MSI B450i Gaming PLUS AC review - Product Showcase

The motherboard follows a standard Mini ITX form factor (17 x 17cm). The motherboard is located in the Gaming range of the Ryzen Zen+ desktop processor product stack. You'll spot this B450 mobo for 119 EUR/USD or even less, and for its size .. this thing is fully loaded!

Size	Mini ITX
Chipset	AMD B450
Memory	2667/ 2800/ 2933/ 3000/ 3066/ 3200/ 3466 MHz (by A-XMP OC MODE)
Multi-GPU	-
Expansion	1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (PCI_E1) Supports x16 speed with AMD Ryzen 1st and 2nd Generation processors Supports x8 speed with AMD Ryzen with Radeon Vega Graphics processors
Storage	1 x M.2 (1x NVMe x4 Gen3 ) 4 x SATA 6Gbps
Networking	Realtek 8111H Gigabit LAN controller
Audio	Realtek ALC 887
USB	AMD B450 Chipset 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB 5Gbps) Type-A ports on the back panel 4 x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports (2 Type-A ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB 2.0 connector) AMD CPU 4x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports (2 Type-A ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB 3.1 Gen1 connector)l
LED	2 x 5050 RGB LED strip 12V connectors

Despite its size, the unit has enough features to keep you busy for a while. The looks pass anything that can be considered entry-level or value really, including a rear IO bracket, the primary graphics slot has metal shielding.

  
The motherboard includes all of the standardized B450 chipset options with one full speed M.2 SSD slot, there is no second one though. Also lacking is a thermal cover for the M2 unit, which is positioned at the backside of the PCB. The I/O back panel reveals several USB 3.1 ports. The audio unit based on Realtek 887. You will spot one 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet jack from Realtek, however, MSI managed to include WIFI at 1x1 802.11ac, dual-band (2.4GHz,5GHz) up to 433 Mbps speed. Plenty enough for your normal needs. The WIFI solution is powered by an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168 module. Included is a PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port. Lacking is an optical S/PDIF out port.  With an APU you can use either the DisplayPort or HDMI for monitor output.

The board comes with a proper 8-pin power connector. You'll get two DIMM slots that can be used for up-to 32GB of dual-channel memory. With regular Ryzen procs, up-to 3200 MHz is supported in OC mode, with the new Zen+ models 3466 MHz is supported. Please do check compatible memory and thus the QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists). 

Yes, you had to look twice, didn't you? That is the sheer reality of a small form factor. You can build an incredibly small yet very powerful PC. 

I do wish that MSI would replace the two antennas with something external. You cannot really position two antennas nicely being so close to the rear IO bracket, next to that at the backside of a PC you kind of block the WIFI signal a bit more.