MSI MAG B850M Mortar WIFI Motherboard Review – Solid mATX Design For AM5 Builders For $200

MSI MAG B850M Mortar WIFI - Unboxing & Close Up

The MSI MAG B850M Mortar motherboard comes in a standard cardboard package. The front is grey with several orange accents that align with the Ryzen series. The packaging also lists features such as PCIe 5.0 Ready design, DDR5 support, overclocking support, and readiness with Ryzen 9000 CPUs.

The backside of the package lists the specifications and special features of the motherboard, such as the 12-phase DUET VRM, EZ M.2/PCIe design, Lightning Gen5 slots, WIFI7, and 5G LAN, EZ PCIe Release slots, EZ M.2 Shield Frozr II slots, and Triple M.2 connectors.

Inside the package is another box that contains the accessories and is located right below the box holder for the board itself. These include:

• Quick Installation Guide
• European Union Regulatory Notice
• Cable Sticker
• 1 x SATA Cable
• 2 x EZ M.2 Clips II
• 1 x M.2 Screw
• EZ M.2 Clip II Remover
• EZ Wi-Fi Antenna
• 1 to 2 EZ Conn-Cable (V1)
• EZ Front Panel Cable

With all the accessories done, it's time to put that box aside and take the motherboard out of its package. The MSI MAG B850M Mortar motherboard is an M-ATX offering that measures 243.84 x 243.84 mm. The motherboard carries an all-black color scheme with a few lime green accents. The Tomahawk is part of the MSI MAG "MSI Arsenal Gaming" lineup, which is aimed at mainstream audiences.

The motherboard carries a black color scheme with a few green accents on the heatsinks. This is a very gaming-centric motherboard design.

The board uses the LGA 1718 socket to support AMD Ryzen "AM5" processors. The socket works with Ryzen 7000, Ryzen 8000G, and Ryzen 9000 CPUs and will also support future generations of AM5 Ryzen chips that are supported by the platform.

Next to the socket are four DDR5 DIMM slots that can support up to 256 GB of dual-channel memory.

These slots are rated to support EXPO profiles up to 8200 MT/s (OC Plus). Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation. DDR5 memory comes with a different latch position, so forcing a DDR4 module into a DDR5 slot will cause permanent damage. The full QVL list can be found here.

The MSI MAG B850M Mortar motherboard features a 12+2+1 (VCore/ VccGT/VccAUX)  phase DUET VRM power delivery. The power stages are rated at 60A. The board uses an 8-layer server-grade PCB with 2oz thickened copper in a low-loss design, retaining signal integrity for stable CPU and memory operations.

The VRMs receive ample cooling from the Frozr heatsinks, which come with an extended design.

You can see the two sets of heatsinks and the IO cover over them below:

The CPU is supplied power through an 8+8-pin EPS power connector configuration. This will feed the CPU with up to 600 Watts of power. The AMD Ryzen 9000 CPUs are very power-hungry with the maximum target power going above 220W for the flagship Ryzen 9 9950X CPU.

Coming to the cooling solution, the Extended Frozr heatsink features two aluminum blocks. Underneath the VRM heatsink are 7W/mK Thermal pads that transfer heat from the VRMs to the heatsink.

Expansion slots include two PCI Express (1 x Gen 5.0 x16 / 1 x Gen 4.0 x4), and three M.2 slots.

• 1x PCI-E x16 slot
• 1x PCI-E x4 slot
• PCI_E1 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x16 (From CPU)
• PCI_E2 Gen PCIe 4.0 supports up to x4 (From Chipset)

The motherboard utilizes a full metallic slot, which makes use EZ PCIe release mechanism to make installing and removing graphics cards easy.

The motherboard also has three M.2 slots, of which two are featured under dedicated M.2 Shield Frozr heatsinks.

The third M.2 slot is located on the back of the motherboard.

Following is the full list of M.2 ports and their details on the MSI MAG B850M Mortar WIFI motherboard:

• 3x M.2
• M.2_1 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4, supports 2280/2260 devices
• M.2_2 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4, supports 2280/2260 devices
• M.2_3 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x2, supports 2280 devices
• 4x SATA 6G

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Storage options include four SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support up to four different storage devices at once.

For USB, you get a total of 16 ports, which include 4 USB 2.0 (Front), 6 USB 5 Gbps (4 Rear / 2 Front), 3 USB 10 Gbps Type-A (Rear), 2 USB 10 Gbps Type-C (1 Rear / 1 Front), and 1 USB 20 Gbps Type-C (Rear) port.

MSI uses a 7.1 CH HD audio design with the latest Realtek ALC4080 CODEC for rear panel audio. There is a large selection of connectors on the motherboard. MSI also features a dedicated 8-pin PEG connector for the PCIe slots, which can provide additional juice and reduce the strain on the ATX connector.

The full list of connectors on the motherboard is as follows.

• 1x Power Connector(ATX_PWR)
• 2x Power Connector(CPU_PWR)
• 1x Power Connector(PCIE_PWR 8pin)
• 1x CPU Fan
• 1x Combo Fan (Pump_Sys Fan)
• 4x System Fan
• 1x EZ Conn-header (JAF_1)
• 2x Front Panel (JFP)
• 1x Chassis Intrusion (JCI)
• 1x Front Audio (JAUD)
• 1x Tuning Controller connector(JDASH)
• 3x Addressable V2 RGB LED connector (JARGB_V2)
• 1x RGB LED connector(JRGB)
• 1x TPM pin header(Support TPM 2.0)
• 4x USB 2.0 ports
• 2x USB 5 Gbps Type A ports
• 1x USB 10 Gbps Type-C port

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MSI is using the latest Killer "BE1750x" WIFI 7 Module to power wireless connectivity with a 320MHz channel bandwidth and Bluetooth 5.4. In terms of Ethernet, there is a single Killer 5 GbE LAN port powered by the Realtek 8126-VB 5G LAN chip.

The motherboard comes with the following I/O connectors:

• Clear CMOS Button
• 5G LAN
• USB 10Gbps Type-A
• USB 5Gbps Type-A
• Audio Connectors
• Flash BIOS Button
• HDMI
• USB 10Gbps Type-A
• USB 10Gbps Type-C
• USB 20Gbps Type-C
• Wi-Fi / Bluetooth
• Optical S/PDIF Out

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