ASRock B860 Steel Legend Wi-Fi

[Combatus]

ASRock's B860 Steel Legend Wi-Fi comes at highly competitive pricing of just $200. You get a white color scheme, great cooling for the VRMs and M.2 SSD, and even Thunderbolt 4. But has ASRock had to cut back in other areas to hit this affordable price point?

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[_roman_]

Weird box.

... 1000 uF capacitors which are just 1mF. Why not use the proper prefixes?
I know 1000 meters sound more awesome than the same 1km. Or should i write 1000 000 mm?

Without having the schematics that 1000uF capacitor marketing which I saw at the backside box picture is just useless statement.


axe wifi - - 802.11axe Wi-Fi 6E Module

ASRock B860 Steel Legend WiFi

Supports Intel Core™ Ultra Processors (Series 2); 14+1+1+1+1 Phase Power Design, 80A Dr.MOS for VCore+GT+SA; 4 x DDR5 DIMMs, Supports Dual Channel, up to 8666+ (OC); 1 PCIe 5.0 x16, 1 PCIe 4.0 x16; Graphics Output Options: 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, 1 Thunderbolt™ 4 Type-C; Realtek ALC1220 7.1 CH HD...

www.asrock.com

No idea what axe wifi is. I do not see it on wikipedia also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_6

Intel thinks it is only 802.11 ax

Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

www.intel.com

Asrock mainboard homepage claims wifi is only for windows 11. Intel claims it also supports windows 10. Who is wrong?
Or is intel lying that part of the wifi functionality is not working with windows 10?

edit: just not to spam. Yes i dealt with capacitors. Car hifi uses for example 1 Farad capacitors.

 

[Phayzon]

I believe the Gen4 and 5 SSD results are switched. Unless the 990 Pro is performing wildly above spec and the Z540 is mysteriously hampered with this board

 

[TristanX]

When ARL non-K review ?

 

[ymdhis]

Weird box.

... 1000 uF capacitors which are just 1mF. Why not use the proper prefixes?
I know 1000 meters sound more awesome than the same 1km. Or should i write 1000 000 mm?

Without having the schematics that 1000uF capacitor marketing which I saw at the backside box picture is just useless statement.

because that's how the capacitors are physically labeled as, 1000uf is written on the side, as opposed to 1mf. It is rare for caps to exceed that value (outside power supplies I mean) but very common to use lower values, so 1000uf is the accepted standard as opposed to 1mf which could be easily confused with 1uf. Even 3300uf caps are marked as such instead of 3.3mf. did you not have to deal with electrolytic capacitors before?

 

[W1zzard]

When ARL non-K review ?

No plans at this time. I'm super busy with GPU reviews. and honestly, not a lot of people are interested in ARL. Maybe this gives Intel more time to fix it

 

[Combatus]

I believe the Gen4 and 5 SSD results are switched. Unless the 990 Pro is performing wildly above spec and the Z540 is mysteriously hampered with this board

Fixed!

Weird box.

... 1000 uF capacitors which are just 1mF. Why not use the proper prefixes?
I know 1000 meters sound more awesome than the same 1km. Or should i write 1000 000 mm?

Without having the schematics that 1000uF capacitor marketing which I saw at the backside box picture is just useless statement.

axe wifi - - 802.11axe Wi-Fi 6E Module

ASRock B860 Steel Legend WiFi

Supports Intel Core™ Ultra Processors (Series 2); 14+1+1+1+1 Phase Power Design, 80A Dr.MOS for VCore+GT+SA; 4 x DDR5 DIMMs, Supports Dual Channel, up to 8666+ (OC); 1 PCIe 5.0 x16, 1 PCIe 4.0 x16; Graphics Output Options: 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, 1 Thunderbolt™ 4 Type-C; Realtek ALC1220 7.1 CH HD...

www.asrock.com

No idea what axe wifi is. I do not see it on wikipedia also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_6

Intel thinks it is only 802.11 ax

Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (Gig+) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

www.intel.com

Asrock mainboard homepage claims wifi is only for windows 11. Intel claims it also supports windows 10. Who is wrong?
Or is intel lying that part of the wifi functionality is not working with windows 10?

As far as I can see they've added 'e' to indicate Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6 being 802.11ax, so 802.11axe. However Wi-Fi 6E does not have an official IEEE 802.11 designation so it looks like they're making things up for some reason . Good spot. I'll raise it with them. I'll also investigate the driver W10 compatibility and report back

 

[Chaitanya]

CMOS battery under PCIe x16 slot is another major Cons for the board.

 

[W1zzard]

CMOS battery under PCIe x16 slot is another major Cons for the board.

Is this really an issue? I have worked with PCs for 30 years and I had to touch the CMOS battery just once

 

[Chaitanya]

Is this really an issue? I have worked with PCs for 30 years and I had to touch the CMOS battery just once

I need to change battery on average once every 1.5-2 years. Generally when I shut down my PC, I turn off my UPS as I had couple of UPS blow out(while in stand by) thanks to electric supply in my area.

 

[W1zzard]

I need to change battery on average once every 1.5-2 years. Generally when I shut down my PC, I turn off my UPS as I had couple of UPS blow out(while in stand by) thanks to electric supply in my area.

Aha.. very interesting, I wasn't aware of that. Isn't under the GPU actually quite ok, because you can take out the graphics card, 15 seconds, and then you have plenty of space to work in?

 

[lexluthermiester]

@ AsRock
The looks of the board are great. The technical design is not. I get you wanted to have lots of NVMe slots, but to do so at the expense of PCIe slots is not acceptable. Some of us use 3 to 4 slots at a time and need them a lot more than we need a bunch of NVMe ports. Then there's the glaring issue of USB. Only 1 USBC on the back? Seriously? Now if there were a few PCIe slots one could add in a USBC card for more ports, but we can't even do that for the lack of slots. Come on folks.. You're AsRock, you're better than this silly design. This board is a serious fail for you and is useless many of us out here.

There is a saying: It's better to have something and not need it, than to not have something and need it.

And before anyone chimes in, if one needs more NVMe ports, PCIe expansion cards exist for that..

 

[SN2716057]

Aha.. very interesting, I wasn't aware of that. Isn't under the GPU actually quite ok, because you can take out the graphics card, 15 seconds, and then you have plenty of space to work in?

I rather have the battery bottom right near the front panel connectors. Especially cause I have a RTX card, I really don't want to plug-out/in that connector too many times.

 

[W1zzard]

I really don't want to plug-out/in that connector too many times.

I've done it at least 500 times on 50+ different cards, that I reviewed, on some cards (FE) more than 50 times. Zero issues. Actually having more issues with 8-pin because it's harder to feel when it's properly pressed in. But yeah, make sure you follow all the drama, every day, so people get the exposure they need.

Your IP suggests you live in a country with good power, are you actually changing your CMOS batteries?

 

[PLAfiller]

@ AsRock
The looks of the board are great. The technical design is not. I get you wanted to have lots of NVMe slots, but to do so at the expense of PCIe slots is not acceptable. Some of us use 3 to 4 slots at a time and need them a lot more than we need a bunch of NVMe ports. Then there's the glaring issue of UBS. Only 1 USBC on the back? Seriously? Now if there were a few PCIe slots one could add in a USBC card for more ports, but we can't even do that for the lack of slots. Come on folks.. You're AsRock, you're better than this silly design. This board is a serious fail for you and is useless many of us out here.

There is a saying: It better to have something and not need it, than to not have something and need it.

And before anyone chimes in, if one needs more NVMe ports, PCIe expansion cards exist for that..

The mATX versions aren't spared either.....and you gonna put that in an mATX case with five slots....cause when the 3-slot-GPU starts from the second position where you gonna go?

To be fair, I guess this is strictly targeted to gaming community, but still I am yet to see a carefully picked combo for an mATX board out there.

 

[SN2716057]

I've done it at least 500 times on 50+ different cards, that I reviewed, on some cards (FE) more than 50 times. Zero issues. Actually having more issues with 8-pin because it's harder to feel when it's properly pressed in. But yeah, make sure you follow all the drama, every day, so people get the exposure they need.

Your IP suggests you live in a country with good power, are you actually changing your CMOS batteries?

Sheesh, I only expressed my opinion of a slight inconvenience.
I, same as you, occasionally had to replace a battery. And yes, as long as the grid works, I live in a good power grid area.

 

[Chaitanya]

Aha.. very interesting, I wasn't aware of that. Isn't under the GPU actually quite ok, because you can take out the graphics card, 15 seconds, and then you have plenty of space to work in?

Generally would prefer battery located in a place where its easy to access and not force user(even PC enthusiasts) into removing other components(some board makers have been hiding CMOS battery under M.2 heatsink forcing users to remove both GPU and M.2 Heatsink or some like MSI have even gone out of the way to place that battery under VRM heatsink) of PC installed on motherboard. Also being tech support for relatives makes hidden battery location even more irksome.

 

[lexluthermiester]

CMOS batteries are rarely changed, measured in decades of time between changes. The location of it is inconsequential and complaints about it amount to nitpicking..

Let's not nitpick about something that does not matter.

 

[W1zzard]

Sheesh, I only expressed my opinion of a slight inconvenience.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to attack you. Just tired of all the drama

 

[SN2716057]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to attack you. Just tired of all the drama

It's okay, mister W1zzard.
I'll no longer complain about the new connector.

 

[Readlight]

Why battery is under videocard?