KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
Power optimisations and enhanced on-chip capabilities have made AMD's new AM4 platform a tempting proposition for users who prefer the size benefits of micro-ATX. MSI offers up the £90 B350M Mortar to cater for those users with a 4+2 phase power delivery system and onboard red LED lighting.
The B350M Mortar shares many similarities with comparably priced motherboards in MSI's B350 Arsenal range. Overall styling is very similar to the ATX-sized B350 Tomahawk and the inclusion of four SATA 6Gbps ports, a single M.2 connector, and USB Type-C add to the list of similarities.
PCIe bifurcation is not supported on the B350 chipset so MSI is clearly tailoring the B350M Mortar to single-card micro-ATX users who want a cost-effective way of overclocking their Ryzen system.
With many of the core features boxes ticked, can the MSI B350M Mortar prove itself as a smart choice for an overclockable micro-ATX AM4 motherboard?
| MSI B350M Mortar | |
| Form Factor | Micro-ATX, 24.3 x 24.3 cm |
| CPU Socket | AMD AM4, 4+2 phase VRM |
| Chipset | AMD B350 |
| Memory | DDR4 Dual channel, 4 DIMMs, up to 64GB, up to 3200MHz+ with OC (with a Ryzen CPU) |
| Onboard Graphics |
DisplayPort, DVI-D, and HDMI ports for use with AM4 APUs |
| Expansion Slots | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16 for Ryzen, wired to the CPU) 1x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, wired to the chipset) 2x PCIe 2.0 x1 (wired to the chipset) |
| Storage | 4 x SATA 6Gbps (via B350 chipset) 1 x M.2 SATA (6Gbps) or NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 (with Ryzen CPUs) or PCIe 3.0 x2 (with AM4 APUs) |
| USB | 6 x USB 2.0 (4 Internal, 2 Rear via B350) 7x USB 3.0 (4 Internal via B350, 3 Rear via CPU) 1x USB 3.0 Type-C (1 Rear via CPU) |
| Networking | 1 x Realtek 8111H Gigabit LAN |
| Audio | Realtek ALC892-based 7.1 channel HD audio |
| Fan Headers | 4, all support 3/4pin fans and DC/PWM mode |
| RGB Headers | 1, 4-pin RGB |
| Rear I/O | 1 x PS/2 mouse & keyboard combo port 2 x USB 2.0 ports 1 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI 1.4 1 x DVI-D 3x USB 3.0 Type-A port 1x USB 3.0 Type-C port 1 x LAN (RJ45) port 5x OFC audio jacks 1x Optical SPDIF |
| UEFI BIOS |
MSI Click BIOS 5 UEFI |
Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here
