ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI vs GIGABYTE B650M AORUS ELITE AX

Researched, not hands-on tested.How we review ›

all judged against motherboards at a similar price

The ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI scores 6.8/10 overall, ahead of the GIGABYTE B650M AORUS ELITE AX at 6.2/10.

The ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI leads on platform and features and power delivery.

The GIGABYTE B650M AORUS ELITE AX leads on BIOS and support and value.

They score the same on connectivity.

The biggest difference is power delivery, where the ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI scores 8/10 to the GIGABYTE B650M AORUS ELITE AX's 5/10.

ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI

6.8/10verdict: good, not the best

This board is for AMD AM5 builders who want a B850 ATX board with Wi-Fi 7, 2.5GbE and plenty of NVMe storage. It suits Ryzen 9000, 8000 and 7000 CPUs, including high-core chips, given its 16-phase CPU power design. It is a weaker fit for anyone who needs many SATA ports or rear USB4.

Typically about £270.99 in the UK when we researched itSearch Amazon UK

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Details

GIGABYTE B650M AORUS ELITE AX

6.2/10verdict: good, not the best

The GIGABYTE B650M AORUS ELITE AX is a micro ATX AM5 board for compact builds on Ryzen 7000, 8000 or 9000 processors. It suits buyers who want one PCIe 5.0 NVMe drive, 2.5GbE and built-in Wi-Fi. It fits a general-purpose desktop, a small workstation or a light homelab box that needs four SATA ports.

Typically about £144.99 in the UK when we researched itSearch Amazon UK

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Details

Scores, criterion by criterion

Criterion	Weight	ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI	GIGABYTE B650M AORUS ELITE AX
Platform and features	25%	7/10	6/10
Connectivity	25%	7/10	7/10
Power delivery	20%	8/10	5/10
BIOS and support	15%	6/10	7/10
Value	15%	5/10	6/10
Overall		6.8/10	6.2/10

Specifications

Spec	ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI	GIGABYTE B650M AORUS ELITE AX
CPU socket (e.g. AM5, AM4, LGA1851, LGA1700)	AM5, for Ryzen 9000, 8000 and 7000 series	AM5 (Ryzen 7000, 8000 and 9000 series)
Chipset	AMD B850	AMD B650
Form factor (ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX, E-ATX)	ATX, 12 x 9.6 in (30.5 x 24.4 cm)	Micro ATX, 24.4 x 24.4 cm
Memory: type (DDR4 or DDR5), number of slots, maximum capacity and speed	DDR5, 4 DIMM slots, dual channel, max 256GB, up to 8000+ MT/s (OC) with Ryzen 9000/8000/7000; supports ECC and non-ECC unbuffered modules	DDR5, 4 DIMM slots, up to 256 GB (64 GB per DIMM), dual channel; base speeds 5200/4800/4400 MT/s with OC profiles up to 8000 MT/s; EXPO and XMP supported
M.2 NVMe slots and their PCIe generation	4 M.2 slots (Key M): M.2_1 and M.2_2 PCIe 5.0 x4 with Ryzen 7000/9000 and PCIe 4.0 x4 with Ryzen 8000; M.2_3 and M.2_4 PCIe 4.0 x4 from chipset, M.2_3 disabled when chipset-fed x16 slot is in use	2 x M.2 slots, both CPU-connected: M2A_CPU PCIe 5.0 x4/x2 and M2B_CPU PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 (Ryzen 7000/9000)
PCIe slots	1 x PCIe 5.0 x16 slot (Q-Release Slim, SafeSlot) for Ryzen 7000/9000; 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 slot (x4 mode) from chipset	1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 from CPU (PCIEX16); 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4 from chipset (PCIEX4)
Wired and wireless networking (e.g. 2.5GbE, Wi-Fi 7)	1 x Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet; Wi-Fi 7 (2x2 802.11be), 2.4/5/6GHz, 160MHz, up to 2.9Gbps; Bluetooth 5.4	Realtek 2.5GbE LAN; Wi-Fi 6E (Realtek RTL8852CE on rev 1.2/1.3); Bluetooth 5.2 or 5.3; no Wi-Fi 7 listed
Rear USB ports, including USB-C and USB4	12 rear ports: 1 x USB 20Gbps (USB Type-C), 3 x USB 10Gbps (2 Type-A, 1 Type-C), 4 x USB 5Gbps (Type-A), 4 x USB 2.0 (Type-A); no rear USB4 port	Rear: 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gb/s, from CPU), 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 5 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 4 x USB 2.0; no rear USB4 or 20 Gb/s port listed

Strengths and weaknesses

ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI

+ Two PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots plus a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot
+ Wi-Fi 7, Intel 2.5GbE and a rear 20Gbps USB-C port
+ 16-phase CPU power with BIOS FlashBack
− Only two SATA 6Gb/s ports
− No rear USB4 port
− Owners report BIOS freezes and occasional USB detection problems

Skip it if:

Builders who need many SATA ports for bulk drive storage
Buyers who want a rear USB4 port
Anyone planning heavy manual BIOS tuning who wants minimal reported quirks

Read the full ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI review ›

GIGABYTE B650M AORUS ELITE AX

+ PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot plus a second CPU-connected M.2
+ Q-Flash Plus updates BIOS with no CPU, RAM or GPU
+ Front 20Gb/s USB-C header and 2.5GbE onboard
− No Wi-Fi 7; Wi-Fi 6E only
− No rear USB4 or 20Gb/s port
− Graphics slot is PCIe 4.0 x16

Skip it if:

Buyers who want Wi-Fi 7 built into the board
Anyone needing rear USB4 or 20Gb/s ports for fast external storage
Builders planning several add-in cards, given the two expansion slots

Read the full GIGABYTE B650M AORUS ELITE AX review ›

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