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MSI MAG B850 Tomahawk MAX WiFi

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Central Specifications

• Chipset: AMD B850
• CPU: Supports AMD Ryzen™ 9000/ 8000/ 7000 Series Desktop Processors - Socket AM5
• Slot: 3x PCI-E x16 slot (1x PCIe 5.0)
• Storage: 4x M.2 (2x PCIe 5.0x4, 1x PCIe 4.0x4, 1x PCIe 4.0x2)
• LAN: Realtek® 8126VB 5G LAN
• WIRELESS LAN & BLUETOOTH: Wi-Fi 7 + Bluetooth® 5.4
• LED FEATURE: 4x EZ Debug LED + 1x EZ Memory Detection LED

On the surface, we get pretty much the same features as with the slightly more expensive X870 motherboard in the series.

A tour around the MAG B850 Tomahawk MAX WiFi

If you have read our review of the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi, you will immediately recognize the design here, as it is more or less the same.

It is still a mostly all black card with a few smaller mint green elements like shifts and lodges. In addition, there is also a little effect created on the card by using black glossy elements on it or matte black card.

The design is overall quite subdued, although the mint green color they have chosen may not be the easiest to match if that kind of thing means a lot to you.

MSI has provided good solid heatsinks where needed on the card. This is of course over the large 14+2+1 Power Phase that MSI has used on the card. It is like on the big brother X870 card a 14+2+1 setup, but here in what MSI calls a Duet Rail configuration.

There are also heatsinks around the chipset and all M.2 slots. The primary one has been downgraded from dual-sided to single-sided, and only the primary M.2 slot comes with a toolless solution, with the remaining three slots requiring you to find a screwdriver.

Speaking of tool-free solutions, we can also mention that the PCIe 5.0 x16 slot comes with MSI's Quick Release solution, where you can easily get your graphics card out by using a button that is more conveniently placed than a typical PCIe slot clip.

We get a total of three PCIe slots on the card, but as in many other cases, you should be aware that the performance on them can depend on both which CPU you use, but also what else you have on the card. For example, PCI_E3 will only run at x2 speeds if you have an M.2 device in the M2_3 slot. So read up on the manual when planning your system to get the best out of the hardware you want to use.

The four M.2 storage options are also complemented by four SATA connectors on the side of the card.

If we look at the other internal connections, on the USB front we get the same as on the X870 variant with a single USB 20Gbps Type C along with four USB 5Gbps Type A, distributed across two connectors and finally four USB 2.0, also distributed across two connectors.

For cooling, we also get a total of eight four-pin PWN connectors for fans, one dedicated to the CPU and one is a combo connector for a pump if you want to use water cooling. The eight connectors are distributed sensibly along the top, right side and bottom of the card.

There is no RGB lighting on the MAG B850 Tomahawk MAX WiFi motherboard, but there are three ARGB and a single RGB connector, so you can connect a lot of RGB accessories if you want.

We still get a Debug solution on the B850 board here, but it is a smaller version consisting of the classic four small LED lights that can indicate which part of the system there is a problem with if it occurs.

When we take a look at the external connections, we can see that it is one of the places where a little has been cut back in order to dedicate the smaller chipset resources to the internal connections.

On the back we get four USB 2.0 connectors, five USB 10G divided into three Type C and two Type A connectors.

If you don't want to use them for onboard graphics, there is also an HDMI 2.1 connector.

The network is covered by a Realtek 8126VB 5G LAN connector along with the two connectors for the built-in WiFi 7.

The sound is handled by a Realtek ALC4080 Codec with Surround 7.1 support. On the back we get two 3.5mm jacks for the sound along with an S/PDIF out.

The back is completed with the practical options via Clear CMOS and Flash BIOS buttons that help make updating and resetting much easier. Nice to see they are also included on the cheaper version of the card.

Price

At the time of writing, I can find the MAG B850 Tomahawk MAX WiFi with an online price of just under $210 This means that you save about $75 compared to its big brother, the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi.

Conclusion

With the MAG B850 Tomahawk MAX WiFi, MSI has created a sensible motherboard on the B850 chipset, where they have prioritized hitting an internal feature set that largely lands in the same place as the larger X870 board in the series.

A few minor areas have been saved, such as M.2 cooling and the Debug options, but these are all other areas where most people won't notice at all.

Here you get everything the average gamer needs for a powerful PC system. There are still good options for PCIe 5 storage and wide options for internal connections.

Where you might end up missing a bit is on the external USB connections, where we get slightly smaller UBS connectors and no USB 4 connectors at all. They make the card a little less flexible and not so future-proof.

Since the price difference up to the X870 version in the series is only around $75, I would recommend that you see if you can add that little bit extra to your budget and then choose that motherboard instead. There are a lot of extra goodies for only $75 more.

Just like with the MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi, the MSI MAG B850 Tomahawk MAX WiFi doesn't stand out much, either for better or worse, compared to other cards in the same price range, so MSI has played it safe here too.

We end up with a final score of 7, for a solid card that doesn't really stand out. At the same time, I think the price difference up to the X870 card in the series is too small when you look at what you can get for only about 250 kroner more.

Benefits

• Good focus on internal connections and storage

Disadvantages

• Doesn't stand out from the crowd
• The price is not far from the more feature-rich X870 card in the series