An expert from the 3DNews portal compared eight inexpensive motherboards based on the Intel B660 chipset. It turned out that for games
Perhaps you are planning to purchase an inexpensivemotherboard for games. But which Intel B660 based board should you choose? To do this, a 3DNews specialist tested eight models of motherboards. Among them – ASRock B660M-HDV, ASRock B660M Steel Legend, ASUS PRIME B660M-A D4, ASUS PRIME B660M-K D4, GIGABYTE B660M DS3H DDR4, GIGABYTE B660M GAMING DDR4, MSI PRO B660M-A DDR4, MSI PRO B660M-E DDR4. You can see all their characteristics below. At the same time, the cost of components is current as of May 24, 2022.
12
ASRock B660M-HDVdiffers in the presence of 4 fan connectors,M.2 2230 for connecting a wireless module, Intel I219V network controller. However, this model also has significant drawbacks: only two DIMM slots, a defective printed circuit board, no cooling system for the VRM, a non-functional BIOS and the possibility of getting a low-quality audio codec.
UASRock B660M Steel Legendamong the shortcomings the author noted onlynon-functional BIOS. But this board has a lot of advantages. These include 5 ports for fans, and the presence of M.2 2230, PCI Express 5.0, and a 2.5-Gigabit network controller, and 4 DIMM slots, and USB 3.2 Gen2 C-type, and the ability to cool the power converter, and a BIOS Flashback button , and a full-fledged mATX form factor, and LED indication of system boot.
PayASUS PRIME B660M-A D4good because it has 4 DIMM slots,functional BIOS, USB 3.2 Gen2 A-type on I/O panel. The model also differs in the presence of several HDMI and DisplayPort, and an uncut mATX form factor. Among the disadvantages – the manufacturer saved on the VRM cooling system.
ASUS PRIME B660M-K D4very different from the previous one. It turned out to have a lot of disadvantages, and a plus – just one: this is a functional BIOS.
GIGABYTE B660M DS3H DDR4, in turn, has only one drawback.It consists in saving on the VRM cooling system. You will also have a functional BIOS, a large number of temperature sensors, an uncut mATX form factor, reset buttons and BIOS Flashback, and much more.
GIGABYTE B660M GAMING DDR4has approximately the same number of disadvantages andpros. There are only two DIMM slots, a lot of marketing gimmicks, a stripped-down PCB, and savings on VRM cooling. At the same time, you will get a variety of temperature sensors, a functional BIOS, a 2.5 gigabit network controller, BIOS Flashback and reset buttons.
FromMSI PRO B660M-A DDR4AndMSI PRO B660M-E DDR4The first model turned out to be much better.The only downside is the ability to adjust the Vcore voltage. At the same time, MSI PRO B660M-E DDR4 has only one advantage, and that is the presence of an Intel I219V network controller.
Testing of motherboards was carried out on the assembly withIntel Core i5-12600K/Intel Core i5-12400F, Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO CMW32GX4M4K4400C18, DDR4-4400, 2x8GB RAM, Intel 760p SSDPEKKW020T8X1, 2TB, Palit GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING PRO, 10GB GDDR6X, power supply Corsair AX1500i, 1.5 kW.
You can see all test results below.
16
Conclusion
As can be seen from the measurements, it may be suitable for Core i5-12600KASRock B660M Steel LegendAndMSI PRO B660M-A DDR4(in nominal operating mode). Both devices operate stably and heat up slightly. The specialist also advises taking the motherboardASUS PRIME B660M-A D4. As for the Core i5-12400F processor, then tonone of the presented boards suited him, since they all provided unstable operation. For the i5-12400F from GIGABYTE, it's better to buy the B660M GAMING X DDR4.
The expert definitely does not recommend purchasingASRock B660M-HDV,ASUS PRIME B660M-K D4,MSI PRO B660M-E DDR4.