MSI MAG B660M Mortar WIFI review - Introduction

MSI MAG B660M Mortar WIFI review

MSI has returned with a motherboard in the Intel B660 series. We take a look at the LGA 1700 socket Alder Lake-ready B660 Mortar series, which includes two M2 slots (PCIe Gen4), WIFI6e, and a 2.5 GigE connector. The B660M Mortar is equipped with an LGA 1700 socket and can support the entire line of Intel's Alder Lake Desktop CPUs. It can house the unlocked lineup all the way up to the Core i9-12900K; however, a preferable option will be to outfit this board with the non-K series processors that launched alongside the B660 series. The MSI Mag B660M Mortar features two 8-pin connectors for powering the CPU socket and is powered by a 12-phase digital power supply solution (CPU-only) comprising of ISL99360F 60A SPS capability phases, Dr.MOS MOSFETs, and I33-200750C-R28. The motherboard features big aluminum heatsinks above the power supply, providing adequate cooling for the electrical components beneath. In terms of procedure memory, the board features four DDR5 DIMM slots that support XMP overclocking and support capacities of up to 128 GB.

MSI equips the B660M Mortar with two PCIe x16 (one Gen 4 the other Gen 3) slots and a single PCIe Gen 4 x1 slot. There are two M.2 slots, both of which have a thermal heat sink finished in the same brushed silver as the rest of the motherboard. The PCH heatsink is coated in the silver palette and embossed with the 'Mortar' trademark. Additionally, the board features six SATA III ports. The rear panel connectors include three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-A ports, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, HDMI, Display-Port, a 2.5G Ethernet port, two WiFi6E antennae, and a seven-channel audio jack array. The MSI B660M Mortar motherboard will cost $239 US for the WiFi variant and $219 US for the non-WiFi variant. We'll load this B660 motherboard up with a Core i5 12400 processor and see how well she handles it. Let's have a peek.