# MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E

Source: https://www.ranked10.co.uk/tech/best-gaming-motherboard/msi-b850-gaming-plus-wifi6e
Ranked #2 in "Best Gaming Motherboard 2026: 10 Ranked": https://www.ranked10.co.uk/tech/best-gaming-motherboard

- Price: £124.70 (checked on Amazon UK on 2026-10-10)
- Amazon rating: 4.5 from 431 ratings
- Buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B096Y1H9VR?tag=ranked10-21

## Is the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E worth buying?

Yes, the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E is worth buying at £124.70 if you are building a new AMD gaming PC on socket AM5, because it takes a Ryzen 9000, 8000 or 7000 processor, holds 256 GB of DDR5 and carries a Gen5 M.2 slot, all for less than the £127.99 ASUS TUF Gaming B650-Plus WiFi. Its 4.5 rating from 431 owners is the second-best buyer record in its price band.

It suits the builder who wants the newest storage and wireless without paying £144.98 for Wi-Fi 7 and a 5 Gbps LAN port. Skip it if the graphics card you plan to keep for years is a PCIe 5.0 model, because this board's main slot runs PCIe 4.0 at 64 GB/s. Skip it too if your case is micro-ATX, where the £115.00 MSI B850M Gaming Plus WiFi6E does the same job in a smaller footprint.

## What do 12 power stages at £10.39 each mean in use?

The MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E feeds the processor through a 12 Duet Rail Power System (P-PAK) with Core Boost, and at £124.70 that works out to £10.39 a stage. Each of those stages shares the current a Ryzen pulls when it boosts, so twelve of them hold a Ryzen 7 comfortably through a long session and give a 16-core Ryzen 9 a reasonable, if not extravagant, margin.

Put next to it the £127.99 ASUS TUF Gaming B650-Plus WiFi, which spreads its price over 14 stages at £9.14 each, and you see the trade this board makes: it charges £1.25 more per stage and £3.29 less overall, spending the difference on a 256 GB memory ceiling rather than on more phases. The cooling built around those stages supports the claim, with 7W/mK MOSFET thermal pads, extra choke thermal pads, an extended heatsink and a chipset heatsink.

## What comes in the box and what is it like to build with?

The board arrives as a single ATX unit weighing 1.63 kg, and it comes with a 3 year manufacturer warranty. It takes a standard 24-pin main power connector, so any ATX power supply will feed it, and the processor, memory, cooler and graphics card all come separately, as with every board here.

Building around it is straightforward. Storage expands through one M.2 Gen5 x4 slot at 128 Gbps and one M.2 Gen4 x4 slot at 64 Gbps, both covered by M.2 Shield Frozr to stop a fast SSD throttling, plus six SATA ports for older drives. EZ M.2 Clip II saves you a screwdriver on the SSD, and a combo-fan header rated at 3A runs a pump and a case fan from one point on the board.

## Where does the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E fall short?

Its main expansion slot runs PCIe 4.0 x16 at 64 GB/s, and that is the compromise you accept for the price. A PCIe 5.0 graphics card works perfectly well there, just at half the link speed the newer slot offers, and there is only one PCIe slot in total, so a capture card or sound card has to go elsewhere or wait.

Networking is the second gap. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 cover online play fine, but the £144.98 MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi adds Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, a 5 Gbps LAN port and a third M.2 connector for £20.28 more. Back-panel ports stop at USB 10Gbps Type-C, so a 20 Gbps or 40 Gbps external dock will not run at full speed here.

## How does it compare with the ASUS TUF Gaming B650-Plus WiFi and the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi?

Against the £127.99 ASUS TUF Gaming B650-Plus WiFi, the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E is £3.29 cheaper and lifts the memory ceiling from 128 GB to 256 GB, while giving up two power stages and paying £1.25 more for each one it keeps. Choose this board if you want headroom for four large DDR5 modules; choose the ASUS if the processor is the priority and you want the most stages per pound.

Against the £144.98 MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi, the two boards share the same 12-stage power design and the same DDR5 speeds, and the dearer one adds £20.28 of PCIe 5.0 x16, Wi-Fi 7, 5 Gbps Ethernet and a third M.2 slot. Buy the cheaper one unless you plan a PCIe 5.0 graphics card or a 10 Gigabit home network.

## Specification

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Listing title | MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI6E Motherboard, ATX - Supports AMD Ryzen 9000/8000 / 7000 Processors, AM5 - DDR5 Memory Boost 8200+ MT/s (OC), PCIe 4.0 x16, M.2 Gen5, Wi-Fi 6E, 2.5G LAN |
| Brand | MSI |
| CPU socket | Socket AM5 |
| Compatible devices | Laptop, Personal Computer |
| RAM memory technology | DDR5 |
| Compatible processors | AMD Ryzen 9000, AMD Ryzen 8000, AMD Ryzen 7000 |
| Chipset type | AMD B850 |
| Memory clock speed | 8200 MHz |
| Platform | Windows |
| Model name | B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI6E |
| CPU model | Ryzen 9 |
| Processor Socket | Socket AM5 |
| Memory Storage Capacity | 256 GB |
| Ram Memory Maximum Size | 256 GB |
| Main Power Connector Type | 24-Pin |
| Graphics Card Interface | PCI Express 4.0 |
| Available Memory Slots | 4 |
| Number of Ports | 1 |
| Total SATA Ports | 6 |
| Number of Ethernet Ports | 1 |
| Total PCIe Ports | 1 |
| Chipset Family | AMD B850 |
| Model Number | 7E80-001R |
| Manufacturer | MSI Computer |
| Global Trade Identification Number | 04711377365321 |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Item Weight | 1.63 kg |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 7E80-001R |
| Product Warranty | 3 year manufacturer |
| Item Dimensions L x W x H | 15L x 15W x 10H centimetres |

## Questions people ask

**Which processors does the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E support?**

It takes AMD Ryzen 9000, Ryzen 8000 and Ryzen 7000 desktop processors on socket AM5. The AMD B850 chipset covers that range, so you can drop in a current chip today and a newer AM5 part later without changing the board.

**How much memory does the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E take?**

Four DDR5 SMT DIMM slots hold up to 256 GB, with memory speeds quoted at 8200+ MT/s when overclocked. That ceiling is double what some AM5 boards at this price allow, which matters if you plan to fill all four slots rather than two.

**Does the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E have a PCIe 5.0 graphics card slot?**

No. Its x16 slot runs PCIe 4.0 at 64 GB/s with Steel Armor reinforcement, so a PCIe 5.0 card works there at half its link speed. The Gen5 connection on this board is reserved for storage, at 128 Gbps on the M.2 slot.

**How many drives can the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E hold?**

Two M.2 SSDs and six SATA drives, for eight in total. The M.2 slots are one Gen5 x4 at 128 Gbps and one Gen4 x4 at 64 Gbps, both with M.2 Shield Frozr, and EZ M.2 Clip II means no screwdriver for the SSD.

**What is the warranty on the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E?**

MSI covers it with a 3 year manufacturer warranty. The board weighs 1.63 kg and takes a standard 24-pin main power connector from any ATX power supply.

**Is the MSI B850 Gaming Plus WiFi6E good for a Ryzen 9 build?**

Yes, with a caveat. Its 12 duet rail power stages at £10.39 each handle a Ryzen 9 through gaming sessions, but the £189.00 ASUS TUF Gaming B850-Plus WiFi offers 17 stages rated at 80A each for sustained multi-core work. Buy this one for a gaming-first build.