MSI MAG B850 Tomahawk Max WiFi Review

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When we saw the front of the B850 Tomahawk Max box we thought MSI had cut down on the amount of neon green they used. Of course as soon as we turned the box around we saw the error of our preconceptions. We like to see how clearly laid out the features are. It’s something at which MSI have always been good.

Clearly MSI like the design of the Tomahawk motherboard. Whilst the B850 might not have the ultimate connectivity options of the X870 or even Z890, the overall presentation is very much the same as those aforementioned options.

The extra height of the VRM heatsinks is a particular point of emphasis for MSI in their information pack. We already know that the Tomahawk range runs cool, so even more heatsink can only be a good thing.

It’s unusual to get two Gen5 M.2 slots on one motherboard, let alone a model on a secondary chipset. It’s a testament to how much the Tomahawk Max has to offer, and how successful it’s been, that MSI feel confident in the extra expense necessary to make it happen.

Beneath the high stacked black heatsinks with their lurid green MAG branding lays a 14+2+1 80A Duet Rail smart power stage. Plenty of power for pretty much all of the AMD Ryzen 9000 processors, although we perhaps might not want to overclock a Ryzen 9 9950X3D on this.