Asus has recently announced one of their first “Gamer” series motherboard – the Asus B85-PRO Gamer, featuring an Intel B85 chipset and other essential features that most gamers would need. It also features a Black-Red color scheme and different heatsink design, unique from the Asus ROG and Z87 (Black-Gold) motherboards. The Asus B85-Pro Gamer features a PCB that is somewhat similar to the Asus Z87-A, but at the same time it’s like a strip down version of the ROG Z87 series. Check out the rest of its features and specifications below.
Asus B85-PRO GAMER Features
The Asus B85-Pro Gamer features an Intel B85 Express Chipset and socket LGA1150 compatible with the 4th Generation Intel Haswell processors. It features an 8-phase VRM which controls the power that makes it to the CPU socket. This board also lacks overclocking features, so you won’t be seeing anything that is related to overclocking in this board or in its UEFI BIOS settings. Probably the highest clock speed you could get is the CPU’s Turbo speed.
One of the main features of the B85-Pro Gamer is the SupremeFX audio technology that includes 115 dBA SNR CODEC, Red line shielding, 300Ω headphones amp, EMI cover, and ELNA audio capacitors. This feature isn’t usually available on a mid-range or entry level motherboard. Usually you see this in ROG series motherboards.
Next is the Intel I217V GbE (Gigabit Ethernet) and GameFirst II, a network packet prioritization software that gives priority to games over other inbound/outbound connection coming from other software or applications. This is very useful specially if you are playing network or online games.
The Asus B85-Pro Gaming has two PCI-Express X16 slots here, but the other one is just a PCI-E 2.0 only running on x4 mode, which is wired directly to the B85 PCH. There are also three legacy PCI slots and two PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots. It also features 4x SATA 6Gb/s and 2x SATA 3Gb/s ports for your storage drives.
The Asus B85-Pro Gaming also features Gamer’s Guardian, 10K black metallic capacitors, DRAM over-current protection, DIGI+ VRM, and Electrostatic Discharge Guards dampening circuits along the rear panel I/O ports.
Asus B85-PRO GAMER Specifications
| CPU | Intel® for 4th Generation Core™ i7/Core™ i5/Core™ i3/Pentium®/Celeron® Processors Supports Intel® 22 nm CPU Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 |
| Chipset | Build in Intel® B85 |
| Memory | 4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 1600/1333/1066 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory Dual Channel Memory Architecture Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) |
| Graphic | Integrated Graphics Processor Multi-VGA output support : HDMI/DVI/RGB ports - Supports HDMI with max. resolution 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz / 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz - Supports DVI with max. resolution 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz - Supports RGB with max. resolution 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz Maximum shared memory of 1024 MB Supports Intel® InTru™ 3D, Quick Sync Video, Clear Video HD Technology, Insider™ Supports up to 3 displays simultaneously |
| Multi-GPU Support | Supports AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX Technology |
| Expansion Slots | 1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 mode, gray) 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black) 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 3 x PCI |
| Storage | 4 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray 2 x SATA 3Gb/s port(s), black Supports Intel® Rapid Start Technology, Intel® Smart Connect Technology |
| LAN | Intel® I217V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s), featureing GAMEFIRST II |
| Audio | SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC - Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel MIC Jack-retasking - High quality 115 dB SNR stereo playback output - High-fidelity audio OP AMP(s) Audio Feature : - SupremeFX Shielding™ Technology - ELNA premium audio capacitors - Sonic Radar - Optical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panel |
| USB Ports | 4 x USB 3.0/2.0 port(s) (2 at back panel, , 2 at mid-board) 8 x USB 2.0 port(s) (4 at back panel, , 4 at mid-board) |
| ROG Exclusive Features | GameFirst II |
| Back I/O Ports | 1 x PS/2 keyboard (purple) 1 x PS/2 mouse (green) 1 x DVI 1 x D-Sub 1 x HDMI 1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s) 2 x USB 3.0 4 x USB 2.0 1 x Optical S/PDIF out 6 x Audio jack(s) |
| Internal I/O Ports | 1 x USB 3.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.0 port(s) (19-pin) 2 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 port(s) 1 x TPM connector(s) 1 x COM port(s) connector(s) 4 x SATA 6Gb/s connector(s) 2 x SATA 3Gb/s connector(s) 1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin) 1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin) 3 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (3 x 3 -pin) 1 x S/PDIF out header(s) 1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s) 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s) 1 x Front panel audio connector(s) (AAFP) 1 x System panel(s) 1 x Clear CMOS jumper(s) |
| Special Features | ASUS Dual Intelligent Processors 2 with DIGI+ VRM : - The tuning key perfectly consolidates ASUS-exclusive DIGI+ Power Control, TPU, EPU, and Fan Xpert 2 optimize the digital power setting, system performance, power saving and whole system cooling configuration Gamer's Guardian: - ESD Guards on LAN, Audio, KBMS and USB3.0/2.0 ports - DRAM Overcurrent Protection - 10K Black Metallic Capacitors - Stainless Steel Back I/O - DIGI+ VRM ASUS TPU : - Auto Tuning - TurboV - GPU Boost without switch ASUS EPU : - EPU ASUS Exclusive Features : - AI Suite 3 - Ai Charger - ASUS UEFI BIOS EZ Mode featuring friendly graphics user interface - USB 3.0 Boost - Disk Unlocker |
| Accessories | User's manual ASUS Q-Shield 2 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s) |
| BIOS | 64 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 4.0a, Multi-language BIOS,ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3, My Favorites, Quick Note, Last Modified log, F12 PrintScreen, F3 Shortcut functions, and ASUS DRAM SPD (Serial Presence Detect) memory information |
| Form Factor | ATX Form Factor 12 inch x 9 inch ( 30.5 cm x 22.8 cm ) |
Price and Availability
Currently the price of the Asus B85-Pro Gamer isn’t disclosed yet. Hopefully, it will be priced competitively against the MSI B85-G43 GAMING, AsRock Fatal1ty B85 Killer and Gigabyte G1.Sniper B5. It’s also expected that this motherboard will become available in the following weeks to come.
I’ll updated this article or post a new one, when this motherboard becomes available to order online. Please subscribe and follow to get notified.
