Gigabyte B860 EAGLE WiFi6E Review

The Gigabyte B860 EAGLE WiFi6E is an affordable motherboard that offers builders essential connectivity and expansion options for a solid Intel Core Ultra system. This motherboard prioritises function over form, offering a reasonably barebones design, but it makes up for this with plenty of solid features. However, to see how this board compares to its Z890 counterpart, we’ve conducted a series of tests to see if the B860 EAGLE WiFi6E offers a decent value proposition.

The B860 chipset is the first range of budget-oriented motherboards for the Intel Core Ultra platform.. Much like B850 on the AMD side, B860 offers a slightly restricted set of features to bring down the cost of the board, making it a much more viable option for those with limited cash. However, it’ll be interesting to see how B860 compares to B850 and determine what features these cheaper motherboard options offer.

This review delves into the specs, box accessories, design, connectivity, expansion, and features of the Gigabyte B860 EAGLE WiFi6E motherboard to assess whether it’s a worthwhile purchase.

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Specification

As we’ve alluded to in the intro, the B860 EAGLE WiFi6E is primarily targeted towards the budget side of the market, which becomes apparent when looking at the specs in more detail. RAM can be overclocked to 9066MT/s, which is exceptionally fast and one of the significant benefits of the Intel Core Ultra platform. As a point of comparison, Intel Z890 motherboards offer slightly stronger speeds because they are specifically designed for overclocking. The B860 EAGLE WiFi6E also offers a 12+1+2+1 VRM power phase design, but as B860 boards aren’t overclockable, the power design doesn’t matter much.

Regarding expansion, the Gigabyte B860 EAGLE WiFi6E features a single PCI-E 5.0 x16 slot, ready for the next generation of graphics cards. For storage, builders can leverage three slots. The primary slot is Gen5, while the other two are Gen4. Ultimately, we’d like to see more slots, but because this is a budget board, I think three slots will be more than ample for most prospective buyers.

The front IO on this board is similar to what we’ve seen on other B860 and B850 motherboards. There are four headers: two USB 2.0, one USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A header, and one USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C header.

The rear IO, however, is somewhat lacklustre. There are six ports here, which is pretty restrictive. Four are USB 2.0, while the others comprise a USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A port and a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port. Again, this limited set of IO is not surprising because this is a budget motherboard. However, we’d prefer a greater selection of high-speed ports, as this would open up options for those with peripherals or devices that benefit from fast transfer speeds.

The rest of the rear IO houses three 3.5mm audio jacks. There’s no optical S/PDIF on this motherboard, so the audio selection is fairly minimal. However, networking is solid. Gamers can leverage 2.5 Gigabit LAN and WiFi 6E, which are incredibly fast. Although it would be nice to see WiFi 7, WiFi 6E is generally better supported with modern routers and won’t require a networking upgrade.

What’s in the Box?

It’s worth delving into the box accessories before we look at the design and features. Manufacturers often include extra accessories or gadgets to assist the building process.

As this is a budget motherboard, Gigabyte hasn’t included many extras, but there are a couple of accessories worth highlighting. The first is the WiFi antenna. All of the motherboards that have been released within the past six months feature a clip-in connector for the WiFi antenna instead of screws. This allows you to install or remove the antenna with ease.

Also, inside the box, you’ll find two SATA data cables. These are handy for builders who need to install 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA drives. Other than this, there aren’t any noteworthy extras. Gigabyte includes a multilingual installation guide, which is also accessible online.

Gigabyte B860 EAGLE WiFi6E Design

The Gigabyte B860 EAGLE WiFi6E is a motherboard that emphasises function over form, so its design is barebones. The underlying PCB is black, which helps it blend in with dark components. Towards the top of the board, you’ll find a range of heatsinks that cover the VRMs, the rear IO, and the primary Gen5 SSD slot.

Following the Gigabyte EAGLE theme, these heatsinks are grey instead of black. This contrasts nicely but doesn’t detract from the board’s dark aesthetic. On top of the rear IO heatsink is a small area dedicated to RGB, offering some much-needed customisable lighting for this fairly simplistic motherboard.

The bottom half of the Gigabyte B860 EAGLE WiFi6E is a bit more uncovered, and the remaining two M.2 drives do not have a heatsink. Overall, the design is solid. With a board of this calibre, you’re not paying for an incredibly fancy aesthetic, but the sleek design is a solid value-add.

Connectivity Options

Graphics Card Slots

Looking at the connectivity options, the B860 EAGLE WiFi6E has one x16 graphics card slot just underneath the main SSD slot. This GPU slot supports Gen5 bandwidth, so you can install an RTX 5000 card without issues.

Two additional x16-sized slots are towards the bottom of the motherboard, but it only supports x1 speeds. Contrasting to the more recent Z890 motherboards we’ve reviewed, the B860 EAGLE WiFi6E doesn’t feature additional PCI-E power, which may be a deal-breaker for those building a workstation hybrid PC.

M.2 Slots

Builders have three M.2 storage slots. The main slot, located underneath the heatsink towards the top of the board, is Gen5 compatible, ideal for those buying the latest high-speed storage.

The two other slots, which don’t have heatsinks, support Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSDs. Three slots on this board are more than adequate. While an additional Gen5 slot would be a nice feature, I feel most prospective buyers won’t see this as an issue.

RAM DIMMs

Surprisingly, RAM is one of this motherboard’s strong points. The B860 EAGLE WiFi6E’s DIMMs can be clocked up to 9066MT/s, which is exceptionally fast. This is one of the significant benefits of the Core Ultra platform, and I’m glad it isn’t limited to Z890 motherboards. It’s worth noting that the B860 EAGLE WiFi6E supports a max capacity of 256GB with four DIMMs.

Rear IO

Unfortunately, the rear IO on this motherboard is somewhat disappointing. The B860 EAGLE WiFi6E has six ports, four of which are USB 2.0, and the other two use the USB 3.2 standard. I don’t think six USB ports are quite enough. This allows you to plug in a few peripherals and maybe one or two charging cables, but it is pretty limiting for those with multiple devices and is likely to be a deal-breaker for some.

The rest of the rear IO is reasonably basic. There are three 3.5mm audio jacks, which won’t blow anyone away. For networking, you can choose between 2.5 Gigabit LAN and WiFi 6E. Both are speedy and solid options for buttery smooth gaming.

Internal Headers

CPU and Motherboard Power

It’s no surprise to see a fairly basic power configuration on this motherboard. As the B860 EAGLE WiFi6E isn’t explicitly targeted towards high-performance systems, it provides the essential headers needed for a build. At the top left of the motherboard, you’ll find a single 8-pin EPS connector for CPU power.

On the right-hand side of the board is a standard 24-pin motherboard power connector. Again, this is standard for a motherboard of this calibre. This motherboard also doesn’t feature any additional PCI-E power, as it isn’t required for the front panel USB ports.

Front USB Headers

There are four front USB headers on the Gigabyte B860 EAGLE WiFi6E. Just below the motherboard power connector, you’ll find USB-C and USB 3. The USB-C headers support one port, while the USB-3 header supports two. Below the final PCI-E slot are two USB 2.0 headers supporting four ports.

I’d like at least one more USB 2.0 header on the B860 EAGLE WiFi6E, but as this is a budget board, we can understand that the lack of a third header is likely due to cutting down costs.

Pump and Fan Headers

This board houses a total of five fan headers. The two at the top just above the RAM DIMMs are ‘CPU_Fan’ and ‘CPU_Opt’. At the bottom right of the board are the remaining three, all of which are ‘Sys_Fan’ headers.

It would be great if this board had more headers, but I think the five that are available on this board will be fine for most builders. With many modern cases supplying an integrated fan or RGB hub, it’ll be easy to avoid using all of the headers on this board if you shop around for a solid case.

RGB Headers

For RGB, the Gigabyte B860 EAGLE WiFI6E offers three headers. One is at the top right of the board near the main CPU_Fan connector, while the other two are at the bottom of the PCB.

Much like with the fan headers, seeing more RGB for future upgrades would be great. However, as this is a budget board, it isn’t surprising to see three. Ultimately, a well-placed splitter will help you minimise the use of all the RGB space on this motherboard.

Building with the B860 EAGLE WiFi6E

While this board doesn’t have many tool-less or usability features, its simplicity makes it relatively easy to build. Due to the lack of heatsinks, there’s not much to unscrew, which makes installing SSDs reasonably straightforward.

There are a few heatsinks in important places, such as over the VRMs and on the rear IO, which also features an integrated shield. Overall, the B860 EAGLE WiFi6E is a solid motherboard to build with. By keeping things simple, installing components is quick and easy.

Features We Like

GPU Release Latch

The graphics card slot on this motherboard features a quick-release latch. This button is located next to the fourth RAM DIMM slot, allowing you to easily remove a GPU. This is one of the few tool-less mechanisms on this motherboard and a solid value-add overall.

Decent Networking Options

On the rear IO are two networking ports, 2.5 Gigabit LAN and WiFi 6E. It’s impressive to see such versatile networking options for a budget board. WiFi 6E is particularly strong and offers excellent speeds and stability for smooth, lag-free gaming.

Features We Don’t Like

Minimal USB Ports

While this motherboard’s networking options are solid, the number of USB ports is fairly restrictive. There are six ports, which offers room for only a few peripherals and a couple of extra devices. If you have plenty of USB devices, we recommend looking at a board with a stronger selection of IO.

One Gen5 SSD Slot

Unfortunately, one major caveat of this budget board is that it has fewer storage slots compared to other boards. Specifically, the Gigabyte B860 EAGLE WiFi6E only has one Gen5 storage slot. This is somewhat restrictive for those looking to pick up plenty of PCI-E 5.0 drives.

Conclusion