Verdict and Conclusion
For some unknown reason, many people think that micro-ATX motherboards are cut-down versions or lower-spec’d editions of their larger ATX (full-size) sibblings. This is a myth and in fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
There are several good reasons why manufacturers produce micro-ATX motherboards.
- Firstly, its size. The micro-ATX form factor is slightly smaller than a full-size ATX motherboard, with a dimension of 244 x 244 mm. This means it will fit in almost all computer cases on the market.
- Secondly, because it’s a smaller motherboard, the size of the PCB will be smaller which this means it uses less materials and components, thus saving costs during production.
- Thirdly, with the advent of onboard components and features such as HD audio, M.2 slots and onboard WiFi … expansion slots are hardly ever needed. Can you really honestly tell me when the last time you used the other PCIE expansion slots (except of course for the graphics card).
If you’re worried about the lack of options to expand or upgrade, then let me convince you otherwise. Most micro-ATX motherboards actually support up to 2 or more M.2 slots for SSDs, they also come with 4 DIMM slots for memory, as well as onboard LAN, WiFi and video outputs. Is that enough convincing for you?
OK, now that I’ve convinced you …. let’s get back to the review. Based on its compact micro-ATX size, the ASRock B76M Steel Legend WiFi is quite feature-packed for what you’re actually getting.
It supports all of Intel’s 12th Gen, 13th Gen and the latest 14th Gen processors on the LGA 1700 socket, with mmory speeds of up to DDR5-7200 + OC.
Expansion slots include 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16 slot (with SMT and reinforce steel slot) and 1 x PCIe 4.0 x1 slot. For storage, you get 4 x SATA3 ports, and 3 x Hyper M.2 PCIe Gen4x4 slots.
The motherboard also comes with the Dragon 2.5G LAN and 802.11ax (WiFi 6E), which is plenty more than enough for most gamers, content creators and streamers.
During our tests, we used an Intel Core i9-14900K processor, along with 32GB of DDR5-7200 ram, as well as a GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER graphics card. We managed to get some really amazing scores in all of our benchmarks, including a Cinebench R23 scores of 28,595 (multi core) and 2,166 (single core). For PCMark 10, we got a score of 10,045, and a score of 12,126 for PassMark10.
For UL’s latest Procyon Photo Editing Benchmark, we got a really good score of 10,090 and 9,874 for the video editing suite. For 3DMark Speed Way and Port Royal, we got amazing scores of 7,501 and 18,656 respectively. And finally, for Timespy and Firestrike, we got phenomenal scores of 27,347and 45,343 respectively.
These great results is proof that micro-ATX motherboards are not be discounted as a lower-spec’d edition or cut-down versions of its full-size ATX sibblings.
When it comes to USB connectivity … there’s plenty. You get a total of 15 USB ports, these include … 2 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C (1 Rear, 1 Front), 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A (Rear), 6 x USB 3.2 Gen1 (4 Rear, 2 Front) and 6 x USB 2.0 (2 Rear, 4 Front).
Graphics output for the motherboard includes 1 x HDMI 2.1 port, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, and a special eDP port on the back of the motherboard which allow users to install ASRock’s LCD side panel kit.
And lastly, you get all of ASrock’s unique features such as the 12+1+1 Power Phase Design, with Dr.MOS for VCore+GT, 2oz copper PCB, 7.1 HD Nahimic audio, Polychrome RGB.
You can buy the ASRock B760M Steel Legend WiFi motherboard
Final Words:
The ASRock B760M Steel Legend WiFi is a feature-packed micro-ATX motherboard that supports all the latest high-spec hardware with no issues at all. It also offers good performance at a price that’s both attractive and affordable.
ASRock have totally reversed my negative perception about micro-ATX motherboards … I will never look at them the same way again! Well done to ASRock for convincing me otherwise.
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