SFF.Network MSI Unveils the B350M Mortar Arctic

As the Ryzen launch rolls on, we are finally starting to see some real options - in other words, non-ATX motherboards! MSI has unveiled their B350M Mortar Arctic board, a unit we previewed around CES in January. This board, in it's all-white styling, really stood out to us - it's a very bold statement in a sea of darker units. Featuring the slightly gimped (versus the X370 platform) chipset, this unit is high in the midrange, in effect.

Read more here.

 

[3lfk1ng]

I like this board a lot. It's a really good looking motherboard.

Here's to hoping they will produce a x370 version.

 

[nox]

Flex-ATX please!

 

[Cuzza]

Ha! It's a mortar board!

 

[TheHig]

I like this board a lot. It's a really good looking motherboard.

Here's to hoping they will produce a x370 version.

Finally a decent looking mATX board! Right there with you. Would love to see enthusiast board in a non atx ff. I think it's only a matter of time really.

edit: That being said probably going b350 since I don't multi gpu and cheaper.

 

[Phuncz]

Ha! It's a mortar board!

Or:

I like the evenly colored monochromatic boards. 50.000 times more than a random dragon or cog wheels.

 

[LukeD]

B350 !!!!! WHYYYYYyyyyyyyy !!!!!
X370. Give us mATX enthusiasts something to get horny about

B stands for BAAAAAD
X stands for XCELLENT !!!!

 

[Arboreal]

It's a start, but as @LukeD said "WHYYYYYyyyyyyyy !!!!!" are there no white ITX motherboards????
I really loved the Asus Z97 Sabranco, and hoped for smaller matching boards.
At least MSI have an Arctic board in mATX for starters - bring on an Arctic ITX in AM4 (or 1151), I'm not that picky
White ITX and Ryzen R5 would be a great next build........pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease

 

[LukeD]

And that makes sense @Arboreal, because the B350 would work great for ITX as you can only use 1 GPU,
but for NO mATX boards to have X370 is just pure negligence

 

[Arboreal]

Hopefully, given time, as the Ryzen range develops and things settle down, there will be a better range of boards available.
Including a good selection of ITX, in a selection of colours, AND X370 implemented in mATX.
Looking at the reviews and seeing lots of flaky BIOSes and short supply of boards, it really is early days.
Give it time, and AM4 should mature into a good ecosystem - maybe even more so with future chip revisions.
If Raven Ridge gets equipped with a decent GPU, AM4 + compact boards could make for some great SFF options.

 

[jØrd]

DDR4 Boost
VR Ready
GAMING LEDs
Turbo M.2
GAMING LAN with LAN Protect
Military Class 4, Guard-Pro
Steel Armor PCI-E
Mystic Light Sync
GAMING CERTIFIED

The buzzwords are strong w/ this one :|
Looks the part though

 

[213NSX]

Does anyone really want a Zen around here? Perhaps I'm partial since I am sitting in a parking lot at Ronler Acres (2), but who really want's to play the "will this chipset be as bad as the last few they have put out" game? Not I. No offense at all intended, and I have not seen this board in person, but the Intel counterparts are really interesting to me, for sure. I do also understand that there are a lot of poor people (or cheap), who like cheap stuff, so perhaps I am just lacking in sleep and making this post in bad taste. IDK. I just can't find anyone to get interested in AMD crap anymore. Again, totally could be my locale/circle/crew LOL.

Still, the design of this is FREAKING SWEET!

 

[jØrd]

As has been said in threads elsewhere on the forum, its not just AMD buyers / fans who benefit from Zen if it is successful in the market. If Zen is a success and forces some competition in the x86 market again then everyone benefits one way or the other. There is even a chance Intel will stop price gouging and start innovating again.

 

[TheHig]

Well, I scored an R7 1700 for 249.99 via a slickdeals cupon. An Ebay seller had it for 299 and the cupon was 20% off for 50 dollar savings! Newegg had this board in stock so I pulled the trigger. The board Cpu and ram should be here on 4/3 so I'll make a build post of some sort soon thereafter.

Was holding out for the R5 but that deal..soooo good.

 

[TheHig]

My B350m Mortar and ram arrived today! However, Newegg sent the regular board and not the Artic which is absolutely the one I ordered and clearly shown in my invoice..

R7 1700 due 4/5 so I'm going to throw it together anyway. Attempt to get away from red/black theme thwarted?!

I also went with Ripjaw V 16gb kit of 3200 ram which isn't on the QVL so hoping for 2933 at least. The gouging on fast ram is criminal right now and this is a good kit and was on sale for 120.