Hardware

MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk & MAG B860M Mortar Motherboards Review

Hassan Mujtaba • Mar 28, 2025 at 04:15 AM EDT

• Copy Shortlink

Product Info

MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WIFI / MSI MAG B860M Mortar WIFI

2025

Type

Motherboards

Price

$229.99 / $199.99

MSI MAG B860M Mortar WIFI Unboxing & Close Up Inspection

The MSI MAG B860M Mortar motherboard comes in a standard cardboard package. The front is grey and green. The packaging also lists features such as 5G LAN, WIFI7, Core Ultra Series 2 CPU support, and the B860 chipset.

The backside of the package lists the specifications and special features of the motherboard such as the 12-phase DUET VRM, EZ M.2/PCIe design, Lightning Gen5 slots, Thunderbolt 4, WIFI7, and 5G LAN, EZ PCIe Release slots, EZ M.2 Shield Frozr II slots, and Triple M.2 connectors.

Inside the package is another box that contains the accessories and is located right below the box holder for the board itself. You get:

Quick Installation Guide
European Union Regulatory Notice
Shout out Flyer
1 x SATA Cable
EZ M.2 Clips II
EZ M.2 Clip II Remover
EZ Wi-Fi Antenna
1 to 2 EZ Conn-Cable (V1)
EZ Front Panel Cable

With all the accessories done, it's time to put that box aside and take the motherboard out of its package. The MSI MAG B860M Mortar motherboard is an M-ATX offering that measures 243.84 x 243.84 mm. The motherboard carries an all-black color scheme with a few lime green accents. The Tomahawk is part of the MSI MAG "MSI Arsenal Gaming" lineup which is aimed at mainstream audiences.

The board uses the LGA 1851 socket to support Intel Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake" processors. At launch, the LGA 1851 socket will only support the Arrow Lake CPUs though we can expect a brand new family in the coming years.

Next to the socket are four DDR5 DIMM slots that can support up to 256 GB of dual-channel (24/48/64 GB modules) memory.

These slots are rated to support XMP profiles up to 9200 MT/s (OC Plus). Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation. DDR5 memory comes with a different latch position so forcing a DDR4 module into a DDR5 slot will cause permanent damage. Each slot is also combined with a reinforced design to make sure signal integrity remains good while keeping the slots durable for long-term usage.

The full QVL list can be found here. The motherboard supports 5600 MT/s natively and 6400 MT/s for Arrow Lake K CPUs. The 9200 MT/s apply to 1DCP (1 Rank) configurations.

The MSI MAG B860M Mortar motherboard features a 12+1+1+1 (VCore/ VccGT/VccAUX) phase DUET VRM power delivery. The power stages are rated at 60A. The board comes equipped with a BCLK generator. The VRMs and power delivery solution are scattered around the LGA 1851 socket. The board uses a 6-layer NPG-170D server-grade PCB with 2oz Thickened copper in a low-loss design, retaining signal integrity for stable CPU and memory operations.

The VRMs receive ample cooling from the Frozr heatsinks which come with an extended design.

The CPU is supplied power through an 8+8 pin power connector configuration. This will feed the CPU with up to 600 Watts of power. Intel's Arrow Lake "Core Ultra 200S" Desktop CPUs can sip up to 250W of power by default.

Coming to the cooling solution, the Extended Frozr heatsink features two aluminum blocks. Underneath the VRM heatsink are 7W/mK Thermal pads which transfer heat from the VRMs to the heatsink.

Expansion slots include two full-length PCI Express x16 (1 x Gen 5.0 x16 / 1 x Gen 4.0 x4), and three M.2 slots. The third PCIe slot will run at x2 speeds if the second PCIe slot is populated.

1x PCI-E x16 slot
1x PCI-E x4 slot
PCI_E1 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x16 (From CPU)
PCI_E2 Gen PCIe 4.0 supports up to x4 (From Chipset)

The motherboard utilizes a full metallic slot which makes use EZ PCIe release mechanism to make installing and removing graphics cards easy.

The motherboard also has a vast array of M.2 slots, all of which are featured under dedicated M.2 Shield Frozr heatsinks.

There are two sets of M.2 heatsinks, one of them is used for dual M.2 slots. You need to remove the plastic sticker from the thermal pads before installing a new SSD for proper heat transfer. The top Gen5 slot comes with an EZ M.2 Shield Frozr II design, making for a toolless design.

Following is the full list of M.2 ports and their details on the MSI MAG B860 Tomahawk WIFI motherboard:

3x M.2
M.2_1 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4, supports 2280/2260/2242 devices
M.2_2 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4, supports 2280/2260 devices
M.2_3 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4, supports 2280/2260 devices
4x SATA 6G

The B860 PCH is housed beneath a large heatsink with the MAG logo.

Unlike the other MSI motherboards, the Mortar doesn't feature any RGB LED accent zones but it does feature lots of RGB/ARGB headers for those who want to take RGB customization to the next level.

Storage options include four SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support 4 different storage devices at once. USB options include a total of 15 connections which include 1 USB 40 Gbps Type-C, 1 USB 10 Gbps Type-C, 3 USB 10 Gbps Type-A, 2 USB 5 Gbps Type-A, and 8 USB 2.0 ports.

MSI uses a 7.1 CH HD audio design with the latest Realtek ALC897 CODEC for rear panel audio. There is a large selection of connectors on the motherboard. MSI also features a dedicated 8-pin PEG connector for the PCIe slots which can provide additional juice and reduce the strain on the ATX connector.

The full list of connectors on the motherboard is listed as follows.

1x Thunderbolt5 card connector(JTBT5, support RTD3)
1x Power Connector(ATX_PWR)
2x Power Connector(CPU_PWR)
1x Power Connector(PCIE_PWR 8pin)
1x CPU Fan
1x Combo Fan (Pump_Sys Fan)
4x System Fan
1x EZ Conn-header (JAF_1)
2x Front Panel (JFP)
1x Chassis Intrusion (JCI)
1x Front Audio (JAUD)
1x Tuning Controller connector(JDASH)
3x Addressable V2 RGB LED connector (JARGB_V2)
1x RGB LED connector(JRGB)
1x TPM pin header(Support TPM 2.0)
4x USB 2.0 ports
2x USB 5Gbps Type A ports
1x USB 10Gbps Type C ports

MSI is using the latest Killer "BE1750x" WIFI 7 Module to power wireless connectivity with a 320MHz channel bandwidth and Bluetooth 5.4. In terms of Ethernet, there is a single Killer 5 GbE LAN port powered by the Intel E5000 chip.