Question 1

does this come with a cpu, or do i need to order it seperate?

Accepted Answer

This is only a motherboard. MoBo/CPU combo's are usually pretty bad. You can purchase a current gen i3 or the pentium "k" and it will easily get the job done for most tasks. The motherboard itself has some led strips on the back of it that glow orange. If you're using a small pico psu this may cause problems getting into boot. I myself had to disable the led's through the BIOS on this morherboard to get it to boot. I am using an i3, ssd, 2x4gb corsair vengeance 1600mghz ram. The system works great for a small office and some very light gaming (League of Legends & World of Warcraft).

Question 2

Bought this awesome board the other day. And just got it in my sweet new build earlier today, but I can't seem to get the on-board Wifi card to function. I couldn't use the MB DVD, but put everything onto a flash drive to install drivers. Ended up saying the Qualcom Atheros isn't present (it clearly is..)
How would I find the drivers then?

Thanks for any help!
-Soren

Accepted Answer

Unfortunately Newegg doesn't allow links to other sites.

So go to Gigabyte (.com), then append this to the address bar: /products/product-page.aspx?pid=5048#dl

Otherwise, just search for phoenix-wifi on Gigabyte (either rev. 1.1 or rev. 2.0, the version doesn't matter), then go to the "Support & Downloads" tab.

All drivers/utilities on the MB DVD is available on Gigabyte's support page. You could either download the driver and install it, or download the Gigabyte App Center and have that find updates for you.

Hope this helps!

-Fellow user, Derek

Question 3

So I'm looking at this Motherboard for my gaming build. I like it because It has the built in wifi, and 3.0 express slot. The one question I have Is If the features on this board require a cpu with a built in gpu? I purchased an i3 without an integrated gpu, because I plan on running a separate card. A lot of these boards seem to have features that require a built in gpu. Are there any other boards that are around or under 100$ that support wifi, 3.0 pci express, and do not have features that require a cpu/gpu?

Accepted Answer

This motherboard only supports Haswell (4th generation Core) desktop processors. All of the ones listed on wikipedia include a GPU. So if you purchased a processor that does not have an onboard GPU, it is likely unsupported by this motherboard.

That said, if there is a 4th-generation Core i3 without an onboard GPU that is not listed on Wikipedia, Gigabyte maintains a list of all supported processors on their website for this board. A processor without a GPU would make the DVI and HDMI output on the motherboard non-functional.

If you have a different i3 (i3-2xxx, i3-3xxx) it won't work in this board at all.

Question 4

Is that a USB 3.0 header next to the DIMM slot, or isn't it?
It looks like one, but I've been fooled before. The spec sheet is a bit ambiguous, too.

Accepted Answer

There is a usb 3.0 by the dimm slot, but without pulling cover off my case, it is hard to tell what I'm using, and where. I currently have on my case two usb 3.0 on frt of case and more on back but I cannot verify if all are working usb 3.0 for sure.  This is a very good mother board. I'm using a micro coolermaster case nd love it. It is extremely quiet with my corsair power supply.

Question 5

I recently did a build using this motherboard with an intel i3 processor.  After starting, in the BIOS not boot options appear.  this my first attempt at doing a computer build from scratch. does this mean that i installed something incorrectly?

Accepted Answer

I'm not sure what this means, but there a few possibilities.

If you aren't seeing boot options on the first page/tab of the UEFI BIOS, that's because they aren't there. You have to navigate the menus to get to boot options.

Assuming you know that, and even after navigating to boot options nothing appears, I'd check your drives. If you don't have your HDDs plugged into the motherboard and power supply, the BIOS probably won't recognize that there are any drives present. Make sure you have everythin plugged in properly before trying again. Also, if your drives are plugged in and still not working, try testing them on another computer (if possible).

Hope this helps!

Question 6

Does this board include a USB 3.0 port to plug in your USB3 front panel connector?

Accepted Answer

Yes there is, it is located near the back end of the PCIe lane, and below the RAM slots. Just above the bottom-right screw hole.

Question 7

Is this compatible with the Devil's canyon processors?

Accepted Answer

I bought it as per the directive of the individual who built my computer.

Question 8

For this specific motherboard (vs. the one without Wifi), the Qualified Vendor List (QVL) on Gigabyte's website does not include the Compatible Memory list in downloads.  Where can this information be found?  Looking to build with an i5 4670 Haswell in a Cooler Master 120 case.

Accepted Answer

strange! I recently purchased this motherboard (got revision 1.1, they seem to have a revision 2.0 on their website but don't mention the difference between the two) and when I was looking to buy memory for it, I recall finding a list of compatible memory. I was trying to find one with an orange heatspreader that was on the list (I think I was looking at GSkill Ares memory). But now the list doesn't seem to be anywhere on their site. It was right next to the "CPU support list" as I recall.

You could try contacting them via their support page - their tech support team usually replies fairly quickly - to see if they have one they could send you. I can verify that the Crucial Ballistix Tactical Low Profile 8GB DDR3-1600 kit (Newegg N82E16820148656) does work in this motherboard, and they are reported to overclock quite well (I have an i3-4130T so I haven't done any overclocking).

Question 9

Is this currently the rev 1.1 or rev 2 version? And what is the make of the Wi-Fi adapter?

Accepted Answer

The motherboard I received in August 2014 is rev 1.1. The WiFi adapter is a Broadcom Corporation BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 03). If you plan to run Ubuntu like I do, the integrated blue tooth does not work and the WiFi connection is very touch and go. Luckily this is in a HTPC so I have it connected with an Ethernet cable.

I hope this helps.

Question 10

I a planning on using this board with an i3-4160.  However, I have heard that some B85 motherboards need a bios update to work with haswell refresh cpus, is this one of those boards?

Accepted Answer

One of the first things we did after building the computer and  installing and implementing the hardware was to update the bios software to ensure we were using the most currently available version for each product. It was easy and relatively quick to accomplish.

Brand	GIGABYTE
Model	GA-B85N Phoenix-WIFI

CPU Socket Type	LGA 1150
CPU Type	Celeron / Core i3 / Core i5 / Core i7 / Intel Core 4th Gen (LGA 1150) / Pentium / Xeon (LGA1150)

Number of Memory Slots	2x240pin
Memory Standard	DDR3 1600/1333
Maximum Memory Supported	16GB
Channel Supported	Dual Channel

PCI Express 3.0 x16	1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16
Mini Card Slots	1 x mini-PCI Express slot for the wireless communication module

Serial ATA (SATA)	3 x SATA 6Gb/s
mSATA	1 x mSATA 6Gb/s

GIGABYTE GA-B85N Phoenix-WIFI LGA 1150 Intel B85 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

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LAN Chipset	Intel
Max LAN Speed	1Gbps
Wireless LAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0, 3.0+HS, 2.1+EDR

PS/2	1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
Video Ports	1 x DVI-I
HDMI	1 x HDMI
USB 3.0	2 x USB 3.0
USB 1.1/2.0	5 x USB 2.0
S/PDIF Out	1 x Optical
Audio Ports	5 Ports
Antenna Connectors	2 x Wi-Fi antenna connectors

Onboard USB	2 x USB 3.0 + 2 x USB 2.0
Other Connectors	1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector 1 x CPU fan header 1 x system fan header 1 x front panel header 1 x front panel audio header 1 x S/PDIF Out header 1 x serial port header 1 x chassis intrusion header 1 x Clear CMOS jumper

Form Factor	Mini ITX
Dimensions (W x L)	6.7" x 6.7"
Power Pin	24 Pin

Onboard Audio
Audio Chipset	Realtek ALC898
Audio Channels	7.1 Channels

Item#: N82E16813128735