Colorful CVN B850M GAMING FROZEN V14A Motherboard Review

It’s not often that we get the chance to review a product from Colorful, so I’m excited to present one of their latest motherboards designed for AMD Ryzen processors: the CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A. Although Colorful is a lesser-known brand, it consistently releases intriguing motherboards and graphics cards that deserve broader recognition. This particular motherboard boasts some interesting features and a unique design. The most critical aspects—stability, performance, and compatibility—will be covered in our review.

Let’s start with a comprehensive list of specifications and features, and I’ll highlight the most important ones.

Specifications and Features of the Colorful CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A

Key Features

• Exclusive custom white motherboard for CVN series
• CVN series customized frost cooling armor, paired with fully covered condensing fins to enhance heat dissipation
• Adopting a 10+2+1 phase enhanced power supply design (Dr MOS 60A)
• Provide 2 PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 SSD slots and 1 PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 SSD slot
• Provide 1 rear USB 3.2 5 Gbps Type-1 interface
• Provide 1 rear USB 3.2 10 Gbps Type-1 interface
• Provide 1 rear USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps Type-C high-speed rear interface
• Equipped with Realtek 2.5G high-speed wired network card and WiFi 6 wireless network card, supporting Bluetooth 5.2
• Support iGame Center lighting effect control software, which can synchronously adjust the lighting effects of heat sinks, cooling fans, and memory
• I/O backplane supports one click BIOS upgrade function
• Six major protective technologies for more stable product operation
• Strict testing of 200 processes ensures quality assurance
• PCB atomization process fully upgraded

AMD B850 Chipset Specifications

AMD B850 Chipset

The AMD B850 platform is the foundation for next-generation gaming and content creation experiences. Featuring enhanced overclocking capabilities, DDR5 memory support with AMD EXPO™ Technology, and PCIe® 5 connectivity for NVME storage, the AMD B850 platform is ready to power your desktop for years to come.

Chipset Comparison – Source: AMD

Although the B850 is not the flagship chipset, it offers a lot and should be more than enough for most users, especially gamers. We could say it’s between the B650 and B650E, but motherboards with the newer B850 chipset also come with improved features and newer controllers, such as networking, audio, or connectivity.

The table above outlines the general differences between the new chipsets, while the details of the Colorful CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A are provided below.

Colorful CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A Specifications

The specifications are pretty average for the B850 motherboard. The CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A has an RTL8125BG 2.5Gbps LAN, an AX200 WiFi 6 controller, and an outdated Realtek ALC897 audio codec. There are no fast USB ports, and the fastest is specified at 10Gbps. We could expect more, given that it’s a motherboard designed for gamers. On the other hand, it doesn’t cater to the most demanding users, while used controllers are still more than sufficient for gaming or other daily activities.

The CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A supports all AM5 processors from the 7000, 8000, and 9000 series. Since the motherboard is relatively new, even the initial BIOS supports all the mentioned CPU series. For this review, we tested two BIOS versions, and both were found to be fully stable. They still ask for some polishing regarding overclocking, but if we are not into tweaking, then we won’t notice any issues. I will provide more information about it in the BIOS/UEFI section.

The motherboard supports DDR5 RAM, up to 8400 MT/s. Higher frequencies are unofficially supported on 8000 APUs, while on Ryzen 7000 and 9000 series processors, we can count on around 8000MT/s, the same as on the most popular motherboard brands. Colorful has made nice progress regarding RAM support, as I remember previous generations of this brand being behind the competition. The new series is comparable to brands like ASRock, Gigabyte, or MSI. We had no chance to check any four-module memory kit, but our 96GB Kingston memory works without issues at 6400MT/s and a 1:1 ratio, which is better than recently tested ASRock motherboards.

Under the heatsinks, we find a 10+2+1 power phase design, which is more than enough for an mATX motherboard and can handle even the most power-hungry CPUs from the AM5 series. All the power limits and PBO profiles in BIOS meet the AMD specifications, and there were no issues with our Ryzen 9 7950X under high load.

The strong side of the CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A is the M.2 sockets. Two support PCIe 5.0 x4 mode, and one supports PCIe 4.0 x4. However, it would be better if at least one of the M.2 PCIe 5.0 sockets were above the PCIe x16 slot, as it would allow for the installation of a tall heatsink. On the other hand, a new generation of M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSDs with SM2508 and Maxio controllers is available, offering excellent performance without the need for large heatsinks or active cooling. Some of those SSDs were reviewed in the last weeks.

As shown in the picture below, it is worth noting that the CVN B850M meets various protection standards against electrical, moisture, and heat issues.

Colorful CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A Features

The list of Key Features is also available on Colorful’s website.

Although the list of features looks interesting, it contains nothing we haven’t seen before in other brands. Other names refer to most things. It also shows that most brands use similar standards for nearly everything in current motherboards. Higher-end, colorful motherboards are much better equipped and closer to the popular gaming standard. We hope to secure a spot in one of the top series in the future, allowing us to showcase the exceptional design they have.

Let’s take a look at what we get with the CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A and examine its appearance.

Retail Packaging and Accessories

The motherboard arrived in a retail package. The package design and contents are identical to those in stores.

Inside the box is everything we need for the installation, including a WiFi antenna, a SATA data cable, a front panel, USB adapters, M.2 screws, and a user’s guide. There are no additional accessories that could raise the price, and they are hardly ever used.

A Closer Look at the Colorful CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A

The CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A has a relatively standard micro ATX layout. There are no EZ connectors, buttons, or slots, but the access to everything is relatively easy, so it’s not required. There are no fans, eliminating any potential noise.

Although Colorful notes that the motherboard boasts excellent M.2 socket specifications, it would be an improvement if one of the M.2 PCIe 5.0 sockets were positioned above the graphics card. It’s because we won’t be able to install a larger M.2 SSD cooler once the graphics card is installed. We could say that the second M.2 PCIe 5.0 socket has more space, but most gaming graphics cards have cooling that is 2.5 or 3 slots thick. Therefore, if the M.2 SSD has a tall heatsink, the problem remains. Additionally, some CPU coolers are very close to or may even interfere with the installation of the graphics card. The very popular Arctic Freezer III AIO cooler, which we use for tests, is nearly touching the graphics card. If it had a thicker backplate, it would pose a problem during installation. It’s a significant issue only for some specific coolers, but we need to consider it when selecting a motherboard for our PC.

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There are no issues with the fan or ARGB headers. There are also no issues with other components installed on the motherboard. Everything has good access.

The motherboard features five fan headers: one AIO, one CPU, and three system headers, all of which can be controlled in the BIOS or Colorful software. It’s enough for a pretty large cooling setup.

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The CVN B850M uses large heatsinks and high-performance thermal pads. There are no fans, which is an advantage as the cooling is sufficient and there is no additional noise. There are only two M.2 heatsinks. One is preinstalled on the M.2 PCIe 5.0 socket and one on the PCIe 4.0 socket. Heatsinks are compatible with all sockets, allowing us to use them on both PCIe 5.0 x4 sockets as needed. There is no information available about PCIe lane sharing, and we haven’t observed any performance differences when using different M.2 sockets with a PCIe x16 slot.

As previously mentioned, the power design is quite good and should handle every AMD AM5 processor without issues. There was no so-called coil whine effect in various CPU load scenarios, and voltages were stable, which proves that the motherboard is well-designed.

Below are additional close-ups of the ICs on the motherboard. There are no surprises, as most components are shared for this class of motherboards with the AMD B850 chipset. However, the audio codec could be newer, as it’s already from the old series. We could expect at least something from the ALC1200 generation.

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UEFI BIOS and Software

BIOS/UEFI

The new motherboard series BIOS/UEFI has been redesigned to be more user-friendly. Colorful even points out that it is one of the key features of the latest generation of motherboards. In fact, it looks and works better than the BIOS/UEFI from the previously reviewed Colorful motherboards.

The motherboard arrived with the BIOS version from the end of May 2025. For the tests, we updated it to the latest 1011 version from September 2025, which improves functionality, even though the UEFI seems to look similar. It’s recommended to keep the BIOS up to date, as it can enhance performance and improve compatibility.

The BIOS offers two modes: an easy mode for users who prefer basic settings and an advanced mode for those who wish to adjust everything or require specific settings for their work.

Easy Mode

System

OC

Advanced

Boot

Monitor

Tool

Exit

Colorful iGAME Software

Colorful provides the iGame Center software for all new devices, eliminating the need for a separate application for motherboards, graphics cards, and RAM. The iGame software includes RGB adjustment, fan control, overclocking, diagnostic options, and AI improvements – everything we need in one place.

The RGB worked with the most popular brands, like G.Skill and Kingston. We can also manage graphics card options, as our test graphics card is the Colorful RTX 4080 Advanced.

As I mentioned earlier, fan control operates without issues and can be easily managed by the software.

Although the software offers some overclocking options, I still recommend using the BIOS for overclocking attempts and creating user profiles to facilitate quick recovery if anything goes wrong.

Test Setup and Performance of the Colorful CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A

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CPU and Memory Performance

Colorful performs exceptionally well in memory benchmarks due to its high-bandwidth and low-latency modes, which are standard. As you can see, ASRock is missing both, and the results at XMP/EXPO are significantly worse.

BIOS includes many improvements, but even at automatic settings, the motherboard is faster than any other B850 motherboard we tested, except for the MSI B850I Edge TI. In BIOS, we can find multiple latency and bandwidth improvements. Some competitive motherboards have only one similar setting, while others have none. The only issue may be RAM overclocking and using modules that exceed 1.435V in EXPO profiles. Some brands will work, but we had no luck with the Kingston FURY Renegade, which couldn’t even post when switched to high voltage mode.

AIDA64 CPU tests show that the B850M Gaming Frozen performs similarly to most other AM5 motherboards. The difference isn’t significant, around 1% in our tests.

AIDA64 FPU tests yield results similar to those of CPU tests. The Colorful performs well and matches the performance of much more expensive models.

Additional tests present the same situation. Results are high for any test we run.

PCMark 10 also shows that the CVN B850M Gaming Frozen motherboard performs well. We were forced to update PCMark 10, and the latest version yields higher scores in the PowerPoint and Edge tests, while achieving lower scores in Word. The average benchmark score is not much different. The motherboard has no problems with all applications.

Gaming Performance

Gaming benchmarks yield similar results on the CVN B850M compared to all other AM5 motherboards we tested.

The Colorful CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A delivers high performance that should satisfy all gamers, not just them. There is no visible difference between Colorful and the most popular brands like ASRock or Gigabyte. It even performs slightly better than ASRock B850 motherboards we tested.

Storage Performance

M.2 SSD

The M.2 performance has been tested using the recently reviewed ADATA MARS 980 BLADE 2TB NVMe PCIe 5.0 x4 SSD. It performs slightly better than declared, achieving 14.36GB/s in sequential read and 13.44GB/s in sequential write.

USB

The B850M Gaming Frozen supports USB 3.2, but only at 10Gbps, so it’s expected to provide a maximum bandwidth of approximately 1GB/s. The controller matches the declared bandwidth, so we confirm it works well. It’s disappointing that there’s no 20Gbps USB port, while all the competition install at least one faster port.

Network Performance

LAN

The motherboard features a single 2.5Gbps LAN port, which performs well. Although it can’t reach the 2.5Gbps bandwidth due to technological limitations, its performance is as high as expected, exceeding 2.37Gbps in an extended test.

WiFi

WiFi results depend heavily on the environment, and the test room is far from perfect: it has thick walls and multiple networks, which limit the bandwidth. The direct internet bandwidth averages over 900 Mbps, which is quite good, but the wireless connection is rated for even higher speeds. We skipped more detailed tests due to issues with the consistency of results in the test environment, which were caused by the mentioned test location.

Power Consumption

Above, you can see our results for the whole test rig. It’s a typical high-end PC. The Colorful motherboard uses slightly less power for about the same tasks as ASRock or Gigabyte. It also has fewer controllers, which may cause the difference.

Overclocking with the Colorful CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A

Colorful gives us options for fully manual, PBO, or mixed-mode overclocking. Colorful also gives us PBO presets and optimizations, so everything that high-series motherboards offer. We usually pick an all-core option to verify CPU overclocking. Our CPU is capable of achieving 5.4GHz stability on higher-series motherboards. This is precisely what we achieved on the Colorful CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A at a lowered voltage for daily stability.

However, as you may have noticed, our test score is slightly lower than expected. Even though the CPU frequency is stable and keeps 5.4GHz without throttling, Colorful sets power limits matching official CPU specifications, so 170W in this case. If we use PBO overclocking, then we won’t see any difference. However, a fully manual setting will limit the power. The only way to go above the limit is to use the general AMD Overclocking tab. However, for some reason, anything above 200W still limits the power to around 200W. So, when we set 250W, hwinfo64 still reads it as not much above 200W. Our Ryzen 9 7950X CPU needs 220-230W for optimal performance.

We were pleased to see that the Colorful motherboard supports our 96GB memory kit at 6400MT/s and a 1:1 IMC ratio. Most of the B850 motherboards we tested were unable to run at these settings. We also had no problem setting low timings. The motherboard with the latest BIOS supports all memory presets, including tight timings, without the need for manual configuration. The only issue is that on some memory kits, we observed problems with a high-voltage mode. In other words, Kingston memory couldn’t work at more than 1.435V VDD/VDDQ, while ADATA could.

The CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A is not a bad overclocking motherboard, but it clearly needs some polishing, as some BIOS options seem to limit its overclocking potential. I’m hoping that the BIOS team will handle it soon. Most users will still be satisfied as the most popular options work without issues.

Conclusion

The Colorful CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A is not the best motherboard I’ve tested, but it’s not bad either. Some aspects could be improved and will likely be addressed in future BIOS/UEFI updates. Since my last review of the Colorful motherboard, Colorful has made significant improvements to the BIOS, RAM support, and other key areas. It’s hard to tell the difference between the same product shelf of Colorful and the most popular brands, such as ASRock or Gigabyte.

The motherboard has room for improvement. While the M.2 socket specifications are pretty good and the performance meets expectations, we would like to see a newer generation audio NIC included. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have at least two faster USB ports, as 10 Gbps is standard even in budget motherboards.

The CVN B850M Gaming Frozen features a solid 10+2+1 power design and improved cooling to deliver stable work. We experienced no stability issues under high load and overclocking, which confirms that the motherboard is well-designed. Additionally, CPU overclocking was as high as on top X870E motherboards we had tested before, demonstrating that Colorful did a good job designing the B850M Gaming Frozen V14A.

The motherboard supports ARGB illumination and offers full compatibility with popular devices via the ARGB header and Colorful iGAME software. We had no problems with connected fans and RAM modules of various brands.

The Colorful CVN B850M Gaming Frozen V14A is currently not available in major online stores. It is expected to be priced under $250, which seems reasonable considering its features. This motherboard is ideal for less-demanding gamers, as it offers high performance and stability. We proudly award it our Approved Stamp!

Click the stamp for an explanation of what this means.

Bartosz Waluk – Woomack

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