870 Steel Legend WIFI:

• Great Mainstream Price
• White Design With White PCB
• Great VRM Solution
• Up To 8000 MT/s DDR5 Support
• Generous Amount of USB Ports (20 In total)
• USB4 Support
• Gen5 Compliant PCIe and M.2 Slots
• Latest WIFI7 & BT5.4 Support
• EZ Toolless Design For M.2 Slot
• Solid BIOS Firmware

Things that we would have liked to see:

• A DEBUG Port
• Lower VRM Temps

USB support is good with a total of 20 ports available (9 on the front panel and 11 on the back), a single 2.5GbE LAN port, WiFI 7 with BT 5.4, and an ALC4082 codec for audio. There are 9 fan headers, 3 ARGB headers, and one RGB header on the motherboard. The primary M.2 slot also features a toolless design and the rear IO plate is pre-equipped, giving users some relief when building PCs.

At $259 US, the ASRock X870S Steel Legend WIFI aims to be a well-priced mainstream offering for users building an AMD Ryzen PC. The motherboard offers a great set of features that are more than enough for the majority of mainstream gamers out there and the white design is a much-awaited look for the Steel Legend series.

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