Asus PRIME B660M-K D4
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A compact and well-balanced mid-range motherboard based on the B660 system logic, which Intel presented at the end of 2021. To install the processor, the new generation Intel LGA 1700 socket is used, which was created with an eye on the sensational 12th generation Intel Alder Lake APUs. Thanks to the use of a high-quality element base with heat-resistant capacitors and an 8-phase power supply subsystem with aluminium radiators, this board promises to become a strong foundation when assembling far from the weakest gaming computer or workstation.
Unlike its counterparts in the Prime series released in 2020, the Asus PRIME B660M-K D4 boasts support for the PCI-E 4.0 system interface, which allows you to speed up the speed of data exchange between the processor, graphics card and storage, thereby increasing the speed of loading textures in modern games. However for this you need an NVMe SSD, which is also designed to work with the PCI-E 4.0 bus. The board also supports dual-channel DDR4 RAM with a maximum frequency of 5333 MHz. The layout of the model includes 2 DIMM slots, 2 M.2 connectors, 4 SATA3 connectors and one free slot for mounting a graphics card.
Inexpensive and reliable micro-ATX board
The Prime series of motherboards was originally positioned as inexpensive office plugs, made with an emphasis on durability. However, a couple of years ago, Asus changed its approach and began equipping some models of the series with powerful power converters and additional cooling in the style of the TUF and ROG Strix series boards, which is why they began to be recommended for entry-level and mid-level gaming builds. A great example of this change of course is the Asus PRIME B660M-K D4 compact micro-ATX board, which we recommend for building gaming PCs based on entry-level and mid-range Intel processors.
Modern sockets and support for overclocked DDR4 memory
The key feature of the Asus PRIME B660M-K D4 lies in its unprecedented conformism. Despite the affordable price, the board is equipped with an Intel LGA 1700 socket, the technical capabilities of which are adjusted to the operating conditions of modern Intel 12th and 13th generation processors. It supports the installation of DDR4 memory modules with a maximum clock speed of 5333 MHz, the bandwidth of which is not much inferior to DDR5 memory. A rather intelligent 8-phase power converter, assembled using a high-quality element base and additional cooling, will easily power an overclocked Core i5-13600K processor. And taking something more powerful for a mid-range car does not make much sense. At least in 2023.
PCI-E 4.0 bus
Unlike its counterparts in the Prime series, released a year or two ago, Asus PRIME B660M-K D4 boasts support for the PCI-E 4.0 system interface, which allows you to speed up the speed of data exchange between the processor, video card and drive, thereby increasing the speed of loading textures in modern games. True, for this you need an appropriate NVMe SSD, which is also designed to work with the PCI-E 4.0 bus. The board also supports dual-channel DDR4 RAM. In addition, the layout of the model includes 2 DIMM slots, 2 M.2 connectors, 4 SATA3 connectors and one free slot for mounting a video card.
