Asus TUF Gaming B660M-Plus WiFi D4 Review

Software, Firmware & Overclocking

Asus enables its Armoury Crate downloader by default in BIOS, but users still need to click on a prompt if they want to install the software. While we’ve been warned against using it, we gave it a shot and at least found the Dashboard function to be well-designed, informative, and entertaining.

Other applets include control for onboard LED and RGB header settings, Asus’s included Ai Noise Cancellation for microphones and audio in put devices, and a disk reporting utility.

Aura Sync is able to color coordinate our memory and RGB strips, but cannot address the RGB lighting on our Gigabyte graphics card. Then again, that might not be controllable.

Armoury Crate’s software downloader includes Norton Security by default, which we think of as nagware at best. We unchecked that box.

Armoury Crate includes a broad array of applets, from a game library to an Asus wallpaper downloader and even links to Asus webpages that they’d really like you to visit. All of these features can be synchronized to your online profile, all for the price of registering. We didn’t.

When paired with a motherboard that doesn’t support CPU overclocking of any kind (not even via BCLK), Asus’s AI Suite is limited primarily to power settings and redundant Windows controls. Its system monitor is fairly useful.

Firmware

TUF Gaming B660M-Plus WiFi D4 firmware opens by default to its EZ Mode GUI, where users can enable XMP, drag storage devices into an alternate boot order, and select between various power modes. Striking the keyboard’s F7 key brings users to its Advanced GUI, where the “My Favorites” menu contains a list of frequently accessed settings.

The Ai Tweaker menu is primarily useful for tweaking memory, though some users might choose to seek lower CPU power consumption (and underclocking is an option). Enabling XMP in EZ Mode picks XMP I in Advanced mode with a full set of XMP timings, whereas XMP II uses Asus-defined advanced timings.

A full set of DRAM timings allowed us to reach DDR4-4400 at CAS 22 with a memory controller to DRAM ratio of 1:2 (aka Intel Gear 2). Our CPU’s memory controller reaches its highest stable Gear 1 frequency at DDR4-4000.

We tried manual memory voltage for our overclocks and, getting no advantage from higher settings, settled on 1.40V DIMM and 1.35 VCCSA. Without CPU overclocking, other settings are deafults.

Asus System Monitor spreads readings and fan settings across several submenus. Users who prefer a graph can instead chose it using a keyboard shortcut (F6).

Tools include a firmware flashing utility, Secure Erase, downloader enabling for Asus Armoury Crate and MyAsus online profile, and storage for up to eight custom firmware configurations with the ability to import or export from a USB drive.

Overclocking Results

Test Hardware
CPU	Intel Core i9-12900KF: 16C/24T, 3.2-5.2 GHz, 30 MB L3 Cache, LGA 1700
CPU Cooler	Alphacool Eisblock XPX CPU, VPP655 with Eisbecher D5 150mm, NexXxoS UT60 X-Flow
Comparison RAM	Mushkin MLA4C400JNNM16GX2 2x16GB (32GB) DDR4-4000 18-22-22-42 1.35V Crucial CT2K16G48C40U5 2x16GB (32GB) DDR5-4800 CL 40-39-39-77 1.10V
Graphics	Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 Gaming OC 8G: 1410-1725 MHz GPU, GDDR6
Power	be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W: ATX12V v2.3, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Platinum
Hard Drive	TOSHIBA OCZ RD400 256GB NVMe 1.1b SSD
Sound	Integrated HD Audio
Network	Integrated Wi-Fi
Graphics Driver	GeForce 496.49

Our overclocks focus on fixed frequency, and the highest non-overclocked fixed frequency that the Core i9-12900KF supports at full load is 4.9 GHz. It can Turbo Boost above that speed for a limited number of cores, but that’s not a fixed frequency. Z690 allows adjustments to both the CPU base multiplier and BCLK, B660 doesn’t allow CPU multiplier increases, and the B660 motherboard we’re testing today doesn’t have any BCLK workaround.

The TUF Gaming B660M-Plus WiFi D4 defaults to a 1:2 memory clock to integrated memory controller (IMC) clock at our memory’s DDR4-4000 XMP, while the Z690 Extreme WiFi 6E automatically switches down from a 1:1 to a 1:2 ratio when DDR4-4000 is exceeded. Both boards can push our kit to DDR4-4400 at 1:2, and both are limited to DDR4-4000 when using a 1:1 ratio.