ASRock B850 Steel Legend WiFi Motherboard review: flagship audio meets value

ASRock impressed us early this year with its Mini-ITX B850I Lighting WiFi, and we’re sticking with AMD’s budget-conscious B850 chipset for the next board to land on our test bench, the Steel Legend WiFi. Priced at $209.99, it’s not particularly painful on the wallet, and you get most everything you’d expect at the price point. The white and silver appearance, with integrated RGB lighting, stands out among similarly priced competition, and would look good with most builds, especially those leaning toward white.

The Steel Legend offers well-rounded specifications for the price, including fast networking with 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 7, capable power delivery with large heatsinks, ample storage options including 4x M.2 sockets (one PCIe 5.0), and even a flagship-class audio codec. An RGB LED strip under the bottom M.2 heatsink shines brightly, giving the board (and the inside of your case) extra color.

Results during testing were lackluster in some areas due to the board not playing nicely with our standard test RAM. We had to use an older DDR5-6000 kit, but couldn’t quite get the timings to match. That said, we’re confident that if we had run our standard kit or gotten the other one to work at the proper timings, performance would have been on par with the other boards. Still, the board didn’t do too badly, proving itself competent all around, but sometimes bringing up the rear — again, because of the RAM incompatibility and speed differences.

Below, we’ll examine the board's details and determine whether it deserves a spot on our Best Motherboards list. However, before we share the test results and discuss the details, check out the specifications below, provided by ASRock.

Specifications of the ASRock B850 Steel Legend Wifi

Inside the Box of the ASRock B850 Steel Legend WiFi

You receive the bare essentials in the box: two SATA cables, a Wi-Fi antenna, and a thermistor cable. This minimal accessory package is standard for motherboards in this price range.

Design of the Steel Legend WiFi

(Image credit: ASRock)

(Image credit: ASRock)

(Image credit: ASRock)

Even though it moved to a more budget-friendly chipset, ASRock still delivers, starting with an 8-layer PCB, oversized heatsinks for capable power delivery, and a PCIe 5.0 M.2 socket with plate-style heatsinks for the chipset and bottom M.2 sockets. The silver and black theme with RGBs is neutral, blending in with most white or light build themes. It looks like a budget board, but that’s not a bad thing, as it is an inexpensive option.

In the upper-left corner, we get a closer look at the large VRM heatsink that extends over the rear IO area. Emblazoned proudly on top is a silver “S” representing Steel Series. This area lacks RGB lighting, but the top is reflective. Above that are two 8-pin EPS high-density power connectors (one required) to supply power to the processor.

To the right of the clean socket area are four unreinforced DIMM slots with locking mechanisms on both sides. ASRock lists support of 256GB of RAM with two sticks running up to DDR5-8000+, which is very fast for this cost-conscious chipset. Oddly, we experienced some issues with our Kingston DDR5-6000 kit, but others, including the DDR5-7200 kit, ran without any problems. Ensure your memory is on the QVL list for guaranteed compatibility.

Above the DRAM slots, we spy the first three (of five) 4-pin fan/pump headers. Here it’s the CPU_FAN1/2 and the AIO pump. All headers work with DC- or PWM-controlled fans. The CPU_FAN1 header outputs up to 1A/12W, while the remainder outputs up to 3A/36W. Note that CPU_FAN2, CHA_FAN1-3, and the AIO_PUMP header auto-detect whether they are connected to 3-pin or 4-pin devices.

Rounding the corner and starting down the right edge, we encounter the Post Status Checker (PSC) LEDs, which light up during POST and remain lit if an issue occurs. Next are two 3-pin ARGB headers, followed by the 24-pin ATX connector to power the board. Last up here are the front panel 19-pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) and 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C (20 Gbps) headers.

Power delivery consists of 17 phases, 14 dedicated to Vcore. Power heads from the 8-pin EPS connector(s) to the Richtek RT3678BE controller (for Vcore, there’s another for the SOC/MISC). From there, it’s on to the 80A Vishay SiC659 Dr.MOS VRMs. While not the most robust, it’s still sufficient for a flagship-class processor and won’t limit ambient overclocking adventures.

Focusing our attention on the bottom half of the board, we see a lot of exposed PCB, so it’s easy to see exactly what’s going on. Starting on the left is the high-end Realtek ALC4082 codec mated with a couple of dedicated audio capacitors. This is one of the few B850 boards that use the flagship audio codec, but you won’t find integrated DACs or AMPs like you see on more expensive, typically X870-based, motherboards.

In the middle are two full-length PCIe slots, with the top slot using reinforcement. The top slot’s EZ feature is an oversized spring-loaded latch with a tab extending outward, allowing for easy access and less actuation force for the locking mechanism. This is the primary graphics slot and thus connected to the CPU running at a full PCIe 5.0 x16 speed. Regardless of the configuration (meaning installed storage), you’ll always get full bandwidth. The bottom full-length slot connects through the chipset at PCIe 4.0 x4. Be aware that when M2_4 is populated, PCIE2 is disabled, as they share bandwidth.

Scattered around the bottom are four M.2 sockets, three of which are under heatsinks, including the 5.0-capable (128 Gbps) socket located above the PCIe slot. One additional M.2 socket, M2_2, connects directly to the CPU and operates at PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps). The other two go through the chipset and also run at 4.0 x4 speeds. All sockets support devices with a maximum length of 80mm.

Past the chipset and along the right edge is another 19-pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 connector, and below that, the four SATA ports.

Across the bottom are several useful headers. From left to right, you get:

• Front Panel audio
• 2-pin Thermistor header
• 4-pin RGB, 3-pin ARGB
• 2-pin Chassis Intrusion
• 4-pin Chassis Fan header
• 2-pin Clear CMOS jumper
• (2) USB 2.0 headers
• Front Panel

The rearIO is laid out logically and labeled clearly, which makes things easy (if you can see behind your chassis). On the left is the HDMI video output for integrated graphics, and next to that are the standard Wi-Fi 7 antenna connections. A small BIOS Flashback button is next, followed by two stacks of four USB ports. On the left are four USB 2.0 ports, with two more on top. The USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Lightning Gaming ports (on their own controller, free from other USB traffic) are located at the bottom in orange. Next to these are the two 10 Gbps Type-C ports and another 5 Gbps Type-A port, both in light blue. Last but not least is the Realtek 2.5 GbE and audio stack, featuring two 3.5mm (mic in/line out) and SPDIF ports.

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• logainofhades

  Assuming their newest bios updates fixes them killing 9000 series chips.

  Reply

• redgarl

  No serious reviewer can honestly recommends an ASROCK motherboard on AM5 right now.

  Reply