MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ vs MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI

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

all judged against motherboards at a similar price

The MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI scores 7.2/10 overall, ahead of the MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ at 6.6/10.

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

The MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI leads on platform and features, connectivity, power delivery and value.

The biggest difference is BIOS and support, where the MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ scores 7/10 to the MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI's 4/10.

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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MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI

7.2/10verdict: buy

The MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI is for people building a high-end AM5 system around a Ryzen 9000 chip. It suits buyers who want USB4, Wi-Fi 7, 5G LAN and fast NVMe storage on one ATX board. It is a better fit for a single graphics card plus drives than for a build full of expansion cards.

Typically about £255 in the UK when we researched itCheck price at Amazon UK

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Scores, criterion by criterion

Criterion	Weight	MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ	MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI
Platform and features	25%	6/10	7/10
Connectivity	25%	7/10	9/10
Power delivery	20%	7/10	8/10
BIOS and support	15%	7/10	4/10
Value	15%	6/10	7/10
Overall		6.6/10	7.2/10

Specifications

Spec	MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI PZ	MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI
Socket	AM5; supports AMD Ryzen 9000, 8000 and 7000 series desktop processors	AM5, supports Ryzen 9000, 8000 and 7000 series desktop CPUs
Chipset	AMD B850	AMD X870
Form factor	ATX, 243.84 x 304.8 mm	ATX, 304.8 × 243.84 mm
Memory	DDR5, 4 DIMM slots, up to 256 GB maximum	DDR5, 4 × UDIMM slots, maximum 256GB, non-ECC unbuffered only; overclocked 8400–5600 MT/s, JEDEC 5600–4800 MT/s
M.2 slots	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.	4 slots: M.2_1 and M.2_2 from CPU at PCIe 5.0 x4 (M.2_2 shares bandwidth with rear USB4 ports); M.2_3 PCIe 4.0 x2 and M.2_4 PCIe 4.0 x4 from chipset
PCIe slots	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	3 × x16 physical slots: PCI_E1 PCIe 5.0 x16 from CPU; PCI_E2 PCIe 3.0 x1 from chipset; PCI_E3 PCIe 4.0 x4 from chipset, drops to x2 when M2_3 is populated
Networking	Wi-Fi 7 and 5G LAN (Realtek 8126VB 5 Gbps wired, per MSI's spec page for the non-PZ sibling)	Realtek 8126-CG 5G LAN; Wi-Fi 7 with Bluetooth 5.4 pre-installed in M.2 Key-E slot
Rear USB	Rear: one USB-C 10 Gb/s port per a PZ review (MSI's sibling spec lists two); front USB 5Gbps Type-C header	12 rear ports: 4 × USB 2.0, 3 × USB 5Gbps Type-A, 2 × USB 10Gbps Type-A, 1 × USB 10Gbps Type-C, 2 × USB 40Gbps Type-C (USB4); front: 1 × USB 20Gbps Type-C header, 4 × USB 5Gbps Type-A

Strengths and weaknesses

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 ›

MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI

+ Two USB4 ports and a 20Gbps front Type-C header
+ 14+2+1 phase VRM with 80A power stages
+ Wi-Fi 7 and 5G LAN, with four M.2 slots
− Owners report boot loops after BIOS updates
− M.2_2 shares bandwidth with the rear USB4 ports
− X870 chipset, not X870E

Skip it if:

Buyers who want X870E rather than X870
Builders who need several fast expansion slots alongside multiple NVMe drives
Anyone who wants to avoid any risk of BIOS update trouble or CUDIMM boot problems

Read the full MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI review ›

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