What it looks like in the BIOS
The seemingly inconspicuous motherboard hides something you probably wouldn’t expect, it has both HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs doubled, in pairs. Otherwise, the B760M Gaming WiFi is an affordable solution also suitable for higher-end Intel Core processors designed for the LGA 1700 platform with DDR5 memory. Meanwhile, due to the smaller MicroATX format, you can also fit the motherboard into smaller cases.
What it looks like in the BIOS
The user interface is traditional, as you’re used to with MSI. That is, with a kind of information panel in the middle with basic CPU parameters, and on the sides with buttons and toggles for more advanced options.
From EZ Mode you can access the “advanced settings” via the F7 key. This interface is specific with the Gaming logo wallpaper, which refers to the model range of this motherboard. Otherwise, everything is “as always”, with logically divided tiles on the sides that take you to the dedicated settings.
For those who like to tweak and tune, the most attractive tile will be the “OC” tile, in whose settings it is possible to modify the CPU and memory operation according to your own preferences.
We won’t go through it item by item (you probably wouldn’t enjoy that, you wouldn’t read it – “boring”) and we’ll jump straight into those settings that adjust the power limits.
“CPU Cooler Tuning” allows you to make quick adjustments according to the cooler or the expected cooling performance available to you. Depending on the CPU model installed, this setting varies, but with the more powerful ones (also valid for the test Core i9-13900K processor) all profiles (Boxed Cooler, Tower Air Cooler and even Water Cooler) have PL1 set to a fixed 253 W. Obviously, it is assumed that you don’t have a “boxed” cooler with such a processor (it is not even included with K processors) and that you own a more powerful one that can handle cooling such performance in the long run.
The PL2 is also set to 253 W and the performance, as long as the cooler is not a bottleneck, will be constant with that setting. But we use slightly different settings in our tests. Firstly with PL1 limited to 125 W, and secondly with PL2 raised to “4096 W” (i.e. no power limits).
You may then need to increase the current limit to achieve maximum performance. This is perhaps the thing that MSI is doing to prevent the much-discussed instability of more powerful processors that push CPU clock speeds to (or beyond?) the edge of what is possible. But it may also be unrelated. What current limit MSI has set for this board in the past we don’t know, but with the latest BIOS (7D99vH3) and the Ci9-13900K at the time of testing, it’s “only” 280A. If MSI has been setting it this way for a long time, and historically it hasn’t been otherwise, then the lower current limit may also be preventing the VRM from overheating.
With the G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo test modules (2×16 GB, 6000 MHz/CL30), the memory controller is set to “Gear 2” after XMP/EXPO activation (indicating halved memory controller bandwidth). With slower modules (than our test ones) it can be even “Gear 1”, which can of course also be achieved by manual tuning.
To reach ReSizable BAR management you have to go to the “Settings” section (PCI Sub-system Settings), the switch on the EZ Mode screen in the UEFI of MSI motherboards is still missing.
Hardware Monitor: The interface for controlling the fans is feature-rich, and each of the four headers can be customized well.
If you own modern fans with a 4-pin connector, make sure the board has set the PWM control correctly.
The fan curve in each header can be derived from one of the five temperature sensors (including the VRM) that the B760M Gaming Plus WiFi has. While you won’t find preset speed profiles here, adjusting the speed (or PWM duty cycle) depending on the temperature of a selected source is here.
- Contents
- MSI B760M Gaming Plus WiFi in detail
- What it looks like in the BIOS
- Methodology: Performance tests
- Methodology: How we measure power draw
- Methodology: Temperature and frequency measurements
- Test setup
- 3DMark
- Borderlands 3
- F1 2020
- Metro Exodus
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Total War Saga: Troy
- PCMark and Geekbench
- Web performance
- 3D rendering: Cinebench, Blender, ...
- Video 1/2: Adobe Premiere Pro
- Video 2/2: DaVinci Resolve Studio
- Visual effects: Adobe After Effects
- Video encoding
- Audio encoding
- Photos: Adobe Photoshop, Affinity Photo, ...
- (De)compression
- (De)encryption
- Numerical computing
- Simulations
- Memory and cache tests
- M.2 (SSD) slots speed
- USB ports speed
- Ethernet speed
- Power draw without power limits
- Power draw with power limits
- Achieved CPU clock speed
- CPU temperature
- VRM temperature – thermal imaging of Vcore and SOC
- SSD temperature
- Chipset temperature (south bridge)
- Conclusion
