{"id":1238266,"date":"2026-02-27T02:50:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T02:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/Ayosawayr2rpDDxNJyHgpL"},"modified":"2026-02-27T02:50:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T02:50:05","slug":"call-me-victor-kermit-kiam-cos-i-liked-this-mobo-so-much-i-built-my-new-gaming-pc-around-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/call-me-victor-kermit-kiam-cos-i-liked-this-mobo-so-much-i-built-my-new-gaming-pc-around-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Call me Victor Kermit Kiam, cos I liked this mobo so much I built my new gaming PC around it"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of the purest pleasures of this job is the fact that we get to play around with all kinds of different PC kit. But that also means the hardware team’s PCs are ships of Theseus and are regularly stripped and rebuilt from parts we’re testing or bits left around the PC Gamer offices.<\/p>\n

And after Anthony had finished with his ASRock Phantom Gaming B860I Lightning Wi-Fi review<\/a>, and it was today dropped into our Best Mini-ITX motherboard<\/a> guide, I knew it was time to give my office system a complete refresh. I will happily admit to being more than a little obsessed by the unalienable cuteness of mini-ITX mobos and chassis, and I’ve been running SFF PCs as my in-office rigs since I returned to PC Gamer Towers back in 2020.<\/p>\n

I mean, look at this thing. It’s a tiny square of compact PC gaming potential. With shiny blue shielding, too. Gotta love it.<\/p>\n

But why, if I have access to all the best in PC componentry, am I opting to build a gaming PC from Intel <\/em>parts? The B860I is an LGA1851 board, which means it’s designed for Intel’s latest Core Ultra 200S-series parts. And, if I’m being perfectly honest, they’ve not set the world afire with their gaming or productivity prowess.<\/p>\n

What they are now, however, is rather affordable. You can pick up a 20-core Core Ultra 7 265KF for a little over $200<\/a> at the moment, and that does start to make an Intel rig more tempting again. And even if you were to drop a Core Ultra 9 chip into this affordable wee board, the ASRock B860I will be able to cope just fine, as you can see from our benchmarks.<\/p>\n

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\u2b07\ufe0f Click to load benchmarks \u2b07\ufe0f<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n