We have reached the end of the review and are about to gather our thoughts and reflect on what MSI is offering. As with previous reviews, I will start with what I think MSI could improve before finishing on a positive note.

In recent months, the spotlight has been placed solely on the Intel LGA 1700 platform as it is the first to offer DDR5 and PCIe Gen 5.0 support. Those looking for a new toy to play with had the opportunity to do so as the top-tier motherboards are readily available. Many complaints came from the opposition, those who would rather have a system that is light on overclocking features and lower-priced. Budget-oriented Z690 based and DDR4 motherboards do exist, but are still a bit pricey for some.

Intel has always followed up a few months later with the B-chipsets. These are cut down from Intel's flagship and diced up for different markets. The B660 is one step below B670 and still offers PCIe 5.0, but the chipset DMI 4.0 lanes have been cut from 8 to 4. This limits the additional PCIe slots and M.2 sockets from the PCH.

The benefits of using a B660 chipset with DDR4 memory is the reduction of cost. The MSI MAG B660M Mortar WiFi uses the M-ATX form factor as well. Add everything together and with no CPU overclocking support, this product is aimed at consumers genuinely looking for an Alder Lake system without all the bells and whistles attached.

Even though the official supported memory frequency is quite limited, the motherboard's unofficial support is much better. I was able to run DDR4-5000 single rank and DDR4-4600 dual rank memory without any effort on my part. Just enable X.M.P and go!

I find it extremely difficult to review budget-originated products because they lack things to talk about. The MSI MAG B660M Mortar WiFi DDR4 is no different. In many ways, the motherboard fails to meet my expectations. To even get Prime95 software to run with a i9-12900K, I had to tweak some settings in the BIOS. That being said, if the goal is to build a low-cost rendering or encoding computer, this is not on my recommendation list without a serious consideration of the application being used and case air-flow.

It should be mentioned that MSI has chosen to implement PCIe 4.0 instead of PCIe 5.0 for cost saving tactics. Given it still has two M.2 Gen4 sockets, it will fill the needs of casual users who need a practical system for today. MSI's choice to offer a model with DDR4 instead of DDR5 memory is great as the prices will not be going down anytime soon. Those just interested in strictly gaming or using a lesser CPU will not run into the thermal issues or instant reboots I had. On that note, the MSI MAG B660M Mortar WiFi DDR4 checks off all the boxes for a casual gamer, at an acceptable price tag. However, sacrifices were made in terms of features and the overall power delivery system. To get the best results, I suggest making sure it fills your specific needs before pulling the trigger.