B150A-GAMING-PRO

Product Description

Today, we get a chance to review a unique motherboard from MSI. Typically, we look at enthusiast products, since we are, after all, Overclockers.com. But not all of our readers overclock (blasphemy!) or need high-end equipment. Sometimes you just need a no frills motherboard for standard day-to-day operation. In that light, MSI sent along thier B150A Gaming Pro that makes use of Intel’s B150 chipset devoid of overclocking bells and whistles. As the name implies, the board is steered towards the gaming crowd. Let’s take a look at the board and see what it has to offer!

Specifications

Listed below are some of the specifications for the MSI B150A Gaming Pro. It will support 6th Gen Intel Core/Pentium/Celeron processors on the LGA 1151 socket. It has two full length PCIe slots with one at the full PCIe 3.0 x16 bandwidth, while the other is limited to x4. With that, you will not have the ability to SLI NVIDIA cards as they require a minimum of x8 in that configuration. For those that are not using a discrete video card and will rely on the CPU’s iGPU, the Gaming Pro has outputs for it as well. They come in the form of 1x DL DVI, and 1x HDMI.

The board supports up to 64GB of DDR4 2133 MHz in its four DIMM slots. Being part of the B150 chipset family, the board will not go past that value, even when using XMP settings. To that end, grab the lowest timing DDR4 2133 MHz sticks you can find for best performance. There are a total of six SATA3 6Gbps ports and one SATA Express. On the USB side of things, there are two USB3.1 Gen2 Type-A ports, four USB3.1 Gen1 ports, and six USB2.0 ports. Just for clarification, USB 3.1 Gen1 is more commonly known as USB 3.0. The LAN duties are handled by the Intel I219-V, which has 15KV anti-surge protection as well as the Gaming LAN manager to help optimize traffic shaping for gaming.

While having a good NIC is almost a pre-requisite for multiplayer gaming, so is having good audio. The B150A Gaming Pro utilizes the 8-channel Audio Boost 3, which is the same as some of its Z170 big brothers (Realtek IC).

While it isn’t teaming with high-end features, there is plenty of what you need here for a great gaming experience and all around performance.

MSI B150A Gaming Pro Specifcations
CPU	Supports 6th Gen Intel® Core™ / Pentium® / Celeron® Processors LGA 1151 Socket
Chipset	Intel® B150X Chipset
Graphics Interface	1 * PCI-E 3.0 x16, 1 * PCI-E 3.0 x4
Display Interface	1 * DL DVI, 1 * HDMI – Requires Processor Graphics
Memory Support	4 DIMMs, Dual Channel DDR4- 2133 MHz (No OC possible)
Expansion Slots	2 * PCI-E x1 slots, 2 * PCI slots
Multi-Graphics Technology	Support for 2-Way AMD CrossFire™ technology
SATA Interface	6 * SATA3 6 Gb/s, 1 * SATA-Express
USB	2 * USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A 4* USB 3.1 Gen1 6 * USB 2.0
LAN	1 * Intel I219-V (w/15KV Anti-surge and Gaming LAN Manager
Back Panel Connections	PS/2 Gaming Device Port 2 USB 2.0 DVI-D Port 2 USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A Ports 2 USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A Ports HDMI Port Intel I219-V LAN 2 USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A Ports Audio/Optical S/PDIF Out
Audio	8-channel Audio Boost 3
Form Factor	ATX Form Factor

Features

This board comes with what almost looks like an unfinished PCB in that it is mostly black, but at the right edge there is around 3/8″ worth of brown PCB. I thought that was unique and a bit odd aesthetically. Anyway, on the bottom of the board, spaced a couple inches apart from top to bottom are some LEDs. MSI allows you to edit these LEDs supporting up top 16.5M colors with eight LED effects.

The B150A Gaming Pro also uses MSI’s DDR4 Boost technology, which fully isolates the memory circuitry from the other components and helps ensure the memory signal stays pure for maximum performance and stability. This shouldn’t be an issue at those low memory speeds, but hey, its still a value add for sure.

As mentioned above in the specifications, this board uses the Intel I219-V NIC which has 15KV anti-surge protection and comes with traffic shaping software called Gaming LAN Manager, which will automatically prioritize games above other applications.

Next up is Audio Boost 3. The Realtek IC under the hood is protected both physically and for EMI by a metal shield covering it up. This helps to minimize interference from the surrounding motherboard components. It also sports dual OPA1652 AMPs (though not replaceable as in higher end boards) to help round out a superior audio experience.

Though the board is not of the enthusiast class, MSI still uses higher end components to increase reliability with its Military Class V standards. These include solid caps and all new Titanium chokes. Last, but not least, is MSI’s use of ‘VGA Armor’ on the PCIe slots. In this case, there is no metal shielding around the PCIe bracket, but there are more solder points to help prevent board damage from the heavy GPUs that mount into them.

Here are some additional features courtesy of MSI:

	Mystic Light Customize and set up your own color scheme with Mystic Light to make your PC look & feel brand new! Supporting 16.5 million colors and 8 stylish LED effects.
	DDR4 Boost & XMP LED By fully isolating the memory circuitry from other components, DDR4 Boost ensures the memory signal to stay pure for maximum performance and stability.
	MSI GAMING LAN & LAN Protect MSI GAMING LAN is powered by the Intel® I219-V with 15KV anti-surge and intelligent GAMING LAN Manager to automatically prioritize games above other applications.
	Audio Boost 3 The ultimate audio solution for gamers. With dual OPA1652 AMPs and metal EMI Shielding, experience breathtaking, crystal clear sound quality.
	Military Class V A new standard in high quality components. The all new Titanium Choke has a solid structure, it can withstand even higher temperatures and has better heat dissipation.
	Reinforced VGA Armor To protect high-end graphics cards, the PCI-e slots feature VGA Armor. These PCI-E slots have more solder points on the PCB for 35% more strength.

• 2X FASTER USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A –Enables lightning fast transfer speeds.
• ENHANCED OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION – Prevents overvoltage and short-circuit damage of the CPU and other components.
• Gaming Hotkey – Start your games or applications with keyboard hotkeys to speed up your gaming experience or use it as macro keys inside a game.
• Click BIOS 5 features – Simple/Advanced mode, M-Flash, Favorites, Hardware Monitor 2, Board Explorer, Memory Try It, High-resolution font.
• EZ Debug LED – Easiest way to troubleshoot.
• Intel® SBA 4.0 – The perfect solution to boost security & productivity for small businesses.
• GAMING Device Port with Mouse Master – Optimized to deliver the best performance for gaming mice and keyboards, with Mouse Master to customize DPI and set macros.
• Software – Command Center, RAMdisk, Gaming APP with FPS counter, Live Update 6, ECO Center.