MSI MPG B850I EDGE TI WiFi Motherboard Review

The MSI EDGE series of motherboards is designed to strike a balance between aesthetic and performance, showcasing a solid design while offering gamers and enthusiasts solid hardware and connectivity options to build an excellent PC. The B850I EDGE TI WiFi hits the brief exactly, featuring a luxury white PCB and heatsinks, geared towards those looking to build a lighter-themed PC, with plenty of blazing-fast expansion and connectivity options, all in a compact form factor.

In this motherboard review article, we’ll be taking a look at the MSI MPG B850I EDGE TI WiFi, doing a deep dive into the specifications, box accessories, design, along with its full suite of ports, slots and features to see what’s on offer. If you’re looking to assemble a high-performance gaming PC within a small form factor chassis, this review will help you decide if the B850I EDGE Ti WiFi is a worthwhile purchase for your new build.

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Specification

Despite its size, on paper, the B850I EDGE TI WiFi is a solid motherboard. Mini-ITX boards are obviously limited by their size and overall PCB space, so it’s great to see that there’s plenty of premium expansion and connectivity on offer straight off the bat. Starting off, the B850I EDGE TI WiFi supports a max of 256GB of DDR5 RAM at a max frequency of 8200MT/s. This is a standard on most modern motherboards, with 8000MT/s or higher, being fairly common.

For VRM power, the B850I EDGE TI WiFi is equipped with an 8+2+1 power phase configuration. On smaller boards, the number of power phases tends to be lower, as there are fewer slots and headers on the PCB to power. However, MSI ensures high-quality components and ample cooling with a chunky heatsink to minimise throttling. Regardless, this board has more than enough power to handle a Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 9 processor without issue.

Expansion-wise, again, the limiting factor here is the form factor. Despite this, MSI has fitted the MPG B850I EDGE TI WiFi with a single x16 Gen5 slot for your graphics card, allowing you to install one of the latest RTX 5000-series NVIDIA cards. Below this is a blazing-fast Gen5 M.2 SSD slot, supporting the 2280 form factor. The additional Gen4 M.2 slot is located on the back of the board, providing some extra storage space for those who need it.

Moving on to the front USBs, there are: one USB 2.0 header, one USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A header, and one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C. This is fairly standard across most motherboards, including larger form factors such as Micro-ATX and ATX. Most manufacturers provide four headers as standard, with each header supporting a total of two ports. It’s a shame to see that the USB-C port isn’t USB 20G or USB4, but given the $250 price point of this board, this isn’t a deal-breaker.

On the rear, there are a total of six ports, all of which are high-speed, with no USB 2.0 ports in sight. I’m pleased to see multiple high-speed ports, but the number of ports available here is disappointing, which will be a drawback for those with numerous peripherals. Next to the USB ports is a relatively basic audio configuration, featuring two 3.5mm jacks (input and output) and an optical S/PDIF port. This isn’t overwhelmingly impressive, but it’s great that gamers with speakers have access to S/PDIF. For networking, you have access to 5 Gigabit LAN or WiFi 7, which are ideal for those with a decent home networking setup.

What’s in the Box?

All modern motherboards on the market come with additional accessories and gadgets for you to utilise, whether it’s the antennas needed to extend your WiFi and Bluetooth signal, or extras like SATA cables, M.2 screws, or a USB for your drivers. In this section, we’ll take a look at what the B850I EDGE TI WiFi has in its box to aid you during your building process.

First off is the WiFi 7 antenna. Most motherboard manufacturers tend to standardise the look and design of the antenna based on how premium the motherboard is, so some will look different from others. The one that comes with the B850I EDGE TI WiFi is particularly notable, as it is white (a nice touch) and separates into two parts: the antenna and the stand. This uses the “EZ” snap-in style connectors, saving you from having to screw them in, which makes it easy to remove or install.

Underneath this is the MSI EZ Front panel cable. This acts as an extension for the JFP1 header, which needs to be plugged in for you to use the power button on your case. This can be handy to use if your case uses small individual pin headers, rather than a larger overall header for the entirety of JFP1.

There is a small bag underneath this with some M.2 screws. These will be required for both of the M.2 slots on this motherboard as neither of them are tool-less.

MSI includes some SATA data cables for those with 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA-based drives. While these aren’t used as heavily anymore, it can be helpful to have spare SATA data cables on hand if you’re upgrading from an older PC build.

The last included cable is MSI’s JAF connector. This is particularly handy if you have other modern MSI components, such as their CoreLiquid P13 cooler, as it combines PWM fan control and addressable RGB into one, freeing up some space on your motherboard.

MSI MPG B850I EDGE TI WiFi Design

As Mini-ITX motherboards go, the B850I EDGE TI WiFi offers a sleek design. The entire PCB is coated in a white-grey colour, making it a solid choice for a white-themed PC build. MSI has also colour-coded the heatsinks on the rear IO and on top of the Gen5 M.2 slot to match the PCB, which I appreciate.

MSI hasn’t gone too heavy on the livery; there’s some ‘EDGE’ theming on the M.2 heatsink, but generally speaking, this board has a more minimalist theme, which is great to see. There are far too many boards on the market that look quite edgy and have a bit of a chaotic style, but I like that the B850I EDGE TI WiFi is a bit simpler.

My only major gripe with the design is the use of black across the RAM DIMMs and some of the power connectors. If you’re going to manufacture a white motherboard, it always makes sense to me to go big or go home, and make the entire board white, which includes the plastic connectors and slots. I imagine some gamers will appreciate the contrast, but I think it just cheapens the aesthetic.

The Gigabyte B850 AORUS ELITE WiFi7 ICE is a prime example of what a good white motherboard looks like, and MSI could take a leaf out of Gigabyte’s book for some inspiration. However, to summarise, I think the black is fine. I would appreciate an entirely white motherboard, but the black isn’t a deal-breaker and generally the B850I EDGE TI WiFi offers a luxury design.

Connectivity Options

Graphics Card Slots

Shifting over to expansion, as this is a Mini-ITX board, the smaller PCB means you’re limited to the number of physical slots that can be fitted onto the board, which means MSI has to cram as much as possible into a relatively tight space. Despite this limiting factor, the B850I EDGE TI WiFi comes with a Gen5 x16 slot, running at the full x16 speed. This is the only GPU slot on the motherboard, which is a downside for those with additional expansion cards.

The slot itself isn’t tool-less. It features a standard PCI-E latch, which will lock the card in place once it is seated correctly. The actual latching mechanism is quite large and shouldn’t be too hard to reach if you’re uninstalling or reinstalling a graphics card.

M.2 Slots

This board features a total of two M.2 slots. The primary slot, located just above the graphics card, features a dedicated heatsink and fan, supporting Gen5 x4 bandwidth. This allows gamers to install the latest Gen5 SSDs, such as the Samsung 9100 Pro. Alternatively, the slot is backwards compatible, so if you’re looking for cheaper storage, a device like the Crucial P310 is also fully compatible within this slot.

Unfortunately, neither of the M.2 slots is tool-less, requiring you to loosen two screws on the primary slot, or to install one of the spares found in the box on the rear of the motherboard. It’s a shame to see fewer tool-less features, but realistically, this will only add a couple of minutes to your total build time.

RAM DIMMs

For the RAM, the MSI MPG B850I EDGE TI WIFI features two DDR5 DIMM slots, supporting a maximum of 256GB up to 8200MT/s speeds. While this board can support 256GB, at the time of writing, commercially available single 128GB DIMMs aren’t readily available at decent latencies (i.e., CL36 and below). Therefore, most gamers will be limited to 192GB at most, which will likely be overkill for most systems.

Rear IO

The available rear IO on this motherboard is where I think MSI could improve. There are a total of six ports: two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, three USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, and one USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C. While I like that USB 2.0 hasn’t appeared, six ports aren’t a considerable amount. If you have a USB mouse, keyboard, headset, and microphone, that’s four ports immediately gone, which means you may have to switch between them depending on the extra peripherals you have. At a minimum, I think there should be eight ports, with a couple of additional USB 2.0 ports being preferable to none.

Next to the USB ports, you’ll find a 5 Gigabit LAN port, WiFi 7 connectors, and a basic audio suite. The 5 Gigabit LAN is a nice touch, as it’s fairly common for most boards to feature 2.5 Gigabit as standard. For those with a more robust internet setup, you’ll be able to take advantage of the higher speeds.

Internal Headers

CPU and Motherboard Power

Taking a look at the internal headers, the MPG B850I EDGE TI WiFi offers a pretty basic power configuration. The EDGE TI WiFi isn’t explicitly geared towards overclocking, and because it has fewer VRM power phases, it doesn’t require as much power compared to more performance-focused boards, such as those on the X870E chipset. At the top left of the PCB is a standard 8-pin EPS CPU connector. Again, it’s no surprise to see the one connector based on the power requirements of this motherboard.

On the right side of the PCB is a 24-pin connector. This is a universal standard across Intel and AMD motherboards, and because this board isn’t as beefy, there’s no additional 6-pin PCI-E header either.

Front USB Headers

As we’ve addressed in the specs section, the MSI MPG B850I EDGE TI WiFi is equipped with a pretty standard set of front USB headers. There are three headers in total: one USB 2.0, one USB 3.2 Gen1, and one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C. The USB header is located just to the left of the SSD heatsink, which might make it a bit of a struggle to plug in once installed in a case.

The other two sit towards the bottom-right of the PCB. The USB 2.0 and USB 3.2 Gen1 headers support two ports each, while the USB-C is limited to one. Ultimately, the ports available to you will be entirely limited to your case, so it’s worth checking the case manufacturer’s website beforehand.

Pump and Fan Headers

Due to the size of this motherboard, MSI has relocated the PWM headers to the right side of the board, so they will not be located in their typical spots, which are usually at the top of the PCB. The CPU_Fan and Pump_Fan headers sit just above the motherboard power connector, with CPU_Fan coloured in black to distinguish it from the AIO pump header.

Right of the SSD heatsink is Sys_Fan1. Three PWM headers will be pretty limiting, especially if your case doesn’t have a hub. If you have plenty of fans within your case, it may be worth investing in splitters to ensure you can plug everything in.

RGB Headers

RGB support is where the B850I EDGE TI WiFi is at a disadvantage compared to most motherboards. At the bottom right of the PCB is a single 3-pin 5V addressable RGB header. This means builders with multiple RGB components that aren’t daisy-chainable will need to use splitters. The JAF header does provide some additional support for PWM and RGB control, which is a handy feature. Still, it’s disappointing that there aren’t any more dedicated spots for addressable RGB across the board.

Features We Like

EZ Debug LED Troubleshooting

Despite this being a smaller motherboard, MSI haven’t cut corners when it comes to troubleshooting. At the top of the board is a small set of debug LEDs, which will cycle on and off during the boot process. These lights allow us to identify hardware issues when problems arise, so it’s great to see their inclusion, even on this small form factor board.

BIOS Flashback and Clear CMOS

On the rear IO are BIOS Flashback and Clear CMOS buttons. These are also incredibly handy to use during the troubleshooting process, and can often provide a quick fix for problems you face during booting.

Features We Don’t Like

No Tool-Less Features

Unfortunately, one of the most significant downsides of the MSI MPG B850I EDGE TI WiFi is its lack of tool-less anything. Installing or uninstalling an SSD requires screws, and the graphics card slot doesn’t have a dedicated button to lower the latch. While the lack of these features won’t be a deal-breaker for everyone, it makes the board feel less premium despite its hefty price tag.

Lacklustre Number of USB Ports

On the rear IO are a total of six ports. While I appreciate that they’re all high-speed, it feels a bit cheap not to have more than six, considering this is a premium motherboard. I’m not expecting to see twelve or thirteen like we do on some larger boards, but a few extras here would be great for gamers with plenty of peripherals.

Conclusion