Motherboard Asus B850-I vs B650E-I ?

[boundary-stone]

What are the reasons to prefer the newer B850-I over the B650E-I? What are the (admittedly minor) hardware & quality of life upgrades?

I'm not cost sensitive so just interested in the differences in features and overall experience.

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

I have the Asus B850-I and so far have been happy with it. From the spec sheet I'd say :

Reason to get the B650-I :

• Cheaper
• Regular good-ol' threaded antenna connectors

Reason to get the B850-I :

• Wifi 7
• Higher (supposed) supported memory frequencies (not that it really matters)
• Clear CMOS on the back
• 4x fans/pump headers (3x on B650-I)
• One more ARGB (puke) connector (2x ARGB vs 1x ARGB + 1x DRGB on B650-I)

I picked the B850-I over the B650-I only because of the clear CMOS located on the IO shield side. That was the only relevant feature for me ... and maybe the additionnal fan header, but only needed 3 so far. Huge drawback for the B850-I are the small push connectors for the wireless antennas, makes finding 3rd party one a pain.

 

[boundary-stone]

I have the Asus B850-I and so far have been happy with it. From the spec sheet I'd say :

Reason to get the B650-I :

• Cheaper
• Regular good-ol' threaded antenna connectors

Reason to get the B850-I :

• Wifi 7
• Higher (supposed) supported memory frequencies (not that it really matters)
• Clear CMOS on the back
• 4x fans/pump headers (3x on B650-I)
• One more ARGB (puke) connector (2x ARGB vs 1x ARGB + 1x DRGB on B650-I)

I picked the B850-I over the B650-I only because of the clear CMOS located on the IO shield side. That was the only relevant feature for me ... and maybe the additionnal fan header, but only needed 3 so far. Huge drawback for the B850-I are the small push connectors for the wireless antennas, makes finding 3rd party one a pain.

That's a good list. A few things to add after reading a few reviews.

Reason to get the B650E-I

• The B850-I has the new GPU "PCIe Slot Q-Release Slim" design that has damaged a number of GPU's PCIe connectors
• The B850-I has awful Windows 10 drivers (if you're still on Windows 10)

Misc B850-I notes

• The B850-I's Wifi 7 is limited to 160mhz, where the X870I's Wifi 7 is full fat 320mhz - not sure why some AM5 boards with Wifi 7 are limited to 160mhz
• Both B850-I and B650E-I have the same buggy Intel 2.5G LAN so B850-I doesn't fix the LAN issues

 

[RaldiH]

Reason to get the B850-I :

• Higher (supposed) supported memory frequencies (not that it really matters)
• Clear CMOS on the back

- Checking QVL lists , both seem to support the same kits so i would say there is no topology difference between the two they seem identical .
- B650E-I does also have Clear CMOS function with the FLEXKEY button .