The Gigabyte B840M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E is an unusual AM5 motherboard offering, in that it packs AMD's entry-level B840 chipset, and yet has a set of features that are more commonly found on mainstream motherboard offerings.

AMD launched its “Zen 5” Ryzen 9000 series of processors back in August 2024, followed by the high-end X870E and X870 chipsets for the AM5 platform back in end-September 2024 - this left the older B650E, B650 and A620 chipsets to be the flagbearers for mainstream AM5 chipset offerings. Fast forward to January 2025, we now finally have AMD’s mid-range and entry-level 800-series chipsets arriving on the scene, in the form of the B850 and the B840.

The B840 chipset can be considered the successor to the A620 chipset, and in that regard, both chipsets are similar in that they do not support processor overclocking, but still retain support for memory overclocking.

To get in on the launch excitement, we'll be taking a look at the Gigabyte B840M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E that, as its name implies, sports the entry-level B840 chipset, and yet sits within the AORUS series of gaming-oriented motherboard offerings at the higher-end, making it a rather unusual motherboard offering. Read on to learn more about this board!

Summary of Specifications

Processor Support: AMD Ryzen 9000/8000/7000 series processors
Chipset: AMD B840
Memory: 4x DDR5 slots, max 256GB, up to DDR5 8200 (OC) support (as of January 2025)
Audio: Realtek ALC897 audio codec
LAN: Realtek RTL8125D 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet
WIFI: Realtek RTL8852CE WIFI 6E module with built-in Bluetooth 5.3
Expansion Slots: 1x PCIe 4.0 x16, 1x PCIe 3.0 x16 (operates at x4 mode)
Storage: 4x SATA III, 2x PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 (M.2 slots support NVMe drives only)
Form Factor: Micro ATX
Official Product Page: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B840M-AORUS-ELITE-WIFI6E

Packaging & Contents

The B840M AORUS ELITE WIFI 6E comes in a box that sports an AORUS eagle motif splashed across the front, and over on the rear, we get the usual summary of specs for this board.

The board comes with the following accessories:

• WIFI antenna
• 2x SATA III cables
• 1x G Connector
• 1x metal AORUS case badge
• 2x packs of M.2 drive rubber pads
• Quick installation guide
• Regulatory information leaflet

Board Aesthetics

On to the board itself, we see that Gigabyte has gone for a black and grey aesthetic, with a black coloured PCB and black heatsinks that sport splashes of grey.

Over on the rear of the board, Gigabyte's included some AORUS motifs for added visual interest - a nice touch, despite the fact that these motifs would likely be obscured from view when the board is installed inside of a PC case.

Fans of integrated aesthetic LEDs for their motherboards will be pleased to note that Gigabyte has included RGB LEDs beneath the chipset heatsink, which do add a touch of pop to the overall appearance of the motherboard.

While on the topic of the chipset heatsink, we see that it sports a stylised version of the AORUS eagle motif with some marketing text thrown in for good measure.

For M.2 drive cooling, we get a single large heatsink that provides coverage for the two M.2 drive slots that this board comes with.

VRM & Memory Support

The VRM heatsinks for this board are decently-sized, and Gigabyte has included 10+2+2 power stages with 60A DrMOS power phases.

For memory support, the B840M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E comes with four DDR5 slots that as of the time of publishing this article, come with support for up to 256GBs of RAM and the DDR5 8200 standard when overclocked, with plastic slots that sport a single-tab design. As mentioned earlier in this article, the B840 supports memory overclocking, and hence also comes with support for AMD’s EXPO technology, which are basically built-in overclocking profiles for DDR5 memory.

Front Panel USB Headers

For front panel USB connectivity, Gigabyte's included a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C front panel header next to the RAM slots, and near the SATA ports along the long edge of the board, a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A front panel header that provides support for up to two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A ports.

Also included are two USB 2.0 front panel headers situated along the bottom edge of the motherboard, with each header providing support for two USB 2.0 Type A ports, for a total of four ports.

Expansion Slots & Storage Options

The B840M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E comes with a single PCIe 4.0 x16 slot for a graphics card – the said slot sports Gigabyte’s "PCIe UD Slot" design that reinforces the slot for use with heavy graphics cards.

It's worth noting that the PCIe 4.0 x16 slot also comes with the PCIe EZ-Latch Plus feature, which helps make removing a graphics card from the slot a breeze.

Rounding off this section on expansion slots is a full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot that operates at x4 mode.

For your storage devices, Gigabyte's included four SATA III ports, with all ports in a right-angled configuration to aid with cable management.

Two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots are also included with the board, where both of these slots support M.2 NVMe drives only - M.2 SATA drives will not work with any of these slots.

A quality-of-life feature that tends to be found only on more mainstream and higher-end Gigabyte motherboards, the B840M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E's M.2 heatsink features a tool-less design called M.2 EZ-Latch Click, which makes removing and installing the said heatsink really easy.

Another quality-of-life feature that Gigabyte's included is M.2 EZ-Latch Plus, which makes installing and removing a M.2 drive from the B840M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E's M.2 slots a cinch.

Audio & Internet Connectivity

For audio, Gigabyte's included an entry-level Realtek ALC897 audio codec, which is unsurprising given that this board does sport AMD's entry-level chipset after all.

Wired internet connectivity is courtesy of a Realtek RTL8125D chip that serves up 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet support, while another Realtek part, the RTL8852CE, is tasked with your wireless connectivity needs. The said WIFI module supports the WIFI 6E standard and also comes with Bluetooth 5.3 support.

Fan & RGB Headers

The B840M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E comes with six fan headers:

• 1x CPU_FAN
• 1x CPU_OPT
• 3x SYS_FAN
• 1x FAN_PUMP

Also included are three Gen 2 addressable RGB headers and a single 12V RGB header.

Other Features

Kicking off this section on special features, we get a reset button next to the RAM slots that Gigabyte also terms a multi-key button - the said button can be reprogrammed from within the BIOS to serve other purposes. We do also get an additional reset header that can be hooked up to the reset button of your PC case.

Also included are a set of Status LEDs that can help with troubleshooting PC start-up issues.

Moving over to the bottom edge of the board, we get a TPM header for an optional discrete Gigabyte TPM module, as well as a clear CMOS header.

Rear I/O

The Gigabyte B840M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E comes with an integrated I/O shield design, where the I/O shield sports parallelogram-shaped ventilation openings. The following ports can be found on the rear I/O:

• 1x DisplayPort 1.4 port (supports a maximum display resolution of 3840x2160 at 144 Hz)
• 1x HDMI 2.1 port (supports a maximum display resolution of 4096x2160 at 60 Hz)
• 4x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
• 1x PS/2 mouse/keyboard combo port
• Q-Flash Plus button
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port
• 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports
• WIFI antenna connector (WIFI EZ-Plug)
• Audio jack connectors

The Q-Flash Plus feature allows end-users to update the motherboard's BIOS without needing to install a processor, RAM and graphics card.

Conclusion

To sum up, the Gigabyte B840M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E is an interesting product in that it sports an entry-level chipset, but comes with premium features that are typically found on mainstream and premium Gigabyte motherboard offerings, such as a relatively decent VRM setup that should allow this board to handle even AMD’s higher-end Ryzen 9000 processor offerings with ease, 2.5Gbit Ethernet with built-in WIFI 6E, a decent assortment of USB Type-C and Type-A connectivity options, along with a bunch of quality-of-life features such as PCIe EZ-Latch Plus and so on.

However, given that the AMD B840 chipset is intended to be an entry-level AM5 chipset offering after all, you do lose out on PCIe 5.0 support for a graphics card and M.2 drive(s), which is something to bear in mind especially if having support for the next-generation of PCIe 5.0 graphics cards and NVMe SSDs is high on your list of considerations.

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The motherboard featured in this article was a review unit provided on loan from CDL Trading Pte Ltd, an authorised distributor for Gigabyte in Singapore.