Introduction

With the introduction of Intel's 200S Boost feature on top of its previous swathes of updates and also recent lower prices on its Arrow Lake CPUs, especially the likes of the Core Ultra 7 265K, the platform is probably at its most attractive since its ill-fated launch. So if you're tempted by an LGA1851 motherboard and want to be able to overclock your CPU too, then ASRock's Phantom Gaming Z890 Riptide Wi-Fi does that and a lot more for $300.

Compared to options at even lower price points, you're getting cutting-edge features such as Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7, PCIe Gen 5 GPU and SSD support plus decent cooling for those SSDs and the CPU power delivery, with few or no corners cut in other areas either, which is what you'll generally have to accept if you can't quite stretch this far.



The combined package and how it compares to the competition is what we're focusing on today, as well as cheaper alternatives such as ASRock's own excellent ASRock B860 Steel Legend Wi-Fi, which lacks overclocking, but costs $100 less. With ASRock offering strong value with other options we've seen recently, expectations are high given the price tag is verging into premium territory. Let's take a closer look.

Specifications

Packaging and Contents

As usual at this price, the accessories are relatively thin, but you get a useful three-way 3-pin ARGB splitter cable, adhesive badge, Phantom Gaming-branded keycap, adhesive Wi-Fi antenna and also a 2-pin thermistor probe for the onboard thermistor header if you want to tie certain fan speeds to specific temperatures around your case.



The full list of accessories includes:

• 1x Quick start guide
• 1x Wi-Fi Antenna
• 2x SATA cables
• 3-pin ARGB splitter cable
• 1x Thermistor cables
• 1x M.2 screw
• 1x M.2 standoff