Introduction
Our review is evaluating a new entry from MSI into their “MAX” AM5 motherboard lineup. The MSI MAG B850M Mortar MAX WiFi is a refreshed version of the MSI MAG B850M MORTAR WiFi that we reviewed in July 2025.
The MAG (MSI Arsenal Gaming) tier is the entry-level gaming platform offered by MSI. This generally includes the GAMING PLUS WiFi, the TOMAHAWK WiFi, and the MORTAR. In this case, the Mortar is the lone MATX board. Despite their entry-level position, all of these boards are nicely outfitted, offering every feature the chipset and CPU have available.
The “MAX” moniker indicates this board is the latest release and supports all the most up-to-date features MSI has to offer. The MSI MAG B850M MORTAR MAX WiFi has every item from the OG, plus the new “MSI OC Engine”, a 64MB BIOS chip, four M.2 slots, some additional BIOS selections, and a new extended heatsink design. All of this functionality has been compressed onto an MATX board. A refresher of the AMD chipset lineup is located here.
At the time of writing, the MAG B850M MORTAR MAX WiFi has not been released into retail availability. On May 20, 2026, we received an email from MSI stating that it had decided not to release the MAG B850M Mortar MAX WiFi for retail sale in North America, but it will be available in other regions. There were no other details. We would expect the price to be in the neighborhood of the original, $239. This motherboard carries a three-year warranty.
Packaging and Contents
The motherboard was shipped directly from MSI. This is a full retail package. We found the usual packing format. The board was placed inside an anti-static bag and protected by cardboard inserts. The wifi antenna was packed on top, and the accessories underneath. The accessories included: booklets, a sheet of stickers, one SATA cable, an EZ-Con cable, two EZ-Clip M.2 screws, and the EZ Clip tool/screwdriver. It is interesting that if we read the serial number correctly, this was the 13th board that came off the line in January 2026.
Discussion (3 replies)
Join Discussion →I love that you're still putting these reviews out.
But I wonder if people are still looking to build out a fresh system these days... Feeling doom and gloom about the industry. Who would have thought it was Nvidia that killed PC.
It'll all come back around eventually, will it be rough for PC builders now, sure, but not always. New hardware is still planned for launch, such as Zen 6 and Nova Lake on PC Desktop, it's not dead yet Jim!
Unlike many of my peers in the industry lately on YT, I'm going to stay optimistic and positive for the future, and not dwell on things I can't control. Instead, I'm going to look at cool new hardware, evaluate it, and just have fun with PC Hardware and Gaming. There's enough doom and gloom out there, I'm hoping to bring something a little more positive to the table.
This is not the end, or even the beginning of the end.