As prices continue to surge, we welcome the arrival of budget components such as the MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi motherboard which supports Intel Core Ultra 200S processors. Or rather we welcome them in theory, but the practice looks somewhat more messy. This B860 Tomahawk has cut a bunch of features from the Z890 yet the price has barely changed, and that seems utterly bizarre.
Time stamps
00:00 Start
01:07 B860 & Z890
06:23 Pricing
07:12 B860 Features
09:31 Test System / BIOS
11:56 Cinebench 2024 Multicore
12:16 Geekbench 6 Multicore
12:35 CPU Power Consumption
13:00 Far Cry 6 1080p
13:14 Far Cry 6 1440p
13:29 Assassins Creed Mirage 1080p
13:39 Assassins Creed Mirage 1440p
13:46 Cyberpunk 2077 1080p
13:53 Cyberpunk 2077 1440p
14:03 Total War Pharaoh 1080p
14:13 Total War Pharaoh 1440p
14:24 Closing Thoughts
Key features
- Flagship VRM Design: 12+1+1+1 Duet Rail Power System – 60A Smart Power Stages.
- EZ PCIe Release:- An easy to access physical button release mechanism that can help remove any PCIe card with a single tap.
- EZ M.2 Shield Frozr II: MSI’s exclusive EZ M.2 Shield Frozr II makes M.2 installation seamless.
- Fast and Future-ready Storage: Triple M.2 connectors – 1x Gen 5 M.2 and 2x Gen 4 M.2
- Ultra Connect: Thunderbolt 4, 5G LAN and Wi-Fi 7
Specification:
Chipset: Intel B860
CPU Support: Intel Core Ultra ( Series 2) LGA 1851.
VRMs: 12+1+1+1 x60A Smart Power Stages
Monolithic Power MP29005-A controller and MPS2414 MOSFETs
Memory support:
4 DIMMs, Dual Channel DDR5, Maximum Memory Capacity 256GB
Max. overclocking frequency:
1DPC 1R Max speed up to 9200+ MT/s
1DPC 2R Max speed up to 7200+ MT/s
2DPC 1R Max speed up to 6400+ MT/s
2DPC 2R Max speed up to 5600+ MT/s
Expansion slots:
1x PCIe Gen 5.0 x16 slot
1x PCIe Gen 4.0 x4 slot
1x PCIe Gen 4.0 x1 slot
Storage:
1x M.2 Gen 5.0 x4 (from CPU)
2x M.2 Gen 4.0 x4 (from chipset)
4x SATA 6Gbps
USB support:
1x Thunderbolt 4 40Gbps Type-C
1x USB 10Gbps Type-C (Rear)
1x USB 10Gbps Type-C (Front)
4x USB 10Gbps Type-A (Rear)
2x USB 5Gbps Type-A (Front)
4x USB 2.0 (Rear)
4x USB 2.0 (Front)
Ethernet: Intel Killer E5000B 5Gbps LAN
Wireless: Intel Killer Wi-Fi 7 BE1750x, Bluetooth 5.4
Audio: Realtek ALC892 7.1-Channel Audio
PCB: 6-layer
Form Factor: ATX 244mm x 305mm
Performance and Testing
Test system
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 265K
Motherboard: MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk
Memory: 48GB G.Skill Trident Z5 CK CUDIMM DDR5-8200
CPU Cooler: MSI MAG CoreLiquid i360
Graphics card: MSI RTX 4090 Ventus 3X 24GB
Power supply: Seasonic Focus ATX3.1 GX-1000 Gold
SSD: 1TB Crucial T700 M.2 NVMe
OS: Windows 11 24H2
Cinebench 2024 Multi Core

In Cinebench 2024 Multi Core the MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi performs well and is level pegging with the much more expensive MSI MEG Z890 Ace.
Far Cry 6 at 1080p

In Far Cry 6 at 1080p the MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi performs well at 1080p but takes a small hit compared to our previous testing.
Far Cry 6 at 1440p

Stepping up to 1440p in Far Cry 6 helps the MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi. This might be due to a shift in load from the CPU to the GPU with high resolution but whatever the reason, the B860 performs well.
Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p

In Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p the B860 Tomahawk does a good job and cannot be separated from the Z890 Ace,
Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p

It is a similar story in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p as the two MSI motherboards deliver near-identical performance, regardless of the gulf in cost.
Closing Thoughts
In principle we like the idea of budget chipsets and motherboards, provided you get a reasonable set of features and a sensible approach to pricing. It is clear that MSI was thinking along these lines with the Z890 and B860 Tomahawk models as there was clear separation between the two motherboards in terms of features and price. The snag is that the Z890 Tomahawk has been discounted and that renders the B860 irrelevant.

The upshot is that the MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi is a good motherboard with loads of interesting features and a decent level of connectivity, however it is beaten in every department by MSI's own MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi. Our advice is to skip the MSI Tomahawk and instead buy the MSI Tomahawk!
You can buy the MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi for £229.99 inc VAT HERE
Pros:
- EZ DIY features make the build process easy.
- Excellent cooling on VRMs and M.2 SSDs.
- Smart styling and neat design
Cons:
- The tiny price difference between B860 and Z890 Tomahawks make no sense.
- Rear I/O panel has four USB 2.0 ports instead of USB 3 and a single Thunderbolt 4
- The idea of a budget motherboard is to save money but MSI has crammed in too many features!
KitGuru says: MAG Z890 Tomahawk offers more features than B860 for a mere £20 extra

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MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WiFi – Just buy the Z890 first appeared on
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