ASUS ROG Strix B850-A and B850-I Gaming Review
Strix B850-A
Strix B850-A
The ROG packaging is always attractive, but we feel their white boxes stand a bit above the rest. Yes, as you saw on the previous page, the shiny text on a white background isn’t massively legible, but otherwise it’s stunning.
Whenever you get a game or product that lets you customise, by and large the first thing we do is write our name. It feels like ASUS are a kid with a new pencil case here. ROG branding twice on the VRM heatsinks, twice on the main M.2 heatsink, on the CPU cover and the PCB itself. Should you want the world to know upon whom you spent money, ASUS have you covered. With 14+2 80A power stages the Strix A has enough to power any non-Threadripper Ryzen processor.
Beneath the heavily branded main heatsink there are three further M.2 slots, giving you four in total. If you used M.2 drives in the early days of tiny screws and standoffs, you’ll appreciate the toolless install method of modern times.
Look a little closer…
It’s a tiny thing but we’ve always loved the ROG Eye logo embossed on the fan header connectors. It lends an air of class to proceedings. With three available there is nothing preventing you from keeping your AMD Ryzen processor cool.
We plug portable things in so often that we are always pleased to see front panel USB options and the Strix B850-A has us well-covered.
At the bottom right we find the front panel connectors, as well as a case fan intake and USB 2.0 front panel connections.
The bottom left has three fan headers for all your cool air intake needs. For those who love coloured lighting the two Addressable RGB headers will keep you entertained as part of the ASUS AURA Sync lighting experience.
Lastly the back has plenty of connection options. We always worry with the B version of chipsets if we’ll be left bereft of USB ports. The B850, at least here in Strix-A format, has more than enough.
