MSI has a brand new entry-level motherboard, the MAG B850M Gaming PRO MAX, which comes with an OC Engine for Ryzen overclocking.
MSI Adds An OC Engine On Its Entry-Level MAG B850M Gaming PRO Motherboard
MSI’s new MAX series refreshed motherboards come with an external BCLK generator or an OC Engine, as MSI likes to call it. This OC Engine provides independent BCLK control for better overclocking potential & it’s always great to see entry-level options with such capabilities, as they allow AMD Ryzen owners to get better performance out of their systems.
So, looking at the specs sheet, the MSI MAG B850M Gaming PRO MAX WIFI motherboard is a mATX form factor design which features ready support for up to the latest Ryzen 9000 CPUs. It features four memory slots that support up to 8200 MT/s speeds and up to 256 GB DDR5 capacities. These are rock solid for an entry-level motherboard.
Expansion slots include two PCIe x16 slots, with one running at Gen5 x16 speeds coming directly from the CPU, and the second slot is powered by 4 Gen4 lanes from the chipset. There are three M.2 slots, with one featuring full Gen5 x4 capabilities and the other two running at Gen4 x4/x2 speeds. Both slots rated at x4 speeds are featured under dedicated Frozr heatsinks.
Talking about heatsinks, the motherboard has a nice visual design with two separate heatsinks over the VRMs and another one over the B850 PCH. The VRM heatsinks leverage 7W/mK thermal pads and choke pads.
There are also plenty of EZ DIY features, such as an EZ PCIe Release mechanism for the GPU, EZ M.2 SSD installation, and an EZ Button on the back that offers BIOS Flash and Clear CMOS switches. MSI also adds a supplementary 8-pin connector for the PCIe slots. The CPU is powered by an 8+4 pin connector layout, and the motherboard itself is designed with an 8+2+1 Direct Power Design VRM solution and a six-layer server-grade PCB. The IO on the motherboard includes:
- Clear CMOS Button
- DisplayPort 1.4
- USB 10Gbps (Type-A)
- USB 5Gbps (Type-A)
- 5G LAN
- Wi-Fi / Bluetooth
- HD Audio Connectors
- Flash BIOS Button
- HDMI
- USB 10Gbps (Type-A)
- USB 10Gbps (Type-C)
- USB 5Gbps (Type-A)
As for pricing, we expect MSI to price the motherboard in the sub $200 US price range, which will make the MAG B850M Gaming PRO WIFI a good addition to the company’s vast AM5 lineup.
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