ASRock B860 Challenger Wifi Motherboard Review: Entry-level ATX at a great price, with drawbacks

The ASRock B860 Challenger Wifi is a solid $149 budget motherboard that handles our Intel Core Ultra 270K Plus without issue, but its USB is capped at 5 Gbps, sports weaker power delivery, and its BIOS is behind the times.

Based on the mainstream B860 chipset, the ASRock B860 Challenger Wifi sits on the budget side of Intel's motherboard lineup, and costs a reasonable

. You get a full-sized motherboard with full support for Intel’s Core Ultra and Core Ultra Series 2 (Arrow Lake and Arrow Lake refresh) processors. Still, some sacrifices in specs and features are inevitable at this price point.

The all-black B860 Challenger (there is a white version, too) includes all the basics. You get eight rear USB ports, three M.2 sockets (one PCIe 5.0), four SATA ports, 2.5 GbE, Wi-Fi 7, and a basic audio solution. It falls a bit short on USB speed (5 Gbps max.), power delivery isn’t strong (though it handled our 270K Plus without issue at stock), and ASRock’s BIOS is fully functional but dated compared to the competition. It has everything that most will need from a motherboard, but it’s not the fastest or the best at anything, which you should generally expect from a low-priced mainstream chipset.

Performance on this board was actually quite good in our testing. I have to admit, that surprised me a little given the VRM configuration. I expected it to throttle on some longer-running multi-threaded benchmarks. But the B860 Challenger proved me wrong and was average to above average across most of our tests. Whether gaming, doing office work, or juggling creative workflows, the Challenger handled our Intel Core Ultra 270K Plus without issue, though the VRMs ran hotter than on other tested boards. I would suggest using a chassis with good airflow with this board, especially if you plan to run a high-end processor and long-running, heavily multi-threaded applications.

Below, we’ll examine the B860 Challenger's tested performance and other features to see if it earns a spot on our list of the best motherboards. But before we share test results and discuss details, here are the specifications from the ASRock website:

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(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

In the top-left area of the board, we see the standard dual 8-pin EPS connectors to power the processor. Below that is the large VRM heatsink that extends to the rear IO area and covers some unsightly motherboard components. On top, we can see the silver Challenger branding. A second VRM heatsink covers the top portion of the power delivery. Both appeared to make good contact with the MOSFETs and inductors/chokes below.

Moving right, past the socket, the next feature is the four DRAM slots, each with locking mechanisms on both sides. ASRock lists support for up to DDR5-8666, which is plenty fast for the platform, especially given today’s ridiculous memory prices.

On the bottom half, starting on the left edge, is the audio solution: the basic Realtek ALC897 and a couple of dedicated audio capacitors. This isn’t the best audio section around, but par for this class of board. Still, most users will be satisfied with this implementation.

Two full-length PCIe slots sit in the middle of the board and couldn’t be spaced further apart. The top slot is reinforced, connects through the CPU, and is your primary slot for graphics running PCIe 5.0 x16 speeds (it does not bifurcate). The bottom slot connects through the chipset and runs up to PCIe 4.0 x4. The large gap between them lets you fit any video card, while still leaving that bottom slot open for expansion.

Mixed in and around the PCIe slots are three M.2 sockets. The first, above the primary PCIe slot, uses a larger heatsink with a quick-release mechanism that makes installing and removing the device easy. Under the heatsink is a CPU-connected M.2, M2_1, that runs at PCIe 5.0 x4 (128 Gbps) and supports devices up to 80mm. The other two M.2 sockets run at PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps), with one, M2_2, under a simple (not EZ DIY) heatsink and the other, M2_3, with no heatsink.

If you want to use RAID on the M.2 drives, you’ll have to look elsewhere, as the B860 Challenger doesn't list support for that here. Note that the primary M.2 socket made good contact with the M.2 drive. Moving right, past the chipset heatsink to the edge of the board, we reach the four SATA ports. These you can use RAID with (RAID0/1/5/10) for that extra speed or redundancy.

Finally, we snapped a few images of the board’s active ICs. This ASRock board uses a combination of Richtek (PWM controller), ASMedia (USB), Realtek (audio and networking), and Vishay (MOSFETs).

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(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)