Although the days of LGA 1700 are drawing to a close, the platform is not far behind. You will be able to buy 14th Gen processors for the next few years, many of which will be found in Mini-ITX systems. Boards like the ASRock B760I Lightning WiFi are built to meet the requirements of powerful, yet compact 14th Gen systems, which means powerful VRMs and support for fast DDR5 memory. Having 14th Gen processors out of the box is a big plus.
Boards like the ASRock B760I Lightning WiFi are built to meet the requirements of powerful yet compact 14th Gen systems.
The B760I Lightning WiFi is the second generation B760 board, with some tweaks and an upgraded power delivery subsystem to better handle the demands of 14th Gen Intel CPUs.
We recently reviewed the ASRock Z790I Lightning WiFi, and while this board is very good, at around $279 we felt it was under-featured compared to the $185 B760I version. This is because, apart from PCIe bifurcation and overclocking support, the specs for both boards are nearly identical, so there’s little reason to choose the Z790I version over the B760I version, which is a good sign for the latter.
Support for ultra-fast memory isn’t essential for a gaming system, but it will become more useful as DDR5 speeds continue to get faster and faster. The B760I Lightning supports ultra-fast DDR5-8600 (OC) memory. Along with the Z790I version, this is the only board I’ve tested so far that can run the Teamgroup DDR5-8200 kit with only XMP enabled out of the box. That’s really impressive. It supports up to 96GB of memory, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a BIOS update adds support for 128GB in the future.
ASRock B760I Lightning WiFi Specifications
socket: Intel LGA 1700
CPU Compatibility: Intel 12th, 13th, and 14th generation processors
Form Factor: Mini-ITX
Memory Support: DDR5-8600+(OC), up to 96GB
Storage: 2x M.2, 3x SATA
USB: Up to 2x USB 10 Gbps, 7x USB 5 Gbps, 2x USB 2.0
screen: 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x DP 1.4
networking: Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5G LAN, Intel WiFi 6E
audio: Realtek ALC897
price: $185 / £199
Another big feature is its excellent VRM, the best VRM we’ve seen on any Mini-ITX board, let alone a B760 board: a 14+1+1 phase solution with 110a stages, more than enough to power an i9 14900K or KS.
The two heatsink sections are connected via a heatpipe. There’s a small fan built in, but it was barely noticeable during testing. This is truly a top-class power delivery system.
As with all Mini-ITX boards, PCB space is scarce, so you’ll have to put up with some limitations when it comes to headers and auxiliary controllers. There are three fan headers, plus one for the VRM fan. There are two ARGB headers, plus USB 2.0 and USB 3.1 Gen (5 Gbps) headers. A 10 Gbps header would be nice, but USB 20 Gbps support isn’t much to look forward to at this price point.
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The board supports two PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSDs; one slot is located above the x16 slot and the other without a heatsink is at the rear of the board. These slots are connected by three SATA ports. The primary PCIe x16 slot supports Gen 5, but if you need Gen 5 SSD support you should consider the Z790.
The B760I Lightning WiFi is a bit lacking in I/O on the back. It does have DP 1.4 and HDMI 2.1 ports for use with the integrated Xe graphics, but only four Gen 1 (5 Gbps) and two Gen 2 (10 Gbps) USB ports. There is no BIOS flashback support, but this is less of an issue with the B760I Lightning compared to first-gen B760 boards such as the MSI MPG B760I Edge WiFi, which may lack native 14th-gen support unless the BIOS was updated when it shipped from the factory.
We like that an S/PDIF port is included, even if the audio codec is the cheaper ALC897. 2.5G LAN functionality is provided by a Realtek RTL8125BG controller, while the Intel AX210 M.2 E-Key card supports WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
System Performance
Gaming Performance
Test Equipment
CPU: Intel Core i9 14900K
graphic: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition
Ram: 2x 16GB G.Skill Trident Z5 DDR5-6000 C36
Storage: 2TB Kingston KC3000
cooling: Cooler Master PL360 Flux 360mm AIO
Power supply: Corsair HX1000i
As you’d expect from a mature platform, there’s very little variation between modern LGA 1700 boards in terms of performance; most of the differences are within the margin of error.
An important thing to note is that we used an i9 14900K and an RTX 4090 GPU. The fact that this small board can easily run a demanding CPU without any signs of VRM cooling issues or trouble is a true testament to the capabilities of the B760I Lightning WiFi. And this is on a sub-$185 Mini-ITX board.
…then buy it
✅You want an affordable Mini-ITX board that can house high-end components. This board can easily handle 14900K and DDR5-8000+ memory, something very few B760 boards can claim.
✅ If you want guaranteed 14th generation support out of the box: The B760 boards support 14th generation processors, but most will require a BIOS update on older chips – the B760 Lightning doesn’t have that issue.
Do not purchase if…
❌ If you need lots of fast USB ports: The B760I Lightning WiFi doesn’t come with 20Gbps USB and only has six USB ports on the back panel.
For those looking for an affordable and solid foundation for a high performance rig, the B760I Lightning WiFi does not disappoint ASRock, running any 12th, 13th or 14th Gen CPU with ease, and pairing it with a 14900K and DDR5-8000+ set creates the foundation for a blazing fast gaming rig by any standard, let alone Mini-ITX.
It’s not perfect, though; we’d like to see a more robust USB complement; even a pair of USB 2.0 ports on the back for a keyboard and mouse would be a huge improvement. 20Gbps USB ports would be great, but for a board that costs just $185, these shortcomings are negligible.
Compared to ATX boards, you’ll miss out on one or two M.2 slots, four memory slots, and space for expansion cards, but these are necessary sacrifices with Mini-ITX systems.
To be honest, I doubt you need to spend more on a Z790 Mini-ITX board unless you plan on overclocking your CPU. The ASRock B760I Lightning WiFi is nearly $100 cheaper than the nearly equivalent Z790I Lightning WiFi, which is a big enough savings to invest in a better CPU and/or GPU, which is where the real performance gains come from.
