MSI has launched the B650M and B760M Project Zero motherboards featuring its hidden cable design, putting all connectors on the rear.
To keep up with the cable-free PC trend, MSI has developed two new boards that are clean of any headers on its front side, offering a clear look at the nice finish. Though we must say for such a view, something more artistic like ASRock’s LiveMixer or Taichi boards would have been great. But hey, there are probably many that would love this military style.
B650M Project Zero
Ready for AMD’s Ryzen 7000 processors, the B650M Project Zero is an mATX motherboard carrying one PCIe Gen 4 x16 slot, one PCIe Gen 3 x1 slot, two PCIe Gen 4 M.2 for SSDs, four SATA III, and four DDR5 slots supporting up to 128GB of DDR5-7600 memory. Note that when using four modules, speed may be lower due to signal integrity limitations.
This one houses a 10+2+1-phase power design topped by two large heatsinks sitting on a six-layer PCB.
On the I/O side, we have three USB 3.2 10Gbps, two USB 3.2 5Gbps, one USB 3.2 10Gbps Type-C, another 20Gbps Type-C, two USB 2.0, one DisplayPort, one HDMI, 2.5GbE, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and three 3.5mm audio jacks. Clear CMOS and BIOS flashback buttons are also welcome additions.
B760M Project Zero
Built for Intel’s 13th and 14th Gen CPUs, the B760M Project Zero also follows the mATX format. Here, MSI packs one PCIe Gen 5 x16, one PCIe Gen 4 x4, one PCIe Gen 3 x1, two PCIe Gen 4 M.2, plus four memory slots supporting 192GB of DDR5-7800 RAM, alongside 12+1+1 phases to power the CPU.
I/O is a bit downgraded on this model, offering four USB 2.0 ports, three USB 3.2 10Gbps, one USB 3.2 Type-C 20Gbps, HDMI, DisplayPort, 2.5GbE, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and 7.1 audio through 3.5mm jacks or S/PDIF out.
In addition to reducing visible clutter, Project Zero boards will also make cleaning a breeze, as the absence of cable should mean less dust is collected… and same for cooling which now has unperturbed flow. Both boards are a perfect match for Colorful’s iGame RTX 4070 Ultra Z or Galax’s RTX 4090 20th Anniversary Edition.
