GoKawiilEven though it takes a couple of features away from the original, we like the Tomahawk II overall. The price is right, and it’s a good overall value for a Z890 motherboard.
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The latest board from the budget side of the Z890 lineup to land on our test bench is the MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk Wi-Fi II. This updated Intel board is a streamlined revision of the original, optimized for Intel’s Core Ultra 200S Plus processors. It retains the same aesthetic, core power delivery, and DIY-friendly features, but has two connectivity downgrades: a single TB4 port (down from two) and reduced Wi-Fi 7 speeds. It’s a decent budget motherboard; it’s just that the feature-reduction refresh is a bit curious to me.
Currently listed at $229.99 , the Tomahawk Wi-Fi II costs roughly the same as the original Z890 Tomahawk . Aside from the two downgrades, it also tweaks some header locations and, minimally, the aesthetics. Hardware-wise, you still get nearly everything from the original, including capable power delivery (19 phases, 90A MOSFETs), two Type-C ports (one TB4/40 Gbps) and seven Type-A USB ports on the rear IO. There's also Wi-Fi 7 and 5 GbE networking, a last-gen audio solution, along with MSI’s EZ DIY and EZ Overclock features.
Performance on the Tomahawk II was good overall with the MSI Performance setting, landing somewhere in the middle among the boards tested. In short, it’s competent across a wide variety of PC activities, including gaming, rendering, encoding, and office-type work. There’s nothing to worry about on the performance front.
Below, we’ll examine the board's performance and other features to determine whether it deserves a spot on our list of the best motherboards . But before we share test results and discuss details, here are the specifications from MSI.
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Specifications of the MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk Wifi II
Swipe to scroll horizontally Socket LGA 1851 Chipset Z890 Form Factor ATX Voltage Regulator 19 Phase (16x 90A SPS MOSFETs for Vcore) Video Ports (1) HDMI (v2.1)
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