MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK Gaming Motherboard (AMD AM4, DDR4, PCIe 4.0, SATA 6Gb/s, M.2, USB 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI/DP, ATX, AMD Ryzen 5000 Series processors)

I bought this as a replacement for an ASRock X570 Steel Legend that I've had since they first launched back in the summer of 2019. As, it was gradually showing more signs of failure over the time that I had it in my system.First, the onboard audio stopped working. Which, I just switched over to using the audio interface that I had for recording. So, that didn't bother me TOO much. I also was noticing that games were starting to have more and more issues with micro-stutter. I did some tinkering and got it behaving a little better. But, that never fully went away. The final thing that prompted me to look for a replacement was I started having really bad lag issues while playing online games. Yes, legitimate lag. Not the "I missed my shot, the stupid server must be lagging!" type of lag. As, I'm very well aware of and openly recognize how bad I am at competitive games. This is "friend and I are in a car together, friend awkwardly crashes car into a building, I wonder why they did that, then the game suddenly snaps to us being on a completely different street and still moving" level of lag. Quite a frequent occurrence, at that.I tried a list troubleshooting steps. Driver updates for everything, lowering the games' settings, reinstalling the games, cleaning the operating system, reinstalling the operating system, adjusting settings and also resetting the router back to factory defaults, port forwarding, pestering the cable company about connection issues, different ethernet cables, etc.I figured seeing as the motherboard was already having other issues, perhaps it was drying out even further. So, I decided to start looking for replacement options. Which, being that the 7000 series processors had been out for a while, I knew that my options would be slimmer than before. At least for a NEW board. Also, pricing may not be ideal. But, reading a bunch of reviews and doing comparisons, this particular board sounded like it would be a solid choice without having to spend a lot more for the available higher end boards. I had mixed feelings about "stepping down" a notch to the B550 chipset. But, upon further consideration and reading, the performance difference was minimal. Plus, I didn't use enough of the extra features that X570 had over B550 to really be concerned about that. So, I went ahead and grabbed it.Yeah, it was a great decision to grab this board! Though there are still occasional lag quirks (which, is to be expected, honestly), there was a HUGE improvement in connection stability with games. Plus, games and the system overall feel notably smoother than before. Far less micro-stutter and things just feel more responsive, as a whole. Oh, and I have onboard sound back. Which, is cool too!But, yeah, I am VERY happy with this board! Everything about it seems to work great! And, I can't think of any major complaints. Maybe that the UEFI menu feels a little messy to navigate. But, that could just be a familiarity thing. Also, I don't use any of the "software suite" stuff that often comes with motherboards. That's just unnecessary bloat, to me. So, I can't comment on any of that stuff.I was worried that I was getting a step down from my previous board. But, that was not at all the case. A very solid choice for anyone that plays demanding games, does content creation, and/or software/game development.

I purchased the MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK motherboard for my new PC build and am absolutely delighted with its performance and features. From the moment I installed it, I knew I had made the right choice.Performance and Reliability: This motherboard is a true powerhouse, ideal for both gaming and demanding tasks. The robust VRMs ensure stable power delivery, even with overclocking, resulting in excellent CPU performance. Additionally, PCIe 4.0 support delivers impressive data transfer speeds, future-proofing my system

Excellent motherboard. Installs easily and has superb performance.I could not get the first MAG B550 Tomahawk to work, so I returned it. However, the motherboard I bought as a replacement is excellent.

This thing is amazing and well built! You can feel it in its weight, looks really nice too under the lights from the fans!

Picked this board up as a replacement for a Gigabyte AB350 Gaming 3 which died on me and It's been a smooth transition which is refreshing since this is my first MSI board, I've only used Asus, Asrock & Gigabyte in the past. My 5600X worked immediately without requiring a BIOS update though I highly recommend downloading and flashing the latest BIOS update from MSI's website as soon as you complete your setup to ensure stability. It's a very simple process and for those who are new to bios flashing, just look up a video on youtube.Overall, this is a solid motherboard and I'm satisfied with my purchase. If you like the features it offers and don't mind spending a little extra, opt-in to getting the upgraded version with WiFi.Though your mileage may vary as we all have different specs, here are the pros and cons of this mobo based on my personal experience with it:Pros:Nice features for the price point (2.5G LAN, PCIe 4.0 support, .etc)Sleek design with heatsinks that will compliment the look of any system,Two M.2 slots with protective plating, that don't disable any SATA ports like my previous board,Plenty of SATA ports & fan headers,Easy-to-use BIOS compared to other brand setupsCons:Only 6 back-end USB ports (Not a big deal, but more would be nice without the need of a hub)The on-board LED is in a weird spot. While the light is visible in my third pic as a close-up, bigger GPUs may block it almost entirely. This can be switched off manually on the board itself though. Also, to customize the LED options you have to use the MSI Center program's Mystic Light feature. I would've preferred built-in RGB settings through the bios.Did not play nice with my Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB RAM, caused BSODs multiple times with XMP both on and off, and despite working flawlessly on my old board. Currently works fine with an old 16GB 3200mhz kit though.

Always the way to go. I love MSI products. Always sturdy and well built. This motherboard isn't as flashy as the ASUS I replaced it with, but it's been smooth running ever since the swap.