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With this material, we open a series of reviews of devices designed for desoldering inexpensive hubs designed for Intel Coffee Lake-S processors. A non-trivial model will act as the first participant. A special silvery shade of textolite clearly distinguishes it from a number of competitors, a kind of fashion step. There should not be any miscalculations in such a product, which means that it is the best suited for studying the features of new products based on the Intel B360 chip.
A comparison table of the features of the 300th family is in the Gigabyte H370 Aorus Gaming 3 WiFi review. It is known that the B360 hub supports six SATA connectors without the prospect of creating RAID arrays, but only four pieces were provided here. In turn, the board has a pair of compact M.2. Thus, the manufacturer is pushing the assembler to use modern drive models.
We also know that the chipset supports the latest generation USB interface, this device is equipped with a symmetrical body cable jack and two types of ports on the rear panel. The integrated Wi-Fi module has not been implemented on this model. No third-party controllers were noticed, the full list of features is collected in the table.
| Model | MSI B360M Mortar Titanium (MS-7B23 VER:2.2) |
|---|---|
| Official product page on the Web | ua.msi.com |
| Chipset | Intel B360 |
| Processor socket | Socket 1151 |
| Processors | Core i7, Core i5, Core i3, Pentium Gold, Celeron (Coffee Lake-S) |
| Memory | 4 DIMM DDR4 SDRAM 2133/2400/2666, 64 GB maximum |
| PCI slots | 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16, 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 (x4), 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 |
| M.2 | 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x4, SATA 6Gb/s (Key M, 2242/2260/2280/22110) 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x4 (Key M, 2242/2260/2280) |
| Integrated video core (in the processor) | Intel UHD 610/630 |
| Video connectors | DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4, DVI-D |
| Number of connected fans | 4x 4pin |
| PS/2 ports | 1 (keyboard/mouse) |
| The port is USB | 3 x 3.1 Gen2 (2 connectors on the rear panel (A and C), B360) 2 x 3.1 Gen1 (no connectors on the rear panel, B360) 6 x 2.0 (4 connectors on the rear panel, B360) |
| Serial ATA | 4 x SATA 6Gb/s (B360) |
| RAID | – |
| Built-in sound | Realtek ALC892 (7.1, HDA) |
| S/PDIF | Optical (output) |
| Networking | Intel I219V (Gigabit Ethernet) |
| COM | – |
| TPM | + |
| UEFI | AMI UEFI |
| Form factor | mATX |
| Dimensions, mm | 243 x 243 |
| Additional features | Thunderbolt header, EZ Debug LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, BOOT LED), RGB LED strip header (+12V, 5050), AMD support AMD 2-Way CrossFireX |
| Retail price, $ | 127 |
Packaging and equipment
A box of the usual dimensions for an mATX board. On the front side there is a four-star logo of the MSI gaming series, indicating the initial “class” of the model. Let me remind you that the vendor has five- and seven-star devices.
The basic features of the model are listed in the table on the reverse side. There is also a photo and a diagram of the I / O ports on the rear panel. A collage of images with an accompanying description will tell you about the unique distinguishing features.
Entry-level package. There is:
- user manual, which illustrates and describes the UEFI sub-items in detail (in English);
- multilingual quick installation guide;
- disk with drivers and proprietary software;
- buyer registration card;
- MSI Gaming Series logo sticker;
- a plug for the body, complete with a black sticker with a symbolic designation of all sockets;
- two SATA 6Gb / s cables, one of which has an L-shaped connector on one of the ends (not shown in the photo);
- two mounting screws for M.2 format devices.
All of the company’s game boards participate in the promotional campaign for the distribution of licensed copies of several games by registering the product on the site or using proprietary software. It runs until the end of June 2018.
Appearance
Most of all, a huge heatsink on power elements stands out, which is why there is not even a decorative cap over the I / O ports. The main PCI-E slot is reinforced, the RAM slots are shielded. The size of the board is full as for an mATX device, you can use eight mounting holes to fix the position in the case.
The soundproofing area is accompanied by a set of multicolor LEDs pointing to the side. In addition to them, there are practically no elements on the reverse side.
The cooler on the hub is fixed with spring-loaded plastic nails, there are no fanciful shapes or backlighting. Ordinary bar of light alloy metal.
There are no heatsinks on the M.2 sockets. The top one will allow you to mount the longest devices, and the bottom one will limit their length to 80 millimeters.
A pair of cross-type SATA outputs, another pair is longitudinal, thereby eliminating assembly problems in the tightest cases.
Each generation of USB interface cables has one slot for body cables. All of them are of a transverse type of placement on the surface of the product.
The distribution of PCI-E processor lines is not provided here, all sixteen go to the top slot. The remaining three sockets work with a hub.
The sound subsystem is based on Realtek’s ALC892. There are no auxiliary operational amplifiers and even a screen. In the lower corner there is a single stand for connecting the LED strip.
The diagnostic area is located in the upper right corner. Four white LEDs will help in basic diagnostics, in case of any problems with starting the system. There is no backlighting for DRAM or PCI-E modules, as is the case in older models.
The monumental heatsinks of the power circuits are not high; it is unlikely that there will be problems when installing a cooling system for the processor.
The operation of the stabilizer is based on the Richtek RT3607BC PWM controller. It is six-channel, with three integrated drivers. Three more are typed by separate discrete elements. Here came the “4 + 2” phase scheme, where more attention went to the processor voltage. Each channel includes four transistors. For the graphic part, this number was reduced to three. The seventh inductor is needed to generate the CPU IO voltage. Most of the transistors are SM4503NHKP models, and a little less (by two pieces) are SM4337NSKP, these elements are manufactured by Sinopower.
For their contact with the radiator, a dark thermal pad is used, its area in both cases was quite sufficient. Fastener – screw. On the hub, contact occurs through thermal paste.
The configuration of the ports on the rear panel almost completely corresponds to the previous generation model – B250M Mortar. The only change is an optical output, the absence of which at that time we paid attention to. And today it is rather disputable to refuse (there is no other way to call it) the placement of a Wi-Fi module, since Intel has taken significant steps towards its appearance on each of the new boards. It turns out, as before, the presence of a wireless network adapter remains a “chip” for some “special” devices.
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