MSI B350M Mortar Arctic

Overview

MSI’s B350M Mortar is a solid option for budget users who want a micro-ATX Ryzen system. There are plenty of good traits with the motherboard but there are also a number of compromises compared to competitors at the price point, primarily from Gigabyte. Lower cost offerings, such as the B350M Bazooka, also represent stiff competition due to their loss in features that may be perceived as minimal by some consumers.

-- As reviewed by KitGuru

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3
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8.6

User Score

Based on 453 reviews
as rated by users

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Last revision on January 29, 2020

Reviewers Liked

DisplayPort for 4K60 output with an AM4 APU
USB Type-C, even if it is limited to 5Gbps bandwidth
Reasonable application performance

Reviewers Didn't Like

Only four SATA ports and no 10Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2
Mediocre gaming speed

Competitors and Related Products

Our editors hand-pick these products using a variety of criteria: they might be direct competitors targeting the same market segment, or they could be devices that are similar in size, performance, or feature sets.

Expert reviews and ratings

By TrustedReviews on July 06, 2017 80

The MSI delivers solid performance in benchmarks, and its specification ticks the basic boxes without adding extra gimmicks or high-end features. That helps make its £85/$109 price extremely reasonable, and that makes it a great option for an affordable micro-ATX build.

By ModdersInc on June 25, 2017 80

The MSI B350M Mortar is a good gaming solution for those with limited funds but do not feel like sacrificing features. It has basic RGB LED support, very good audio subsystem for the price, and a host of gaming software that are actually useful. Most importantly, they are free and easy to use. The MSI B350M Mortar also features advanced fan control via the UEFI or via the desktop software. This includes smart fan support not just for PWM fans, but for 3-pin fans as well. Which means uses can automatically smart-control 3-pin DC fans instead of just running it constantly. Users can even easily customize the curves via UEFI directly. This feature is rare for a motherboard that is this affordable.

By KitGuru on May 25, 2017 80

By Overclock3D on April 27, 2017

The MATX Mortar was a mosfet heatsink short compared to the full ATX but as we discussed previously MSI told us they are feeding the SOC part of the CPU which is basically just for memory. We did keep a close eye on that area whilst running our tests and if anything ran more on the MATX. We dont think there will be any issues in a case with a normal amount of airflow but if it is something that you think will play on your mind you could add some simple heatsinks to the top of them or buy a 'face down' CPU cooler to make sure there is plenty of airflow.

MSI B350M Mortar Arctic

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ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4

Expert reviews and ratings