I can currently buy the ASUS B850 Max Gaming WiFi W for about $173.33 on sale, compared with its usual price of roughly $264. The board has an 8+2+1 VRM design, a PCIe 5.0 x16 graphics slot, and three M.2 slots. Other boards around the same price, such as the MSI Gaming Plus, may offer stronger VRMs but typically have PCIe 4.0 for the main graphics slot and only two M.2 slots.
I'm mainly interested in the white design and the extra connectivity, but I'm unsure whether to purchase now or wait for October, November, or end-of-year promotions. The board could sell out or return to its regular price before then. Is $173.33 already an excellent price, or are significantly better discounts likely during seasonal sales?
2 Answers
The 8+2+1 VRM setup should be perfectly adequate for most compatible CPUs, especially since it uses discrete power stages. The heatsinks are also sufficient. The main advantage of this board is its connectivity: PCIe 5.0 for the graphics slot and three M.2 slots. At this price, the main alternative is the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi 6E, which has better VRMs but less connectivity. If those features matter to you, $173.33 is a reasonable price and I wouldn’t wait solely in hopes of saving a small amount.
The B650E Max Gaming WiFi W is worth considering because it appears to use essentially the same motherboard design, features, and VRMs, with the main difference being the chipset. B850 is newer, but newer does not automatically mean faster or better for every use case. Compare the exact CPU support, BIOS version, USB layout, networking, and M.2 configuration before choosing. If those specifications are truly identical, buy whichever has the better warranty or availability; the higher original price does not necessarily indicate a meaningful performance advantage.
I’m still new to PC building: is B850 automatically better than B650E? There’s also a B650E Max Gaming WiFi W available for the same price. Which one would make more sense, and why was the B850’s original price so much higher if they now cost the same?