MSI’s B850M GAMING PLUS WIFI6E sits in the brand’s mainstream gaming line-up, aiming at compact AM5 builds that still want modern connectivity. It’s a direct rival to boards like ASUS TUF and Gigabyte AORUS mATX options, trading premium extras for a sensible feature set that suits Ryzen 7000, 8000 and 9000 CPUs.

Who is this for?

Pick it if you want a smaller mATX PC with strong upgrade headroom. DDR5 support matters if you’re chasing higher frame rates in CPU-limited games, and MSI’s “Memory Boost” focus is geared towards stable high-speed kits (overclocking depends on your CPU and RAM). You get a full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot for current GPUs, plus an M.2 Gen5 slot if you plan to move to faster NVMe storage later, even if today’s Gen4 drives are already quick for most loads.

• WiFi 6E, useful for cleaner 6GHz wireless in busy homes
• mATX layout, better for compact cases without going ITX