Review MSI B250 GAMING M3 is a modernized classic. Overview and testing of the motherboard MSI B250 GAMING M3 BIOS and proprietary utilities

We have already got acquainted with a large number of motherboards based on Intel 200 chipsets - a series of both top overclocking solutions and affordable working options. But what about a user who wants to get a normal gaming solution with a pleasant appearance, good sound, a reliable element base, convenient software and not to think about overclocking components? And MSI has the answer to this question - the MSI B250 Gaming M3 motherboard, the features of which we will cover in this review.

Characteristics

Packaging and equipment

MSI B250 Gaming M3 is packaged in a box with quite bright printing, on the front of it there is a motherboard, the logo of the manufacturer and the main supported technologies. The appearance of the board and its main characteristics are shown on the back of the box.
The scope of delivery is extremely simple:

  • detailed user manual in English;
  • quick installation instructions;
  • disk with drivers and proprietary software;
  • two SATA 6Gb / s cables, one of which has an L-shaped connector on one of the ends;
  • cable for connecting LED strips;
  • stickers for marking cables;
  • cap for the body;
  • MSI Gaming metal sticker.

Appearance, lighting options

MSI B250 Gaming M3, unlike the older models Gaming M5 and Gaming M7, has retained the feature of the old motherboards of the Gaming line, this is an emphasis on bright red, but still it is much less. Stripes on the VRM zone cooling radiators and a red pattern in the form of stripes on the textolite, but like the older models, the main design colors are now black and gray. In general, the appearance of the dragon Lucky approves!
On the back side of the printed circuit board there is a pattern, also in the form of red stripes.
No matter how strange it may be, the MSI B250 Gaming M3 lacks backlight zones, but if you really want to diversify your system, you can connect RGB strips and turn on lighting effects: static glow, breathing, blinking, double blinking, random effect.

Location of elements, power system and cooling

The rear interface panel has the following connection ports: one PS / 2 and 2 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1, 2 x USB 3.1 Gen2, one of them is symmetrical - Type C, the second Type A. DVI-D is provided for connecting monitors and HDMI 2.0, one Gigabit Ethernet port, its controller is the Qualcomm Killer E2500. The board is equipped with five gold-plated 3.5 mm Mini-Jack ports and one S / PDIF, and the sound is generated thanks to the Rialtek ALC1220 codec.
Processor socket LGA1151, supports 6th and 7th generation Intel processors.
The processor receives power from an eight-pin connector. The processor power system is ten-phase, eight phases are dedicated to powering the processor, and two more - to powering the integrated graphics. The power system is built on high-quality components that meet the Military Class 5 standard. To be honest, such a power system is partially redundant for the B250 chipset, but on the other hand, the power system heats up less, which means it will last a very long time.
The processor power system and the system logic set received aluminum heat dissipators, heat is removed from the power phases with the help of thermal pads, and from the chipset - through hot melt adhesive. The radiators of the power system are not as massive as it seems at first glance. But thanks to the normal ribbing, they can easily cope with their function.


There are 4 slots for random access memory frequencies up to 2400 MHz are supported, then the chipset limitation is triggered. The maximum total amount of RAM is 64 GB. To the right of the DIMM slots there is a block of 4 EZ Debug LEDs, which is designed to quickly identify a malfunction.
The PCIe slot block consists of two PCI Express 3.0 16X and three PCI Express 3.0 1X. The top PCIe 3.0 16X received metal reinforcement for installing heavy video cards, the bottom slot can handle a maximum of eight PCIe lanes. NVIDIA SLI technology is not supported, but putting a couple of Radeon video cards in Crossfire is real.
At the bottom of the board, as standard, there are blocks for connecting the case, 2x USB 2.0, TRM connector, a connector for connecting LED strips, front audio ports. It is possible to connect four case USB 3.0 at once, the second connection connector is located next to the SATA ports. In the lower left part of the board there is a shielded area where the codec is soldered, as well as Premium Nichicon liquid capacitors and an operational amplifier, so we can be content with high-quality sound.
Six SATA III drives are provided for connecting drives. Two M.2 slots - they can work both in SATA and PCIe mode, the top one received support for drives like: 2242/ 2260 / 2280/ 22110; lower: 2242/ 2260 / 2280.
During the assembly of the system, you will have to face several restrictions, which are listed below.

To organize the cooling system, there are six 4-pin connectors (marked in red), one of them is for connecting liquid cooling pumps (marked in blue).

UEFI(BIOS) and software

UEFI is divided into two large sections: “basic” and “advanced”, you can control both the mouse and the keyboard, there is partial Russification. Basic mode is for controlling boot priority, case fans, and viewing system information.



Advanced mode includes all the same features, but adds more detailed settings. Since the B250 chipset does not allow for overclocking, all overclocking-related items are disabled and the only thing you can "play" with is the RAM timings.

Use MSI Live Update 6 to update drivers and software.
Let's start our acquaintance with applications that will help us in games.

MSI Gaming App is a program that is designed to select operating modes, adjust the backlight, color correct the image displayed on the display, record macros and hotkeys for the keyboard and mouse, which is important if you have budget peripherals and it does not have special software.



MSI Command Center, in general, is designed for easy overclocking, but on MSI B250 Gaming M3, only RAM control, cooling system settings, and thermal monitoring are possible.
MSI Smart Tool is a simple program for creating bootable media with Windows.

Killer Control Center is used to manage network flows, priorities and limits on speed and consumed traffic, mainly to set the maximum priority for online games so that some kind of Windows update does not “steal” bandwidth. To fine-tune the sound, in addition to the standard Realtek center, there is Nahimic 2, but is it more convenient? Yes, at least a more understandable interface. All the necessary settings are grouped, and the sound quality changes noticeably and not in bad side, especially in games that support Sound Tracker - sound positioning accuracy becomes top notch even on budget headphones.
Additional software includes CPU-Z in the corporate colors of MSI Gaming and XSplit Gamecaster, which provides an annual premium subscription.

General impressions and tests

All testing of the MSI B250 Gaming M3 comes down to checking this motherboard for stability and trying to lower the RAM timings. The B250 chipset imposes restrictions on overclocking both RAM and the processor, but at the same time does not affect performance in any way, which we have already tested on the example of MSI Z270 Gaming M5 and MSI B250M Mortar. For this reason, the B250 chipset will be quite optimal for undemanding users.

Let's move on to the MSI B250 Gaming M3. On the one hand, this motherboard does not look like the most balanced solution, because for this money you can buy a motherboard based on the entry-level Z270 chipset, but now back to the question that not everyone needs a top-end chipset, and here the MSI B250 Gaming M3 takes exactly the gaming functionality and the assembled with a large supply system.
The MSI B250 Gaming M3 can boast of gaming functionality: here you have an excellent appearance, and a top-end codec, which means with sound full order, and a high-quality Ethernet controller with the ability to prioritize, and convenient useful software.

The MSI B250 Gaming M3 deserves our Editors' Choice award for an affordable yet good quality gaming motherboard.

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