MSI B840M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E VS MSI B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E

Both the MSI B840M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E and MSI B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E are Micro-ATX motherboards with an AM5 CPU socket, supporting Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) along with older Wi-Fi standards, and Bluetooth 5.3. The two boards are very similar in form factor, chipset, and networking capabilities, but there are a few key differences to note.

Both products feature HDMI 2.1, RGB lighting, and are designed to be easy to overclock and reset BIOS. They also come with a 3-year warranty and share identical dimensions of 243.8mm in both height and width. However, the MSI B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E does have one distinction: it includes dual BIOS support, while the B840M Gaming Plus does not.

Neither board includes integrated graphics or an integrated CPU, and both lack support for aptX, which may be important for specific audio use cases. Overall, the two motherboards are quite similar, with the main difference being the addition of dual BIOS on the B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E.

The MSI B840M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E and MSI B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E offer similar memory specifications, with both motherboards supporting up to 256GB of maximum memory. They both also feature four memory slots, DDR5 memory, and dual memory channels, which should provide solid performance for most gaming and multitasking needs.

When it comes to RAM speed, both boards support a maximum speed of 5600 MHz, but the MSI B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E has a slight edge with its overclocked RAM speed of 8200 MHz, compared to the 8000 MHz overclocked RAM speed of the MSI B840M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E.

Neither motherboard supports ECC memory, which means they’re geared more toward consumer use rather than enterprise-level applications that require error-correcting code memory.

The MSI B840M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E and MSI B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E differ slightly in their USB port offerings. The B840M has one USB 3.2 Gen 2 (USB-A) port, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB-A) ports, and one USB 3.2 Gen 2 (USB-C) port. It also includes four USB 2.0 ports but lacks USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, USB 4, Thunderbolt ports, or DisplayPort outputs.

On the other hand, the MSI B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E offers a more generous selection, with four USB 3.2 Gen 2 (USB-A) ports and four USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB-A) ports. Like the B840M, it has one USB 3.2 Gen 2 (USB-C) port but does not include USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB-C) ports. The B850M also includes a DisplayPort output, which the B840M lacks.

Both motherboards share the same HDMI output and RJ45 port, and neither has a VGA connector or PS/2 ports. Additionally, neither supports eSATA, DVI outputs, or Thunderbolt 4/3 ports. Overall, the B850M provides a few extra USB ports and the added benefit of DisplayPort output.

The MSI B840M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E and MSI B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E share many of the same connectors, with both offering 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (through expansion), 4 USB 2.0 ports (through expansion), and 2 USB 3.0 ports (through expansion). They both also feature 4 SATA 3 connectors and 2 M.2 sockets, as well as 5 fan headers, providing ample connectivity options for both motherboards.

There is a small difference between the two models in terms of USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports (through expansion). The B840M has none, while the B850M offers 1 such port. Additionally, both motherboards include a TPM connector, but neither supports U.2 or mSATA connectors, and both have no SATA 2 connectors.

Overall, the B850M provides slightly more flexibility with the addition of a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, while the rest of the connector features are identical across the two boards.

The MSI B840M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E and MSI B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E differ slightly in their expansion slots. Both motherboards feature one PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, but the B840M also includes one PCIe x4 slot, while the B850M has two PCIe x1 slots instead. Neither motherboard includes PCI slots, PCIe 2.0 x16 slots, or PCIe 3.0 x16 slots.

Additionally, the B840M lacks PCIe x8 slots, whereas the B850M does not include PCIe x4 or PCIe x8 slots. Both motherboards do not have PCIe 5.0 x16 slots, so expansion options in terms of newer PCIe versions are limited to PCIe 4.0.

In summary, while both motherboards provide similar expansion slots, the B840M offers a PCIe x4 slot, and the B850M offers two PCIe x1 slots, offering some differences in terms of available slot configurations for add-on cards.

Both the MSI B840M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E and MSI B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E feature 7.1 audio channels, offering rich, high-quality sound for gaming and media consumption. Both boards also have three audio connectors, providing basic connectivity for audio devices like headphones, speakers, or microphones.

Neither motherboard includes an S/PDIF Out port, which means neither offers the digital audio output typically used for high-quality audio to external receivers or sound systems.

Overall, the audio specifications are identical across both motherboards, with no differences in channels, connectors, or S/PDIF support.

The MSI B840M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E and MSI B850M Gaming Plus Wi-Fi6E have identical storage capabilities when it comes to RAID support. Both motherboards support RAID 1, RAID 10 (1+0), and RAID 0, allowing for a range of data redundancy and performance configurations. Neither motherboard supports RAID 5 or RAID 0+1, limiting options for those particular RAID setups.

In summary, there are no differences in RAID support between the two boards, as both offer the same set of RAID configurations.