Question Is Asrock B650 STEEL LEGEND WIFI a good choice?

[Anom1c]

After googling a lot it seems like Asrock is the best choice for AM5 mobo's and after looking at this list...:
AM5 Motherboards (X670/B650/A620) spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NQHkDEcgDPm34Mns3C93K6SJoBnua-x9O-y_6hv8sPs/edit#gid=0

The Asrock B650 STEEL LEGEND WIFI seems like the best option, almost too good to be true. Everything else that doesn't cost a lot more has something missing but this seems to have it all.

- Best audio (even b650e and x670e don't have alc4082)
- Wifi (saves me like 30$)
- 8 Layer PCB / 14+2+1 Power Phase, 80A Dr.MOS with Enlarged Heatsink Armor / 20K Long-lasting Black Caps
- PCIe gen 5 for both GPU and 1 m.2 (Just a bonus for me personally but I take a long time, like 8 years this time, to upgrade so will probably use them some time in the future)
- Released Q1 2024 so less chance of BIOS problems / me screwing something up with it
- for 250$

The only things it doesn't have is thunderbolt 4, a GPU holder, and POST code but almost nothing has all that and definitely not for only 250$.

I don't understand why it isn't named B650E steel legend v2 or something since it has PCIe gen 5 for GPU and m.2. Am I missing something? Is there anything negative about this mobo? I made the thread because I can't find anything about people who have it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I would not say ASRock is "the best choice" for ANY type of motherboard. And I wouldn't say they were the worst either. For basically every brand it really comes down to which model you are looking at. All of them, ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, others, have both good and not so good models. In general though, these days I prefer to stick with Gigabyte and ASRock. ASUS makes a lot of quality products but the problem with them is that they've gotten too big for their britches and their warranty support is terrible and has been for like about six or seven years now. But all of them have high quality motherboard models as well as really low end basic models.

The Steel Legend series, regardless of which chipset we're talking about or which platform, is basically one step above a basic budget board like the Pro4 series. Mostly it will be the same design and will use a lot of the same components but will usually offer some slight improvements in configuration such as often, but not always, a better VRM configuration, better mosfets, etc. and a better feature set with perhaps something like WiFi, better Ethernet adapter, better audio codec, than the lower end Phantom and Pro4 boards have. If the price is right, the Steel legend is a decent option.

Personally I'd prefer the Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX which is about 8 dollars cheaper on Amazon right now, in the US at least, and which I've used models for a number of different chipsets including Elite AX models from X570, Z690, B550, and so on, and which is basically what the old Gigabyte Gaming 5 boards used to be. Same approximate tiering. But either of those boards, for the money, is a good option that will suit the majority of users.

 

[Anom1c]

I would not say ASRock is "the best choice" for ANY type of motherboard. And I wouldn't say they were the worst either. For basically every brand it really comes down to which model you are looking at. All of them, ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, others, have both good and not so good models. In general though, these days I prefer to stick with Gigabyte and ASRock. ASUS makes a lot of quality products but the problem with them is that they've gotten too big for their britches and their warranty support is terrible and has been for like about six or seven years now. But all of them have high quality motherboard models as well as really low end basic models.

The Steel Legend series, regardless of which chipset we're talking about or which platform, is basically one step above a basic budget board like the Pro4 series. Mostly it will be the same design and will use a lot of the same components but will usually offer some slight improvements in configuration such as often, but not always, a better VRM configuration, better mosfets, etc. and a better feature set with perhaps something like WiFi, better Ethernet adapter, better audio codec, than the lower end Phantom and Pro4 boards have. If the price is right, the Steel legend is a decent option.

Personally I'd prefer the Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX which is about 8 dollars cheaper on Amazon right now, in the US at least, and which I've used models for a number of different chipsets including Elite AX models from X570, Z690, B550, and so on, and which is basically what the old Gigabyte Gaming 5 boards used to be. Same approximate tiering. But either of those boards, for the money, is a good option that will suit the majority of users.

Yeah, before I knew this one existed I couldnt decide between Aorus Elite AX, Msi tomahawk and some other Asrock boards.

If I would have to pick gigabyte, then ideally I'd want the Aorus Pro for better audio and vrm but it costs 330 here and doesn't have PCIe gen5.

The other boards are a bit cheaper, a bit below or above 200 here, but none of them have all the things the asrock B650 steel legend wifi has. I don't understand why they didn't name it B650E.

 

[35below0]

I don't understand why they didn't name it B650E.

Because there already is a board with that name. And it is not as good: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asrock-b650e-steel-legend-review

The only other board that can compete (has 5.0 M.2 and PCIe x16) is the Riptide, but it's audio codec is worse.
It's cheaper, but not better.
https://pg.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B650E PG Riptide WiFi/index.asp

Here's the Aorus Master - https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B650E-AORUS-MASTER-rev-10#kf
Predictably, it matches the Steel Legend in features. Costs a little bit more though *cough*

So yeah, the Steel Legend is really best considering your needs.

 

[beyondlogic]

Yeah, before I knew this one existed I couldnt decide between Aorus Elite AX, Msi tomahawk and some other Asrock boards.

If I would have to pick gigabyte, then ideally I'd want the Aorus Pro for better audio and vrm but it costs 330 here and doesn't have PCIe gen5.

The other boards are a bit cheaper, a bit below or above 200 here, but none of them have all the things the asrock B650 steel legend wifi has. I don't understand why they didn't name it B650E.

If it's a choice between a MSI or asrock I would choose asrock any day of the week. They used to have some of the worst boards on the am3 amd socket back in the day but they have come along way.

MSI have become way worse in fact have the posts on toms I have solved have all had MSI boards issues either being ram or just non functioning. I have had 4 MSI boards each with varying issues.

Asus
Asrock
Gigabyte
Are normally what I would recommend.

I don't ever recommend MSI now because of the business practises and just down right shoddy boards.

I've had more luck with biostar boards then MSI lol.

 

[Anom1c]

Cool, this board it is then.

My current board is Asus and yeah they would normally be my first choice for motherboards but seems like they screwed up this time with am5. And making their customers void warranty for updating BIOS is a joke. Gigabyte seems pretty good as well, just a bit worse bang for buck than asrock.