Introduction
MSI has had a good run with their budget range of motherboards and have had special success with AMD’s B450. With AMD sadly missing in action, Intel has picked up the slack in filling the budget range and it comes at a time wherein Intel is enjoying a renaissance with Alder Lake. That said, MSI’s advantage on the budget range relies on their branding mostly offering the essentials without charging extra.
With the introduction of DDR5, that is a problem in itself. DDR5 alone costs a premium but does bring in some performance and power advantage but for most people, its usually not enough. This is the fork in the road where many board decide where they lie in the DDR4 vs DDR5 debate. In the case of most partners, they either choose one and then offer another but some brand have taken it to designing boards with absolutely similar feature set but differing memory slots.
Such is the case of the MSI MAG B660M MORTAR. Available in both DDR4 and DDR5, these motherboards are exactly the same board and offers either an upgraders path or a new build path for anyone wanting to go Alder Lake. As MSI’s most popular board class, the company is offering both variants to maximize its presence while still offering their most popular motherboard.
This review will focus on the DDR4 benchmarks so please take note of this when comparing benchmark results as memory sensitive applications will yield higher benchmark results. Now that we have that out of the way, read on the find out more about the MSI MAG B660M MORTAR WIFI DDR4.
Note: This review will skip the physical overview and BIOS layout as they share the same features except for the memory slots. Please see our DDR5 version review for the layout and BIOS.
MSI MAG B660M MORTAR WIFI DDR4 Specifications | |
---|---|
CPU Support | Intel 12th-generation Core CPU (LGA1700) |
Power Delivery Design | 12+1 |
Chipset | Intel Z690 |
Memory Support | 4 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR4-4800 (OC) |
Expansion Slots | 1x PCIe 4.0 x16 (CPU) 1x PCIe 3.0 x4 1x PCIe 3.0 x1 |
Storage Interface/s | 2x M.2 (1x CPU, 1x B660 chipset) 4x SATA 2x SATA (ASMedia ASM1061) |
Networking | Realtek 2.5GbE |
Audio | Realtek ALC1200 |
Fan Headers | 3x 4-pin 1x pump header |
Dimensions | microATX 24.4cm x 24.4cm |
Rear I/O Ports | 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port(s) (1 x USB Type-C) 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port(s) (2 x Type-A, 1 x Type-C) 4 x USB 2.0 port(s) (4 x Type-A) 1 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI port 1 x Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet port 5 x Audio jacks 1 x Optical S/PDIF out port |
Test Setup and Methodology
All tests are performed in the latest version of Windows 11. For earlier reports of AMD suffering performance issues, please refer to this update published by AMD which notes that the issue has been resolved.
All systems tested use the same version of the application and no data from previous reviews are used for this test. All games are updated to their latest version and are set to details indicated in their charts. Back2Gaming prefers running games in max details with motion blur off.
Resizable BAR is enabled for all testing, when applicable
Test System: Intel 12th | |
CPU | Intel Core i9-12900K |
Motherboard | MSI MAG B660M MORTAR WIFI DDR4 |
RAM | G.Skill TridentZ Royal DDR4-4000 (2x16GB) |
GPU | ZOTAC RTX 3080 Ti AMP EXTREME |
Storage | KLEVV CRAS 920 2TB M.2 NVMe |
Cooling | NZXT Kraken X73 RGB |
Power Supply | FSP HydroG Pro 1000w |
Special thanks to MSI, Kingston, FSP and ZOTAC for the hardware used in this test. Special thanks to Cybenetics Labs, NVIDIA, PassMark ,OCCT and CapFrameX for the testing equipment and software we use in this review.
All testing for motherboards are done with XMP enabled (DDR5-5200 and DDR4-4000, whichever applies).
Storage and Network Interface Testing
As of this moment, I am still sourcing USB 3.2 Gen2x2 enclosures for testing so I have to forego testing on that port as well as Thunderbolt4. We do test the Intel 2.5GbE and USB3.2 Gen2 headers on this board.
We test the throughput of the primary I/O of our tested motherboard using various devices as follows:
- M.2 NVMe: KLEVV CRAS 920 2TB
- USB 3.2 Gen2: ROG STRIX Arion USB Enclosure + Kingston KC2000 1TB M.2 SSD
- SATA: SAMSUNG 870 QVO 1TB
- LAN: QNAP TS-932PX 10GbE NAS + WD Blue SSD 1TB x2 RAID0
All tests are done in Crystal DiskMark v8.
Network Throughput
M.2 and SATA Throughput
USB Throughput
Performance Testing – Synthetic
SuperPI
wPrime
Cinebench R23
Blender Benchmark
AIDA64 Memory Benchmark
3DMark
Performance Testing – Gaming
All games tested with an RTX 3080 Ti.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO)
DOTA 2
Rainbow Six: Siege
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
VRM Temperature
For temperature testing, we use a thermal logger that capture per second readings from our VRM. Our logger captures the temperature of the VRM arrays with the left array as VRM1 and upper array as VRM2. Our 15-minute split load puts continuous load on our CPU with 5-minute in-between.
User Experience & Conclusion
The advantage of DDR5 is mostly seen in productivity applications but for gaming scenarios, most games will not benefit with the faster DDR5 memory. This can change in the future of course but as of this moment, many people are still upgrading their systems to catch-up in the CPU performance realm. This leaves a big market for upgrade options like the MSI MAG B660M Mortar WIFI DDR4 to become a bridge platform for those that want to prolong their systems.
With 2 models available, MSI offers a flexible motherboard but keep in mind that this is fixed-slot option and not a combo RAM board. That means, you only get to choose which memory path you take and for most B660 prospective owners, this means just buying a new motherboard and CPU, a combination made easier thanks to Intel’s relatively affordable mid-range CPU lineup. Its not as cut and dry though as B660 boards themselves are not as affordable as older B-series boards but with new motherboards now offering higher performance, modern IO, there’s a lot to get here.
Both the DDR5 and DDR4 version of the MSI MAG B660M Mortar WIFI are both well-made board and MSI’s choice to go with an all-metal build is appreciated. One thing I have to point out is memory support. While the DDR5 board supports the larger DDR5 frequency range for memory, DDR4 support is very complicated on the higher frequency range. Most people on DDR4 may still be on DDR4-3600 or DDR4-3200 and that will run just fine but if you’re planning to move DDR4-4400 or higher sticks, success is a gamble. MSI does have a memory compatibility list to get you started but in my personal testing, my DDR4-4800 and DDR4-4600 sticks weren’t able to boot in dual channel mode. Single sticks are the most easily and readily functional in higher DDR4 speeds but if you’re gunning these clock speeds, you’re better off going for DDR5 with a new set of sticks.
Outside of that, the board is a great option for bridging older systems to a newer platform. Its aesthetically decent and build quality is very nice. If there’s anything to nitpick, its flexibility to go further but that’s more of a limitation of DDR4 itself. Other than that, just like its DDR5 counterpart, the MSI MAG B660M Mortar WIFI DDR4 is a great board and while it doesn’t bring the entire new-gen experience, it extends a helping hand to those that can’t make the total jump to newer systems.
MSI MAG B660M Mortar WIFI DDR4 Motherboard with a 3-year warranty. I give it my B2G Recommended Seal!