MSI MAG B850 GAMING PLUS MAX WiFi Features
The MSI MAG B850 GAMING PLUS MAX WiFi is a full-sized ATX Motherboard. This board is strikingly similar to the MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WiFi PZ we reviewed in December. Other than the obvious lack of front connections, you might say the design is identical. This board is primarily white with silver-grey metallic heatsinks. Lettering clearly identifies “MAX” and “MSI ARSENAL GAMING”; gone is the mustard yellow lettering of previous MAG-branded motherboards.
The look of the board is quite pleasing, and the design is clean, simple and uncluttered. There is some weight to the board, but no bend or flex when it is picked up. The PCB is 6-layered with inlaid copper. There are no RGBs, but plenty of ARGB headers if you so desire. Also, there is no power button or debug digital LED on-board.
There are three M.2 slots on the board. The primary is Gen5 x 4, with a dedicated heatsink. M.2_2 is Gen4 X 4 and M.2_3 is Gen4 x 2. Notice that the secondary M.2 slots do not have native heatsinks. Both appear to be usable even with a large GPU installed. All three M.2 slots are tool-less installs, either rotary or EZ-Clips. There are a total of four PCI-e slots on this motherboard. The primary slot is reinforced and comes with the EZ PCIe Release button. This slot is Gen5 x 16. PCIe slots 2 and 4 are Gen4 x 1, while slot 3 is Gen4 x 4.
The rear I/O panel of the MSI MAG B850 GAMING PLUS MAX WiFi has 8 total USB ports. Four are USB-A 2.0, two USB-C 10Gb/s, one each USB-A 10Gb/s and 5Gb/s. WiFi is a MediaTek with Bluetooth 5.4, RJ-45 is 5GB via RealTek 8126, and audio is 7.1 capable via RealTek ALC 897.
Power Delivery
MSI states the MAG B850 GAMING PLUS MAX WiFi has 12+2+1 power phase support. The total amperage available to the board is not discussed. Given this falls right in the middle of the power phase support for the MAG B850 boards, most likely 60A, which should be very adequate for use of PBO and EXPO settings. The power is delivered via two 8-pin CPU connectors, top-left. As we have discussed, the VRM heatsinks are heavy. There do not appear to be any heatpipes. The PCB is made from 6 layers with inlaid copper. Overall, the board feels sturdy without any flex or bending.
CPU Socket, Memory and Storage
The MSI MAG B850 GAMING PLUS MAX WiFi supports socket AM5 CPUs in the Ryzen 7000, 8000, and 9000 series. There is ample space surrounding the socket to place most, if not all, CPU coolers. Our MSI AIO MAG Core 360I gave us no mounting issues. Memory supported includes DDR5 DIMMs up to 256 GB in total. Frequencies are advertised up to 8200MT/s (OC). XMP and Expo profiles are supported for 1-click overclocking. The memory slots are single-latch. The spacing seems adequate for large CPU coolers. The only issue here may be tall DIMM heatsinks in slot A1 and low cooling fins on an air-cooled heatsink.
We mentioned in the section above that there are three M.2 slots. The primary M.2 is derived from the CPU and is Gen5 x 4 (128Gb/s). M.2_2 is Gen4 x 4 (64Gb/s) and M.2_3 is Gen4 x 2 with lanes derived from the chipset. The position of M.2_2 is just below the second PCIe slot. It “may” be fully usable if the native heatsink is not too tall. However, heat from a large GPU may be a problem. Slot M.2_3 is well out of the way, just below the chipset heatsink. It would be fully usable in conjunction with a large GPU. There are also 4 SATA 6Gb/s ports on the lower right side.
Expansion
Expansion on the board consists of one PCIe Gen5 x 16, two PCIe Gen3 x 1(full size), and one PCIe Gen4 x 4. The primary PCIe slot is reinforced, which is nice to see. MSI uses what they call “EZ PCIe Release” for the primary GPU release. This is one of our favourite new push-button GPU releases. The insertion is crisp and the release is undeniable. The button is well away from interference from the video card. This release allows you to easily remove a large GPU one-handed.
I/O
As we have come to expect, the I/O plate is embedded for easy installation. There is adequate connectivity on the rear plate. Working from left to right: recessed Flash BIOS and Clear CMOS, Display Port, USB-A 10Gb/s and USB-C 10Gb/s, four USB-A 2.0, 5GB RJ-45, USB-A 5Gb/s, which also serves as the Flash BIOS port, and USB-C 10Gb/s, finally, WiFi antenna ports and audio.
On the main board, there are a total of six 4-pin fan headers, two top-board labelled SYS_Pump and CPU_Fan, three on the top-right side and one on the bottom row. All fan headers can be controlled by either Smart Fan in the BIOS or Cooling Wizard on the MSI Center desktop software. The right side of the board houses the aforementioned fan headers, one ARGB header, 24-pin power, USB-C 5Gb/s front panel port, 4 SATA ports and a front panel USB-A 5Gb header. The bottom row has the front panel header, single fan header, USB-A 5Gb/2 front panel port, two USB 2.0 headers, EZ-Conn port, PCIe 8-pin power connector, two ARGB headers, one 12V LED header, and the audio header. RGB can be controlled by Mystic Lighting in the MSI Center software.
