ASRock B860I Lightning Wifi Motherboard Review: Is Wi-Fi 7 important to you?

Sub-$220 B860I Lightning Wifi strikes a pose for budget Mini-ITX shoppers

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ASRock B860I Lightning Wifi
(Image credit: © Tom's Hardware)

Tom's Hardware Verdict

Priced well and packed with an attractive list of features, the B860I Lightning is a striking option in the budget Mini-ITX space, though its competitors offer more if you value Wi-Fi 7.

Reasons to buy

  • +

    Good looks

  • +

    Actively cooled VRMs

Reasons to avoid

  • -

    ‘Only’ Wi-Fi 6E

  • -

    Last-gen audio codec

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The latest mini motherboard is the ASRock B860I Lightning for Intel processors. This compact board provides an array of features, including robust power delivery with active cooling, a Thunderbolt 4 Type-C port, ample storage options with two M.2 sockets and three SATA ports, fast memory support, and an attractive design, all for around $220.

Compared to the B760I Lightning, the B860I looks better, and features a PCIe 5.0 M.2 socket, integrated Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps), an improved audio solution, and more. It shares the same LAN and Wi-Fi as the previous-gen model, but most users will be satisfied with 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6E. Unlike AMD, which allows using last-generation chipsets with the latest processors, this update is a significant improvement.

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Joe Shields
Joe Shields
Staff Writer, Components

Joe Shields is a staff writer at Tom’s Hardware. He reviews motherboards and PC components.

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • HideOut
    Although the audio codec on this board is not the most up-to-date, it's still far better than the 8xx codex the many more budget friendly boards use. It has thunderbolt 4 and 2.5 gig ethernet. It also seems to be pretty well built and it's built by a company that should still be here 6 months from now. This is probably one of the best budget-friendly itx boards we've seen in recent memory.
    Reply
  • SonoraTechnical
    HideOut said:
    Although the audio codec on this board is not the most up-to-date, it's still far better than the 8xx codex the many more budget friendly boards use. It has thunderbolt 4 and 2.5 gig ethernet. It also seems to be pretty well built and it's built by a company that should still be here 6 months from now. This is probably one of the best budget-friendly itx boards we've seen in recent memory.
    I agree.... ACS1200 is decent enough... Thunderbolt and 2.5 gig Ethernet are a surpise in a budget board too (though how budget is $200?) I'd would have liked to have seen 2x PCIe 5.0 nVME M.2 slots, but it don't think it's a show stopper for the 2nd HD in a system that is more long time file storage, rather than OS and Application launching. I'd have this direct wired, so the WiFi 6 would go unused anyway, so no issue that it's not the greatest WiFi 7 standard (my current stuff, modem, router, access point, don't even support Wifi 6 either).

    If I decide to go Ryzen R9 9950X3D and Radeon RX 9070XT on my Summer build as opposed to Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 w/ Radeonn 8060S iGPU , this might be a good board to purchase to offset some costs...
    Reply
  • LaminarFlow
    Last year I was trying to self-build a NAS and was torn between cheap Zen 3 (A520) vs Zen 4 (A620) ITX boards. Zen 3 ones tend to have 4 SATA ports but only Gb Ethernet, whereas Zen 4 ones come with 2.5GbE yet only 2 SATAs. Either way I have to use an adapter/PCI-E card of some sort. Eventually I went for A620 and a 8500G. It works but still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

    This thing has 3 SATA ports...what kind of monstrosity is this?o_O
    Reply
  • thestryker
    I'd really like to see SATA ports dropped in the ITX format (honestly ditch them period) and replaced with SlimSAS ports because those can be dual use (SATA or NVMe). In the case of this board having just 2 SlimSAS ports would allow for one hybrid (4x SATA or 1x NVMe) and one NVMe giving more storage capability with less physical board space than the existing 3x SATA ports.
    Reply
  • thestryker
    SonoraTechnical said:
    I'd would have liked to have seen 2x PCIe 5.0 nVME M.2 slots, but it don't think it's a show stopper for the 2nd HD in a system that is more long time file storage, rather than OS and Application launching.
    You're not going to see 2x (or more) PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots on the vast majority of ARL motherboards because the CPUs support 16x PCIe 5.0 lanes for slots, 4x PCIe 5.0 lanes for M.2, and 4x PCIe 4.0 lanes for M.2. That means the only way you're getting a second PCIe 5.0 M.2 is halving the lanes off the primary slot.
    Reply
  • SonoraTechnical
    thestryker said:
    You're not going to see 2x (or more) PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots on the vast majority of ARL motherboards because the CPUs support 16x PCIe 5.0 lanes for slots, 4x PCIe 5.0 lanes for M.2, and 4x PCIe 4.0 lanes for M.2. That means the only way you're getting a second PCIe 5.0 M.2 is halving the lanes off the primary slot.

    Yeah, I know it's a limit with the current Ryzen architecture.... Threadripper would be different. LOL... Just speaking my mind.. Wish we had more PCIe 5.0 lanes available on the consumer grade CPUs..
    Reply
  • thestryker
    SonoraTechnical said:
    Yeah, I know it's a limit with the current Ryzen architecture.... Threadripper would be different. LOL... Just speaking my mind.. Wish we had more PCIe 5.0 lanes available on the consumer grade CPUs..
    Well AMD has enough lanes for 2x PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slots and some of the 600 series chipset boards have just that. When AMD mandated USB 4 support in the 800 series chipsets that took one of those away. Given that Intel has a PCIe 5.0/4.0 split on their CPU M.2 lanes now perhaps that'll change to 2x PCIe 5.0 x4 down the road.
    Reply
  • ocer9999
    Honestly, Wi-Fi 6E is still plenty fast for most setups. Unless you're living in a Wi-Fi 7-enabled world, the B860i Lightning board offers a solid mix of features without breaking the bank.
    Reply