MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge Wi-Fi Review: A Tiny Take on B550

MSI’s Mini ITX MPG B550I delivers everything you’d expect, save for integrated RGB.

MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge Wi-Fi
(Image credit: © MSI)

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Software

MSI doesn’t offer an excessive amount of software, but it covers all the bases. The utility section of MSI’s support page for this board includes an MSI-skinned version of CPUz, Realtek Audio control and Dragon Center. Dragon Center (DC) is a one-stop-shop to monitor the system, control any RGB lighting (Mystic Light), LAN, and gaming highlights. DC is relatively comprehensive, though it is missing software-based overclocking and fan controls.

Joe Shields
Staff Writer, Components

Joe Shields is a staff writer at Tom’s Hardware. He reviews motherboards and PC components.

  • LaminarFlow
    A rating of 3.5/5 seems harsh, since for many people (myself included), having not RGB is a plus.
    I bought this board over the Gigabyte Aorus ITX for precisely one reason: USB type C header. Compare with ASRock and Asus ones, this board is cheaper with no sacrifice.
    Having said all this, a common complain people have with this board is its cpu back plate. It's not a problem for me since I'm using it with an AIO (NXZT H1), but it won't fit many others that require installation of custom back plate.
    Reply
  • Meru Otonashi
    Definitely an issue, I was almost tempted to start shopping for this until I saw that the configuration will not fit the Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 backplate because of the chips.

    People had to resort to cutting down the backplate with a dremel to fit. Definitely not great.
    Reply
  • mrv_co
    LaminarFlow said:
    A rating of 3.5/5 seems harsh, since for many people (myself included), having not RGB is a plus.
    I bought this board over the Gigabyte Aorus ITX for precisely one reason: USB type C header. Compare with ASRock and Asus ones, this board is cheaper with no sacrifice.
    Having said all this, a common complain people have with this board is its cpu back plate. It's not a problem for me since I'm using it with an AIO (NXZT H1), but it won't fit many others that require installation of custom back plate.

    The lack of RGB should add one full star to the rating.
    Reply
  • Kíbin
    Its also the only motherboard that "officially" supports AMD Ryzen Pro features, such as RAM and Storage encryption.
    Reply