Best for Intel · Motherboards

MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi

For Intel Core Ultra 200S processors, the Z890 Tomahawk offers strong 16-phase power delivery, four M.2 slots, 5Gb Ethernet and Wi-Fi 7, plus overclocking support, at a sensible price for a Z890 board.

Brand: MSI
Best for: Intel Core Ultra 200S builds
Price range: Upper mid-range
Our score: 8.5/10

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Our take

The MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi is our pick for Intel Core Ultra 200S processors such as the Core Ultra 7 265K and Core Ultra 5 245K. It has strong power delivery, plenty of storage and excellent networking for a sensible price.

Power and performance

The Z890 Tomahawk dedicates 16 phases with 90A power stages to the processor cores, enough to run a Core Ultra 9 285K at full power and overclock it. The Z890 chipset unlocks CPU overclocking on K-series processors and supports fast DDR5 memory, which Intel's Core Ultra chips make good use of.

Storage and expansion

There are four M.2 slots, with the main slot connected directly to the processor at PCIe 5.0, and a PCIe 5.0 x16 graphics card slot. MSI's EZ features, including tool-free M.2 latches and a graphics card release button, make building easier.

Connectivity

You get 5Gb Ethernet, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, plus a good selection of USB ports. There are no Thunderbolt 4 ports, which MSI keeps for its pricier boards.

Platform

The board uses Intel's LGA 1851 socket and DDR5 memory, and works with Core Ultra 200S (Series 2) processors. Intel's next generation of desktop chips, expected in early 2027, is reported to use a new LGA 1954 socket, so don't count on a major processor upgrade for this board.

Who should buy it

Buy the Z890 Tomahawk WiFi for a Core Ultra 7 or Core Ultra 9 build, especially if you want to overclock. With a Core Ultra 5 and no overclocking, the Gigabyte B860M Aorus Elite WiFi6E costs less.

Key specifications

Socket	Intel LGA 1851
Chipset	Intel Z890
Form factor	ATX
Memory	4x DDR5
Power delivery	16 phases for the CPU cores, 90A power stages
Graphics slot	PCIe 5.0 x16
M.2 slots	4 (main slot PCIe 5.0)
Networking	5Gb Ethernet, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Processors	Intel Core Ultra 200S (Series 2)