Colorful has released an updated version of its eye-catching MEOW motherboard series by offering AMD users a custom yet subtle platform for their Ryzen builds. The new design swaps the orange theme found on the B850M-A MEOW and B760M-MEOW for a simpler, more universal white style that should fit a wider build spectrum.
The new B850M-MEOW WIFI7 V14 replaces its predecessor, the B850M-A MEOW WIFI Orange, both in style and specs. In addition to the white theme topped with cat artwork – extending to the back of the board – this model comes bundled with a custom skin BIOS, which looks unique and functional at the same time. My favourite part is the motherboard’s back, which is unfortunate since you only see it once during the unboxing and installation.
As its name implies, the new B850M-MEOW is a Micro-ATX board measuring 244mm x 244mm, powered by AMD’s mid-range B850 chipset. Understandably, it offers a limited space, only enough to house two full-size PCIe plus two M.2 slots. For the former, you get one Gen 5 x16 plus one Gen 4 x4, between which sits one Gen 5 M.2 plus one Gen 4 M.2 for SSDs. Both storage slots are covered by a built-in heatsink, helping you maintain the style of the board while cooling your drives. Those who need more storage space can add another four SATA drives.
Moving to memory, we find support for 192GB of memory at speeds going up to 8,000MT/s – if you can afford it, that is. But as usual, high speeds will only be achievable if the CPU’s memory controller can handle it. Also, you will likely be limited to only using two out of the four memory slots. Not a big deal either way since Ryzen CPUs do just fine with DDR5-6000.
Switching to the I/O, we find one USB 3.2 5Gb/s Type-C, one USB 3.2 10Gb/s Type-A, two USB 3.2 2Gb/s Type-A, four USB 2.0, 5Gb/s LAN, Wi-Fi 7 plus Bluetooth 5.4, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Though the wired and wireless connectivity is nice, the USB complement is a bit disappointing. I would have liked to see a couple more USB 3.2, even if they must share speed with other ports. USB 2.0 should be kept to a minimum, just for those instances where compatibility becomes an issue.
If you like what you see, well, you are in luck as Colorful is expected to launch this model globally. Pricing-wise, considering it’s currently ¥949 (£100) selling price in China, we can expect this model to sit below £150 over our shores here.
