MSI has prepared budget motherboards for Intel LGA 1851 and AMD AM5 B860, B850, and B840 platforms for existing and future Intel and AMD processors.
Intel and AMD are expected to release new processors at CES 2025. While Intel is focusing more on budget and non-overclocked Arrow Lake chips, AMD will focus on high-performance Ryzen 9000X3D processors. Nevertheless, both companies currently do not have budget 800 series motherboards, which will be presented in due time.
There are two 800-series chipsets for Intel Arrow Lake desktop processors: B860 and H810, and for AMD – B850 and B840. Insider @momomo_us published photos of four models with three of these chipsets, namely: Intel B860, AMD B850, and AMD B840. All of them are from MSI, and the models are as follows:
- MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi,
- PRO B850-P WiFi,
- B850 Gaming Plus WiFi,
- PRO B840-P WiFi
MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi, designed for Intel processors, has a classic black PCB design with greenish accents. The board will feature 4 DIMM slots, 2 PCI-E x16 slots, 1 PCI-E x1 slot, at least 3 M.2 connectors, 4 SATA ports, and a built-in WiFi 7 module. There will be Thunderbolt 4 ports on the rear panel. The motherboard has 2 8-pin EPS connectors above the DIMM slots, and there is an additional 8-pin PCI-E connector on the bottom that will provide up to 150W of power for the GPU along with 75W from the PCI-E x16 slot.
The next three motherboards are designed for AMD AM5 processors.
The MSI PRO B850-P WiFi is made with a black PCB and white and silver heatsinks. The board has 4 PCI-E x16 slots, which is rarely seen on budget motherboards these days, and it also has an 8-pin connector on the bottom. There are 3 m.2 slots and 4 SATA ports for drives.
The MSI B840 Gaming Plus WiFi offers a unique look with white heatsinks and gray-blue accents. There are as many as 5 PCI-E x16 slots available on this board, which is clearly too many. However, you obviously won’t be able to fill them all at once due to the limitations of PCI-E lines. It doesn’t have a bottom 8-pin PCI-E connector and seems to be an entry-level board.
The MSI PRO B840-P WiFi, which also gets 5 PCI-E x16 slots, 4 DIMM slots, 2 M.2 connectors, 4 SATA ports, and some basic connectivity.
All of these motherboards are expected to be unveiled at CES 2025, where their detailed specifications, features, pricing, and availability will be revealed.
Source: wccftech
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