Introduction

With the recent introduction of Intel's 200S Boost feature, on top of previous swathes of performance updates and even lowered prices of Arrow Lake CPUs—especially the likes of the Core Ultra 7 265K—Intel's current consumer platform is in its most attractive state since its ill-fated launch. If you're tempted by Core Ultra Series 2, are looking at LGA1851 motherboards, and want to be able to overclock your CPU too—then ASRock's Phantom Gaming Z890 Riptide Wi-Fi does that and a lot more for $300.

Compared to options at even slightly lower price points, you're getting high-end features such as Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7, PCIe Gen 5 x16 GPU and x4 SSD support, plus decent cooling for both SSDs and CPU power delivery. There's few or no corners cut in the other areas either, which is what you'll generally have to accept if you can't quite stretch your budget this far.



This combined package and how it compares to the competition is what we're focusing on today, as well as mentioning cheaper alternatives, such as ASRock's own excellent B860 Steel Legend Wi-Fi, which lacks overclocking but costs $100 less. With ASRock offering strong value with other options we've seen recently, expectations are high, given the price tag is verging into premium territory. Let's take a closer look.

Specifications

Packaging and Contents

As usual at this price, the accessories are relatively thin, but you get a useful three-way 3-pin ARGB splitter cable, adhesive badge, Phantom Gaming-branded keycap, adhesive Wi-Fi antenna and also a 2-pin thermistor probe for the onboard thermistor header if you want to tie certain fan speeds to specific temperatures around your case.



The full list of accessories includes:

• 1x Quick start guide
• 1x Wi-Fi Antenna
• 2x SATA cables
• 3-pin ARGB splitter cable
• 1x Thermistor cables
• 1x M.2 screw
• 1x M.2 standoff