MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi Review: Incredible Value

After not so successful launch of Intel’s Arrow Lake (Core Ultra series 2 processors) and Intel Z890 chipset, the manufacturer has released the budget segment, mainstream B860 chipset motherboards with AIB partners. The 860 obviously lacks the CPU/BCLK overclocking but it allows memory overclocking. While there are some take aways, there are some retainers as well.

The B860 has only 4 lanes for CPU uplink and chipset only has 14 PCIe lanes. While, this was not enough, Intel has not allowed PCIe 5.0 x16 lane splitting or bifurcation. But they have allowed 1x PCIe 5. X16 lane. Similarly, this platform allows only one NVMe M.2 slot wired to the CPU. The remaining 2 or so slots will need to be come from chipset.

Only one Thunderbolt 4.0/USB 4.0 port is allowed and AIB partners may even cut on that depending on the overall cost. You can’t create NVMe RAID arrays but can do SATA based RAID array. A maximum of two USB 20Gbps ports are allowed which is still plentiful.

In our first take on this platform, we are testing the MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi motherboard. I have also tested and reviewed the MSI MAG B860 Mortar WiFi, and I will be comparing the Tomahawk against it throughout the review, so make sure to read that as well.

The salient features include:

• This motherboard supports Intel Core Ultra series 2 Processors.
• It supports DDR5 Memory
• MSI has deployed 12+1+1+1 Power phases for VRM/MOSFET
• This motherboard has 1x M.2 Gen5 and 2x M.2 Gen 4 Slots
• It supports a PCIe Gen5 x16 slot for a graphics card.
• The M.2 Ports and VRM/MOSFETs get good treatment for effective cooling using Extended Heatsink design and M.2 Shield Frozr
• This motherboard has a RealTek ALC 897 driver.
• This motherboard supports EZ PCIe Release

This motherboard has a price tag of $239.

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Key Takeaways

• The MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi is a feature-packed mid-range motherboard that blends Gen 5 connectivity, DDR5 support, and WiFi 7 with reliable performance and a gamer-friendly design.
• You should buy the MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi if you want a Gen5 motherboard that delivers solid performance and features for the price.
• The only reason to skip the MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi is if having a DEBUG LED display or high-quality audio is a must for you.

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Here are the key specs of the board:

Form Factor	ATX
CPU Support	Intel Core Ultra Series 2
CPU Socket	LGA1851
Memory Support	4x DDR5 DIMM Slots
PCIe Support	1x PCIe Gen5 x16 slot 1x PCIe Gen4 x16 slot 1x PCIe Gen4 x1 slot
On-board Graphics	1x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C 1x HDMI 2.1 FRL 1x DisplayPort 1.4 HBR2
Storage	4x SATA ports 1x Gen5 NVMe M.2 port 2x Gen4 NVMe M.2 ports
USB Ports	16x USB Ports
LAN	Intel Killer
WiFi	Intel Killer WiFi7

What Makes The MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi Different?

This is our first B860 motherboard, and it comes with an exploded feature set on this chipset, justifying the price tag. Coming in at ATX form factor and supporting ATX 3.1 standard using a dedicated 8-pin PEG connector, this motherboard is ready for the next generation of gaming graphics cards. This is a foolproof, no-frill design aimed at providing everything a gamer would ask for.

Packaging And Unboxing

The motherboard is shipped inside a standard cardboard packing box. The salient specifications and features are listed over the packing box for the on-the-go users. MSI has included the following in the box:

• 1x ATX-sized Motherboard
• 1x SATA 6Gbps Cable
• 1x Quick Installation Guide
• 1x European Union Regulatory Notice
• 1x Shout Out Flyer
• EZ M.2 Clips II
• EZ M.2 Clip Remover
• 1x WiFi Antenna
• 1 to 2 EZ Conn-Cable (V1)
• 1x Front Panel Connector Cable

Design Overview

MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi motherboard has an Intel LGA1851 socket powering the 4x DIMM slots, 1x HDMI 2.1 port and 1x DP 1.4 port rated at 8K@60Hz. In addition this socket provides 20x PCIe lanes. This motherboard’s PCB is a 6-layer design using 2Oz thickened copper. IT is NPG-170D Server-Grade PCB.

The DMI link operates at x4 PCIe between the socket and chipset. Rest of the connectivity comes from the B860 chipset including 2x Gen4x4 M.2 slots, WiFi 7 solution, Intel NUC, SATA and Audio solution. Let’s start with the power delivery circuit of this motherboard.

Power Delivery To Socket

This motherboard has Intel LGA1851 socket which is only compatible with Ultra Core Series 2 CPUs. The socket internal design seems somewhat different than the one I have seen on the MSI MPG Z890 Unify-X motherboard. Intel has used narrow ILM mounting on this socket and aims to provide better and even pressure compared to the Intel LGA1700 socket.

There are two stylish and enlarged heatsink covers over the power delivery circuit. They are black and light green resembling the military green color scheme. The two covers don’t interconnect using heat pipes. There is no LED backlighting on these covers.

MSI has used a 12+1+1+1 Duet rail power system on this motherboard that is governed by the SPS MPS2428 PWM controller. The power stages are SPS MPS2414, rated at 60A, generating 900W power across the entire power delivery circuit.

DIMM Slots

MSI has provided 4x DDR5 UDIMM slots on a different PCB layer. This motherboard supports a maximum of 192GB memory capacity. It also supports Intel XMP 3.0 with dual-channel and dual-controller modes.

This motherboard supports a whopping frequency of up to 9200MHz (OC). In addition to XMP, it supports memory overclocking. It also supports Intel POR speed and JEDEC speed. This motherboard does support CUDIMM.

Storage Options

This motherboard has a total of 3x M.2 NVMe ports. All ports use heatsink covers to effectively cool the storage drives.

The covers have thermal pads. These ports use EZ M.2 clips II, making installation and removal of the drives convenient. However, the bottom single heatsink cover is not tool-less.

The top slot is PCIe Gen5x4 M.2 NVMe wired to the CPU and has a 128GB/s bandwidth rating. The bottom two slots are wired to the chipset and rated for PCIe Gen4x4 interface. None of these M.2 ports has a bottom thermal pad, meaning the dual-sided M.2 NVMe drives will not have a thermal pad on both sides.

These ports have a form factor of 2280/2260. None of these is 22110 supportive.

Speaking of SATA ports, this motherboard has a total of 4x ports wired to the chipset.

PCIe Connectivity

This motherboard has a total of 3x PCIe slots. The first slot is full x16 slotted and wired to the CPU socket. It can’t be bifurcated or split. The other two are wired to the chipset. The top slot is PCIe Gen5x16 rated. The second slot is PCIe 4.0 x16. The third slot is PCIe 4×4.

This motherboard features an EZ PCIE Release button. Pressing it once will unlock the PCIe latch or locker, and pressing it again will release the lock. This makes the user’s life easy when handling the graphics card and a beefy air cooler. The top PCIe slot is steel reinforced, which MSI refers to as Steel Armor, and it has heavy soldered connections on the PCB to support the weight of a heavy graphics card.

USB Connectivity

This motherboard has USB ports on the front, rear and mid-board. It has:

• 1x USB 4/Thunderbolt 4
• 6x USB 10 Gbps ports (4x Type-A, 2x Type-C)
• 2x USB 5Gbps Type-A
• 8x USB 2.0

MSI has used several USB hubs and controllers, including GL850, RTS5420, and P130BS16.

Networking Solution

MSI has provided a wired and latest wireless connectivity on this motherboard. There is a 5GB LAN port (NUC) powered by Intel Killer E5000B network controller. In addition, there is a powerful WiFi module that comes pre-installed and a dedicated antenna is also in the box. MSI has implemented latest WiFi 7 module driven by Intel Killer BE1750X controller. Bluetooth 5.4 is provided.

The new protocol has 320MHz channel width compared to 160MHz on the previous generation. Wi-Fi 7 improves the modulation scheme from 1024-QAM to 4096-QAM, which is impressive. This new generation can send and receive data across several frequencies and channels at a time.

Audio Solution

MSI has implemented Audio hardware on two separate layers of the PCB. They have used a basic Audio controller from Realtek, ALC897. This is nothing fancy here. MSI seems to have retained the Thunderbolt connectivity over the advanced audio solution. This is debatable but seems fair, in my opinion. You can plug in a discreet audio solution if required, but still having Thunderbolt connectivity is good.

This is a 7.1-channel audio solution with S/PDIF output. MSI has designed the isolated analogy structure for the output on the rear panel. In this design, the external metal housing is separated from the internal layout to improve the sound quality further.

I am showing the B860 chipset after removing its heatsink cover. Now that we have a brief overview of this motherboard let’s take a look at the connectors.

Internal Connectors

There are:

• 1x Thunderbolt5 card connector (JTBT5, support RTD3)
• 1x 24-pin ATX Power Connector
• 2x EPS Power Connectors
• 1x Power Connector (PCIE_PWR 8pin)
• 1x CPU Fan Header
• 1x Combo Fan Header (Pump_Sys Fan)
• 5x System Fan Headers
• 1x EZ Conn-header (JAF_1)
• 2x Front Panel Header (JFP)
• 1x Chassis Intrusion (JCI)
• 1x Front Audio Port (JAUD)
• 1x Tuning Controller connector (JDASH)
• 3x Addressable V2 RGB LED connector (JARGB_V2)
• 2x RGB LED connector(JRGB)
• 1x TPM pin header(Support TPM 2.0)
• 1x OC dashboard connector(JDASH1)
• 4x USB 2.0 ports
• 2x USB 5Gbps Type A ports
• 1x USB 10Gbps Type C ports

Each fan header is powered and controlled by nuvoTon 3948S. The Pump Header is rated for 3A. The CPU Fan header is rated for 2A. The other fan headers are rated at 1A each. There are 4x LEDs to troubleshoot the system in case anything has issues. These LEDs correspond to the CPU, RAM, VGA, and Boot. However, there is no debug LED on this motherboard.

Rear IO Panel

There are:

• Flash BIOS
• Clear CMOS
• 1x Thunderbolt 4.0 Type-C
• 1x HDMI Port
• 1x Display Port Output
• 4x USB 2.0
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps (Type-A)
• 1x 5G LAN Port
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 10Gbps (Type-C)
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps (Type-A)
• WiFi 7 Antennae Ports
• Audio Connectors

This motherboard comes with the rear IO cover pre-installed. However, the rear IO does not have a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 port.

I am showing the PCB after removing the heatsink covers. I am showing the backside of the motherboard.

MSI has used Nuvoton NCT6687D-M as a main IO controller on this motherboard.

BIOS

MSI has revamped its BIOS interface to make it more user-friendly and intuitive. Navigation is now smoother, with simplified sub-menus for easier access. The HW Monitor and Profiles interfaces are also more organized for better usability. When you start the BIOS, it defaults to Eazy Mode, which displays basic information like motherboard, CPU, memory settings, and temperatures. Switching to Advanced Mode is simple, and Eazy Mode even lets you enable XMP with just one click.

The Advanced Settings are divided into six main categories. The “OC” section focuses on CPU and memory voltages and related settings, while the “Settings” menu handles system configurations like boot options and save/exit preferences. The Hardware Monitor lets users adjust fan speeds, and OC Profiles allow saving and restoring configurations—perfect for simplifying setups during installation. M-Flash is available for updating the BIOS ROM, and users can manually tweak memory timings and voltages as needed.

When we were done with the testing and ready to upload the content, MSI pushed the latest BIOS update. We updated the BIOS and done some testing only to find no improvement.

Software

If you have enabled the System Drivers Installer in the BIOS, you will be prompted to use the Auto driver installer on the Windows startup that is an automated utility. It will look for available drivers and updates and download/install them as per the user input.

Test Build

I have used the following configuration to test the motherboard:

• MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi
• MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio 24G
• Intel Core Ultra 7 265k [Stock, Auto]
• MSI MAG CoreLiquid E360 Cooler
• XPG Lancer RGB 32GB 7200MHz CAS34 DDR5 kit
• Teamgroup Xtreem 32GB 8000MHz CAS38 DDR5 kit
• Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 1TB Gen4x4 NVMe SSD [For OS]
• Sabrent Rocket Q XTRM 2TB Thunderbolt Drive
• Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 4TB Gen4x4 NVMe SSD [For Games]
• Fractal Design ION+2 860 Platinum PSU
• Thermaltake Core P6 TG Snow Edition in an open frame layout

The above is a picture showing a run of CPU-Z. We can see that CPU is reported at almost 5400.49MHz (Bus speed was at 100.1MHz to show this value). You can also see that graphics card is operating at x16 link. The RAM was operating at its tested speed of 7200MT/s after loading the XMP.

We have divided the overall tests into four major categories. These are:

• CPU and Memory Tests
• Gaming Tests
• Storage Tests
• Overall System Tests

Test Result

The testing was done on stock settings with XMP loaded. Intel’s default power profile is used.

CPU and memory benchmarks

I am surprised with high latency on this platform compared to the Intel’s Z790 chipset. The speed is comparable.

We reran the test after updating the BIOS. As you can see, the performance hit is there with latest BIOS update.

I have tested the kit with memory extension mode. You can see free performance from a single click.

I have also tested the motherboard using an 8000MHz kit with CL38. I also tested the Memory Extension mode on this mode.

The CPU scored 36472 points in CPU Multi Core load and 2346 points in a Single Core Load in R23.2. The DDR5 kit was performing at its rating. However latencies seem to be high on this platform compared to Z790. The single core score was even more impressive in Geekbench 6.3.0. With a compression result of 161.404 GIPS and 167.455 GIPS score in Decompression, this CPU has shown its true performance potential.

Storage Test

I have used a PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe drive and a Thunderbolt 4 drive which is the Sabrent Rocket Q-XTRM 2TB portable drive. The NVMe drive passed the sequential read and write speeds in the CrystalDiskMark. The Thunderbolt drive also passed the rated speeds.

The PCMARK10 Data Drive and Quick System Drive benchmarks have shown a good performance but we saw that MSI MAG B860 MORTAR WiFi has a better score in these benchmarks compared to MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi using the same drive.

Gaming Test

Our build got a score of 10632 in Time Spy Extreme and 13173 in Fire Strike Ultra. The Speed Way score was 5559. Overall, the CPU and Graphics card performed well, showing that the motherboard is not holding these components back.

In all six games that I have tested, the FPS was above 100. I tested all games using their highest graphics presets at 1440P and 165Hz refresh rate over Display Port. The gaming performance is right on the money, and this motherboard can handle the task easily.

System Performance Test

I picked PCMARK10 and Performance Test to evaluate the overall system performance. The higher scores in results are preferable. The system was doing 10620 in PCMARK10 Basic test which is too good a performance from this build. The result from Performance Test is 13294. The overall system performance is excellent as well.

Core Clock Behavior

The system was left idle for 10 minutes under the Balanced Power Profile. The idle clocks were 1800~2200MHzMHz on the P-Cores, whereas these were 2200MHz on the E-Cores, more or less. The clocks were peaking to 5.5GHz under 1T load. All cores load put these clocks to 5.2GHz. These figures confirm Intel’s clock ratings for Core Ultra 265k.

Power Draw

I am reporting the system-wide power draw here. It would come down to the configuration and is not comparable with other configurations. It would give a rough idea of a relevant power consumption. The four categories are:

• System Idle Power
• System Gaming Load Power
• System Power with 1T Core Load
• System Power with nT Core Load

The system idle power draw was 63.8W, which seems a bit high. The power draw with a gaming load was 533W, which is fine. When we put the CPU only under load, the system-wide power draw with 1T load was 100W, and it was 299.2W with all cores load using Cinebench R23.2.

Thermals

Testing was done at an ambient temperature of 16ᵒC. The CPU idled at 25ᵒC, and the graphics card idled at 39.2ᵒC. Under load, the CPU was doing 72ᵒC whereas the GPU was doing 76ᵒC. The VRM/MOSFET was doing 49ᵒC at the same ambient.

Should You Buy It?

Buy It If

✅You want to experience Intel’s latest platform: MSI has got you covered for good with MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi with a good feature set justifying this price tag.

✅You want to game without hiccups: The MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi has everything a gamer would need even a high speed, latest wireless network along with a 5G LAN.

✅You are looking for Gen 5 connectivity: If you are looking for Gen 5 connectivity, then MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi is for you.

✅Value is your thing: Coming in at USD 239, this motherboard is a good mid-range motherboard that can fulfil your gaming requirements without breaking your wallet.

Don’t Buy It If

❌You already have a Z690/Z790 motherboard. I would not upgrade if I am on an Intel 13th or 14th gen platform.

Final Words

MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi motherboard is a mainstream offering with the best features. This motherboard is based on Intel LGA1851 using the B860 chipset. It has 3x M.2 ports, with one port operating on a Gen5x4 link. In addition to the M.2 ports, this motherboard has 4x SATA ports.

This is not all; we have extensive USB ports on the mid-board and rear/front, including USB 3.2 Gen2x2 and USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C ports. A Thunderbolt 4 port on the rear panel is part of Intel’s feature on the latest platform. It uses USB 4 tunnelling.

Having Clear CMOS and Flash BIOS buttons on the back panel is nice. This motherboard has a 12+1+1+1 power delivery mechanism, which can handle Intel mid-range CPUs. The cooling department is also strong, with 6x Fan headers and an aluminum heat sink cover over the VRM/MOSFET, M.2 ports, and Chipset. MSI has used thermal pads on these covers.

MSI has provided a 5GbE NUC and an integrated WiFi 7 module (with Bluetooth). There is also overcurrent and overvoltage protection. This motherboard provides Memory Try It, Memory Extension mode, and an OC Engine in the BIOS that caters to different requirements, such as memory OC or Gaming needs.

The BIOS interface has been redesigned, and MSI has simplified it to my liking. Regarding audio, MSI has provided the RealTek ALC897 codec, which is a pretty basic audio solution. Overall, this motherboard’s performance is good.

MSI has provided almost everything a gamer would need in this B860 chipset—you name it. It comes with the latest wireless network, PCIe Gen-5 connectivity, SOC overclocking, Memory boost, a whopping 9200MHz support, CUDIMM support, an Auxiliary PCIe Port, ATX 3.1 readiness, and a Thunderbolt-4 port. MSI has my praise. This motherboard costs USD 239 and has a 3-year warranty from MSI.