Looking for a robust, but not over-the-top, motherboard for the latest AMD Ryzen CPUs on the AM5 platform? In terms of specifications, the $329.99 B650 Carbon Wi-Fi nets you almost everything that the platform offers. You get a 20Gbps Type-C port for your PC's front panel, a PCI Express (PCIe) 5.0 M.2 slot (nestled among three other PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots) and six SATA ports for storage, a modern audio codec, and finally, 2.5Gbps Ethernet and integrated Wi-Fi 6E. The only major omission is a PCIe 5.0 x16-capable slot, though the PCIe 4.0 x16 bandwidth available isn’t too limiting. You might also note it’s missing 40Gbps USB ports, though those are rare on B650-chipset boards, reserved for flagship-class or high-end X670 boards. In all, it’s a well-rounded motherboard, but the feature set and chipset cry out for an MSRP under $300. (Street pricing from some retailers had it right on the cusp at this writing.)
MSI’s B650 Carbon Wi-Fi is an attractive motherboard that sports a black PCB along with black heatsinks, shrouds, and slots. The black-on-black design blends in with most build themes, so it shouldn’t have any problems fitting in with your PC case and other components.
The heatsinks and shrouds have a textured finish (a grid pattern) that's different from the brushed aluminum or bead-blasted finishes you more commonly see. You'll note some MSI branding and the MSI Dragon on the left VRM heatsink, the latter illuminated from below by RGB LEDs. It gives off a nice color-saturated glow that doesn’t take over the inside of your chassis.
MSI’s B650 Carbon Wi-Fi supports AM5 "Zen 4"-based processors from the Ryzen 5 7600X to the flagship Ryzen 9 7950X (including the 7000 series X3D chips). While the 16-phase, 80-amp VRM dedicated to Vcore isn’t the most robust configuration we’ve seen, it happily runs our Ryzen 9 7950X at stock speeds, and overclocked, without getting in the way. In other words, the ceiling for overclocking is limited by your cooling capacity and not that of the board. The better the cooling, the longer and higher these CPUs use their boost (to a limit, of course). With a 360mm AIO, there’s headroom for overclocking via PBO or manually with all cores and threads.
On the memory front, AMD uses only DDR5 for the AM5 platform. So, any dreams of saving a few bucks going to AMD and using DDR4, like you can with Intel, aren’t in the cards. Although the performance difference between DDR4 and DDR5 isn’t much, there’s something to be said for utilizing everything the platform has to offer, especially as DDR5 matures, yielding increases in speed, lower latency, and (hopefully, eventually) lower pricing, too.
Our B650 Carbon Wi-Fi lists support up to DDR5-6600+; several kits are on the QVL list as tested to work. We ran our DDR5-6000 kit without issue. However, reaching much above DDR5-6400 depends on the board/BIOS maturity and the quality of the CPU’s integrated memory controller.
Starting with the top half of the motherboard, two eight-pin EPS connectors, which power the CPU, sit along the top edge, above the VRM heatsinks. Past the socket and into the right corner, we run into four four-pin fan headers. You’ll find three more at the bottom of the board, for seven fan headers total. The sheer number should be plenty to keep your system running cool. But if not, there’s enough power on most headers to piggyback a fan or two if needed.
Also located in this area are two three-pin ARGB headers, with a third on the bottom edge, and the single four-pin RGB header. Control over the integrated and external RGBs is handled through MSI's Mystic Light application. Continuing down the right edge, we spy the EZ Debug LED to troubleshoot POST problems, the 24-pin ATX connector for board power, and the front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps) Type-C header.
On the bottom half of the board, on the left side, is where we see the audio section. Here, we find the Realtek ALC4080 codec and several Nippon-brand audio capacitors. You won’t find integrated DACs/amplifiers or even a Faraday cage to mitigate EMI at this price point. However, most users find this solution more than adequate for their needs.
In the middle, we run into the three PCIe slots. Two can be used for graphics cards, while the other is for expansion. Mixed in among the PCIe slots are the four M.2 sockets, with the M.2 socket that supports PCIe 5.0 sporting the largest heatsink.
Along the bottom of the board are several headers and two more SATA ports. Here, you’ll find the typical fare, including front-panel audio, the additional RGB and ARGB headers (one each), and an LED on/off switch. Also here: two other four-pin system fan and USB 2.0 headers; the two vertically oriented SATA ports mentioned earlier; and a front-panel header to connect your power switch, reset buttons, and HDD activity light.
While you get three PCIe expansion slots on the board, the primary (top) slot is easy to identify, as it has metal reinforcement. Both full-length slots connect through the CPU and support PCIe 4.0. The top slot runs up to x16, and the other up to x4 speeds. This configuration supports AMD CrossFireX if you’re still into multi-GPU setups. I’m still surprised the board doesn’t include a PCIe 5.0 slot, but as we mentioned earlier, few would notice the performance difference, even if the existing slot is broken down to PCIe 4.0 x8 when M2_2/3 are populated. Finally, the bottom slot sources its bandwidth through the chipset, which runs at PCIe 4.0 x1.
For storage, the B650 Carbon Wi-Fi comes with four M.2 sockets and six SATA ports (two of which source their channels from an external ASMedia 1061 controller) you can run concurrently. The primary M.2 socket (M2_1) is the only M.2 on the board capable of PCIe 5.0 x4 (128Gbps), and is hidden under the large heatsink below the socket. The rest of the sockets support up to PCIe 4.0 x4 (64Gbps) devices. The board supports RAID modes 0/1/5/10 on the M.2 and the four native SATA ports, so if you want that blazing-fast speed or the redundancy of software-based RAID, you're covered.
On the rear panel, you have 10 USBs, including a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps) Type-C port, seven 10Gbps ports, and two USB 2.0 ports. On the left are the system-recovering BIOS Flashback and clear CMOS buttons just in case things go south. For video output, you get DisplayPort and HDMI ports to use with the integrated video on the new Ryzen processors, now that they support on-chip graphics up and down the line, not just on selected G-series models. You’ll also find the 2.5Gbps Ethernet jack, Wi-Fi 6E antenna mounts, and a five-plug plus S/PDIF audio stack.
MSI starts in an EZ Mode BIOS, which is more informational than editable. Across the top are details about the processor, CPU, motherboard, and memory, while the bottom half shows high-level information about the CPU, memory, storage loadout, fans, and more. You'll find "easy" buttons on the bottom to enable/disable TPM (a nice creature comfort in the age of Windows 11), AHCI/RAID modes, LEDs, and front-panel audio.
MSI’s Advanced BIOS configuration is unique versus the other AMD board partners. Usually, a BIOS has several headings across the top, but MSI has those sections on the side with the details/information in the middle.
Inside the Advanced mode, you can tweak anything to your heart’s desire. This includes the CPU and Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO), Multiplier, and Voltage settings for overclocking, adjusting RAM speed and timings (all done from the OC section), changing fan speeds (Hardware Monitor), adjusting RGB lighting (Settings), and more. Here, for example, is the Settings page...
Overall, I like MSI’s BIOS, and its unique setup sets it apart. It has more functionality and tweaking abilities than most users will ever need, and this BIOS version was rock-solid and stable in our limited testing.
MSI groups most of its utilities in a suite called MSI Center (MC), a one-stop shop to download and use its companion applications. A wide variety of applications is available for all use cases. MSI has canned scenarios such as Gamer, Creator, Streaming, Video, and Editing that recommend the proper feature applications for the use case. (You can also add them all manually.) These include Mystic Light for RGBs, Super Charger, System monitoring, Wi-Fi analysis, and MSI Sound Tune.
MSI Center is a practical suite of utilities that offers a wide breadth of functionality and tweaking ability. You can download as many or as few as you like, which keeps the system running lean with less bloat. Sadly, none of the applications is available a la carte, so you’ll have to work through MC even if you only want to use one or two.
MSI’s B650 Carbon Wi-Fi is a viable option in the B650 space. It has ample storage options, stuffs plenty of USB ports onto the rear panel (as well as headers for the front panel), and uses the latest-generation audio codec. For those interested in looks, the black-on-black theme easily fits in with most build themes, and it will look spiffy inside most chassis.
Priced at $329.99, it’s certainly in the right price ballpark among its peers. Only the Asus ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming Wi-Fi costs less among B650 models and breaks under that sub-$300 price barrier. ASRock’s B650E Taichi ($369.99) and the Gigabyte B650E Aorus Master ($349.99) round out the competition, and it is stiff. The Taichi is the true flagship of them all (at the highest price), but does come kitted out: support for 40Gbps USB Type-C ports, a flagship-class audio solution, and power delivery that's even more robust than the Carbon's. If you want the best of the best from a feature POV, that’s the Taichi. But you may end up paying a premium for options you may not utilize.
If you don’t want or need a 40Gbps port, or the latest-generation flagship audio doesn’t pique your interest, the less-expensive B650 options are undoubtedly good choices. You could step up and select an inexpensive X670 board. However, the available options around the $300-to-$350 price range don’t offer much more in the way of connectivity or features. You’ll have to spend an additional $100-plus for what we'd consider a worthwhile upgrade to X670.
The B650 Carbon Wi-Fi is MSI’s flagship board for the midrange chipset. It may not come with all the bells and whistles that the AM5 platform can offer, but that’s also not the idea behind the B650 platform (unless you’re the B650E Taichi). The Carbon Wi-Fi is a solid motherboard on which to build your AM5 system if your budget allows it. In the end, there are no deal breakers on this board, and it is a practical option in the space, but we would like to see a PCIe 5.0 main expansion slot, if only for the future-looking aspect of 5.0 at this price...and because competing boards all have at least one.
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