The motherboard of a working computer does not have to be cheap, low-power and limited on all fronts. Instead, the MSI PRO line offers outwardly strict, but very advanced office motherboards with excellent layout, support for top-end processors and useful things like a reinforced M.2 slot or cooling of the North bridge.

Most of the boards in this series belong to the middle price segment. The most popular option is the MSI B450-A PRO MAX model on the AMD B450 chipset. In terms of equipment and quality of circuitry, it resembles the best examples of MSI MORTAR motherboards, but with an emphasis on reliability, not performance in games. A board of this class will provide a strong foundation for both a gaming computer and a workstation.


At the same time, the PRO line is full of entry-level boards that belong in a work computer, a multimedia centre or a relatively simple gaming system that does not need to run next-generation games in 4K. A popular variant of such a board is the MSI H410M-A PRO model, which for its $70 offers a potential buyer a reinforced PCI-E slot, optimized wiring of memory modules, a modern network controller and an M.2 port with support for ultra-fast NVMe drives and a friendly UEFI BIOS interface that even a child can figure out.

Well, quite occasionally, thoroughbred variants like the MSI Z490-A PRO flash in the ranks of the PRO, which only outwardly mimics its relatives. The use of high-speed RAM, a flagship chipset and an advanced 14-phase power subsystem is more akin to the MSI MEG models. The only difference is that the price tag is lower, and you do not need to print a separate brochure to list additional functions.