MSI B250M Mortar Motherboard Review: Bettering the Basics

« Sub-System Benchmarks (Storage, Audio, Network, Gaming)

Final Thoughts about the MSI B250M Mortar Motherboard

There is probably no better time for a budget build with options such as the MSI B250M Mortar on hand. It is a complete gaming solution for under $90 and more than makes up for the high price of Kaby Lake CPUs. It certainly does not look like a budget solution, plus having the all-white Arctic edition is a good option to have for many modders and system builders. The MSI B250M has all the basics covered and then some. It performed decently in terms of its audio and network performance and similarly when it came to the rest of the benchmark results as well.

MSI has been improving their software bundle constantly with every generation of motherboard, finding success in offering actual gamer-lifestyle oriented bundle such as RAMDisk, the multi-use GamingApp and XBoost (Formerly, Gameboost) and now the experience is further extended with the addition of DragonEye and DPC Latency Tuner. These new tools are useful for gamers who consume plenty of online video streaming content or are content creators themselves and is a very thoughtful addition to the bundled gaming suite.

Overall, the MSI B250M provides a solid fundamental platform for a budget gaming build. The M.2 support has been improved to include M.2 22110 compatibility and it even manages to provide RGB LED support via on-board header, controllable with MSI software. It is fun to look back now to what kind of $90 motherboards are available for the B150 chipset that is even comparable to the B250M Mortar. Even the previous version B150M Mortar pales in comparison in terms of aesthetic and functional layout as well. I guess it helps if you actually create a product for gamers that addresses their needs and wants rather than simply calling anything with LED a gaming product.