MSI B450i Gaming Plus AC Motherboard Review

AMD launched their second generation Ryzen processor back in April and with that we got the new X470 chipset, which for one supports the new Ryzen processors right out of the gate and offers some new features like Extended Frequency Range 2 and Precision Boost 2. Just like the initial Ryzen launch the higher-end X470 motherboards came first, and now we have the budget-minded B450 boards. While we call these budget boards, they really offer quite a lot and you get pretty much the same feature-set you get with X470. If you are running a single graphics card and don’t need an abundance of USB ports one of these boards might be perfect for you and the money you save can be used towards a better graphics card or NVMe solid state drive. Today we are checking out the very small MSI B450i Gaming Plus AC motherboard, which is a mini-ITX board. Is this board perfect for your next small form factor build? Read on as we find out!

Special thanks to MSI for providing us with the B450i Gaming Plus AC Motherboard to review.

X470 vs B450
As you can see AMD’s B450 chipset is actually quite similar to X470.

am4 chipset

The only thing really different about the two chipsets is that you’ll only get a single PCIe x16 interface and fewer USB 3.1 Gen 1 and SATA ports. The important thing is that you still have the ability to overclock your processor as well as having AMD’s XFR2 and Precision Boost Overdrive. Keep in mind that overclocking is not available on Intel’s B360 chipset.

Packaging
MSI’s B450i Gaming Plus AC comes in their typical retail packaging. The front lets us know that we do indeed have the B450i Gaming Plus AC and that it is part of MSI’s Performance Gaming line.

MSI B450i Gaming Plus AC Motherboard

Flipping over to the back some of the main features are detailed like the Turbo M.2 slot, Audio Boost and EZ Debug LED. There is also a list of specifications and overview of the rear I/O connections.

MSI B450i Gaming Plus AC Motherboard

Getting everything out of the box besides the motherboard you have two SATA cables, WiFI antennas, rear I/O shield, installation guide, user’s guide, a MSI gaming case badge, and a driver and software CD.

MSI B450i Gaming Plus AC Motherboard

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