{"id":1165170,"date":"2026-02-11T09:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T09:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/5eZjKne28VCHkEtVqZbe"},"modified":"2026-02-11T09:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T09:20:12","slug":"asrock-b850-steel-legend-wi-fi-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/asrock-b850-steel-legend-wi-fi-review\/","title":{"rendered":"ASRock B850 Steel Legend Wi-Fi review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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White PC cases are very common these days but finding hardware to color-match with them can be tricky. Thankfully, there\u2019s a growing number of motherboards and graphics cards to choose from when it comes to creating a clean, white PC and the ASRock B850 Steel Legend Wi-Fi is one of the cheapest options out there for doing so if you\u2019re building an AMD PC using a Ryzen 7000 or 9000-series CPU.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t go quite as far with the white as Gigabyte and its Aorus Elite Ice motherboards, though, which have white ports and sockets for items such as memory modules and PCIe devices, However, the equivalent of the ASRock B850 chipset model we\u2019re looking at today retails for noticeably more on Gigabyte\u2019s side. The B850 chipset also brings with it the flexibility to drop certain features you might expect to see on a modern AMD motherboard.<\/p>\n

For the ASRock B850 Steel Legend Wi-Fi, that cut comes in the form of USB4, which is optional on this chipset, and has been dropped from a variety of similar boards too as it\u2019s deemed unnecessary given its expense and niche appeal that likely don\u2019t match up with what is essentially a low-end motherboard in the overall scheme of things.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, it also depends on what else ASRock has decided to cut from the specs list as to whether the ASRock B850 Steel Legend Wi-Fi is a decent option in its own right, aside from its color scheme.<\/p>\n

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ASRock B850 Steel Legend Wi-Fi specs<\/div>\n
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Socket:<\/strong> AMD Socket AM5
Chipse<\/strong>t: AMD B850
CPU compatibility:<\/strong> AMD Ryzen 7000\/9000 desktop
Form factor<\/strong>: ATX
Memory support:<\/strong> DDR5-4800 to DDR5-8000 (OC), up to 256 GB
Storage:<\/strong> 4x M.2, 4x SATA
USB (rear)<\/strong>: 2x USB 3.1 Type-C 10 Gbps, 2x USB 3.1 Type-A 10 Gbps, 3x USB 3.0 Type-A 5 Gbps, 4 x USB 2.0
Display:<\/strong> 1x HDMI 2.1
Networking:<\/strong> Realtek 2.5G LAN, Wi-Fi 7
Audio:<\/strong> Realtek ALC4082
Price:<\/strong> $233<\/a> | \u00a3211<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For just over $230, it\u2019s a great-looking motherboard, although, up close those white trimmings are more of a light silvery grey than pure white, but would still look better in a white PC case than a black motherboard. The 14+2+1 power phase design is cooled by two large heatsinks, with similar chunks of aluminium dealing with three of the four M.2 SSD ports too.<\/p>\n

At mid-board is a single PCIe 5.0 M.2 port that\u2019s equipped with a large tool-free heatsink, while the rest of the M.2 ports are all PCIe 4.0 and all can be used at the same time at full speed, with the only sacrifice being the second PCIe slot. Being able to run a PCIe 5.0 graphics card, SSD and three additional PCIe 4.0 SSDs at the same time is quite impressible for what is a low end motherboard, even if graphics cards won\u2019t benefit for a few years in terms of actually offering higher frame rates.<\/p>\n

Only of those ports lacks a heatsink and the lower ports use one single heatsink that will need tools to install.<\/p>\n

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There are six fan headers to choose from, which is the bare minimum we\u2019d expect on an ATX board to offer the flexibility to power multiple CPU cooler fans, pumps and several case fans without having to use splitter cables. There\u2019s a generous four RGB headers too, made up of three 5V 3-pin and one 12V 4-pin. ASRock even managed to include some RGB lighting on the board itself under the long M.2 heatsink at the bottom.<\/p>\n

As it\u2019s ditched the expensive USB4 support, ASRock has managed to avert downgrading other features such as the audio or Wi-Fi, with Realtek ALC4080 included, while Wi-Fi 7 is the latest standard offered across both Intel and AMD platforms right now. The future-proofing continues with a USB 3.1 Gen 2×2 20 Gbps Type-C front panel header, which can power the latest external SSDs and shove data to them at over 2,000 MB\/sec.<\/p>\n

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What it lacks in fan headers it makes up for in Type-A USB ports on the rear I\/O panel with nine in total, although only just over half of these are faster than USB 2.0. Still, there\u2019s also two Type-C 10 Gbps ports here too plus you get a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port and a USB BIOS Flashback button too. Quick words on ASRock\u2019s software and EFI, as there\u2019s not much to write home about. They\u2019re fairly basic and definitely not as fresh and snazzy as equivalent Asus alternatives, but still provide easy access to commonly used options.<\/p>\n