MSI MAG B850I Edge Ti Wi-Fi assessment

There are extra nice mini-ITX motherboards than ever nowadays, and MSI has determined to supply not one however two boards for AMD’s newest CPUs, with the B850 model coming first. The MAG B850I Edge Ti Wi-Fi prices effectively south of $300, so it sits under competitors from Asus whereas providing options corresponding to similarly-priced choices elsewhere, together with PCIe 5.0 SSD assist, Wi-Fi 7, and even a fan-cooled SSD heatsink.

If you happen to’re constructing a small kind issue system, the most effective gaming motherboard for the duty might want to maintain itself cool, too. In addition to giant heatsinks, MSI has additionally squeezed in 4 fan headers, which ought to be sufficient for any activity a tiny system will throw at it, and is greater than most different mini-ITX boards on the market as effectively.

It does use AMD’s B850 chipset, although, so some options akin to USB4 aren’t right here, whereas there are simply two SATA ports and two M.2 ports. These are the same old limitations you may see for mini-ITX, which continues to be area of interest, even when MSI has determined to supply a product in each mid-range and high-end chipsets from AMD and Intel this time round. Our detailed testing will present if it is value your money.

Specs

Options

There are a number of key options that differentiate the assorted different B850 and X870 mini-ITX boards on sale proper now, and one among them is shade, which we’ll get to in a minute. The M.2 SSD format is basically the identical, though Asus does handle to supply a pair of PCIe 5.0 M.2 ports, whereas the remaining at the moment have one and a second port that is PCIe 4.0, situated on the rear, with the MAG B850I Edge Ti Wi-Fi missing tool-free ports and heatsinks completely.

Cooling varies lots, too. Now we have a considerably giant 40mm fan on the MAG B850I Edge Ti Wi-Fi, which remained surprisingly quiet throughout most of our testing. That is not like the smaller whiny followers Gigabyte makes use of on its boards which have confirmed to be much more intrusive. Below the big heatsink, the precise high M.2 slot additionally has underside cooling too utilizing a thermal pad, but it surely’s a disgrace to not see a software free heatsink right here.

Most likely extra problematic is the shortage of a quick-release graphics card mechanism for its single PCIe 5.0 slot. These are all the fad on bigger boards, with MSI’s gadget being a button that you simply press to launch the graphics card. That might be actually helpful in a cramped mini-ITX case, however sadly it isn’t included right here.

Equipment that do profit small case house owners, although, embrace a 3-pin ARGB and entrance panel extension cables, in addition to MSI’s one-to-three EZ Conn-cable (V2). The previous means connecting these parts to a case that is already put in shall be a lot simpler, whereas the latter splits out MSI’s particular port on the PCB right into a 4-pin fan header, USB 2.0 header, and a 3-pin ARGB header from a single cable.

The entrance panel Kind-C port, in the meantime, is proscribed to simply USB 3.2 Gen 2, which suggests it might probably’t assist the quickest exterior storage on the market, nor does it supply any additional energy supply for quick charging, however it’s nonetheless fairly quick. You get a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 20Gbps Kind-C port on the rear panel, however for USB 4, you may have to step as much as an X870 mannequin.

The rear I/O panel is a little bit missing in USB ports, with simply 5 on supply in each USB 3.0 and USB 3.2 Gen 2 flavors. There are additionally USB BIOS Flashback and CMOS Clear ports, together with an HDMI port. The audio is Realtek’s ALC4080 codec, which feeds two 3.5mm jacks and an optical output on the rear I/O panel.

MSI’s EFI is evident, with a number of helpful settings on the entrance web page, and its current revamp means it is excessive decision and visually interesting, with no complaints over its format or options. In actual fact, its fan management space is great, with incredible management over fan curves, temperature inputs and anything fan associated. Its software program is not so nice, no less than not in comparison with the competitors, as regardless of current enhancements, it is nonetheless a bit clunky and disjointed.

One thing we would recommend is important, is tweaking the M.2 fan. Out of the field, this reacts to CPU temperature, and this implies beneath load, the fan spins up needlessly. We would recommend switching this to chipset temperature and making use of the enhance fan pace mode or a set pace you are comfortable to stay with that retains your SSD cool sufficient. Someplace between 30-50 % can be nice, however solely if in case you have a PCIe 5.0 SSD, as PCIe 4.0 fashions are a lot cooler and customarily do not want the fan in any respect.

Design

This board’s so-called titanium scheme is a extra silvery grey, so is maybe not as suited to a white construct as Gigabyte’s boards. Asus, in the meantime, has gone with black. Nonetheless, it is a horny motherboard and, critically, its M.2 heatsink does not attain too excessive, and consequently the board is suitable with most coolers. A number of Arctic and NZXT fashions that we needed to hand fitted nice.

There’s loads of area across the CPU socket, and whereas the rear M.2 port lacks a heatsink, most mini-ITX circumstances have a cut-out space to get on the CPU cooler backplate, and this typically lets you get on the M.2 port and set up a third-party heatsink.

The one factor we would wish to see are some tool-free fittings on the M.2 heatsink and ports. Because it stands, the screw-based design is fiddly to make use of even out of a case and shall be much more so as soon as the board’s inside. The entire MOSFETs for the ability supply are cooled utilizing a single giant heatsink that sits on high of all 13 energy phases. There’s additionally a small heatsink on the rear that helps maintain that a part of the VRMs cool, too.

Benchmarks

With a multi-core take a look at results of 2,233 and single-core rating of 139 in CinebenchR24, the MSI MAG B850I Edge Ti Wi-Fi squares up properly to full-size boards, shedding no efficiency with regards to dealing with a Ryzen 9 9950X. The 1% low of 161fps and common of 212 fps have been each on par too utilizing an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Tremendous in Whole Battle Warhammer 3.

As for audio, Realtek’s ALC4080 codec performs a lot the identical because the ALC1220 codec, so it was not shocking to see related ends in Rightmark Audio Analyzer, in comparison with related motherboards, with a dynamic vary of 106dBA and noise stage of -105dBA.

In the meantime, our PCIe 5.0 SSD was a little bit toasty as normal, peaking at 69°C. Nevertheless, this fell dramatically by tweaking the M.2 fan pace to a set stage that was nonetheless inaudible above the remainder of the system. At 50% pace, the SSD temp dropped to a really spectacular 59°C.

The VRMs peaked at 57°C in our stress take a look at, which is simply a few levels hotter than a lot bigger ATX boards such because the Gigabyte Aorus Elite X870 Wi-Fi7, whereas the board drew 349W from the wall. All in all, it is a strong displaying from this board.

Value

The MSI MAG B850I Edge Ti Wi-Fi’s present worth of round $270 means it undercuts the equal Asus board by round $50, which isn’t any small sum given the 2 boards have principally related options. ASRock and Gigabyte’s alternate options for the B850 chipset are the true competitors, although. Gigabyte’s X870 mini-ITX providing, the Gigabyte’s X870I Aorus Professional ICE, solely prices a little bit extra, too, however provides USB 4 and some extra trendy options akin to tool-free M.2 heatsinks.

ASRock’s choice can also be value taking a look at, with the Phantom Gaming B850I Lightning Wi-Fi saving round $40 in comparison with the MSI board, however unsurprisingly, it has a lowered function set too. In consequence, MSI has performed a great job of sticking to a worth level that is positive to make issues awkward for the competitors, whereas sustaining an honest function set.

Verdict

It is a strong motherboard for mini-ITX followers that want a board able to dealing with highly effective CPUs, however whereas nonetheless getting change from $300. It isn’t with out its flaws, however, to be sincere, no mini-ITX motherboard is.

Its M.2 SSD fan wants fine-tuning to get probably the most out of it with a PCIe 5.0 SSD, however in case you’re ready to do this then MSI has created an awesome mini-ITX board right here that has some actually helpful options. It has a under par variety of rear USB ports, no quick-release mechanism for the graphics card and maybe lacks some actual stand-out options.

Nevertheless, we actually just like the included extension and splitter cables that make constructing and upgrading a mini-ITX PC a complete lot simpler that with some alternate options. It could possibly additionally supply glorious cooling for the most popular SSDs, it has 4 fan headers, and it might deal with a Ryzen 9 9950X or Ryzen 9800X3D nice. Coupled with a worth that undercuts Asus and matches Gigabyte and MSI, whereas a late arrival, lastly has an honest mini-ITX board for AMD followers.