ASUS ROG Strix B850-I Gaming Wi-Fi Review

Introduction

ASUS has been a strong supporter of the Mini-ITX form factor ever since it joined the party with its enthusiast-orientated P8Z77-I Deluxe nearly 15 years ago, and the ROG Strix B850-I Gaming Wi-Fi sits at the end of a very long pedigree of products. Since then, ASUS Mini-ITX boards have usually been the ones to beat. ASUS might not have joined ASRock with their fabulous high-end desktop X99 and X299 models, but on mainstream boards it’s ASUS that has the most drool-worthy options.

Its high-end models often demand eye-watering price tags as a result, with the current X870 and Z890 options not leaving you with much change from $500. While the amount of hardware crammed into their 6.7 x 6.7 inch PCBs is extremely impressive—and most would have them in their small form factor rigs if money was no object—it’s the mid-range chipsets, especially the B-series for AMD, that end up in proud owners’ system build posts thanks to the near $200 price-saving.

Thankfully, with comparatively few boards to choose from, making comparisons is easy so we’ll be looking at what you get for $300, what you miss out on compared to the X870 flagship, and what the competition has to offer too. The latter is just as relevant today as it was six months ago given price changes and more importantly we have recent additions to the AMD Mini-ITX lineup too, such as MSI’s MPG B850I Edge Ti Wi-Fi.

Specifications

Latest GPU Drivers