MSI A520M-A Pro motherboard, Socket AM4, AMD A520, Micro-ATX, DDR4

The AMD A520 is an entry-level chipset that supports Ryzen 3000 processors based on the Zen 2 architecture (codename: Matisse). Unlike the AMD B550 and X570 chipsets, the A520 does not support PCIe 4.0 or overclocking. Motherboards with the A520 chipset support PCIe 3.0 and provide a reliable foundation for office and home users.

The Features of the MSI A520M-A Pro Motherboard at a Glance:

• DDR4 memory up to 3,200 MHz, with RAM-OC up to 4,600 MHz
• 1x M.2 slot with x4 PCIe 3.0 connection directly to the CPU
• 1x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot for the graphics card
• USB on the I/O Panel: 2x USB 2.0 / 4x USB 3.0 Type-A
• Internal USB connections: 4x USB 2.0 / 2x USB 3.0
• A total of 2x 4-Pin PWM headers for fans

The MSI A520M-A Pro in Detail:

The MSI A520M-A Pro is an A520 motherboard in a Micro-ATX form factor. For the graphics card, there is a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot available, which is directly connected to the Ryzen 3000 processor via 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes. Additionally, the motherboard offers a PCIe x1 slot for an extra expansion card.

Connections for Drives and Peripherals:

The Ryzen 3000 CPUs provide four PCIe lanes for direct NVMe SSD connectivity. This A520 motherboard uses these four lanes for a single M.2 slot to connect NVMe SSDs. Additionally, the A520 chipset provides four SATA 6G ports.

On the I/O panel, the MSI A520M-A Pro offers four USB 3.0 ports with Type-A connectors. USB 3.0 (or USB 3.2 Gen 1) achieves maximum speeds of 5 Gbps per port. Furthermore, there are two USB 2.0 ports and two PS/2 ports for mouse and keyboard. This A520 motherboard also features Gigabit LAN (Realtek RTL8111H), onboard sound (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec), two PS/2 ports, and numerous internal headers. For the integrated graphics unit, the MSI A520M-A Pro provides HDMI and DVI outputs. Additionally, it supports RAM kits up to 4,600 MHz.