ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI vs MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ

Researched, not hands-on tested.How we review ›

all judged against motherboards at a similar price

The ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI scores 6.8/10 overall, ahead of the MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ at 6.6/10.

The ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI leads on platform and features and power delivery.

The MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ leads on BIOS and support and value.

They score the same on connectivity.

ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI

6.8/10verdict: buy

This board is for AMD AM5 builders who want a B850 ATX board with Wi-Fi 7, 2.5GbE and plenty of NVMe storage. It suits Ryzen 9000, 8000 and 7000 CPUs, including high-core chips, given its 16-phase CPU power design. It is a weaker fit for anyone who needs many SATA ports or rear USB4.

Typically about £270.99 in the UK when we researched itCheck price at Amazon UK

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MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ

6.6/10verdict: good, not the best

The MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ is an ATX AM5 board for people building a mid-range Ryzen 7000, 8000 or 9000 system. It suits buyers who want Wi-Fi 7, 5Gbps wired networking and a 12-phase VRM without moving up the range. It fits best alongside a discrete graphics card that connects over DisplayPort.

Typically about £219.94 in the UK when we researched itCheck price at Amazon UK

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Scores, criterion by criterion

Criterion	Weight	ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI	MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ
Platform and features	25%	7/10	6/10
Connectivity	25%	7/10	7/10
Power delivery	20%	8/10	7/10
BIOS and support	15%	6/10	7/10
Value	15%	5/10	6/10
Overall		6.8/10	6.6/10

Specifications

Spec	ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI	MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ
Socket	AM5, for Ryzen 9000, 8000 and 7000 series	AM5; supports AMD Ryzen 9000, 8000 and 7000 series desktop processors
Chipset	AMD B850	AMD B850
Form factor	ATX, 12 x 9.6 in (30.5 x 24.4 cm)	ATX, 243.84 x 304.8 mm
Memory	DDR5, 4 DIMM slots, dual channel, max 256GB, up to 8000+ MT/s (OC) with Ryzen 9000/8000/7000; supports ECC and non-ECC unbuffered modules	DDR5, 4 DIMM slots, up to 256 GB maximum
M.2 slots	4 M.2 slots (Key M): M.2_1 and M.2_2 PCIe 5.0 x4 with Ryzen 7000/9000 and PCIe 4.0 x4 with Ryzen 8000; M.2_3 and M.2_4 PCIe 4.0 x4 from chipset, M.2_3 disabled when chipset-fed x16 slot is in use	Three M.2 Key M slots: M.2_1 from CPU up to PCIe 5.0 x4 (2260/2280); M.2_2 from CPU up to PCIe 4.0 x4 (22110/2280); M.2_3 from chipset up to PCIe 4.0 x2 (2260/2280). Taken from the non-PZ sibling's MSI spec page and user guide; the PZ page confirms one PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot.
PCIe slots	1 x PCIe 5.0 x16 slot (Q-Release Slim, SafeSlot) for Ryzen 7000/9000; 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 slot (x4 mode) from chipset	One PCIe x16 slot, described as PCIe 5.0 on MSI's PZ page; MSI's regional spec page shows PCIe 5.0 x16 with Ryzen 9000/7000 and a UK review describes the non-PZ sibling as PCIe 4.0 x16, so the generation is disputed
Networking	1 x Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet; Wi-Fi 7 (2x2 802.11be), 2.4/5/6GHz, 160MHz, up to 2.9Gbps; Bluetooth 5.4	Wi-Fi 7 and 5G LAN (Realtek 8126VB 5 Gbps wired, per MSI's spec page for the non-PZ sibling)
Rear USB	12 rear ports: 1 x USB 20Gbps (USB Type-C), 3 x USB 10Gbps (2 Type-A, 1 Type-C), 4 x USB 5Gbps (Type-A), 4 x USB 2.0 (Type-A); no rear USB4 port	Rear: one USB-C 10 Gb/s port per a PZ review (MSI's sibling spec lists two); front USB 5Gbps Type-C header

Strengths and weaknesses

ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI

+ Two PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots plus a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot
+ Wi-Fi 7, Intel 2.5GbE and a rear 20Gbps USB-C port
+ 16-phase CPU power with BIOS FlashBack
− Only two SATA 6Gb/s ports
− No rear USB4 port
− Owners report BIOS freezes and occasional USB detection problems

Skip it if:

Builders who need many SATA ports for bulk drive storage
Buyers who want a rear USB4 port
Anyone planning heavy manual BIOS tuning who wants minimal reported quirks

Read the full ASUS ROG STRIX B850-F GAMING WIFI review ›

MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ

+ Wi-Fi 7 and 5Gbps wired LAN
+ 12+2+1 power design with two 8-pin connectors
+ Flash BIOS button works without CPU or memory
− No HDMI output reported; DisplayPort 1.2 only
− Only one M.2 slot runs at PCIe 5.0
− Third M.2 slot is limited to PCIe 4.0 x2

Skip it if:

Buyers who need HDMI output from the board itself
Builders who want two PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots
Builders who need more than four SATA ports for bulk storage

Read the full MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ review ›

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