MSI B650 Gaming Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard

[SkyTerran]

I'm looking to build a new AM5 PC. I already have a Ryzen 7 9700X CPU, 4x modules DDR5 RAM (I know I'll have to run at low frequency with 4 DIMMs) and an RTX 5060 Ti. Need to choose a MB and initially I was thinking of getting a more expensive X870 board with 8 layer PCB, but came upon MSI B650 Gaming Plus WIFI - which looks like it has all the features I need for £134.99 - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...t-am5-ddr5-atx-motherboard-mot-msi-03370.html . In the Hardware Unboxed review the VRM gets hot with a 16 core Ryzen, but it should be fine with my 8 core. I don't know much about VRMs, but the basic spec of 12+2+1 looks OK.

Do you think I should go with a more expensive board, e.g. ASUS TUF GAMING X870-PLUS WiFi, or is MSI B650 Gaming Plus WIFI good enough?

 

[Tetras]

Do you think I should go with a more expensive board, e.g. ASUS TUF GAMING X870-PLUS WiFi, or is MSI B650 Gaming Plus WIFI good enough?

If it meets your needs, why not?

For me though,.. no, because:
- BIOS flash?
- No PCI-E 5.0 graphics (officially, unofficially?).
- Just 2x M.2 slots.

 

[SkyTerran]

It does have BIOS flashback - almost all B650 boards have it. It may be an AMD requirement.
All B650 boards come with only PCI-E 4.0 graphics slot. The 5 is available on B650E MBs.

This specific motherboard is a very budget offering from MSI. They went further and cut off the PCIE 5 M2 slot - the two M2 slots are both PCI-E 4.

I had a quick look on the USA amazon.com - it looks like the prices of high end X870 boards are 20% down compared to RRP - probably due to the high RAM prices few people are building high-end PCs right now. So there is a good chance the prices of motherboards may come down in the next year. I'm thinking it may be not very smart to spend a lot of money on a motherboard right now.