MSI is getting ready to launch two budget-oriented AM4 motherboards belonging to the MAG series: the A520M Bazooka WiFi and the B550M Vector WiFi. Both feature a similar black and grey design and rear I/O connectivity, but there are still some differences that might make users choose one over the other.

The MSI A520M Bazooka is an mATX motherboard measuring 244mm x 244mm and featuring a mildly sized heatsink for the VRM and MSI’s M.2 shield Frozr heatsink for a PCIe NVMe SSD. This board uses a 4+2+1 duet rail power system to deliver the power to the CPU and 2oz thickened copper on the PCB to improve heat dissipation. Additionally, it comes with double ESD protection to prevent static discharge surges from damaging the motherboard and any other components connected to it.

Featuring 4x DIMM slots for up to 128GB of DDR4 at a maximum speed of 4400MHz, this board has a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, 2x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots, an M.2 slot, 4x SATA 6Gbps ports, Realtek ALC897 audio Codec, Realtek RTL8111H LAN controller, and Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168 with Bluetooth support. The board’s rear I/O comes with 4x USB-A 3.2 Gen1 5Gbps ports, 2x USB-A 2.0 ports, an RJ-45 ethernet port, audio and WiFi antenna connectors (antennas included), an HDMI 2.1 port, and a DisplayPort.

The MSI B550M Vector WiFi also is an mATX motherboard, but it’s a bit shorter, measuring 244x210mm, and comes with a slightly smaller heatsink. Similar to the A520M Bazooka WiFi, the B550M Vector WiFi features MSI’s M.2 shield Frozr heatsink, double ESD protection, a 4+2+1 duet rail power system, and 2oz thickened copper on the PCB.

Instead of 4x DIMM slots, the B550m Vector WiFi comes with only 2x DIMM slots (64GB max.), but it supports higher clocked memory up to 4600MHz. Just like the A520M Bazooka WiFi, it also features a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, 2x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots, an M.2 slot, 4x SATA 6Gbps ports, Realtek RTL8111H LAN controller, and Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168 with Bluetooth support, but the audio codec could either be the Realtek ALC897 or the older 892. The rear I/O is exactly the same, including 4x USB-A 3.2 Gen1 5Gbps ports, 2x USB-A 2.0 ports, an RJ-45 ethernet port, audio and WiFi antenna connectors (antennas included), an HDMI 2.1 port, and a DisplayPort.

MSI hasn’t disclosed the pricing and availability details of these motherboards. You can learn more about the A520M Bazooka WiFi HERE, and the B550M Vector WiFi HERE.

KitGuru says: Out of these two MSI motherboards, which one would you choose for an entry-level AMD system?

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