MSI MAG B850 Tomahawk Max WiFi Motherboard Review

In this review we looked at the MSI MAG B850 Tomahawk Max Wifi Motherboard.  This board is built on the AMD B850 chipset supporting the new 9000 Series Granite Ridge and other AM5 based processors.  Unlike motherboards we normally feature on this website the MSI MAG series is designed for mainstream usage however, when looking at the features you would never know it.  Out of the box you are greeted with a very feature rich motherboard with options to expand and upgrade beyond what is normally in a mainstream system build. 

Mainstream builds are often driven by budget where the user will look to Min/Max the component choices to get the best performance with the minimal effort.  This translates into using lower cost processors, less aggressive memory specifications and realistic storage options.  The trap that many hardware makers fall into is when focusing on mainstream options, they rarely consider “upgrades” after the initial build.

This is where the MAG B850 Tomahawk Max Wifi has an advantage and what makes it an attractive motherboard for our budget minded system builders.  For starters the “B” series chipsets have always been less expensive, which helps keep the cost down.  With lower end processors you may not get the full PCI Express 5.0 speeds but, upgrading the processor will change that at the same time.  When it comes to memory users will need to be careful when picking modules as the rank configuration and module speed can impact overall performance.  While 5600 MT/s JEDEC is fully supported the board has support for 8400+ MT/s modules giving users easily attainable options for better performance.

The MAG B850 Tomahawk does support a number of convenience features including a large M.2 heatsink with EZ-Clip for tool less access.  EZ PCIe Release for Latch system for easy video card access and a number of onboard features including extra USB power.

Overall, the MSI MAG B850 Tomahawk Max Wifi is a workhorse motherboard series offering the features most users need without the fluff parts that do nothing but increase the cost.  Personally I would must rather see the Tomahawk series use the X870 chipset just to give users that extra bit of power while still keeping the otherall motherboard design realistic.  Overclocking was supported on this motherboard but with questionable results that often resulted in a net negative overall, most of this is due to the chosen cooling method.  As they say in the workshop, “It cannot be tight if it is liquid” well, the same is true with overclocking, just in reverse.

While I was a little disappointed to see a full 16x slot only wired for 1x at PCI Express 3.0 followed by what seemed like a full 16x video card slot being limited to 4x at PCI Express 4.0.  Despite this there was a total of four M.2 slots available, six SATA ports and more internal USB ports than what anyone would need making my disappointment a little short lived.

Next Generation Design
Solid Performance
Supports 4x M.2 Drives
PCI Express 5.0
Black and Yellow Scheme
Great Gaming Platform

Very little onboard RGB lighting
No driver disk
No real onboard audio
Questionable expansion slot decisions
Limited overclocking benefit