MSI MAG B660M Mortar WIFI (Intel 1700)

Das MSI MAG B660M Mortar WIFI ist ein ordentliches Mittelklasse-Mainboard für Intels aktuelle Plattform und zukunftssicherem DDR5 Arbeitsspeicher Support. Es kann durch sein stylisches Design durchaus als Blickfang in einem Setup werden, ist hochwertig verarbeitet und bietet alle wichtigen Anschlüsse für diese Preisklasse.

Wer sich für Intels neue Alder-Lake-S-Plattform interessiert, war bisher gezwungen, auch ein kostenintensives Z690-Mainboard in Betracht zu ziehen, denn die anderen Intel-600-Chipsätze gab es zunächst noch nicht. Mit dem heutigen Tag und passend zur CES 2022 kommen auch die restlichen Chipsätze und damit auch der B660-PCH mit ins Spiel und dieser drückt die Mainboard-Preise nach unten, was auch für unser erstes Sample, das MSI MAG B660M MORTAR WIFI DDR4, gelten wird.

I find it extremely difficult to review budget-originated products because they lack things to talk about. The MSI MAG B660M Mortar WiFi DDR4 is no different. In many ways, the motherboard fails to meet my expectations. To even get Prime95 software to run with a i9-12900K, I had to tweak some settings in the BIOS. That being said, if the goal is to build a low-cost rendering or encoding computer, this is not on my recommendation list without a serious consideration of the application being used and case air-flow. It should be mentioned that MSI has chosen to implement PCIe 4.0 instead of PCIe 5.0 for cost saving tactics. Given it still has two M.2 Gen4 sockets, it will fill the needs of casual users who need a practical system for today. MSI's choice to offer a model with DDR4 instead of DDR5 memory is great as the prices will not be going down anytime soon. Those just interested in strictly gaming or using a lesser CPU will not run into the thermal issues or instant reboots I had. On that note, the MSI MAG B660M Mortar WiFi DDR4 checks off all the boxes for a casual gamer, at an acceptable price tag. However, sacrifices were made in terms of features and the overall power delivery system. To get the best results, I suggest making sure it fills your specific needs before pulling the trigger.

A lot can be said and stated about Z690 versus B660, but for a B series motherboard, you'll get plenty of features as long as you do not plan to tweak your processor a lot. BTW you can still tweak it, but with a different approach. That said, any non-K model processor will be absolutely brilliant on B660. Even the 200 USD Core i5 12400 processor hauls ass in gaming performance. The Mortar on the other end has a sophisticated power phase design, you could add in a Core i9 12900 processor just as well and be done with it. So what will you be lacking with B660 then? Well, tweaking support, most manufacturers will drop PCIe 5.0 support in favor of PCIe 4.0, and then the interconnect bandwidth is halved from x8 towards x4 lanes. That latter one however still is a PCIe Gen 4.0 bi-directional link, which will offer the chips a truckload of bandwidth. So really, even with B660, you're 95% there for all your common needs and requirements. I mean sure, 5 M2 slots are nice, and multiple Ethernet links as well, but do you really need it? The tradeoff as such can be nicer, this motherboard is expected to retail just over 200 USD, pair it with the Core i5 12400 as shown today and you'll still be amazed by the performance. The caveat, however, will be DDR5 memory, it's hard to get and thus expensive, making the platform overhaul perhaps too expensive. Being on the lookout for a DDR4 board would be my advice.