AMD's 800 motherboard series has been expanded with the B850 chipset, precisely what the Asus ROG Strix has at a more reasonable price point. And by reasonable price I mean it's cheaper than the company's X870 motherboards, but this is by no means a budget-friendly choice for those who don't wish to splash out on fancy model names. This is a fine example of what can be done with the B850 chipset, a mid-range option for AMD's AM5 platform. It's not quite as advanced as the X870, but you won't feel you're missing out on much.

What this motherboard gets right is a great UEFI BIOS, as is expected with modern motherboards from Asus, as well as reliable power delivery through some high-quality components, excellent connectivity through both wired and wireless LAN points, and four M.2 SSDs, two of which are PCIe 5.0. It's not perfect, however. This thing is pricey for a B850 motherboard. There's also no USB 4, which was one of the highlights of this generation of chipsets, and the lack of any debug LED screen is just strange on a motherboard costing $300.

About this review: Asus provided XDA with a sample but had no input to its contents ahead of publication.

Price, specs, and availability

The Asus Rog Strix B850-F Gaming WiFi costs $300, which is a premium price for such a chipset-touting AM5 board. That's not to say it isn't worth the asking price, but I would have liked to see more features added to warrant the additional cost against other B850 motherboards. Available right now, this motherboard supports AMD Ryzen 7000, 8000, and 9000 series processors. 16+2+2 phases for power delivery ensure you'll have no trouble using this board with even an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X CPU. RAM is also right up there with support for DDR5-8000, though your mileage will vary.

There are also two PCIE 5.0 SSD slots for M.2 drives and an additional two PCIe 4.0 for good measure. If you do need to connect a SATA drive or two, a few ports are available though you will need to use a PCI expansion card for more than two. M.2 storage is the future and we're seeing fewer SATA III ports make it to the motherboard I/O. Thankfully, Asus didn't cut any corners for networking with 2.5Gb and WiFi 7 LAN and there's an array of high-speed USB ports on the rear of the motherboard. There's just one thing missing from this wonderful list; an LED debug display.

What I like

Excellent performance

Asus is known for its solid, reliable motherboards, and the ROG Strix B850-F Gaming WiFi is no exception. This is one stable platform for the latest AMD Ryzen 9000 series processors. Even running a Ryzen 9 9950X was no issue for the VRMs and everything else on the board. Granted, you won't be scoring overclocking world records with this foundation, but it's certainly worth considering for more powerful systems and gaming-focused builds. We've got PCIe 5.0 everywhere, including the primary PCI expansion slot and two M.2 storage slots. PCIe 4.0 is present for everything else, and DDR5 memory could run up to 8000 MT/s, depending on your configuration.

I tested this motherboard with an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Ryzen 9 9950X and the results were almost identical to other boards I've tested with this setup. Granted, this was synthetic benchmark testing and you'll likely see a slight difference in games and storage with its numerous PCIe 5.0 slots, but the average gamer won't be able to tell the difference and that's a testament to how well this motherboard is put together. The 16+2+2 phase design is great for standard PBO settings but you'll find the board running out of steam when manually pushing the heavier and more power-hungry chips beyond their limits.

I've found the sweet spot with AMD Zen 5 CPUs to be DDR5-6400 with two DIMMs in play. Using four sticks or higher memory speeds could lead to higher latencies and a tougher time keeping timings in check. Although located at the bottom of the board only, there are three separate case fan headers for hooking up as many blowers as required by your PC case. Asus also includes a quick access power button so you can quickly power up the motherboard outside of the chassis when building the PC and/or needing to test something without the front I/O connected.

What I don't like

That price, though

Asus isn't known for its super-affordable PC hardware, but the company charges $300 for this B850 motherboard. This chipset isn't terrible and is good enough for most AMD-powered system builds, but this is a price you'd usually see X870 motherboards listed at. It performs extremely well, but so does NZXT's N7 B650E motherboard which costs about the same and has some excellent features and a gorgeous shroud design — not to mention some more affordable X870 motherboards. There's not even a GPU quick-release latch on this thing ... for $300.

Where's my debug LED display?

How do we have motherboards costing north of $250 without debug LED displays? I know the answer ($$$) but I wonder why it's not present on the Asus ROG Strix B850-F WiFi. This is supposed to be a premium mid-range motherboard, but it doesn't even have debugging outside of a few colored LEDs. That's not good enough at this price point and I'll be firm with this point moving forward with other motherboards. We need to see basic features such as this on pricier options, especially when people upgrade from budget-friendly solutions.

Should you buy the Asus ROG Strix B850-F WiFi?

You should buy the Asus ROG Strix if:

• You want a premium B850 motherboard for AM5 processors without forking out for more expensive X870 boards.
• You plan to take advantage of 2.5Gb and/or Wi-Fi 7 networking.

You shouldn't buy the Asus ROG Strix if:

• You want an affordable motherboard.
• You want a motherboard with an LED debug display for easier troubleshooting.
• You have more than two SATA drives to connect.

This is a difficult question to answer. The Asus ROG Strix B860-F Gaming WiFi is a solid motherboard, there's no question about that but do I recommend you go out and purchase one for $300? Not at all. Not when you can buy X870 motherboards for less or grab a board with better features for the same price. It's a shame as this is a well-kitted-out motherboard and could be a worthy upgrade spot for budget-conscious gamers from Intel or AM4 platforms. If only Asus priced this much lower to better compete against existing B850 and X870 motherboards.