The B450 chipset forms the centrepiece of the MSI B450 Tomahawk motherboard and has been specially developed and optimised for 2000- series (Pinnacle Ridge) Ryzen CPUs and now with 3000 Series support. B450 motherboards support all features of 2nd gen Ryzen processors, such as the AMD's new XFR2 overclocking. Additionally, the motherboards support up to 64 GB of RAM with a guaranteed clock frequency of 2.933 MHz. Overclocking to higher frequencies is also an option, although the increase will depend on the motherboard.
The Features of the MSI B450 Tomahawk at a Glance:
- 1x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16) for high-end graphics cards
- 2x USB 3.1 (1x Type C, 1x Type A) / 4x USB 3.0 / 6x USB 2.0
- 1x M.2 slot PCIe 3.0 x4 (22110)/ 6x SATA 6G
- DDR4-RAM up to 3.466 MHz via OC
- 1x HDMI / 1x DVI-D / 1x VGA
The Features of the MSI B450 Tomahawk in Detail:
The MSI B450 Tomahawk ATX motherboard comes with one PCI-Express 3.0 slot with full x16 connectivity for graphics cards as well as a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot with x4. For additional expansion cards, the board offers three PCIe x1 slots. The four RAM slots support up to 64 GB DDR4-RAM with a clock frequency of up to 2.933 MHz and can be clocked up to 3.466 MHz via overclocking.
An M.2-slots with PCIe connectivity is available thanks to it being an AM4-based motherboard. M.2 SSDs with the advanced NVM-Express protocol (NVMe) and that are connected via four PCI-Express 3.0 lanes are up to eight times as fast as SATA 6G hard drives and support data transfer rates of up to 32 Gbit/s.
The MSI B450 Tomahawk has an I/O panel with one USB 3.1 connection with Type C connector and a USB 3.1 Type A port. The USB Type C port allows devices to be inserted in either orientation and is extremely slim. USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports enable maximum speeds of up to 10 Gbit/s per port and USB ports that use this standard generally support smartphones and tablets with quick charging. For CPUs with integrated graphics such as AMD's Raven Ridge, the board offers one HDMI- and one DVI-D port.
In terms of special features offered by the MSI B450 Tomahawk it includes red LED lighting on the chipset cooler and the right side of the motherboard. The LEDs can be connected together with other LEDs using the RGB headers and controlled via MSI's Mystic Light software. The motherboard comes with two headers for static RGB lighting elements.
Technical Details:
- Format:
ATX (305 x 244 mm) - Chipset:
AMD B450 - Socket:
AM4 (for 1st, 2nd & 3rd Generation Ryzen - RAM:
4x DDR4 (max. 2.933 MHz, 3.466 via OC)
Dual-Channel
max. 64 GB - Slots (with a Ryzen CPU):
1x PCIe 3.0 x16
1x PCIe 2.0 x16 (electrical x4)
Multi-GPU Configurations: 2-way AMD CrossFire
3x PCIe 2.0 x1 - Internal Connections:
6x SATA 6G (RAID 0, 1, 10)
1x M.2 (M-Key, PCIe 3.0 x4 with max. 32 Gbit/s, sizes 2242 up to 22110)
1x USB 3.0 Header (2 Ports)
2x USB 2.0 Header (4 Ports)
5x 4-Pin Fans(PWM)
1x 4-Pin Pump Connection
1x Front Panel Audio Connector
2x 4-Pin RGB-Header (12V, JRGB)
1x TPM Connector - External Connections:
2x USB 3.1 (1x Type A and Type C)
2x USB 3.0
2x USB 2.0
1x Gigabit LAN (Realtek)
1x DVI-D
1x HDMI
1x Flash BIOS Button
6x Audio (HD Audio, 7.1 Sound) - Power Supply:
1x 24-Pin ATX12V
1x 8-Pin ATX12V