The motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B860-A Gaming WiFi will adopt the socket LGA 1851 for Intel Arrow Lake series desktop processors. This model targets a more accessible market segment compared to the card Z890 d’Intel.
Presentation of the ASUS ROG Strix B860-A motherboard by a YouTuber
Intel’s 800 chipset is not just limited to Z890 motherboards, as it also includes the chipset B860. Although Intel has yet to officially announce its launch, a user showed off the new B860 motherboard in an unboxing video on YouTube by PCEKspertTV.
It is essential to note that AMD et Intel use similar nomenclature for their budget motherboards, like the B860however, each manufacturer uses different sockets. The model shown in the video is theASUS ROG Strix B860-A Gaming WiFiwhich succeeds the ROG Strix B760-A and is an alternative to the more expensive Z890-A.
Unlike the Z890-A model, this B860 board does not support overclocking, making it suitable for users with non-overclockable Core Ultra 200S series processors. As revealed in the video, the card is equipped with decent-sized heatsinks on the VRM chipset, as well as on the M.2 slots located on the top and bottom.
Although the heatsinks are branded Strix, it remains to be confirmed whether the I/O cover has RGB lighting. However, it seems that the ROG logo lights up when the motherboard is powered on.
To read: Intel Foundry: Innovative strategies for transistors and packaging technologies
On the connectivity side, the motherboard offers 4 emplacements DIMM, two PCI-E x16 including one with steel reinforcement for greater strength. In terms of storage, we can expect four M.2 slots along with four SATA ports. The position of the CMOS battery has been changed: it is now located under the first PCI-E x16 slot, which may make it difficult to access if a dual slot graphics card is installed there.
The board also provides a few headers for fans, RGB/ARGB ports and headers for the front panel. However, it appears that there are no options for internal troubleshooting except for DEBUG LEDs. In terms of connections, there are up to 10 ports USBincluding two 20G USB-C ports. For network connectivity, there is Wi-Fi 7 and 2.5G LAN, as well as buttons for BIOS Flashback and CMOS Clear.
Details regarding pricing and specific specifications remain unknown at this time. B860 motherboards are expected to appear in early 2025, accompanied by the second series of Arrow Lake desktop processors.
