MSI MPG B560I GAMING EDGE WIFI Motherboard Review

How Much Does it Cost?

Coming in at £149.99 from SCAN.co.uk or AMAZON UK at the time of the review, the B560I GAMING EDGE WIFI is much cheaper than the Z590 ITX options. This price is going to be really intriguing and will help people more easily chose a B560 board over the more expensive Z590 chipset.

Overview

The MSI B560I GAMING EDGE WIFI motherboard is a more affordable ITX option for those looking to upgrade to Intel’s new 11th Gen of CPUs. Coming with most of the main features we have seen from Z590, the B560 chipset is looking to make its mark on the market. MSI has gone with dual M.2 drive slots, four SATA slots, plenty of USB options and more to make sure you are getting the most from your new hardware. The price is only going to make the deal that much sweeter and will ultimately be what persuades people to go with B560 over Z590.

Build Quality & Design

Considering that B560 is a watered-down and more budget-friendly version of Z590, MSI has still made sure the B560I GAMING EDGE WIFI is built with quality in mind and designed to make the most of your hardware. This board still sees good quality heatsinks, plenty of power phases for its form factor and a similar PCB to that of the more expensive boards. While it may not have quite as many ports and connections as the more expensive Z590 boards, it has more than enough for the average user.

Performance

This is where I was blown away! The performance of this B560I GAMING EDGE WIFI is on par with most other boards, even Z590 alternatives, when running default BIOS with a 11900K CPU. This is amazing to see as it is almost half the price of the Z590 ITX boards. While it may not have all the bells and whistles as seen on Z590, we still have WiFI 6e, PCIe 4.0 and USB3.2 Gen 2 ports so it is definitely making some advancements over the previous versions.

Added Value

The B560 chipset is designed to be a more budget-friendly alternative to the Z590 chipset, and as such, this adds value to itself overall. We still see most of the main features we would want from Z590. However, in a much more affordable manner. The small form factor of the B560I GAMING EDGE WIFI and similar performance to that of the Z590 motherboards make it an absolute no brainer as far as overall price and value are concerned.

Should I Buy One?

Most people looking into an ITX board will be happy with something like this. While it may not be as feature-rich as the Z590 alternative, it still offers amazing performance. Many ITX users are not looking to overclock or really push their hardware too far; rather they get things up and running in a smaller space. If you like smaller builds or are looking for something for your next HTPC, then yes, this is definitely worth buying. If you are just going to plug and play and don’t need the extra features and ports brought to you by the Z590 chipset, the B560I GAMING EDGE WIFI is a solid choice!