MSI B450-A Pro Max, AMD B450 mainboard, socket AM4 [7B86-022R]

B450 motherboards support all features of the second generation Ryzen processors, such as the new overclocking feature XFR2. In addition, the mainboards support up to 64 GB of RAM with a guaranteed clock speed of 2,933 megahertz. With overclocking, depending on the motherboard, much higher clock rates are possible and the B450 chipset also enables the processor to be overclocked.

The mainboards of the MAX series are equipped with twice as large BIOS memory as the previous models and at the same time offer optimizations for the AMD Ryzen 3000 processor series. These optimizations include higher memory clock rates.

Note: Despite the optimizations, there is still no compatibility with PCIe 4.0. PCIe 4.0 is currently only supported by motherboards with an X570 chipset.

The features of the MSI B450-A Pro Max at a glance:
- B450 motherboard in ATX format from MSI
- 1x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16) for high-end graphics cards
- 2x USB 3.1 Type A, 4x USB 3.0 and 6x USB 2.0
- 1x M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 / SATA and 6x SATA 6G
- DDR4 memory up to 4,133 MHz using OC (Matisse)
- 1x HDMI 1.4 and 1x DVI-D

The features of the MSI B450-A Pro Max in detail
The MSI B450-A Pro Max is an ATX mainboard and has a PCI Express 3.0 slot with full x16 connection for graphics cards and a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot with x4 connection. The motherboard provides four PCIe 2.0 x1 slots for additional expansion cards. The four RAM banks support up to 64 GB DDR4 RAM with a clock rate of up to 2,933 megahertz and can even handle clock rates up to 3,466 MHz via OC. With a Ryzen 3000 processor (Matisse), it is 3,200 MHz and 4,133 MHz via OC.

The mainboard provides an M.2 slot for SSDs in sizes 22110, 2280, 2260 and 2242. This supports M.2-M-Key SSDs with PCIe 3.0 or SATA connection. M.2 SSDs with the advanced NVM Express protocol (NVMe) and a connection via four PCI Express 3.0 lanes are up to eight times faster than SATA 6G hard drives and support data transfer rates of up to 32 Gbit / s. In addition, the mainboard offers six SATA 6G connections.

The MSI B450-A Pro Max provides two USB-A-3.1 ports, two USB-A-3.0 ports and two USB-A-2.0 ports on the I / O panel. VGA, HDMI and DVI-D connections are available for CPUs with integrated graphics units, such as AMD's Raven Ridge and Picasso. Internally, two additional USB 3.0 ports and four USB 2.0 ports are available via pin headers. The mainboard has a 4-pin RGB 12V header for static RGB elements. There are also a total of six 4-pin slots for fans and a water pump.

Technical details:
Format:
ATX (305 x 244 mm)
chipset:
AMD B450
Base:
AM4 (for Matisse / Picasso / Pinnacle Ridge / Summit Ridge / Bristol Ridge / Raven Ridge)
R.A.M:
4x DDR4 (UDIMM, non-ECC)
Ryzen 3000 (Matisse): max. 3,200 MHz, 4,133 MHz in the OC
Other AMD CPUs: max. 2,933 MHz, 3,466 MHz in the OC
Dual-Channel
Max. 64 GB
Slots (with a 3000/2000 series Ryzen CPU):
1x PCIe 3.0 x16 (electrical x16)
1x PCIe 2.0 x16 (electrical x4)
Multi-GPU configurations: AMD 2-Way CrossFireX (x16 / x4)
2x PCIe 2.0 x1
Internal connections:
6x SATA 6G (RAID 0, 1, 10)
1x M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 / SATA (M-Key, 22110/2280/2260/2242)
2x USB 3.0 (1 header)
4x USB 2.0 (2 headers)
1x 4-pin CPU fan
1x 4-pin pump / fan
4x 4-pin system fans
1x TPM module
1x front panel audio
2x system panel
1x chassis intrusion
1x serial port
1x parallel port connector
1x 4-pin RGB header (12V, JRGB)
1x Clear CMOS jumper

External connections:
2x USB 3.1 type A
2x USB 3.0 type A
2x USB 2.0
1x Gigabit LAN (Realtek 8111H)
1x DVI-D
1x VGA
1x HDMI 1.4
1x PS / 2 combo
1x BIOS flashback button
6x 3.5 mm jack (Realtek ALC892, 7.1 Sound)
Power supply:
1x 24-pin ATX12V
1x 8-pin ATX12V