The MSI MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI is an AMD B850 motherboard in the micro ATX form factor that gives even higher-end AMD X870E and X870 motherboards a run for their money, all thanks to the board's lengthy list of premium features.

AMD first introduced its “Zen 5” Ryzen 9000 series of processors back in August 2024, followed by the high-end X870E and X870 chipsets for the AM5 platform in end-September 2024. Team Red’s mid-range and entry-level 800-series chipsets, in the form of the B850 and the B840, then burst onto the scene in January 2025, and this was followed by the introduction of the brand's successful 9000X3D line-up of gaming processors, first with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D in November 2024, and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and 9950X3D in March 2025.

Since then, AMD can be considered the undisputed leader in the CPU market as of April 2025, given the superior performance of their processor offerings (especially in the gaming department) over Intel's Core Ultra 200 series product line-up. With that in mind, if you're in the market for an AM5 motherboard for your upcoming Ryzen 9000 PC build in the micro ATX form factor, the new MSI MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI will be of interest to you. Packing premium features such as a decent VRM setup, PCIe 5.0 support for a graphics card and two M.2 drives, 5 Gigabit Ethernet and WIFI 7 support, a premium audio codec as well as a laundry list of quality-of-life features such as EZ PCIe Release and so on, read on to learn more about this motherboard!

Summary of Specifications

Processor Support: AMD Ryzen 9000/8000/7000 series processors
Chipset: AMD B850
Memory: 4x DDR5 slots, max 256GB, up to DDR5 8200 support (as of April 2025)
Audio: Realtek ALC4080 audio codec
LAN: Realtek RTL8126-VB 5 Gigabit Ethernet
WIFI: Qualcomm QCNCM865 WIFI 7 module with built-in Bluetooth 5.4
Expansion Slots: 1x PCIe 5.0 x16, 1x PCIe 4.0 x4
Storage: 4x SATA III, 2x PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2, 1x PCIe 4.0 x2 M.2 (M.2 slots support NVMe drives only)
Form Factor: Micro ATX
Official Product Page: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B850M-MORTAR-WIFI

Do note that PCIe 5.0 is supported only when a Ryzen 9000 or Ryzen 7000 series CPU is installed on this motherboard - Ryzen 8000 APUs only support the PCIe 4.0 standard.

Packaging & Contents

The MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI comes in a grey box with lime green accents, where we get the usual summary of specs on the rear of the box.

The board comes with the following accessories:

• WIFI antenna
• 1x SATA III cable
• 1x EZ Front Panel cable
• 1x 1-to-2 EZ Conn-cable (V1)
• 2x EZ M.2 Clip II attachments
• 1x EZ M.2 Clip II remover tool
• 1x M.2 drive screw
• Quick installation guide
• Regulatory information leaflet
• MSI survey leaflet
• Sheet of MSI stickers

Visuals on the above accessories can be found in the overview video for this motherboard, which is embedded at the top of this article. A noteworthy accessory to highlight is the 1-to-2 EZ-Conn cable, which forms part of a new MSI specific-feature called EZ Conn. EZ Conn allows end-users to connect an addressable RGB device and a fan to a single proprietary EZ Conn header on the motherboard, where MSI's intention is to simplify the hardware setup process. EZ Conn will be covered in more detail under the "Special Features" section of this article.

Board Aesthetics

In the aesthetics department, MSI has gone for a relatively clean appearance with a black-coloured PCB, an integrated I/O shield design and black heatsinks all around that feature lime green accents for a nice pop of colour. Two of the board's M.2 slots share a common heatsink, and the AMD B850 chipset is cooled by a rectangular passive heatsink. Fans of RGB lighting effects might be disappointed to note that the board does not come with any onboard RGB LEDs, though it does of course come with an assortment of RGB headers.

Over on the rear of the motherboard, we get a "case standoff keep out zone" marking, which serves as a warning not to install unneeded motherboard standoffs within your PC case, which could otherwise scratch the board. In addition, MSI has also included protective paint around the motherboard's screw holes so as to protect the PCB against scratches during installation, which is a nice touch.

VRM & Memory Support

The MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI comes with decently-sized VRM heatsinks, and sports 12+2+1 teamed power stages with 60A power phases.

The board also comes with four DDR5 slots that feature a single-tabbed design - as of the time of writing this article, MSI touts support for up to a maximum of 256GBs of RAM and the DDR5 8200 standard.

Front Panel USB Headers

For front panel USB connectivity, the MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI comes with a USB 10Gbps Type-C front panel header, which is located near the EZ PCIe Release button as indicated above.

Along the bottom edge of the board, we get a single USB 5Gbps Type-A front panel header that provides support for up to two USB 5Gbps Type-A ports, as well as two USB 2.0 front panel headers, with each said header providing support for two front panel USB 2.0 Type-A ports, for a total of four ports.

Expansion Slots & Storage Options

For your graphics card needs, the B850M MORTAR WIFI comes with a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, where the said slot features MSI's Steel Armour II design that helps reinforce the slot for use with heavy graphics cards.

As can be seen from the photos above, the PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for a graphics card comes with the EZ PCIe Release feature, which helps make removing a graphics card from the motherboard a breeze. To undo the latch, simply press down on the button pictured above - there's even a little window with a lock motif that indicates whether the latch is locked in place or not!

MSI's also included a single PCIe 4.0 x4 slot, as pictured above.

For your storage connectivity needs, MSI's included four SATA III ports, with all ports in a right-angled configuration to aid with cable management.

The board also comes with three M.2 slots, which is a pleasant surprise, seeing as micro ATX boards tend to come with just two M.2 slots owing to space limitations. Two slots can be found on the front side of the motherboard, where these said slots support the PCIe 5.0 x4 standard, while the third slot supports the PCIe 4.0 x2 standard, and can be found on the rear of the motherboard. Do note that these three slots support NVMe drives only, M.2 SATA drives are not supported.

In addition, PCIe 5.0 is only supported when one has a Ryzen 9000 series or Ryzen 7000 series processor installed – the Ryzen 8000 series of APUs only support the PCIe 4.0 standard.

As can be seen, the B850M MORTAR WIFI comes with a single shared heatsink for the two Gen 5 M.2 slots, where it features a tool-less design called EZ M.2 Shield Frozr II that makes removing and installing the said heatsink a painless process. All one's got to do is to press down on a button located at the side of the heatsink, and lift the heatsink away from the board. Reinstalling the heatsink is a breeze too, which involves simply sliding it back into place and pressing down on it, until the latch mechanism catches in place with an audible click.

A quality-of-life feature that the board's PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slots have is EZ M.2 Clip II, which is a spring-loaded standoff device that makes installing and removing a M.2 drive a tool-less affair. Simply insert the M.2 drive into the slot and push the drive into place - the EZ M.2 Clip II will snap into place and secure the said M.2 drive.

Do note though that with the MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI in particular, the EZ M.2 Clip II can only be used with M.2 drives in the 2260 form factor - this is because the preinstalled backplates for 2280 form-factored drives use a traditional latch mechanism to hold a 2280 M.2 drive in place. To install a M.2 drive in the 2260 form factor, you'll have to remove the preinstalled backplate first, and install the EZ M.2 Clip II device using the included EZ M.2 Clip remover tool.

Audio & Internet Connectivity

As a mainstream motherboard offering, it's a welcome surprise to see a premium Realtek ALC4080 audio codec powering the MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI's audio experience. To sweeten the deal, we even get 5 Gigabit Ethernet support courtesy of a Realtek RTL8126-VB chip, and WIFI7 connectivity care of a Qualcomm QCNCM865 module. The said Qualcomm module supports the 320 MHz channel width, and also serves up Bluetooth 5.4 support.

Fan & RGB Headers

The MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI comes with six fan headers:

• 1x CPU_FAN1
• 1x PUMP_SYS1
• 4x SYS_FAN

Also included are three Gen2 addressable RGB headers and a single 12V RGB header.

Other Features

Kicking off this section on special features is a Tuning Controller header found along the bottom edge of the board. The said header is to be used with an optional MSI Tuning Controller device, which does not come included with the motherboard.

As mentioned earlier, EZ Conn (JAF_1) is a new MSI-specific connector, and it allows end-users to easily connect MSI's next-generation aRGB fans to the motherboard with just one onboard connector. For end-users who do not have such MSI aRGB fans, the EZ Conn header can still be used with non-MSI devices via the included 1-to-2 EZ Conn-cable included with the motherboard, which as can be seen in the photo above, comes with an addressable RGB header and a four-pin fan header.

Do note that MSI has a higher-end variant of the EZ Conn connector (JAF_2) that supports the 1-to-3 EZ Conn-Cable - the said cable comes with an addressable RGB connector, a USB 2.0 connector and a 4-pin fan header, and is found on MSI's higher-end motherboard offerings.

Right next to the EZ-Conn header is an 8-pin supplemental PCIe power connector (PCIE_PWR1), where the said connector provides for an additional source of juice for the power-hungry flagship GPUs of tomorrow. According to MSI, the said connector can supply up to 252W of supplemental power.

Moving on, we get a Safe Boot Jumper (JOCFS1) that when enabled, forces the system to boot with default BIOS settings and a lower PCIe link speed from the CPU, a Chassis Intrusion Header (JCI1) as well as a Clear CMOS header (JBAT1).

Moving to the area right above the PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, we see that MSI's also included a TPM header (JTPM1) for an optional TPM module.

Rounding off this section on special features are a set of EZ DEBUG LEDs that can help end-users troubleshoot PC startup issues.

Rear I/O

The MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI comes with an integrated I/O shield design, where the board comes with the following rear I/O ports:

• Flash BIOS button
• Clear CMOS button
• 1x HDMI 2.1 port (supports up to 8K resolution at 60 Hz)
• 3x USB 10Gbps Type-A ports
• 1x 5 Gigabit Ethernet port
• 1x USB 10Gbps Type-C port
• 4x USB 5Gbps Type-A ports
• 1x USB 20Gbps Type-C port
• MSI WIFI EZ Antenna connectors
• Audio jack connectors

The Flash BIOS feature allows end-users to update the motherboard's BIOS without needing to install a processor, RAM and graphics card.

Conclusion

To sum up, the MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI comes across as a pretty decent motherboard offering that's targeted at end-users who are looking to build a higher-end AMD AM5 PC in the micro ATX form factor. The board sports a VRM setup that should handle high-end Ryzen 9000 series processors with ease, PCIe 5.0 support for both a graphics card and two M.2 drives, 5 Gigabit Ethernet with built-in WIFI 7, a nice array of USB Type-C and Type-A connectivity options, along with a whole bunch of quality-of-life features such as EZ PCIe Release, EZ M.2 Clip II, and so on.

Given the specs of this board, it definitely gives AM5 motherboards with the high-end X870E and X870 chipsets a serious run for their money, especially if USB4 support (which comes as standard with X870E and X870 motherboards) is not something that you're looking for. With the B850 chipset and the MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI in particular, MSI's managed to include two PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slots (and even a PCIe 4.0 x2 M.2 slot) without any PCIe lane bifurcation shenanigans that could otherwise end up affecting your PCIe 5.0 x16 slot's bandwidth - this is something that's very common with the X870E and X870 motherboards currently available to purchase on the market. Should the MAG B850M MORTAR WIFI come with an attractive price tag too (i.e. cheaper than your typical X870 motherboard), it'd be a highly compelling option for anyone looking to build an AM5 PC in the micro ATX form factor.

Get this motherboard from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3FUiM9B (affiliate link)

ALKtech may earn commissions from qualifying purchases made using affiliate links, at no extra cost to you as a customer. These commissions go a long way in supporting the platform!

The motherboard featured in this article was a provided on loan from MSI.