CONCLUSION

    The B860 chipset was released by Intel as an alternative to their flagship Z890 chipset and well, the B860 LiveMixer WiFi by ASRock did very well across the board. As a matter of fact, with performance differences as low as 4% between it and some Z890 models it makes a fine choice for people who are not looking for the best in terms of performance. Yes, it was somewhat harder to match the same clocks as the Z890 motherboards to have a more direct comparison (no doubt due to its power design) but spending a bit of time in the BIOS did the job. That being said performance is not the only factor when someone is out for a new motherboard, build quality, power design and available slots and ports also play their role and well, here the B860 LiveMixer WiFi obviously falls short compared to the Z890 models in my charts. Again, however for some people everything from quality, power design and available slots and ports should suffice so it’s always good to have this option (larger market share).

    As I type these lines the B860 LiveMixer WiFi Motherboard by ASRock retails for just USD189.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 207.83Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). This price tag obviously puts it right where I was hoping for a more affordable motherboard compared to Z890 ones. So, things once again come down to what your needs are and how much you’re willing to spend and so if the features of the B860 LiveMixer WiFi are good enough for you then I highly recommend giving it a chance.

PROS

- Good Build Quality
- Reinforced & EMI Shielded PCIe 5.0 x16 Slot
- 4 UDIMM DDR5 Slots (Up To 8666MHz+ / 256GB Total)
- 3 M.2 PCIe Slots (1x5.0 / 2x4.0)
- Thunderbolt 4 Port
- HDMI v2.1 Video Output
- 2.5GbE RJ45 Port
- WiFi 6E / Bluetooth v5.3
- Available BIOS Settings

CONS

- No USB 3.2 Gen2 Ports
- Single Rear USB-C Port
- Two PCIe Slots