Name: ASRock Phantom Gaming B860 Lightning WiFi Motherboard Review
Rating: 4.0
Author: Bartosz Waluk

Specifications

Unique Feature

Superb Productivity
– PCIe Gen5 (Graphics, M.2)
– Dual Channel DDR5
– Thunderbolt™ 4 Type-C Port (40 Gb/s)
Rock-Solid Durability
– Server-Grade Low-Loss PCB
– 14+1+1+1+1 Power Phase, 80A Dr.MOS for VCore+GT+SA with Enlarged Heatsink Armor
– Memory OC Shield
– Flexible Integrated I/O Shield
– 20K Long-lasting Black Caps (high quality and conductive polymer capacitors)
Ultrafast Gaming
– Killer 2.5G LAN, 802.11axe Wi-Fi 6E Module
– Killer DoubleShot™ Pro
EZ Update
– BIOS Flashback Button
– ASRock Auto Driver Installer
EZ Troubleshooter
– ASRock Post Status Checker
CPU

– Supports Intel^® Core™ Ultra Processors (Series 2) (LGA1851)
– Supports Intel^® Hybrid Technology
– Supports Intel^® Turbo Boost Max 3.0 Technology
– Supports Intel^® Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB)
– Supports Intel^® Adaptive Boost Technology (ABT)
– Integrated NPU for dedicated AI acceleration
Chipset

– Intel^® B860
Memory

– Dual Channel DDR5 Memory Technology
– 4 x DDR5 DIMM Slots
– Supports DDR5 non-ECC, un-buffered memory up to 8933+(OC)*
– Supports Clocked Unbuffered DIMM (CUDIMM)
– Max. capacity of system memory: 256GB
– Supports Intel^® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 3.0x

* 1DPC 1R Up to 8933+ MHz (OC), 5600 MHz Natively. 1DPC 2R Up to 6800+ MHz (OC), 5600 MHz Natively. 2DPC 1R Up to 6533+ MHz (OC), 4800 MHz Natively. 2DPC 2R Up to 5600+ MHz (OC), 4400 MHz Natively.
BIOS

– 256Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with GUI support
Graphics

– Intel^® Xe LPG Graphics Architecture
– 1 x HDMI 2.1 TMDS/FRL 8G Compatible, supports HDR, HDCP 2.3 and max. resolution up to 4K 120Hz
– 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC (compressed), supports HDCP 2.3 and max. resolution up to 8K 60Hz / 5K 120Hz
– 1 x Intel^® Thunderbolt™ 4, supports HDCP 2.3 and max. resolution up to 8K 60Hz / 5K 120Hz**

* Intel^® UHD Graphics Built-in Visuals and the VGA outputs can be supported only with processors which are GPU integrated.
** Supports two 4K displays or one 8K display
Only the CPU’s embedded graphics can be displayed through Thunderbolt™ ports. If you want to display to a Thunderbolt™ monitor, please use CPU models with embedded graphics.
Audio

– 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)
– Impedance Sensing on Rear Out port
– Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel
– Nahimic Audio

LAN

– 2.5 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000/2500 Mb/s
– Killer E3100G
– Supports Killer LAN Software
– Supports Killer DoubleShot™ Pro
Wireless LAN

– 802.11axe Wi-Fi 6E Module
– Supports IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/axe
– Supports Dual-Band 2×2 160MHz with extended 6GHz band* support
– 2 antennas to support 2 (Transmit) x 2 (Receive) diversity technology
– Supports Bluetooth 5.3
– Supports MU-MIMO
– Supports Killer LAN Software
– Supports Killer DoubleShot™ Pro

*The Wi-Fi 6E module is supported by Microsoft Windows^® 11 only. There is no driver available for Windows^® 10. The availability of the 6GHz band will depend on the different regulation status of each country and region. It will be activated (for supported countries) through Windows^® Update and software updates once available.
A 6GHz compatible router is required for 6E functionality.
Slots

CPU:
– 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16 Slot (PCIE1), supports x16 mode*
Chipset:
– 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 Slot (PCIE2), supports x2 mode*
– 1 x M.2 Socket (Key E), supports type 2230 WiFi/BT PCIe WiFi module and Intel^® CNVio/CNVio2 (Integrated WiFi/BT)

* Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
Storage

CPU:
– 1 x Blazing M.2 Socket (M2_1, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen5x4 (128 Gb/s) mode*
Chipset:
– 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_2, Key M), supports type 2230/2242/2260/2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode*
– 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_3, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode*
– 1 x M.2 Socket (M2_4, Key M), supports type 2280 PCIe Gen4x2 (32 Gb/s) mode*
– 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors

* Supports Intel^® Volume Management Device (VMD)
Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
RAID

– Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 for SATA storage devices
USB

CPU:
– 1 x Thunderbolt™ 4 Type-C (Rear) Chipset:
– 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C (Front)
– 2 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A (Rear)
– 8 x USB 3.2 Gen1 (4 Rear, 4 Front)
– 7 x USB 2.0 (3 Rear, 4 Front)

* All USB ports support ESD Protection
Connector

– 1 x Thermistor Cable Header
– 1 x SPI TPM Header
– 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
– 1 x RGB LED Header*
– 3 x Addressable LED Headers**
– 2 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)***
– 5 x Chassis Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)***
– 1 x AIO Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)***
– 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector
– 2 x 8 pin 12V Power Connectors (Hi-Density Power Connector)
– 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector
– 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports)
– 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports)
– 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Header (20 Gb/s)

* Supports in total up to 12V/3A, 36W LED Strip
** Support in total up to 5V/3A, 15W LED Strip
*** CPU_FAN1 supports the fan power up to 1A (12W).
CPU_FAN2, CHA_FAN1~5 and AIO_PUMP support the fan power up to 3A (36W).
CPU_FAN2, CHA_FAN1~5 and AIO_PUMP can auto detect if 3-pin or 4-pin fan is in use.
Rear Panel I/O

– 2 x Antenna Ports
– 1 x HDMI Port
– 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 1 x Thunderbolt™ 4 Type-C Port (40 Gb/s for USB4 protocol; 40Gb/s for Thunderbolt™ protocol)*
– 2 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Ports (10 Gb/s)
– 4 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports**
– 3 x USB 2.0 Ports
– 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port
– 1 x BIOS Flashback Button
– 1 x Line Out Jack (Gold Audio Jack)
– 1 x Microphone Input Jack (Gold Audio Jack)

* Supports USB PD 3.0 up to 5V@3A (15W) charging
** USB32_45 support Ultra USB Power.
Software and UEFI

Software
– ASRock Motherboard Utility (Phantom Gaming Tuning)
– Killer Control Center
– ASRock Polychrome SYNC*
UEFI
– ASRock EZ Mode
– ASRock Full HD UEFI
– ASRock My Favorites in UEFI
– ASRock Auto Driver Installer
– ASRock Instant Flash

*These utilities can be downloaded from ASRock Live Update & APP Shop.
Accessories

– 2 x SATA Data Cables
– 2 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5/6 GHz Antennas
– 1 x ARGB Splitter Cable
– 1 x Thermistor Cable
Form Factor

– ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm
– 2oz Copper PCB
OS

– Microsoft Windows^® 11 64-bit
Certifications

– FCC, CE
– ErP/EuP ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)