ASUS’s TUF sub-brand is generally known for a more industrial aesthetic and lower prices (and feature set) compared to the ROG family. With today’s cost to build a new PC skyrocketing, anything even slightly cheaper is welcome. ASUS has now launched the TUF Gaming B850I WiFi Neo Mini-ITX motherboard, based on AMD’s AM5 platform.
With the B850 chipset and AM5 socket the new board supports Ryzen 7000, 8000 and 9000 series CPUs, which will be powered by an 8 + 2 + 1 VRM loadout in this instance, with a capacity for 80A of spicy pixies. As is usual for the Mini-ITX form factor, a pair of DIMM slots feed the CPU, with up to 128GB of DDR5-8200 depending on the processor you install. On the expansion slot front, a PCIEx16 slot is present, running at Gen 5 speeds if a 8000 or 9000 series CPU is installed, or Gen 4 for one in the 8000 family.
A pair of SATA ports, as well as a pair of M.2 slots form the storage capability of the board – but as per TechPowerup:
Worth noting that ASUS labels both M.2 slots as PCIe 5.0, but the spec sheet tells a different story: the first slot is CPU-attached PCIe 5.0 x4 on Ryzen 7000 and 9000, while the second is chipset-attached PCIe 4.0 x4 regardless of CPU.
The rear IO is housed in the now expected integrated IO shield, and includes a BIOS Flashback button and a Clear CMOS button for ease of use when overclocking… or otherwise messing with settings. On the USB front, we see a USB 20 Gbps Type-C port, two USB 10 Gbps Type-A, one USB 5 Gbps Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports.
For basic display outputs, a DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.1 port are included. On the networking side, we have wired ethernet in the 2.5 GbE Realtek flavour, as well as Wi-Fi 6E. Audio output is available by the usual 3x 3.5mm jacks, powered by a Realtek 7.1 HD Codec with up to 24-bit/192kHz playback.
On the inside side of the board (heh), there are two ARGB Gen 2 headers, and the usual front panel USB headers and fan connectors including an AIO pump header.
Pricing has not been announced at the time of writing, but the higher tier ROG Strix B850-I sells for around US$470 in the USA, EDIT: Forum user HWI updated us as such: ” Their B850-I sells for more like $350, but frequently goes on sale for like $280-$300. Their X870-I is the one that is normally $400-$450 in the US.” so we’d expect the TUF board to be slightly cheaper than it.
Sources: ASUS, Videocardz, TechPowerup
