One of the most beneficial performance aspects to consider this model over the previous Tomahawk is the increased official memory support. This includes the pairing of decent quality and cost-effective Realtek controllers on audio side and the networking side.

The B450 Tomahawk is a gaming-themed motherboard and comes from MSI’s ‘Arsenal’ range of motherboards designed to offer users an affordable option with many of the features found on the more expensive models, but with some differentials to keep the overall cost down. This starts with including a pair USB 3.1 Gen2 ports, as well as customizable RGB LED lighting integrated into the board. The MSI B450 Tomahawk is the successor to the popular B350 Tomahawk and offers users a slightly better feature set. Over time, the vendors have had the opportunity to make minor tweaks and upgrades to keep ahead of current technological advances and inevitable design choices. MSI has tried to tick both boxes with the new B450 Tomahawk which comes with an extended CPU heatsink, USB 3.1 Gen2 support and RGB LEDs. From the few second-generation AMD B450 and X470 motherboards we have tested, the majority have been refreshed models of pre-existing boards.

B450 tomahawk max fan control