Asus B85M-G Motherboard [Review]

[poor_poor]

I would like to thank Asus sending me this board for review

Asus announced new B85M-G entry motherboard replacing previous P8B75-M LX 7 series motherboard and Asus has greatly improved component and feature on their entry range.

ASUS 5X PROTECTION
All-round protection provides the best quality, reliability, and durability
ASUS motherboards guard your PC with 5X PROTECTION. We use quality components like DIGI+ VRM digital power design for precise CPU power on demand, ESD units tested to strict standards that eliminate electrostatic interference, and resettable fuses around DRAM slots to prevent overcurrent and short-circuit damage. We also use corrosion-resistant back I/O shields, all examples of ASUS providing the best possible reliability and durability.

Micro-ATX B85 features high-endurance 5X PROTECTION and new UEFI BIOS

• ASUS 5X PROTECTION: All-round protection provides the best quality, reliability, and durability
• USB 3.0 BOOST (UASP Support): 170% faster transfer speeds than traditional USB 3.0
• Network iControl: Real-time network bandwidth management
• Fan Xpert : Dedicated CPU and case fan controls
• CrashFree BIOS 3: Restore corrupted BIOS data from USB storage
• AI Suite 3: One-stop access to innovative ASUS features

Specifications:
LGA: 1150 socket support 4th Generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3/Pentium and Celeron Processors
Chipsets: Intel B85 Express
Memory: 32Gb Max DDR3 supporting 1600/1333/1066 non-ecc memory
Expension slots: PCI-Express 3.0 16x and 2x PCI-Express 2.0 x1
Video output: HDMI/DVI-D and D-Sub port:
Storage: 2x Sata 3gb/s and 4x Sata 6gb/s
Lan: Gigabit lan

Test System:
Intel Core i7 4770k
G.Skill 8Gb 1600mhz CL9
ADATA 128Gb SSD
Silencer mk 3 850w
Microsoft Windows 8 Pro 64bits
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Unboxing

This time round Asus did very good job designing box

Back view of the board: As you can see lot of new feature.

Zoom in some motherboard spec

5 X protection feature

4 improved feature

 

[poor_poor]

open cover

Accessory package:
1x I/O Back Plate
1x MB Driver Disc
1x Manual Book
2x Sata Cable

Here come the mamaboard

CPU Socket 1150

On the Back of the I/O, Asus used stainless steel with corrosion resistant coasting up to 3 times durable than others.

From the left to right on the I/O port:
P/S 2 port
D-sub
DVI
2x Intel USB 2.0
2x Intel USB 3.0 Native
HDMI support up to 4k resolution output display
Gigabit lan
2x Intel USB 2.0
8 channel high definition audio codec

Digi+ VRM: Fully digital control cpu integratd voltage regulator such as "switching frequency,
thermal management, power efficiency, phase switching and power response"

Asmedia ASM1442K chip, output high speed TMDS level shift ICs for High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and Digital Video Interface (DVI) video application.
Note: DVI cannot support 4K display

Green: Fuses prevent overcurrent and short-circuit damage to any USB devices.
Blue: anti-surge protection to ensure electrostatic discharges are properly grounded to keep component safe.
Red: Swiss R68 TRIO iron core choke
Orange: ON Semiconductor 4C09N [30v, 52A Single N-Channel] MOSFETs have very low RDS(ON) which means they will have
lower temperature as they are switching on and off and minimize conduction losses,
low capacitance to minimize driver losses.
Purple: VRM Driver IC

 

[poor_poor]

Asus B85-G used all Taiwan AP-CON soild capacitor - 5,000 hours operating temperature at 105c and 2.5x longer life span than standard soild cap

2 power phase for 4x Dimm DDR3 support up to 32GB DDR3 1600/1333/1066 non-ecc memory

VRM Driver IC for memory mosfets

New Realtek RTL8111G Integrated Gigabit Ethernet Controller

Nuvoton NCT6791D is a Super I/O Controller: Used for keyboard controller with PS/2 mouse, wake-up functions/HW Monitor functions and fan-speed control.

Red:
Realtek ALC887 7.1 Channel high definition audio codec,
ALC887 supports 16/20/24-bit SPDIF input and output functions with sampling rate of up to 192kHz.
This audio codec unable to drive those high-end headphone. if you looking for better audio quailty, i recommend you get a PCI-E 1x Sound card such as Asus Essence Stx or Creative sound blaster ZxR.
Orange:
BCD Semiconductor 232GE: Provide Serial-Port connector on board

4 x Yellow 6Gb/s Sata port
2 x Black 3Gb/s Sata port

 

[poor_poor]

Red:
Intel Native USB 3.0 Port - 29 pins
Orange: anti-surge protection to ensure electrostatic discharges are properly grounded to keep component safe.
Green: Fuses prevent overcurrent and short-circuit damage to any USB devices.

B85-G provide 4x usb F_panel connector for the front casing.
Blue: Two anti-surge protection to ensure electrostatic discharges are properly grounded to keep component safe.
Green: Fuses prevent overcurrent and short-circuit damage to any USB devices.
Purple: a Jumper let you adjust USB PWF [1-2=5v, 2-3=5vsb]

A jumper let you easily clear cmos data

Red:
Bios chip: Winbond 25064FVA1Q-UEFI ROM 64MB
Purple:
5v Stand by power

Intel® B85 Chipset (Intel® DH82B85 PCH)

LPC_Debug connector for plug-in Debug card for diagnostic

Overview:

 

[poor_poor]

Benchmark & information

Windows Index

CPUZ

GPUZ

New Intel HD graphic control panel

Display settings

Information

Realtek HD Audio Manger interface

 

[poor_poor]

3Dmark

3Dmark 11

Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0

Unigine Valley Benchmark 1.0

PCmark7

PLAGame Benchmark

Resident Evil 6

 

[poor_poor]

ASUS AI Suite III review

Digi+ VRM: More advance technology let you adjust more function area such as "CPU, IGPU and DRAM" to best performance and stability.

EPU: Energy saving allow user to disable unused port such as USB/Sata port to save power and lower down CPU usage power to save more power during idle.

TurboV Evo: Let you adjust CPU ratio to boost your processor performance to the top!
due to Intel B85 express chipset unable to adjust higher ratio [max: 39 - Depend on CPU]

GPU Boost: Allow overlocking integrated Intel HD4000 graphic clock speed and voltage

Auto Tuning: If you are not sure or new to overclocking, Asus Ai Suite will help you automatic fine tune your system to match best performance and stability

Tuning Report: After pressing start on the "Auto Tuning" feature, system will restart and boost up performance on CPU and GPU area.

Fan Xpert: Allow user to adjust individual casing fan or cpu fan and provide informative detail on each fans.

 

[bhtan83]

Cuming soon~ lol..

Nice review.

 

[poor_poor]

Comparison Benchmark:
Intel HD4600 vs Intel HD4000
B85M-G vs P8B75M-LX

Microsoft Windows 8 Experience Index

3DMark 11 Performance Score

PCMark 7 Score

Asus B85M-G Conclusion
Asus B85M-G has improve lot of new feature and component quality compare to previous low entry range "P8B75M-LX". B85M-G improve on few component such as "solid capacitors, vrm and pwm" component on the area. For audio side Asus also throw in better sound quality chip "Realtek ALC887" compare to past generation "VIA". This board target basic user such as office, home theater, file hosting and those user want to play game with this board just add in discrete graphic card than you are good to go. There are 2 extra PCI-E 1x slot so you can add in two difference card for user who are audiophile just add "Asus Essence STX or Creative sound card", if you do not want to use wiring lan than you can add in Asus PCE-AC66 or other wireless card.

Good point
Great budget board cost $138
3 years limited warranty cover by avertek
Full solid capacitors
4 Sata 6Gb/s and 2 Sata 3Gb/s
New bios feature
All usb is protect by anti-Surge and fuse
4-Dimm ram slot
New Realtek RTL8111G gigabit lan

Bad point
Back I/O only 2 USB 3.0 port
Back I/O port not enough USB port
Old Realtek audio codec "ALC887" low db:
Output: 24-Bit, 192KHz, 97dB
Input: 24-Bit, 192KHz, 90dB
No PCI slot

Thank you for reading my review, click like if you think my review is good or add any comment.

 

[betadyne]

I guess its a budget board cause only 3 phase power... Perhaps 2 phase? 1 phase for GPU.

But B85 cannot oc anyway so I guess it doesn't matter.

 

[Shutterbox]

When is this going to be out?

 

[poor_poor]

When is this going to be out?

SRP: $130+ already out

 

[pcs232]

anyone happen to find this board selling at pctheme?

 

[poor_poor]

Just to confirm this board selling at $138

 

[Shutterbox]

Havent seen this board in pct or tradepac pricelist.

Anyone else where to get this board?

 

[ASUS@SG]

Havent seen this board in pct or tradepac pricelist.

Anyone else where to get this board?

Dear Shutterbox,

You can purchase this board at Videopro, Laser disc, PCtheme and V2trade

 

[pcs232]

Dear Shutterbox,

You can purchase this board at Videopro, Laser disc, PCtheme and V2trade

Just hoot this board with i5 4670k at bizgram.

pocket just burn $460

 

[ASUS@SG]

Just hoot this board with i5 4670k at bizgram.

pocket just burn $460

New bios: 0410 Download Here

This new bios allow user to overclock "K" series processor on ASUS B85 chipset.

Improvement:
1.Improve memory compatibility.
2.Fix XMP button issue
3.Revise help string for the Korean Language.
4.Enhance USB compatibility

 

[pcs232]

New bios: 0410 Download Here

This new bios allow user to overclock "K" series processor on ASUS B85 chipset.

Improvement:
1.Improve memory compatibility.
2.Fix XMP button issue
3.Revise help string for the Korean Language.
4.Enhance USB compatibility

Wa! can oc on this board too!!! going try new bios later on

 

[LesterQ]

Very nice review!