For what we anticipate to be our final Alder Lake evaluate (Ryzen 7000 arrives later this month, adopted sooner or later by Raptor Lake), we get an opportunity to take a look at one other Micro ATX B660-based motherboard with the Asus TUF Gaming B660M-Plus WIFI D4. Because the title implies, it’s a DDR4 possibility that features Wi-Fi 6, two PCIe 4.0 M.2 sockets, a 20 Gbps USB Sort-C port, succesful energy supply, and even Thunderbolt 4 help (through a header). Priced at $171.99, the B660M-Plus WIFI D4 is a well-appointed motherboard within the price range Micro ATX area vying to your hard-earned system construct price range.
Different {hardware} consists of 4 SATA ports, a 2.5 GbE port, dated Realtek ALC897 audio, and the TUF styling (black with yellow accents). Efficiency on the TUF Gaming was as anticipated throughout. It was slower than common throughout closely multi-threaded testing in Cinebench R23 and POV-Ray multi-core, however nothing terribly out of line. Flippantly threaded functions, together with the Procyon Workplace checks and gaming, had been sooner than common. General, it is a performant machine in comparison with different B660 DDR4-based entrants.
We’ll dive headfirst into the small print beneath, together with the {hardware} and efficiency of our TUF board and see the way it stacks up in comparison with its friends. It actually has an opportunity to earn a spot on our greatest motherboards record. However earlier than we get into all of that, beneath are the B660M-Plus WIFI D4’s detailed specs from Asus.
Specs: Asus TUF Gaming B660M-Plus WIFI D4
| Socket | LGA1700 |
| Chipset | B660 |
| Kind Issue | Micro-ATX |
| Voltage Regulator | 11 Section (10 Vcore, 50A MOSFETs) |
| Video Ports | (1) HDMI (v2.1 – 4K @ 60 Hz) |
| (1) DisplayPort (v1.4 – 4K @ 60 Hz) | |
| USB Ports | (1) USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbps) |
| (4) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) | |
| (1) USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) | |
| (2) USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) | |
| Community Jacks | (1) 2.5 GbE |
| Audio Jacks | (5) Analog, (1) SPDIF |
| Legacy Ports/Jacks | ✗ |
| Different Ports/Jack | ✗ |
| PCIe x16 | (1) v5.0 (x16) |
| (1) v3.0 (x4) | |
| PCIe x8 | ✗ |
| PCIe x4 | ✗ |
| PCIe x1 | (1) v4.0 (x1) |
| PCIe x1 | (1) v4.0 (x1) |
| CrossFire/SLI | ? |
| DIMM Slots | (4) DDR4 5333+(OC), 128GB Capability |
| M.2 Sockets | (1) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe (as much as 80mm) |
| (1) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe (as much as 80mm) | |
| U.2 Ports | ✗ |
| SATA Ports | (4) SATA3 6 Gbps (Helps RAID 0/1/5/10) |
| USB Headers | (1) USB v3.2 Gen 1, Sort-C (5 Gbps) |
| (1) USB v3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) | |
| (2) USB v2.0 (480 Mbps) | |
| Fan/Pump Headers | (6) 4-Pin (CPU, CPU OPT, AIO Pump, Chassis) |
| RGB Headers | (3) aRGB (3-pin) |
| (1) AURA RGB (4-pin) | |
| Diagnostics Panel | Q-LED |
| Inside Button/Change | ✗ |
| SATA Controllers | ✗ |
| Ethernet Controller(s) | Realtek RTL8125 (2.5 Gbps) |
| Wi-Fi / Bluetooth | Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 (2×2 ax, MU-MIMO, 2.4/5/6 GHz, 160 MHz, BT 5.2) |
| USB Controllers | ASMedia ASM1074, ASM2142 |
| HD Audio Codec | Realtek ALC897 |
| DDL/DTS Join | ✗ / ✗ |
| Guarantee | 5 Years |
Contained in the Field of the Asus TUF Gaming B660M-Plus WIFI D4
Asus consists of a number of equipment contained in the board’s packaging, designed to get you up and operating with out a further journey to the shop. Nothing stands out within the accent stack, but it surely features a help/driver DVD, SATA cables, and the Wi-Fi antenna. Beneath is a whole record of the included extras.
- (2) SATA 6Gb/s cables
- ASUS Wi-Fi transferring antennas
- M.2 Rubber Bundle
- M.2 SSD screw package deal
- TUF Gaming sticker
- Help DVD
- TUF Certification card
- Consumer information
Design of the TUF Gaming B660M-Plus
In response to Asus, the TUF boards (TUF = The Final Drive) are engineered with military-grade parts, an upgraded energy resolution, and a complete cooling resolution that’s stated to supply rock-solid and steady efficiency for marathon gaming. Whereas in the present day’s TUF boards are a far cry from these of years previous (take into consideration all of the armor and the very fact they weren’t thought of a price range possibility a number of generations in the past), however what’s right here remains to be a well-rounded resolution. The B660M-Plus WIFI D4 sports activities the brand new TUF Gaming emblem and easy geometric design parts in yellow across the PCIe/M.2 space. It’s a easy theme that appears to mix in with loads of construct themes.
For these into RGB lighting, the TUF Gaming consists of a number of on the again facet of the board, which illuminate the TUF letters via the translucent layers. Whereas it’s not the brightest RGB implementation we’ve seen, there’s sufficient to point out off the board and something contained in the chassis. General, the board doesn’t stand out with its seems, however you’ll be glad to point out it off inside your case.
Within the upper-left nook of the board, the very first thing we come throughout are the strong tine EPS connectors for delivering energy to the processor. On this case, there are two: a required 8-pin and an optionally available 4-pin. Beneath these are the massive heatsinks that cool the 11-phase energy supply. These have loads of mass and a good quantity of floor space, so it seems like they will hold the facility bits beneath operating inside spec.
Above the highest VRM heatsink are the primary two (of six) 4-pin fan headers. On this space are the CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT headers, each of which routinely detect the kind of fan (PWM or DC powered) hooked up. Output on these (and all) headers is 1A/12W. Along with the CPU headers, you’ll discover three chassis fan headers and one other devoted to the AIO pump (the latter runs at full velocity). There are sufficient fan/pump headers to go round, however I want to see no less than one among them help greater than 1A/12W.
Persevering with our journey to the appropriate, we run into the 4 unreinforced DRAM slots, every with single-sided locking mechanisms on the highest edge (away from the video card, fortunately). Asus lists help as much as DDR4-5333+(OC), much like the opposite comparable boards. We ran our two kits with out problem, enabling XMP and operating our benchmarks and stress checks.
Within the upper-right nook is the Q-LED part, with 4-LEDs that mild up throughout the POST course of. If there are failures associated to Boot, VGA, RAM, or CPU, the corresponding LED stays lit, providing you with an concept of the place the issue is that’s stopping entry to the BIOS or Home windows.
If the built-in RGBs don’t present sufficient bling out of the field, there are two headers on this space, each 3-pin ARGB. Moreover, there are two extra headers alongside the underside fringe of the board: a 3rd 3-pin ARGB and a 4-pin AURA RGB header.
Transferring down the appropriate edge, we get a greater have a look at the TUF design aesthetic, glowing from the RGBs beneath. Beneath that’s the 24-pin ATX energy connector for the board, a 19-pin entrance panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) header, and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Sort-C header.
Energy supply for this non-processor overclocking board consists of an 11-phase VRM, with 10 phases devoted to Vcore, supporting the power-hungry Alder Lake processors. Energy comes from the EPS connector(s) onto the DIGI+ 10-channel PWM controller (ASP2100). From there, energy heads off to the ten Vishay 50A Sic654 DrMOS MOSFETs. Whereas the 500A out there for Vcore isn’t lots, it dealt with our Core i9-12900K with out problem. Energy supply was not a limiting consider our checks.
Sliding all the way down to the underside half of the board, we’ll begin on the left facet with the audio part. Right here we spy a completely uncovered Realtek ALC897 codec to the left of the audio separation line. 4 small capacitors devoted to audio spherical out this space. Many customers discover this audio acceptable, however there are comparable boards with higher codecs.
In the course of the board, we discover the PCIe slots (three) and M.2 sockets (two). Beginning with the PCIe slots, the strengthened prime slot (the first video card slot) sources its PCIe 5.0 x16 lanes via the CPU, whereas the underside full-length slot will get its PCIe 3.0 x4 lanes from the chipset. The small, closed-end x1 slot runs at PCIe 4.0 x1 speeds and in addition sources the bandwidth from the chipset.
As we transfer proper, previous the pushpin-attached chipset heatsink, we run into the primary two SATA ports, with the opposite two mounted vertically alongside the underside edge. If you wish to RAID drives on these ports, the B660M-Plus WIFI D4 helps RAID0/1/5/10 modes throughout all 4 ports. The guide doesn’t point out any port/lane sharing, so you possibly can run any mixture of PCIe/NVMe-based M.2 modules and all 4 SATA ports concurrently.
Throughout the underside are a number of headers, together with USB ports and RGB. Beneath is a whole record, from left to proper:
- Entrance panel audio
- COM port
- Thunderbolt header
- (2) 4-pin Chassis fan headers
- 4-pin RGB header
- 3-pin ARGB header
- Clear CMOS jumper
- (2) USB 2.0 headers
- System Fan header
- (2) SATA ports
- Entrance panel header
The rear IO space comes with a pre-installed IO plate with a black background and white labels for the ports. There’s some TUF Gaming branding within the upper-left nook. In any other case, issues are fairly customary. Whereas there aren’t an extreme variety of USB ports, most customers ought to discover the seven Sort-A and one Sort-C port sufficient. There are 4 10 Gbps ports, one 5 Gbps port, and two USB 2.0 480 Mbps ports surrounding the 20 Gbps Sort-C port. Video outputs encompass the standard: HDMI and DisplayPort. You’ll discover the two.5 GbE port subsequent to the Wi-Fi 6 antenna headers. Final however not least is a full 5-plug plus SPDIF audio stack.
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