ASRock B850I Lightning WiFi review

The B850I Lightning WiFi is a Mini-ITX board for AM5 processors on the AMD B850 chipset. It targets small builds where the board has to carry a graphics card, fast storage and wireless without a lot of spare space. Memory is DDR5 across two DIMM slots, dual channel, with support up to 128GB and up to 8200+ MT/s with overclocking.

With two DIMM slots, the board is limited to two modules. The 128GB ceiling gives a high capacity for memory-heavy desktop work across those two slots.

There is one PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, running in x16 mode. That slot is the only expansion slot listed, so the graphics card takes it and nothing else is on offer there.

Storage comes from two M.2 slots. M2_1 is attached to the CPU and runs PCIe 5.0 x4 on Ryzen 9000 and 7000 series processors. M2_2 is attached to the chipset and runs PCIe 4.0 x4. A sensible split is the boot or scratch drive in the Gen5 slot and bulk storage in the Gen4 one. A separate Key E slot holds the 2230 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module, so wireless does not use either storage slot.

Wired networking is a Killer E3100G 2.5GbE controller. Wireless is Wi-Fi 6E, dual-band 2x2, with Bluetooth 5.2. The board lists Wi-Fi 6E, not Wi-Fi 7, so buyers who want Wi-Fi 7 should look at other boards.

The rear panel has eight USB ports. One is a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C and two are USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A. One is USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A. The other four are USB 2.0. Half the rear ports are USB 2.0, so people with many fast USB devices should count the three Gen2 ports and one Gen1 port before buying.

The rear Type-C port, USB32_TC1, supports up to 40Gb/s on selected processors and carries DP1.4a video output. The 40Gb/s mode depends on the CPU, so check which processors qualify before buying with that port in mind.

Internally, the board has front headers for one Gen1 Type-C, one Gen1 header with two ports and one USB 2.0 header with two ports. That covers a modern case with a front USB-C connector, plus extra ports for a case with older front-panel connectors.

BIOS Flashback is available through a rear button and a dedicated USB port. It needs a FAT16 or FAT32 USB 2.0 stick of up to 32GB. With the button and port on the rear panel, the update route stays easy to reach in a small case. ASRock's CPU support list shows BIOS 3.10 for this board.

No owner feedback is available on memory compatibility or stability for this model, so there are no reported problems to weigh.

Audio uses a Realtek ALC1220 codec with 7.1 channels and Nahimic software.

It suits a compact gaming or general-purpose AM5 build that wants a Gen5 graphics slot, a CPU-attached Gen5 NVMe drive and a second Gen4 drive. The 2.5GbE port and rear USB-C cover everyday needs, and BIOS Flashback adds a safety net for updates.

It is less convincing for builders who want the newest wireless standard, since Wi-Fi 6E is what the board offers. People with many USB peripherals should note the four USB 2.0 rear ports and only three Gen2 ports. Anyone planning on the 40Gb/s Type-C mode needs a supported processor first.