In the past, Intel's B-class motherboards were fairly low-end, with cheap VRMs, below-par connectivity, or poor USB. Most critical of all, however, was the inability to overclock memory; since the release of the B560, this has changed, and for many users, a good quality B760 board will happily run a Core i9 13900K (open in new tab) and DDR5-6000+! . Add a further high-end GPU and you have a high-end system by any measure. [This is especially true in the case of the Asus ROG Strix B760-F Gaming WiFi (opens in new tab). While it really looks like a premium board and at first glance is worthy of the ROG brand, its price of $269 / £279 / $499 AUD makes it look like the most expensive B760 motherboard on the market. This means Asus is up against stiff competition, as it will be going head-to-head with many less expensive Z790 boards. However, the ROG Strix B760-F has several advantages over the less expensive Z790 boards.

First, let's discuss the B760 chipset. Aside from the disabled CPU overclocking, the main difference between the B760 and the Z790 is the DMI link speed between the CPU and chipset: in the case of the Z790, this link is an x8 link, while the B760 has an x4 link. This means that the B760 generally has less I/O, fewer SATA and USB ports, and fewer M.2 slots.

If you are aware of these limitations and are one of the many gamers who stick with a single GPU, an SSD or two, and a generic USB product line, the B760 is a perfectly viable option. Perhaps the B-series boards have yet to shed their "cheap" reputation.

Back to the Asus ROG Strix B760-F Gaming WiFi, which seems to have a level of performance that surpasses most of the cheaper Z790 boards. Let's get going.

While I don't consider most modern ROG boards to be real beauties, I do like the retro touches of the B760-F. There are little space invader type ships and arcade style parts all over the board, which is a nice touch. The latest trend in motherboards is to incorporate mainly neutral blacks that easily blend in with the RGB light show of your choice.

Speaking of RGB, Asus has included a small RGB lit ROG logo on the main VRM heatsink next to the rear I/O. The board has four more RGB headers, three of which are addressable and can control various fans, AIO coolers, and RGB strips via Asus' Aura Sync software.

Another important feature is DDR5-7800 support. This is truly elite class. Support for this speed requires PCB engineering. It also has a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C header (but no Gen 2x2), seven fan headers, and a Thunderbolt (USB4) header.

Storage on the board is not bad either, with three M.2 slots and four SATA ports. All M.2 slots support PCIe 4.0 x4 and are cooled by high-performance heatsinks. Other than overclocking, storage is probably the main differentiator between the Z790 and the B760. Z790 boards in the same price range offer four M.2 slots, including a primary PCIe 5.0 slot, and up to eight SATA ports. However, for users who store large amounts of files, the Z790 offers better storage support.

The VRM on the Asus ROG Strix B760-F is very good; Asus chose a balanced 16+1 phase VRM with a 60A stage. While the days of the awful 4-phase heatsink-less design are mostly behind us, many inexpensive B760 and Z790 boards still implement a basic VRM. While this is not a problem with many 65W i3 and i5 processors, they will struggle to handle the heavily loaded 13900K.

Asus has no such problems; you can run the 13900K at high loads knowing that the ROG Strix B760F's VRM and thick heatsinks will take the punishment.

Rear I/O is the B760's best, and the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 ports are most welcome. An additional Gen 2 port and six Gen 1 ports will meet the USB requirements of most gamers; there are HDMI 2.1 and DP1.4a ports, CMOS clear and BIOS flashback buttons, and a full set of audio ports with S/PDIF.

Asus has chosen the ALC4080 codec for audio. This is a nice step up from the outdated ALC897 on the less expensive board, which has a Savitech headphone amplifier with a 110 dBA signal-to-noise ratio. Not bad.

2.5G networking is now pretty ubiquitous, but WiFi 6E is still not one of its top-to-bottom features; the ROG Strix B760-F's audio, networking, and overall I/O are of high quality, and the relatively expensive helps to justify the cost.

System Performance

Gaming Performance

The results, as usual, were not really surprising. However, the Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master (open in new tab) dominated in several system tests.

When it came to games, Asus generally performed well. While "Civilization VI" is not a game that requires hundreds of FPS, it is a good test for both CPU and GPU scaling. 13900K' Not. A. problem on a powerful RTX 4090 (open in new tab) and a B-Series board.

You cannot overclock the CPU on the B760, but you are free to play with power limits. As long as the board is equipped with the highest spec cooling system to handle the heat output, it can perform at its best.

I did a very quick test with a set of G.Skill DDR5-7200's and was pleased to see them boot and load windows without issue, and looking at Asus' memory QVL list, many DDR5-7000+ kits are supported. Great, I'm thrilled that Intel has finally seen the light and allowed the use of unlocked memory on the B560 and beyond, taking the B-series chipset to a new level.

The Asus BIOS will be familiar to users who have looked into the ROG BIOS over the past few years. Again, you can't overclock manually, but there is a lot you can play around with, if not to the level of the Maximus boards. I wouldn't hold my breath for that. Tweakers would still be more useful with the fully enabled features of the Z790.

It's a recurring dilemma. Buy a high-end B-series board or a low-mid Z-series board?" this applies to AMD's lower high-end boards as well as to their upper low-end chipsets. It all depends on what you want to do with your rig.

The Asus ROG Strix B760-F Gaming WiFi can stand head and shoulders alongside many Z790 boards, unless you manually overclock it. However, with the advanced turbo modes on modern chips, not to mention the required cooling levels, overclocking is not what it used to be.

Asus can run the fastest memory kits; PCIe 5.0 SSDs will not get support, but does it matter now?" PCIe 4.0 SSDs will not become obsolete overnight; PCIe 3.0 SSDs are the latest in 2023 PCIe 3.0 SSDs will still perform well in gaming rigs in 2023.

In short, unless you need something like a zillion USB ports or 10G LAN, the Strix B760 is a board that offers almost everything you would expect from a ROG board: a feature-rich BIOS, up to 128GB DDR5 and RX 7900XTX (opens in new tab) or RTX 4090 and can run 13900K up to the maximum power limit. That way you get all the performance of a board that costs more than twice as much.

Asus is the most expensive B760 board I know of, but compared to the prices of many enthusiast boards, it is overall quite attractive. Ask yourself if it is worth it to buy a high-end Z790 board at this point. There is no upgrade path, as 14th generation CPUs are not supported. However, there is another way to look at this. You might have a 12th generation CPU or buy something like a Core i5 13400F (open in new tab) now. What if you decide to upgrade to a 13700K or 13900K in a year or two?

If you don't want to spend a fortune on a Maximus board, saving and buying a Strix B760-F is the perfect option, and you can reallocate a few hundred dollars to a better CPU, GPU or larger SSD. This B-series board is not cheap and boring. It is not.