Sapphire B850

Um Mainboards von Sapphire war es in unseren Breitengraden in den letzten Jahren sehr ruhig. Primär konnte man derartige Mainboards auf dem asiatischen Kontinent antreffen und erwerben. Dies hat sich nun allerdings grundlegend geändert und Sapphire möchte mit Mainboards auch auf dem europäischen Markt Fuß fassen. Zu diesem Zweck hat die Hardwareluxx-Redaktion von Sapphire das Nitro+ B850A WIFI 7 für einen Test erhalten. Kann die Platine mit den renommiertesten Mainboard-Herstellern mithalten? Wir klären dies in unserem Test.

There’s no getting away from it, the majority of people on the market don’t need an X870 or X870E motherboard. The B-series chipsets have long been the sweet spot, providing more than enough performance and features for the average user, without the inflated price tag. Unless you’re an extreme overclocker or need a ridiculous amount of high-speed connectivity with multiple PCIe 5.0 devices, the B-series has everything you could possibly want. With that in mind, it’s pretty exciting to see a new player re-enter the game. Sapphire, a name you’ll most likely associate with top-tier AMD graphics cards, has been out of the Western motherboard market for quite some time. But now, they’re making a comeback, and they’re doing it in a big way with a whole new lineup of motherboards, including the one we have on the test bench today, the Sapphire Nitro+ B850A WIFI7. The Nitro+ name has always been reserved for their premium products, and this board is no different, packing in features that are all about performance, connectivity, and cooling.

Sapphire aims for the sub $200 B850 motherboard market with a solid specification and good looks, but how does it stack up to bigger motherboard manufacturers when it comes to the EFI and software, or VRM and SSD temperatures?

Better known for its graphics cards, Sapphire has often dabbled with motherboards too and is a welcome addition to the usual four manufacturers. We've already looked at its new ATX B850 offering, but this time we're looking at the smaller sibling, the microATX Nitro+ B850M Wi-Fi. The two boards may seem to be identical, just different form factors, but there are some substantial differences despite what is a comparatively small price difference. Those in Europe will also benefit from lower prices, with the board available for less than £150 in the UK for example, while the cheapest US price won't leave you with any change from $200.