ASRock B760M PG Riptide is a Micro ATX motherboard that supports the latest 12th and 13th Gen Intel processors. Priced at just over $145, it has a simple black-on-black look with a blue strip on the VRM and some RGB LEDs hidden under the right side of the board. Two M.2 sockets and four SATA ports for storage, Realtek 2.5 GbE networking (Wi-Fi not included), memory support up to DDR5-7200+(OC), and affordable Realtek audio It has a codec. The end result is a full-featured option in the low-cost Micro ATX space.
PG Riptide outperforms its competitors on the hardware side. At this price and this budget chipset, the platform limits the possibilities for high-speed interfaces, so there’s very little you can put on these boards, except for the basics.
To keep the price down, ASRock uses a 12-phase VRM for the Vcore, and instead of using more modern (and expensive) SPS MOSFETs, it traditionally combines Hi-side and Low-side ICs. Instead, it adopts an old-fashioned configuration. to the more expensive model. This isn’t ideal for a high-end processor, but you can run an Intel Core i9-13900K at Intel’s defaults, which boosts up to 255W for a short period of time, and then clocks you down to 125W or less. At this bargain price, you won’t find a PCIe 5.0 x4 slot, a high-end audio solution, or even a 20 Gbps Type-C port, but you’ll be able to run the latest and greatest processors and DDR5 memory for your platform.
In terms of performance, the B760M PG Riptide follows Intel’s specifications and excels around the world. The processor is powered up to 255W, but tapers off and is capped at 125W when Turbo Boost is turned off. This is to be expected on motherboards in this class, especially since the VRM powering the processor is poor. Single-threaded applications, short-running, high-thread-count applications will compete with high-end boards. Gaming performance is above average, and Intel limits aren’t getting in the way of gaming. If you plan to introduce a high-end processor and utilize all cores and threads, you’ll find a performance cap compared to other boards that bypass Intel’s specs.
Below, we’ll dig into the board details to see if PG Riptide finds a way on our board. best motherboard list. But before we get into testing and board details, we’ll start by listing ASRock’s specs.
Specifications: ASRock B760M PG Riptide
| socket | LGA1700 |
| chipset | B760 |
| form factor | MicroATX |
| voltage regulator | 16 Phase (12x 50A VRM for Vcore) |
| video port | (1) HDMI (v2.1) |
| (1) DisplayPort (v1.4) | |
| USB port | (1) USB 3.2 Gen 1 (10Gbps), Type-C |
| (3) USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) | |
| (4) USB2.0 (480Mbps) | |
| network jack | (1) 2.5GbE |
| audio jack | (3) Analog |
| Legacy port/jack | (1) PS/2 |
| Other Ports/Jacks | ✗ |
| PCIe x16 | (1) v4.0 (x16) |
| PCIe x8 | ✗ |
| PCIe x4 | ✗ |
| PCIe x1 | (1) v4.0 (x1) |
| Crossfire/SLI | ✗ |
| DIMM slots | (4) DDR5 7200+(OC)*, 192GB capacity |
| *1DPC 1R up to 7200+ MHz (OC), native 4800 MHz. | |
| 1DPC 2R up to 6000+ MHz (OC), 4400 MHz native. | |
| 2DPC 1R up to 5600+ MHz (OC), 4000 MHz native. | |
| 2DPC 2R up to 4800+ MHz (OC), native 3600 MHz. | |
| M.2 socket | (2) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64Gbps) / PCIe (up to 80mm) |
| SATA port | (4) SATA3 6Gbps (supports RAID 0/1/5/10) |
| USB header | (1) USB v3.2 Gen 1, Type-C (5Gbps) |
| (1) USB v3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) | |
| (1) USB v2.0 (480Mbps) | |
| fan/pump header | (5) 4-pin (CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump) |
| RGB header | (3) aRGB (3 pin) |
| (1) RGB (4 pin) | |
| diagnostic panel | (1) Post status checker (4 LEDs) |
| Internal button/switch | ✗ |
| SATA controller | ✗ |
| ethernet controller | (1) Realtek Dragon RTL8125BG (2.5GbE) |
| Wi-Fi/Bluetooth | ✗ |
| USB controller | AS Media ASM1074 |
| HD audio codec | Realtek ALC897 |
| DDL/DTS | ✗ / ✗ |
| guarantee | 3 years |
Inside the Box of ASRock B760M PG Riptide
Inside the retail box, above the motherboard, are a few accessories. ASRock includes a manual, a postcard, two of his SATA cables, screws for the M.2 socket (2), and a case sticker. Not much here, but the basics are covered.
B760M PG Riptide design
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The B760M PG Riptide comes with a matte black PCB with black slots, sockets and heatsinks. The only color is a blue/purple strip with branding on his VRM heatsink on the left. There are some lines stenciled on the board and heatsink, but it’s slightly lighter than the board itself, so it’s hard to see the design. If you’re looking for RGB lighting, Riptide has you covered with his two zones with 3 LEDs each on the top and bottom right edge. The RGB are bright and the colors are saturated, creating a nice glow from underneath the board and brightening up the interior of the chassis. Overall, it’s a nice looking motherboard for the price, but it’s by no means the centerpiece.
First visible in the top left corner of the budget board are the 8-pin (required) and 4-pin (optional) EPS connections for powering the processor. Now let’s take a closer look at the VRM heatsink. The left heatsink is the larger of the two and extends into the rear IO area, covering some of the ugly rear IO bits. On the top, the deep blue/purple Riptide PG series branding matches the PCB design/pattern.
After passing through the socket area, you will find four DRAM slots with locking mechanisms on each side. ASRock listing supports up to DDR5-7200, but as usual, available distances may vary depending on the kit used. The best way to be successful with these fast kits is to stick to the QVL list.
Just beyond the DRAM slots in the upper right corner are the first two (out of four) of the 4-pin fan/pump headers. Each header supports PWM and DC controlled devices. The CPU fan (CPU_FAN1) supports up to 1A/12W and the rest of the headers support 2A/24W. I’d love to see another fan header or two, but you could also piggyback some fans on the header. Be careful not to overload it as it can damage the board.
Then you encounter 2 (out of 4) RGB headers. In this case the extra he has two 3-pin ARGB headers with ARGB headers and one 4-pin RGB header along the bottom edge. The Polychrome application controls RGB and worked well for limited use in sync with other products.
Continuing down the right edge, we bump into the 24-pin ATX connector that powers the board, the front panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) connector, and the front USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C header. . panel.
PG Riptide’s power delivery is configured as a total of 14 phases, 12 of which are dedicated to Vcore. Recently reviewed PG Sonic (and its twin, Steel Legend). Power is supplied from an 8-pin EPS connector and sent to a Richtek RT3628AE 9-channel PWM controller. Then there are 12 VRMs dedicated to Vcore set up using a team configuration. The VRM does not utilize the new combined Hi-side and Low-side MOSFETs, so there are two ICs for each phase. It doesn’t have a lot of power available, but it handled the Intel Core i9-13900K according to Intel specs. However, I’m not sure you can run your system long term without these limits. At least not without active cooling in the power supply.
On the bottom left side of the board you’ll see the Realtek ALC897 audio codec, four capacitors dedicated to audio, and a visible audio isolation line designed to minimize EMI. This is not the latest or greatest audio solution. However, many who prioritize price over fancy features should find plenty of power output.
In the middle of the board are a full-length PCIe slot and an open-ended x1 slot. The top primary slot uses stiffeners to protect it from shearing caused by heavy graphics cards. This slot is connected through the CPU and runs at PCIe 4.0 x16. Meanwhile, the bottom x1 slot feeds a lane through the chipset and runs at PCIe 4.0 x1. Just below the top slot is a Key-e M.2 socket that supports a 2230 Wi-Fi/BT PCIe module using the Intel CNVio/CNVio2 protocol. Our boards don’t come with the board, but you can buy them separately for under $25 and easily add more if you need them.
Moving on to storage, our board has two M.2 sockets. The top socket (M2_1) under the heatsink connects through the CPU with PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) bandwidth. The other rightmost socket (M2_2) has no heatsink and runs up to the same speed. Supports devices up to 80mm each. Four SATA3 6 Gbps ports complete the storage options, two on the far right and two on the bottom. If you want to use RAID, you can use it on the SATA ports (RAID0/1/5/10), but no RAID support is listed for the M.2 socket.
Several headers are exposed on the bottom of the board. It has the usual stuff like an extra USB port, an RGB header, and a power/reset button. Below is the complete list from left to right.
- front panel audio
- 4-pin RGB header
- 3-pin ARGB header
- clear CMOS jumper
- (2) system fan header
- speaker header
- USB 2.0 header
- TPM header
- (2) SATA3 6Gbps ports
- system panel header
The B760M PG Riptide’s rear IO plate is pre-installed on the motherboard, which is a nice consideration at this price. It has a black theme with white labels and Phantom Gaming branding. A total of 8 USB ports are scattered on the rear IO. It has one USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C port, three USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) ports, and four USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) ports. As for video, the PG Riptide has HDMI and DisplayPort for using processor-integrated graphics. Finally, there are 2.5 GbE ports, PS/2 ports for keyboard and mouse, and three 1/8-inch outputs that make up the audio stack.
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