MSI MEG B550 UNIFY Motherboard Review

How Much Does it Cost?

Currently coming in at £179.99 on Amazon UK, the MSI MEG B550 UNIFY is one hell of a motherboard. Its all-black aesthetic is absolutely beautiful to look at, and the plethora of features it has is going to more than enough for most anyone. For the price, you are getting a top of the range model for what the B550 chipset has to offer. Now, this also puts it in the price range for lower end X570 based motherboards which is a bit strange really. B550 is supposed to be the more budget-friendly chipset, but MSI seems to have pushed its limits and have a real contender here for your next Ryzen based motherboard.

Overview

Looking like it will likely be one of the top B550 board on the market, MSI’s MEG B550 UNIFY makes a good argument to be your next Ryzen based motherboard. Coming with quad M.2 slots, plenty of which are Gen4, it is looking to make the most from Ryzen processors and really push the B550 chipset to its limits. If overclocking is your thing, then this is definitely a board worth checking out. Although it is the B550 chipset, MSI has really gone above and beyond and this is not your average budget chipset board.

Build Quality & Design

This is MSI’s top of the range B550 board, so you can be sure the quality and design are there. MSI has gone with a 6-layer PCB design and a 90A Power Stage to get things started. Throw in some massive VRM coolers and M.2 Shield Frozr cooling on all the M.2 drives, and it is easy to see why the MEG UNIFY boards are top of the range from MSI. The MEG B550 UNIFY also has a sleek black aesthetic that is going to allow it to fit in with

Performance

The performance is on par with all of the B550 boards we have tested. However, while we didn’t get to fully test this, where it will really stick out is its overclocking performance. This board is designed to be pushed to the limits of literally catching on fire and making sure all your other components can be pushed just as far as well. Knowing MSI, do not doubt that this board can help push your hardware further than most would think! However, as mentioned I didn’t get to test that so as far as the normal performance goes, this board is right on par with everything else and will not let you down.

Added Value

For a B550 board, the MSI MEG B550 UNIFY has some good features that can be considered as added value. For starters, it comes with four M.2 slots, three of which are Gen4 which is amazing, meaning everyone will be able to get all the speed from their storage with ease. It also comes with its own and very unique test bench. While this won’t be for everyone, it is definitely a pretty cool thing to have included in the box! It’s also really easy to set up and get to making use of it, and as we saw in the images, you can even mount a fan to the underside for a bit of extra cooling.

Should I Buy One?

If you are in the market for a new motherboard and are considering either an X570 or B550 based board, then yes, the MSI MEG B550 UNIFY is a great choice. It offers a great middle grounds between the X570 and B550 chipsets and has absolutely loads of overclocking headroom. It also comes with four M.2 slots, three of which are Gen4, so you are going to have plenty of lightning-fast storage to keep up with all your overclocked components. This is a really solid motherboard that is going to take your new Ryzen CPU to its limits, and the fact that there is;t an RGB LED insight is just a bonus if you ask me!