MSI MAG X870E Tomahawk Max Review
Conclusion
Conclusion
The MSI MAG X870E Tomahawk Max is the perfect iteration of the Tomahawk formula.
By being based around an upgraded version of the X870E chipset you have a motherboard which ticks every box. The popularity of the AMD Ryzen X3D CPUs in incredible. It’s not that Intel have fluffed their lines so much as it is AMD getting it spot on. Plenty of grunt for demanding applications, but even better, high gaming performance. Whatever we may like to tell ourselves – but I’ll use it for my homework, honest – we all own PCs for gaming. Getting a boost of gaming performance for free makes the Ryzens popular, and that makes the AM5 equipped motherboards in high demand.
The 14+2+1 80A Smart Power Stage at the heart of the Tomahawk Max is more than beefy enough to run any of the high end AMD Ryzen processors. The power is delivered smoothly for a glitch free user experience. Additionally the heatsink design ensures that things don’t get hot and heavy in your case, no matter how demanding the action on screen becomes.
All modern chipsets are closely matched. What we really like is having plenty of connectivity options. If you like to play a variety of titles you might own a wheel as well as a HOTAS, and perhaps even an arcade stick. Add those to the stuff necessary for streaming – webcam, headphones, microphone etc – and you can quickly eat through both storage space and USB ports. The Tomahawk Max supplies plenty of both with two Gen5 and two Gen5 M.2 slots sitting alongside 21 (twenty-one) USB ports in various types. MSIs baby will keep you sated for years to come.
Like the other MSI Tomahawk models we’ve reviewed previously, the X870E Tomahawk Max combines a utilitarian matte-black aesthetic with plentiful performance and places to plug things in. Whilst it might not have the limit-pushing flash and flair of the Godlike or similar, it is all the motherboard you actually need, and wins our OC3D Gamers Choice Award.
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