For anyone looking to build a gaming machine that is current with the market while still being within budget, the MSI B250 Gaming M3 is a good base to start from. This mid-tier LGA1151 motherboard ticks many boxes for those looking for a good motherboard that will kickstart their journey into the ever-exclusive ‘PC Master Race’.
Complete I/O
Not only is the B250 affordable, it is jam-packed with features and important Input/Output (I/O) ports for connecting peripherals. One of its important features would be the six on-board USB ports (a mixture of both USB Type-A and Type-C alongside USB 2.0/3.0/3.1) and a HDMI port for the on-board graphics. Residing on the motherboard is a gigabit LAN port and an optical S/PDIF Out connector for top-quality audio connection.
Intel 7th Gen. Processor Support
The LGA 1151 socket accepts both the 6th and 7th Gen. processors from Intel, making it backward and forward compatible. Aside from being widely acceptable to Intel users, the B250 can support up to four sticks of RAM with a theoretical limit of 128GB. Aside from being able to support Intel Optane memory to boost local storage transfer speed, the B250 comes with m.2 slots for SSD usage.
Highlights
No RGB
Unlike every other motherboard in the market, the B250 doesn’t come with any RGB LEDs and headers; no blinking lights for you!
Just Enough to Overclock
As this is not a Z-series motherboard, it has limited overclocking features but you can boost up your clock speeds without any problems.
Squiggly Line – Budget Gaming For Everyone!
Byline: By Sharil
Price: RM640
Dimensions: ATX
Processor Slot: LGA 1151, supports Intel 6th and 7th Gen. Core processors
RAM: 4 x DDR4 DIMM slots, max 64GB
Networking: 1 x Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Storage Interface: 2 x M.2 connector, 1 x U.2 connector,6x SATA 6Gb/s
Connectors: 1 x USB Type-C, 3.1 Gen 2, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A port, 6 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports (onboard and through headers), 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (available through the internal USB headers)
PCMark: Work: 3565 Creative: 4664
3DMark: 11058
Value: 9
Features: 9
Performance: 8
Design: 9
Usability: 8
Verdict: Budget gaming? Start with this motherboard
Total Score: 8.6 (GOLD)
