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Solid Value!
Review Summary
The ASRock Phantom Gaming B850M Riptide WiFi motherboard provides incredible value when paired with AMD’s latest processors. With good 12+2+1 VRMs and Dr.MOS SPS, it’s decent for overclocking, even with slightly higher VRM temperatures of up to 66°C in our stress tests. An M.2 Gen 5.0 x4 slot and a PCIe Gen 5.0 x16 slot, along with a build-friendly design, help improve its overall value. While we dislike the 2.5G LAN network and the exclusion of a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port, it performs as intended and is recommended by us.
Hours Tested: 8
Overall
-
Performance - 8/10
8/10
-
Value - 9/10
9/10
-
Features - 7/10
7/10
-
Design - 8/10
8/10
Pros
- Good quality 12+2+1-phase VRMs
- Impressive gaming benchmarks
- M.2 Gen 5.0 x4 slot and PCIe Gen 5.0 x16 slot
- BIOS reset button
- Handy EZ-DIY features
- Post Status Checker
- Incredible value
- Dual-sided thermal padded M2_1 slot
Cons
- 2.5G LAN
- No USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port
- No heatsink on the M2_2 SSD slot
Since the CES 2025 event, manufacturers have finally released their B850 chipset motherboards, and most have shown incredible value positioning. As we have seen in the past, the BX50 chipset boards target budget gamers while adding value-oriented features. Today, we will review the ASRock Phantom Gaming B850M Riptide WiFi mATX form factor motherboard.
We have also reviewed the ATX version of this motherboard (ASRock Phantom Gaming B850i Lighting WiFi), so if you’re looking for a bigger version, head over there!
Generally, ASRock’s PG motherboards provide better gaming performance, but let’s see how the mATX version performs in real-world scenarios.
Key Takeaways
- The ASRock Phantom Gaming B850M Riptide WiFi is a mid-range motherboard with a $189 price tag. It includes a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, an M.2 PCIe 5.0 x4 slot, WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and more.
- It’s a great choice for anyone who wants a slightly trimmed-down version of an X870 motherboard at half the price.
- You should keep away if you need the USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port.
These are the on-paper specifications of the motherboard:
| ASRock Phantom Gaming B850M Riptide WiFi | Specifications |
|---|---|
| CPU Support | AMD Ryzen 7000, Ryzen 8000, Ryzen 9000 |
| Memory Support | DDR5 8,000MHz |
| PCIe Slots | 1x PCIe 5.0 x16, 1x PCIe 4.0 x4, 1x vertical M.2 socket |
| M.2 Slots | 1x PCIe 5.0 x4, 1x PCIe 4.0 x2, 1x PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| SATA Ports | 4x 6Gbps |
| Audio | Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec |
| Network & Connectivity | 1x 2.5G LAN, 1x 802.11be 2×2 WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 |
| USB Ports | 17 ports, including 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C (Rear) |
| Size | mATX Form Factor: 244mm x 244mm |
| MSRP | $189 |
You can expect a few changes from the previous-gen chipset, with the B850M Riptide WiFi providing WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, a PCIe Gen 5 x16 expansion slot, and a PCIe Gen 5 x4 M.2 slot. It’s upsetting to see 2.5G LAN being reused and the absence of a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port, let alone having USB4.
Packaging & Unboxing
Following the B850 Riptide, the B850M Riptide WiFi also features a blue design, a major color shift from the previous gen B650E PG ITX motherboard. It’s a good shift, as I feel the blue targets gamers more.
The front of the box only showcases the main design and name of the board, with a few labels at the bottom. Here are the extra goodies you can find in the box aside from the motherboard:
- 2x SATA Data Cables
- 2x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5/6GHz Antennas
- 2x Screws for M.2 Sockets
- 1x Standoff for M.2 Socket
- 1x Thermistor Cable
- 1x Regulatory Notice
- 1x User Manual
We’re provided with a few screws for the M.2 drives, a pair of 2.4/5/6GHz antennas, and 2x SATA cables. The antennas won’t really be useful if you’re utilizing WiFi 7. I wouldn’t worry too much about the screws, and I recommend keeping the user manual close by your side if you’re a new PC builder. The thermistor cable can be quite helpful if you want to keep tabs on your PC’s temperatures.
Design
You get a sleek, black design on the motherboard with a blue accent on the I/O heatsink. It’s not filled with RGB, but you can see a faint blue hue underneath the BIOS heatsink, so that’s a good addition. You can always add more RGB to your system with other components.
This motherboard’s PCB is built on a 6-layer structure, unlike the 8-layer structure of the ATX version.
The block diagram makes it simple to understand what components the chipset and CPU provide power to. The CPU directly provides power to the PCIe x16 and PCIe x4 slots, along with the M.2 Gen 5 slot, the Audio Codec, and the RAM slots. Meanwhile, the chipset provides power to the rest of the M.2 slots, the LAN, WiFi, a few USB connectors, and the SATA 4 port.
Power Delivery System
The motherboard uses the AMD AM5 LGA1718 socket, which powers the Ryzen 7000, 8000, and 9000 series CPUs. As for the VRMs, the motherboard has a 12+2+1 design with Dr.MOS SPS for VCore and SOC.
It also seems the motherboard is utilizing the exclusive 1000uF capacitors, rated for 20K capacitance and providing up to 20,000 hours of life.
The motherboard provides an 8-pin ATX 12V connector with a separate 4-pin ATX 12V connector. These connectors utilize ASRock’s Hi-Density Power feature, which can withstand higher current loads, making overclocking more efficient and reducing system instability issues.
The aluminum heatsink shows a stacked-fin design with plenty of thermal pads to keep the I/Os and VRMs cool. We see a blue gradient Phantom Gaming sticker on the heatsink, merged together with a sleek, fully-black design.
DIMM Slots
Although it’s a mATX motherboard, ASRock has done well incorporating 4x DIMM slots with a maximum capacity of 256GB and a maximum transfer speed of 8,000MHz. It’s good to see multi-RAM support for XMP and EXPO-enabled kits, making the shift easier for gamers.
For the most part, you won’t face any RAM compatibility issues with the CPU cooler because the DIMM slots are farther apart from the socket. I advise against buying very tall RAM kits with a big air cooler, though, as they could cause issues.
PCIe Slots
The ASRock Phantom Gaming B850M Riptide WiFi motherboard has two PCIe slots. The PCIe1 slot is Gen 5.0 x16 for the graphics card, and the secondary PCIe slot is Gen 4.0 x4, mainly useful for M.2 expansion cards. In addition to these two, we also see a vertical M.2 socket that supports WiFi and Bluetooth expansion cards.
We also notice a GPU EZ Latch on the PCIe1 slot to make GPU installation and removal much easier than before. Keep the latch pressed and pull the GPU out of the slot.
Storage
The motherboard has three M.2 slots: M2_1, a PCIe Gen 5.0 x4 slot; M2_2, a PCIe Gen 4.0 x2 slot; and M2_3, a PCIe Gen 4.0 x4 slot. The M2_1 should be your priority slot, housing your fastest and most important NVMe M.2 SSD. Support for 3x M.2s in a mATX motherboard is impressive, so we applaud ASRock for this move. In addition to M.2 support, the motherboard supports 4x SATA drives to ensure you don’t run out of storage.
All storage devices support RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 10. However, to support RAID 10 on the M.2s, you need to install an additional NVMe M.2 expansion card.
The M.2 heatsinks have a toolless design and a quick-release mechanism on the motherboard, streamlining the PC-building process even for beginners. It seems ASRock hasn’t added the anti-drop screw design we saw on the ATX version, so that’s a bummer.
The motherboard supports these M.2 types:
- M2_1: 2280
- M2_2, M2_3: 2260/2280
Two heatsinks cover two of three M.2 SSDs, while the M2_2 is not provided with a heatsink. Considering it’s only a PCIe Gen 4.0 x2 slot, we doubt it’d require a heatsink anyway, but it’s still slightly disappointing. Here’s a glimpse of how the motherboard looks like with all the heatsinks removed:
The PCIe Gen 5.0 x4 M.2 heatsink has a double-sided thermal pad, so that’s a good sight. I would have preferred if the M2_3 slot received the same treatment, but that’s fine. At the very least, you won’t have to worry about the temperatures on your NVMe M.2 SSDs.
USB Connectivity
The ASRock B850M Riptide WiFi offers a total of 17x USB ports:
- 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C (Rear)
- 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A (Rear)
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A (Rear)
- 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C (Front)
- 4x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A (Front)
- 4x USB 2.0 (Front)
- 4x USB 2.0 (Rear)
Although USB4 and USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C are supported on the B850 chipset, it seems ASRock has opted otherwise for cost concerns. The fastest USB port on this motherboard is the USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C, located on the rear.
Network & Connectivity
Like its ATX variant, the B850M has 2.5G LAN, making it a slight disappointment. The wireless connectivity options are good, supporting WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. ASRock has opted to provide a Multi-Link Operation (MLO) feature, which enables the simultaneous use of multiple bands and channels, boosting overall internet speed while reducing latency.
Audio Solution
The motherboard uses the mid-range Realtek ALC1082 audio codec. I would have loved the ALC4082, but the ALC1082 is also fine with its clear audio quality. ASRock has utilized Steelseries’ Nahimic Audio software to help enhance audio quality. You can expect static noise suppression, echo cancellation, lateral sound cancellation, and voice stabilization.
The individual PCB layers for the right and left audio channels help provide clear audio because the audio jack is in a separate framework. The rear output port also features impedance sensing, which is another decent feature for clearing out lousy audio.
Internal Connectors And Components
These are all the connectors on the motherboard:
- 1x SPI TPM header
- 1x thermistor cable header
- 1x power LED and speaker header
- 1x RGB LED header
- 3x addressable LED headers
- 2x CPU fan connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
- 3x chassis fan connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
- 1x 24-pin ATX power connector (Hi-Density power connector)
- 1x 8-pin 12V power connector (Hi-Density power connector)
- 1x 4-pin 12V power connector (Hi-Density power connector)
- 1x front panel audio connector
- 2x USB 2.0 headers (support 4x USB 2.0 ports)
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 headers (support 4x USB 3.2 Gen1 ports)
- 1x front panel Type-C USB 3.2 Gen1 header
We mentioned the 8-pin 12V and 4-pin 12V connectors earlier, but along with that, the 24-pin ATX connector is pretty standard and also features the Hi-Power Density feature. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the connectors.
Another good addition is ASRock’s Post Status Checker (PSC), which helps diagnose computer issues when powered on. There’s a total of four RGB colors that can be seen, and here’s what they mean:
- Solid Red: Abnormal behavior by the CPU
- Solid Yellow: Highlights issues with the DRAM
- Solid White: Indicates an issue with the GPU
- Solid Yellow-Green: Showcases a problem with the boot device
The PSC LED will not light up if the PC is functioning properly and will not turn off until the issue is fixed.
Heatsinks Removed
This is what the motherboard looks like with all the heatsinks removed.
Rear I/O Shield Panel
This is a list of all the connections provided on the rear I/O shield panel:
- 2x antenna ports
- 1x HDMI port
- 1x DisplayPort 1.4
- 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port (10Gb/s)
- 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port (10Gb/s)
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 ports
- 4x USB 2.0 ports
- 1x RJ-45 LAN port
- 1x BIOS flashback button
- HD audio jacks: line in/ front speaker/ microphone
There are multiple things to note. For starters, it’s sad that we don’t see a CMOS reset button while we have a BIOS flashback button. Besides that, we see two antenna ports, an HDMI and DisplayPort 1.4 ports, and a few USB ports. The USB 3.2 Gen1 ports are lightning gaming ports, so they should be used accordingly.
The BIOS flashback button is simple to use. Press it for about three seconds and wait for the LED to start blinking. Once the LED stops blinking, your BIOS will be updated. If the LED shows a solid green color, that means the flashback has encountered a problem. In that case, properly plug the USB drive into the USB BIOS flashback port.
Test Bench
These are the specifications of my test bench:
- AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 16C/32T
- ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 420 Liquid CPU Cooler
- G. Skill Trident Z5 Royal NEO DDR5-8000 CL36 EXPO Kit (2×16 = 32GB)
- XPG Lancer RGB 32GB 7200MHz DDR5 RAM
- Nvidia GeForce Gigabyte RTX 4090 Gaming OC
- Western Digital SN850 Black 500GB NVMe SSD [For OS]
- Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB Gen4x4 NVMe SSD [For Software]
- Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 4TB Gen4x4 NVMe SSD [For Games]
- Sabrent Rocket NANO V2 4TB Portable SSD
- Corsair HX1200i Platinum PSU
- Windows 11 Pro Build 23H2
- BIOS Version 7E62v2A1
- AGESA 1.2.0.2 firmware
Synthetic Benchmarks
Let’s first look at how the ASRock Phantom Gaming B850M Riptide WiFi motherboard performed in synthetic tests:
The motherboard is only one second slower than its ATX variant, completing the render in only 51 seconds.
The motherboard significantly drops in performance, with 2,295 in multi-core and 140 points in single-core in Cinebench 2024.
The board is average in the Corona 11 test, with a render speed of 65.2 seconds.
In the Geekbench 6 test, the ASRock B850M Riptide WiFi plunges towards the third spot with a 21,712 score.
The V-Ray scores aren’t significantly different, but the B850M is again in the lower half, with 48,782 points.
Overall, the motherboard has average-to-decent performance out of all its B850 chipset peers.
Gaming Benchmarks
Let’s see whether there are any improvements in the gaming benchmarks:
Unexpectedly, the B850M performs better than the B850 Riptide WiFi in Cyberpunk 2077, with an average of 144 FPS.
The B850M Riptide WiFi is again at the forefront of Far Cry 6, with an average of 184 FPS and a minimum of 139 FPS.
The motherboard tops the chart with 111 average FPS and 81 minimum FPS in Starfield.
Overall, the motherboard made a comeback in the gaming benchmarks and topped most of them, albeit by 1 FPS at most.
Power Consumption And VRM Temperatures
Here are the values of the total power consumption of the processor and motherboard during our Cinebench 2024 stress tests:
The ASRock B850M Riptide WiFi is one of the more efficient motherboards on the list. It consumes only 368W at 100% load, 117W in gaming, and 106W while idle.
The VRM temperatures are slightly high at 66°C, but you won’t see any problems unless you wish to perform extreme overclocks.
Boot Times
The boot times are pretty low with the motherboard, booting up at 22 seconds.
Should You Buy It?
So, is the ASRock Phantom Gaming B850M Riptide WiFi worth the money?
Buy It If
✅ You want a smaller motherboard that doesn’t sleep on performance: If you’re looking for a smaller-sized motherboard for a new PC setup and want more performance, this motherboard is the way to go.
✅ Having an easy-to-build-in motherboard excites you: The ASRock B850M Riptide WiFi is exceptionally straightforward to build in because of several EZ features like the EZ GPU latch and screwless heatsinks.
✅ You work in the audio industry: In case you work in the audio industry and want a smaller B850 chipset motherboard, you’ll be happy with this one because of its Realtek ALC1080 audio codec, which provides clear and crisp audio.
Don’t Buy It If
❌ You want to utilize USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C: It’s unfortunate, but the motherboard doesn’t provide us with the USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port, so if you want to make use of it, I recommend looking for a different variant.
❌ You need high-speed internet: If you’re looking for a high-speed LAN network, this motherboard is not for you because it only features 2.5G LAN.
My Thoughts
The ASRock Phantom Gaming B850M Riptide WiFi is an impressive mATX motherboard, perfect for gamers who want a smaller board without sacrificing performance. Its current price on Newegg is $189. I won’t exactly call this a “budget-centric” variant because there are cheaper B850M variants out there, but the value of this motherboard can’t be overlooked. For example, the 1000uF capacitors, rated for 20K capacitance, are a feature I was not expecting from an mATX form factor board.
The motherboard has 2x PCIe expansion slots, the primary one being PCIe Gen 5.0 x16, while the PCIe2 is Gen 4.0 x4. We see an EZ latch for the GPU to install and remove the component easily. Similarly, the board houses three M.2 slots. M2_1 is a PCIe Gen 5.0 x4, M2_2 is a PCIe Gen 4.0 x2, and M2_3 is a PCIe Gen 4.0 x4. The M2_1’s heatsink has dual-sided thermal pads to keep the drive at low temperatures all the time. On the flip side, the M2_2 doesn’t even get a heatsink, which is a letdown.
The B850M Riptide WiFi motherboard eats out on a few connectors that could have improved its value by leaps. For example, adding a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port would have been ideal. Similarly, I would have loved a CMOS reset button rather than having to do it the old-fashioned way for troubleshooting. Similarly, I have a few issues with the networking, too, because ASRock has provided us with a 2.5G LAN network instead of a 5G LAN. I’m happy with the inclusion of WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 for connectivity purposes.
The motherboard has a similar design to its ATX variant, and the total rebranding from the previous gen gives it a game-like vibe. The stickers on the heatsinks are blue in color, and the BIOS heatsink has a blue hue underneath that complements the overall design.
Overall, this is a great addition by ASRock for a $189 price tag, making it perfect for mid-range to high-end PC builds. I recommend the ASRock Phantom Gaming B850M Riptide WiFi motherboard if you’re fine with a slightly slower LAN network and the exclusion of a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port, let alone having USB4.
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[Hardware Reviewer]
Hi! I’m Ali Tauseef, and I have been writing for Tech4Gamers since 2022. I love all things computer hardware but am particularly fond of CPUs and motherboards, and I like to stay up-to-date about the latest advancements in these worlds, and when possible, write about it. When I’m not doing that, I like to get into a little FPS action in CS2 or get lost in the vast world of RDR2.
Get In Touch: ali@tech4gamers.com
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