MSI Mortar Gaming Motherboard for AMD AM4 - $159

Good price for a good board. Could use more USB ports on the back IO.

Personal opinion, but I feel like nowadays you want a board with WiFi. Doesn't mean you have to use the WiFi, as lan > all, but just to have the bluetooth built in. Hated using some Aliexpress dongle in the past. Also want to aim for bluetooth 5 if possible, huge jump up from 4.x if your devices support it.

dmxlite wrote: ↑ Good price for a good board. Could use more USB ports on the back IO.

Get cheapest DDR4 RAM to pair? Heard whether G.Skill or Corsair is more reliable? Obviously not a burner system but good reliable general use, little gaming.

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product ... _id=138249 G.Skill DDR4-3600 16GB Ripjaw $105
https://www.canadacomputers.com/product ... _id=096846 Corsair Venge DDR4-3200 ance LPX 16GB $110

RiCHC3 wrote: ↑ Personal opinion, but I feel like nowadays you want a board with WiFi. Doesn't mean you have to use the WiFi, as lan > all, but just to have the bluetooth built in. Hated using some Aliexpress dongle in the past. Also want to aim for bluetooth 5 if possible, huge jump up from 4.x if your devices support it.

Fair point about bluetooth. Ugh, need to find quality sub $200 mobo then.

RiCHC3 wrote: ↑ Personal opinion, but I feel like nowadays you want a board with WiFi. Doesn't mean you have to use the WiFi, as lan > all, but just to have the bluetooth built in. Hated using some Aliexpress dongle in the past. Also want to aim for bluetooth 5 if possible, huge jump up from 4.x if your devices support it.

I concur. The price of a quality add-in card for wifi/bluetooth is $50 or more, and it's usually cheaper to get a mobo with that included.

That said, wired is the way to go whenever possible for network connection. So if your home is set up for a wire connection, and you won't need bluetooth on your desktop, may as well save the money with the mobo.

The Asus TUF B550-Plus WiFi is 20 more at CC and I'd argue it's a better quality board.

frugalcanuck wrote: ↑ Fair point about bluetooth. Ugh, need to find quality sub $200 mobo then.

If you want bang for buck, this is what I recommend you do.

Amazon Warehouse (these are either returns or damaged boxes)
Search - AM4 Motherboard (then whatever parameters, like wifi or b550 or whatever you're looking for)
Bookmark the landing page and either check it every once or set it to your homepage when you open your browser.

Eventually you'll find a good deal on one.

I grabbed this one a month ago (( MSI MPG B550 Gaming Edge WiFi Gaming Motherboard (AMD AM4, DDR4, PCIe 4.0, SATA 6Gb/s, M.2, USB 3.2 Gen 2, AX Wi-Fi 6, HDMI/DP, ATX) )) - https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B089CQFHHZ/
for $160 after taxes. I ended up returning it and now it's $190 pre-tax on warehouse. The deals do come though.

You should include B550 in the title...