MSI B550M-A Pro Motherboard

The MSI B550M-A Pro is a Micro-ATX form-factor motherboard built on AMD's B550 chipset and designed for the AM4 platform. It supports AMD Ryzen 5000 Series, Ryzen 4000 G-Series, and Ryzen 3000 Series desktop processors — note that the Ryzen 5 3400G and Ryzen 3 3200G are not compatible. The board ships with two DDR4 memory slots capable of running in dual-channel configuration, supporting speeds up to 4600 MHz (OC), with a maximum capacity of 64 GB. Non-ECC unbuffered memory is the primary use case, though ECC UDIMM modules are accepted in non-ECC mode. For storage and expansion, the B550M-A Pro includes four SATA 6 Gb/s connectors and one M.2 slot (M-Key) that runs at PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds when paired with a compatible Ryzen 5000 CPU, enabling fast NVMe solid-state storage. The primary x16 slot operates at PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 3.0 depending on CPU generation, while an additional PCIe 3.0 x1 slot accommodates expansion cards. MSI's Core Boost power design provides a stable digital VRM layout intended to handle multi-core Ryzen processors reliably. The board's 2 oz thickened copper PCB is said to improve heat dissipation compared to a standard 1 oz design. DDR4 Boost circuitry isolates the memory traces to reduce signal interference. Audio is handled by MSI's Audio Boost implementation, which uses dedicated audio components isolated on the PCB to minimize electronic noise. The MSI Dragon Center software suite allows monitoring and tuning of fan speeds, system performance, and other board parameters from within Windows. The rear I/O panel provides HDMI and DVI-D video outputs for use with CPUs that include integrated graphics, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Type-A ports, USB 2.0 ports, a Gigabit LAN port, and 3.5 mm audio connectors. Internal headers add further USB 3.2 Gen 1 and USB 2.0 connectivity, plus a TPM module header. Verified Specifications: - Form Factor: Micro-ATX - Socket: AMD AM4 - Chipset: AMD B550 - Compatible CPUs: AMD Ryzen 5000 Series, Ryzen 4000 G-Series, Ryzen 3000 Series (excluding Ryzen 5 3400G and Ryzen 3 3200G) - Memory: 2x DDR4 DIMM slots, dual-channel, max 64 GB, up to 4600 MHz (OC) - Primary PCIe Slot: PCIe 4.0/3.0 x16 - Additional Slot: PCIe 3.0 x1 - M.2: 1x M-Key (Lightning Gen4 x4) - Storage: 4x SATA 6 Gb/s - Rear USB: USB 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps Type-A x2, USB 2.0 - Video Outputs: 1x HDMI, 1x DVI-D - Warranty: 3 Years (as listed by source)