MSI Releases new Mini-ITX AM4 Motherboard

[Steven H]

Link to the original article:

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/msi-mini-itx-b350i-pro-ac-mini-itx-mobo-for-ryzen.html

"MSI is pleased to introduce the new Mini-ITX B350I PRO AC motherboard, ready for AMD SocketAM4 and the latest RYZEN processors.

Building a small form factor PC, whether it’s for professional, multimedia or gaming use, has never been more interesting on the AM4 platform with this comprehensive, feature packed solution."

Features:

- 9-phase PWM design (6+2+1)

- DDR4 Boost

- Safe PCIE slot

- Turbo M.2 Slot (at the back)

- USB 3.1 Gen2

- 4 SATA ports

- Onboard WIFI

 

Price: 140 EUROS

 

Aside from being dull and ugly (personal opinion), This board is fairly feature rich

[racer243l]

Isn´t that the same bad VRM as on all their boards?

Also that color... ugh...

[dizmo]

Finally some exciting news! This motherboard looks pretty awesome. Love the I/O, wish the m.2 was on the front but you can't win them all with that horrible cooler mounting solution. 

 

Bring on more mITX. 

...where the hell is the Vega Nano?! 

5 minutes ago, racer243l said:

Isn´t that the same bad VRM as on all their boards?

Also that color... ugh...

If you're referring to other itx boards, no, it's different. 

[Doobeedoo]

I like that brown look, reminds me of my very much older PC besides there are actual ugly boards out there. 

[JohnMiller92]

I want to see the new Ryzen 2s first!

[Dissitesuxba11s]

To me mITX boards don't need to be great looking. At that form factor you will most likely have a closed case, or if you do have a TG window, all the components connected to it will just block it. Personally I like it, and we definitely need more motherboard options especially with Ryzen 2 coming up.

[Monkey Dust]

Nice to see the 24pin and 8pin connectors in a sensible place, Gigabyte I'm looking at you.

2 hours ago, dizmo said:

Finally some exciting news! This motherboard looks pretty awesome. Love the I/O, wish the m.2 was on the front but you can't win them all with that horrible cooler mounting solution. 

 

Bring on more mITX. 

...where the hell is the Vega Nano?! 

If you're referring to other itx boards, no, it's different. 

Sticking the M.2 around the back makes sense for a MITX board, you want to show off the goods you'll go ATX. I've wondered why they can't stick the RAM back their too? Possibly laptop RAM, free up a bit of PCB real estate.

[NumLock21]

Why does it look so cheap and tacky?

[NumLock21]

6 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Because that's MSI for ya.

They do make some good ones, like their Arctic series and those also use entry level chipsets.

[ItsMitch]

Brown motherboard for 140 euro?????? Hello MSI?? Are you feeling alright?

[dizmo]

3 hours ago, JohnMiller92 said:

I want to see the new Ryzen 2s first!

You've got a looong wait. 

3 hours ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

To me mITX boards don't need to be great looking. At that form factor you will most likely have a closed case, or if you do have a TG window, all the components connected to it will just block it. Personally I like it, and we definitely need more motherboard options especially with Ryzen 2 coming up.

Totally agree. There's the odd ITX case with a window, but there are other options for those. Doing it this way likely helps cut costs for those who don't need it to be aesthetically pleasing. 

 

Ryzen 2 is a long way off

[DeScruff]

1 hour ago, Monkey Dust said:

 I've wondered why they can't stick the RAM back their too? Possibly laptop RAM, free up a bit of PCB real estate.

I could be wrong, but I've never seen a 'flat' Ram mount (that makes the board parallel to the motherboard) for Desktop RAM.

I'd have to think that heatspreaders would make the sticks too thick to safely mount on the back of the motherboard without touching something.

[Dissitesuxba11s]

2 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Ryzen 2 is a long way off

I was just going by this rumour, stating a possible March 2018 release with the 400 series chipsets.

[Phobos1891]

The board colour suits the rest of msi's shitty ryzen line-up.

 

[RicY]

Why isnt any manufacturer making budget/HTPC oriented boards for AM4!? Dont need any of those show-off bells and whistles for mini build, that would be stashed or tucked away in a cabinet. We were living without those "shielded" pci-e slots for ages. Nothing went wrong. Cant even image how big of an bellend you need to be to break a pcie slot off a board. Why on earth a mITX is more expensive than an ATX board (looking at you ASUS...)? Give me basic mITX board please!

[NumLock21]

11 minutes ago, RicY said:

Why isnt any manufacturer making budget/HTPC oriented boards for AM4!? Dont need any of those show-off bells and whistles for mini build, that would be stashed or tucked away in a cabinet. We were living without those "shielded" pci-e slots for ages. Nothing went wrong. Cant even image how big of an bellend you need to be to break a pcie slot off a board. Why on earth a mITX is more expensive than an ATX board (looking at you ASUS...)? Give me basic mITX board please!

Physical space

[RicY]

1 minute ago, NumLock21 said:

Physical space

Umm...What?

[NumLock21]

6 minutes ago, RicY said:

Umm...What?

Area on the board.

 

[RicY]

2 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

-snip-

Seems like we're not on the same page. Im wondering how a mITX board can be more expensive than a ATX board?

[NumLock21]

Just now, RicY said:

Seems like we're not on the same page. Im wondering how a mITX board can be more expensive than a ATX board?

I just answered it. Physical area of the board.

[RicY]

1 minute ago, NumLock21 said:

I just answered it. Physical area of the board.

So in theory E-ATX should be cheaper than mITX?

[Dissitesuxba11s]

5 minutes ago, RicY said:

Seems like we're not on the same page. Im wondering how a mITX board can be more expensive than a ATX board?

He means that putting all those components on a small board takes a lot more work than the bigger ATX boards. More work required, the higher the price.

[NumLock21]

6 minutes ago, RicY said:

So in theory E-ATX should be cheaper than mITX?

No, itx due to their physical area, are more complex when compared to a ATX or EATX. Also it's not just what you can see, like cpu socket, ram, pcie slots, etc. It's what under that, where it's also complex. The layers and motherboard traces. Cheap board have like 4 pcb layers, while higher end ones tends to have 6 or so. Some boards will even show you those layers, on a unused area and with numbers on it. Those extra layers adds cost.

[aisle9]

5 hours ago, dizmo said:

...where the hell is the Vega Nano?! 

Probably on fire.

1 hour ago, RicY said:

Why isnt any manufacturer making budget/HTPC oriented boards for AM4!?

Ryzen requires a dedicated GPU, and thus doesn't lend itself well to pure HTPC applications where the integrated graphics on a Kaby Lake Celeron are more than enough.

 

Also, there's ITX on the A320 chipset

1 hour ago, RicY said:

Seems like we're not on the same page. Im wondering how a mITX board can be more expensive than a ATX board?

Because cramming everything from an ATX board onto a piece of PCB roughly 1/3rd the size is difficult and expensive. It's not about the size of the PCB; it's about what's on it.

[RicY]

7 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

-snip-

Ok, I get that smaller = cheaper, but smaller =/= cheaper. I agree on that it has no iGPU, but there are those awfull APU's from the dark ages of AMD laying around reworked for AM4. Maybe there is hope for AM4 APU's soon enough to kickstart ITX boards, since mobile is getting those Vega's. Lets wait and see.