Final Thoughts
Pricing
The MSI B350M Mortar AM4 Motherboard is available now with an MSRP of £99.99. However, you can readily find it at major retailers for just £80, which is a freaking bargain. The Gigabyte mini-ITX motherboard we tested was £100, although smaller motherboards often do come at a premium. Overall though, that’s a very fair price for a motherboard of this calibre.
Overview
The latest motherboard from MSI may not be their most outlandish and extreme, but it’s still a competitive product with great potential. With the Ryzen 2400G, it’s a very good mid-budget pairing to go with the affordable CPU. Of course, with the Vega cores built-in to the CPU, you don’t need a GPU either, but you could add one later if you desired, as it’s still a Ryzen 5 quad-core, which are very competitive.
Value for Money
With a current retail price of £80, you do get a lot for your money. Good quality onboard audio is a welcome addition, as is a good range of connectivity on the rear I/O. A few more rear USB ports would be nice, but it’s hardly a deal breaker at this price range. Of course, you are limited to just 4 x SATA ports, but there’s plenty of USB 3.0 and 2.0 headers, as well as an M.2 mount for good measure.
What’s Missing
There are no onboard controls to reset bios or control power. I guess I’m just so used to them myself, as we tend to review a lot of higher end motherboards. However, in 2018 I would happily pay a tiny bit extra to see these become standard features.
Built Quality
A big thumbs up here, as the motherboard looks very nicely designed and feels durable. The use of a chunky VRM cooler around the CPU is welcome, as are the quality chokes as seen on the full-size ATX model. Armour on the PCIe slot is nice too, although having both armoured would have been twice as nice. Again, clutching at straws, as the Mortar ticks all the right boxes, and there’s no fault with the design that I couldn’t live with.
Pros
- Tidy aesthetics
- Good overclocking
- M.2 support
- Good connectivity
- Armoured PCIe slot
- Great price
- Solid stock and overclocked performance
Cons
- None
Neutral
- Only 4 SATA ports
- No onboard power controls
