Wednesday, March 2nd 2022

MSI Intros MAG H670 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 Motherboard

by
btarunr
 Discuss (20 Comments)
Intel debuted its Socket LGA1700 motherboard lineup with Z690, and later B660 and H610 chipset options, but the H670 seemed elusive. Motherboard vendors are slowly launching their H670-based offerings, and MSI joined the party with the MAG H670 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4. The board is very similar in design to the company's MAG B660 Tomahawk-series motherboards, but with a little more I/O, and a broader chipset bus. The key feature that sets the H670 apart from the B660 is the 8-lane DMI 4.0 chipset bus, compared to 4-lane DMI 4.0 on the B660.

Another key difference between the H670 Tomahawk and B660 Tomahawk is that the PCI-Express x16 slot is Gen 5 capable on the H670 board, but this is due to MSI's design choices. On paper, B660 platforms can have Gen 5 PEG slots. Yet another key differentiator between the H670 and B660 chipsets, is that the H670 puts out 12 PCIe Gen 4 downstream lanes, and MSI leveraged this to put out two chipset-attached M.2 NVMe slots with Gen 4 x4 wiring. Connectivity includes a 2.5 GbE wired networking interface driven by an Intel i225-V controller, an Intel AX200 WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.2 module; and 8-channel HD audio driven by the 12-year old Realtek ALC897 CODEC. The company didn't reveal pricing.

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20 Comments on MSI Intros MAG H670 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 Motherboard

#1
The King
It must be said again, Intel still sucks for limiting CPU OC to just it's Z690 platform!
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#2
Keullo-e
S.T.A.R.S.
The KingIt must be said again, Intel still sucks for limiting CPU OC to just it's Z690 platform!
Though the non-K SKUs have better price/performance and overclocking in general is kinda worthless these days with all the auto-OC that CPUs do themselves.
Posted on Reply
#3
TheinsanegamerN
Neat. H670 is the ideal chipset, alomst every feature except OCing from the Z series, and hopefully a noticeable price difference. Crucially, this includes a full fat DMI link to the CPU, not the half fat link of the 610 or 660.
The KingIt must be said again, Intel still sucks for limiting CPU OC to just it's Z690 platform!
You can get non K series within a few % of the K series. OCing hasnt really been worth it lately, not since maybe haswell or skylake at the latest. There's just no headroom left
Posted on Reply
#4
GhostRyder
MaenadFINThough the non-K SKUs have better price/performance and overclocking in general is kinda worthless these days with all the auto-OC that CPUs do themselves.
True, you bring up a valid point as overclocking has becoming more and more niche as the auto settings normally can push them to their limits. For awhile its been almost not worth it on AMD. Intel I have been able to squeeze a little bit more performance, but I have not tried the newest generation yet.

Either way, not a bad looking board feature wise and style.
Posted on Reply
#5
Keullo-e
S.T.A.R.S.
GhostRyderTrue, you bring up a valid point as overclocking has becoming more and more niche as the auto settings normally can push them to their limits. For awhile its been almost not worth it on AMD. Intel I have been able to squeeze a little bit more performance, but I have not tried the newest generation yet.

Either way, not a bad looking board feature wise and style.
If I'd go for Intel now, I'd probably get the best non-K F-i5. Though K SKUs have much better reselling value as people often seek those when they upgrade their existing platform.
Posted on Reply
#6
Wirko
This board is available for 220 Eurocoins or 185 Britcoins, and price history at Geizhals indicates that it's been in retail since end of January.

So which Z690 board would be most similar in terms of connectivity and quality? The Z690 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4, which costs 50 EUR more?
Posted on Reply
#7
Why_Me
WirkoThis board is available for 220 Eurocoins or 185 Britcoins, and price history at Geizhals indicates that it's been in retail since end of January.

So which Z690 board would be most similar in terms of connectivity and quality? The Z690 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4, which costs 50 EUR more?
Better audio codec (Realtek ALC S1200A) and less expensive than that MSI in the OP.

geizhals.eu/asus-tuf-gaming-h670-pro-wifi-d4-90mb1900-m0eay0-a2661022.html
ASUS TUF Gaming H670-Pro WIFI D4 €208.50

skinflint.co.uk/asus-tuf-gaming-h670-pro-wifi-d4-90mb1900-m0eay0-a2661022.html
ASUS TUF Gaming H670-Pro WIFI D4 £176.38

www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-GAMING-H670-PRO-WIFI-D4/
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#8
Chrispy_
The H670 occupies that no-man's land in product segmentation. The H670 boards are expensive enough that you're not interested in value for money at that point, so why wouldn't you just get the Z-series instead.

AMD has it right; X=premium, B=budget compromise, and A for entry-level OEM stuff where every cent matters. For most AM4 buyers it's been a simple binary choice between "expensive and uncompromising" or "the value sweet spot".
Posted on Reply
#9
Keullo-e
S.T.A.R.S.
Chrispy_The H670 occupies that no-man's land in product segmentation. The H670 boards are expensive enough that you're not interested in value for money at that point, so why wouldn't you just get the Z-series instead.

AMD has it right; X=premium, B=budget compromise, and A for entry-level OEM stuff where every cent matters. For most AM4 buyers it's been a simple binary choice between "expensive and uncompromising" or "the value sweet spot".
Good point there. For the last few years, I've seen Intel B-series boards being way more popular than H-series if someone doesn't get a Z-series board. Several generations ago H-boards were more common, H77/H87 for example.
Posted on Reply
#10
Chrispy_
MaenadFINGood point there. For the last few years, I've seen Intel B-series boards being way more popular than H-series if someone doesn't get a Z-series board. Several generations ago H-boards were more common, H77/H87 for example.
Yep. For Intel, starting from Sandy Bridge chipsets, H stands for Home and B stands for Business. Z probably stands for "Zeal" or some other BS marketing department excretion ;)

Motherboard manufacturers realised that the spec differences between H and B chipsets weren't of any concern to 'home' users but the B chipset was slightly cheaper, so now we have 'home' B-series motherboards because consumers care more about the cost savings than they do about the 13th and 14th USB port that they're never going to use.
Posted on Reply
#11
Dammeron
GhostRyderTrue, you bring up a valid point as overclocking has becoming more and more niche (...). For awhile its been almost not worth it on AMD.
You can't overclock Ryzen CPUs like every other in the past. You have to treat each CCX module as a separate unit and overclock it by it's own capabilities. So for 5900x You have two 6-core units to OC. :)
Posted on Reply
#12
Wirko
MaenadFINSeveral generations ago H-boards were more common, H77/H87 for example.
Apart from that, B-boards were significantly more B-asic than today.

Don't forget the Q, too. For anyone looking specifically for a micro ATX board, the choice has always been pretty narrow, but Q170 boards, even if expensive, used to be an option with quite a few models available.
Posted on Reply
#13
Keullo-e
S.T.A.R.S.
WirkoApart from that, B-boards were significantly more B-asic than today.

Don't forget the Q, too. For anyone looking specifically for a micro ATX board, the choice has always been pretty narrow, but Q170 boards, even if expensive, used to be an option with quite a few models available.
True. Isn't the Q-series more workstation/business oriented?
Posted on Reply
#14
Wirko
MaenadFINTrue. Isn't the Q-series more workstation/business oriented?
Sure. Higher-end workstation/business. In the 170 generation, which I know best, Q170 was a little above H170 in terms of connectivity. And price too. Long term support is something that matters in this segment obviously, as several Q87/Q170/Q270/Q370 motherboards continue to be available, mainly from Asus and Supermicro.

I just checked TPU headlines while writing this, looks like Q670 is finally here too. I'm sure it will be a rarity in retail, like Q470 and Q570 are, but Q has its place in OEM machines.
Posted on Reply
#15
Tsukiyomi91
ngl the board looks good. The only downside is it's using a very ancient codec with no shielding or enhancements like Audio Boost (which I think only reserved for the higher tier series like ACE, sadly.)
The KingIt must be said again, Intel still sucks for limiting CPU OC to just it's Z690 platform!
a non-K Alder Lake CPU e.g i5-12400 mated with a B660 or H670 with MCE enabled and thermal limits removed, it performs as close or better than its K series sibling; the i5-12600K, heck, it even overtakes the R5 5600X.
Posted on Reply
#16
Chrispy_
The only problem with the Q-series is that very little supply makes it to retail channels, which upsets the pricing and (often, but not always) makes them an unappealing value against B, H, and even Z-series.

The thing that makes B-series so good is economies of scale, large inventories, wide availability, and frequent good discounts/offers as a result.
Posted on Reply
#17
Wirko
Chrispy_The only problem with the Q-series is that very little supply makes it to retail channels, which upsets the pricing and (often, but not always) makes them an unappealing value against B, H, and even Z-series.

The thing that makes B-series so good is economies of scale, large inventories, wide availability, and frequent good discounts/offers as a result.
All true. But Q boards used to be common in retail (Q170 and earlier generations). I don't quite understand what market they were aimed at; it's not common to self-build office or low-end workstation machines in the enterprise, right? Was it more common 5 or 10 years ago?
Posted on Reply
#18
The King
If you paid for a K series CPU you should be able to OC it on any board that has the hardware to support it not artificially locked/blocked in the BIOS.

K- Series CPU's cost more. Now on top of this you have to pay extra for a Z690 board in most cases in order to run your unlocked K-series CPU
which you already paid a premium for!

The fact that the a non K CPUs offer better "value" and makes OCing K series CPUs less worth the extra $ reaffirms my first post that Intel sucks. :p
Posted on Reply
#19
Tsukiyomi91
still a better platform, regardless of price. If it sucks for you then you should know AMD is even suckier when they're still selling you an outdated socket of a processor and mobo that's gonna be replaced by a newer one which might be released in a few months, which will cost even more than any Alder Lake builds.
Posted on Reply
#20
Keullo-e
S.T.A.R.S.
Tsukiyomi91still a better platform, regardless of price. If it sucks for you then you should know AMD is even suckier when they're still selling you an outdated socket of a processor and mobo that's gonna be replaced by a newer one which might be released in a few months, which will cost even more than any Alder Lake builds.
That's a minor thing when thinking that Intel sold Skylake and its derivatives for 5½ years. It would be a fair comparison if AMD and Intel released their products at the same time, of course the other one will have "outdated" tech when the competitor has launched their own products months ago.
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