9 Best X470 Motherboards to Buy in 2021 — Top-end Performance for AMD Ryzen CPUs
Last updated September 23, 2021
Last updated September 23, 2021
8 Best A320 Motherboards to Buy in 2024 For Budget AMD Ryzen Setups
Last updated April 8, 2022
So far, we have looked at motherboards for the AMD platform based on the mid-range B450 and the flagship X470 chipset. While these motherboards are very popular, AMD has not forgotten that the majority of gamers belong to the budget segment. This is where the A320 chipset motherboards come in.
The AMD A320 chipset is designed for budget PC use cases like building an HTPC or a simple office computer. But the chipset is capable of powering a budget gaming rig as well. If your gaming requirements aren't too high, opting for an A320 motherboard might help in saving a significant amount of money.
While the preferred CPU choices for the A320 chipset are the Raven Ridge Ryzen APUs, the chipset itself supports all 1st and 2nd generation Ryzen processors. Few caveats must be remembered when you decide to purchase an AMD A320 motherboard, though. For one, you cannot overclock the CPU on this motherboard, although you can still overclock the RAM if the BIOS offers the option. Secondly, you can use only one GPU or one M.2 NVMe PCIe drive. Truth be told, this will suffice for a majority of the use cases out there.
So if you are one of those looking for a fairly modern PC on a budget and have limited need for future upgrades, check out our picks for the 8 best AMD A320 motherboards available on the market.
1. Gigabyte GA-A320M-S2H
The Gigabyte A320 motherboards are known for their excellent performance on a budget, and the GA-A320M-S2H is no different. The GA-A320M provides a very good foundation on a budget for AMD Ryzen processors. While it does not feature the bells and whistles of other high-end Gigabyte motherboards, the GA-A320M is easy to install and offers out-of-the-box compatibility for all existing Ryzen offerings. However, if you are buying an older stock, you must find a way to flash the latest BIOS for improved compatibility with newer CPUs. Despite the budget status, the GA-A320M does not compromise too much. You get an M.2 slot for using PCIe NVMe SSDs and also a PCIe x16 slot for running high-end GPUs. The board itself offers HDMI, D-SUB, and DVI-D outs if you plan to use integrated Vega graphics present on the Ryzen APUs. Also available is Gigabytes tuning utility, Smart Fan 5.
Smart Fan 5 gathers temperature data from different thermal sensors spread across the board and helps optimize fan speed and noise for a quieter working experience. For a budget offering, the Gigabyte A320M offers two hybrid fan pin headers, five temperature sensors, and can support fans up to 24W. The advantage of hybrid fan headers is that they can detect the type of fan being installed and adjust the parameters accordingly.
The onboard Realtek GbE LAN includes cFosSpeed optimizations for low network latency, which helps with online gaming. The BIOS does not compromise on the necessary settings and is easy enough to get used to. Overall, you won't have any issues in using the Gigabyte GA-A320M-S2H unless you are getting an older stock of the board by chance. Performance is in line with its budget demographic, and the board offers enough juice to power a budget gaming PC.
- Pros: Good features for the price
- Cons: Older stocks require another CPU to first update the BIOS
2. Asus Prime A320M-K
The Asus Prime A320M-K is a capable AM4 motherboard that offers a lot of hardware for the money. The Prime A320M-K features LED illumination, USB 3.0, DDR4-3200 memory, and M.2 NVMe slot that are normally found only in more expensive offerings. The board also sports a DIGI+ VRM for providing reliable power to the CPU. The A320 chipset is not meant for overclockers, but you can still use any CPU from the AMD Ryzen 1st and 2nd generation. The Prime A320 series motherboards come with Asus's 5x protection. This is comprised of protective mechanisms such as SafeSlot Core, Surge-Protected Networking, Overvoltage Protection, Stable Power Supply, and an integrated stainless-steel I/O plate. Also included is Asus LANGuard that offers electromagnetic interference shielding and protection from static electricity.
The Prime A320M-K is one of the few AM4 A320 motherboards to support DDR4-3200 RAM. Most other boards in this price range make do with just DDR4-2466 or even lower RAM. Asus includes the Fan Xpert monitoring software that provides an overview of PWM/DC fans in the system and offers a 1-click optimization for all supported fan types. The A320M-K also shields the audio components to prevent electromagnetic interference and offers dedicated PCB layers for the left and right channels. Also available is an M.2 slot for PCI NVMe SSDs. Apart from the four USB 3.0 ports at the back, there is a front-panel USB 3.0 header that supports an additional four ports.
Asus has ensured that despite the budget status, the BIOS offers enough tuning and monitoring controls. You can organize settings by favorites, use Fan Xpert, improve DRAM performance, or even update to the latest version of the BIOS right from the UEFI interface itself. Overall, the Asus Prime A320M-K is one of the best A320 motherboards for AMD Ryzen despite the lack of overclocking features. Just ensure that you are getting one with an already up-to-date BIOS to minimize compatibility issues.
- Pros: Good performance; Good value for money
- Cons: No DVI port; Only a single chassis fan header
3. MSI ProSeries A320M PRO-M2 V2
The MSI A320M Pro-M2 V2 is an improved version of the original Pro-M2 catering primarily to business users although, it works great for home users as well. The A320M Pro-M2 V2 supports socket AM4 1st and 2nd gen Ryzen CPUs, and DDR4 memory up to 3200 MHz, and an M.2 slot for PCIe NVMe SSDs. MSI's technologies, such as DDR4 Boost and Audio Boost, are available along with an EZ debug LED to troubleshoot issues during boot.
Some of the other features that are usually only found in higher-end MSI boards include X-boost, Core Boost, and armored PCI express slots. Those wanting to use Ryzen APUs will be pleased to know the availability of HDMI, DVI, and D-Sub video outs. There are enough fan headers to ensure reliable cooling although, the number of such headers would be considerably lesser than the high-end offerings. MSI offers intuitive fan control in the BIOS and also from within Windows so you can always set the appropriate fan curves for your system. The BIOS is in line with some of the more expensive offerings, and you also get diagnostic LEDs for CPU, RAM, VGA, and Boot so that you exactly know where things have gone south.
The BIOS offers both EZ and Advanced modes. There is also a Ramdisk option that allows creating virtual storage space from RAM for the fastest possible read speeds. Most features of the BIOS can be accessed from MSI's Command Center Windows software. Since this is an A320 motherboard, we get only one M.2 PCIe NVMe slot and four SATA 6 Gbps slots. The A320 chipset does not support AMD StoreMI, so it is not possible to mix and match HDD and SSD storage as it is possible with the B450 and X470 offerings. Audio is usually an afterthought in budget motherboards, but the MSI ProSeries A320M offers good quality audio caps and separate PCB layers for the left and right channels to minimize cross-talk.
- Pros: Good performance and feature-set for the price
- Cons: None as such
4. ASRock A320M-HDV
Very few AMD A320 motherboards have managed to pique as much interest from budget gamers and home PC builders as the ASRock A320M-HDV. The A320M-HDV is targeted at those interested in using the AMD Raven Ridge APUs, such as the Ryzen 3 2200G or the Ryzen 5 2400G, with integrated Vega graphics. That being said, you can still use any socket AM4 CPU all the way till the Ryzen 7 2700X. The board offers quite a lot for the price, including a PCIe x16 slot for those wanting to add a more powerful graphics card later on. Ports-wise, you get 4x SATA ports, an M.2 PCIe NVMe slot, LAN, and 6x USB ports. You also get DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI, so those wanting to use multiple monitors can do so with ease.
ASRock's BIOS is very intuitive and does not overwhelm the user with a lot of options. The board is available in a micro ATX form factor so it can fit in most compact cases and HTPC setups. A neat inclusion is the angled SATA ports, which make cable access easy depending on the case. You also get some form of LAN prioritizing built-in that can be accessed via a web UI, which is something not many boards offer at this price.
One thing that the ASRock A320-M HDV does not offer is the ability to overclock the CPU. This is more of a chipset limitation, but the Ryzen APUs perform extremely well when overclocked. You can still overclock the RAM, so that would somewhat benefit the integrated Vega graphics.
- Pros: Excellent performance; Intuitive BIOS
- Cons: None as such
5. MSI Gaming A320M Bazooka
The MSI Gaming A320M Bazooka is an AMD A320 motherboard catering to gamers and, as such, is priced slightly higher than the competition. The MSI Gaming A320M Bazooka offers all the features found in most A320 motherboards while adding a few gamer-centric features. By default, the Bazooka offers a cool white LED lighting at the base of the board. However, you get enough RGB headers to enhance the gaming experience. These RGB lighting effects can be synchronized with other peripherals that support MSI Mystic Lighting.
Gamers can also download the MSI Gaming app on their smartphones for remotely controlling the RGB effects. The Bazooka offers three fully controllable fan headers that can run DC or PWM fans. Full fan curve control is possible either via the BIOS or via MSI Command Center software on Windows. Gaming is generally not the focus of most A320 motherboards, but Bazooka offers a dedicated port for gaming peripherals. You can connect most gaming mice or keyboards to this port for better response and tactile advantage. MSI also offers a Mouse Master software to control fine aspects of the mouse, including DPI settings and custom hotkeys.
Those who like to use the latest M.2 NVMe drives will be pleased with the MSI Bazooka's dedicated M.2 slot. Access times can be further reduced thanks to MSI X-Boost which caches some of the data to RAM for instant access. The Bazooka also has one of the best audio implementations in the market currently for A320 motherboards. The audio components are isolated and shielded from the rest of the components to minimize electromagnetic interference and distortions. The performance of the MSI Gaming A320-M Bazooka is excellent, and budget gamers stand to gain a lot from one of the best A320 motherboards under $100.
- Pros: Gamer-friendly features; Excellent performance
- Cons: Slightly expensive compared to other A320 boards
6. ASRock A320M-DGS
The ASRock A320M-DGS is more or less identical to the ASRock A320M-HDV mentioned above except for the fact that the DGS has only one DVI-D-out and lacks HDMI or VGA ports. This might not matter much if you are using only a single monitor setup but could be of concern if using multiple monitors. However, you can still install a dedicated graphics card for more GPU power if needed. The A320M-DGS supports all AMD 1st and 2nd generation CPUs. You can install the top-end processors if you like, but this board is best suited for Raven Ridge APUs that come with integrated Vega graphics. The RAM can be overclocked to 3200 MHz in the BIOS, which will help in boosting the performance of the integrated graphics as it uses system RAM as a video buffer.
For connectivity, you get the regular PCIe Gen3 x16 slot that can take any modern GPU. This slot is directly connected to the CPU. There is also a PCIe NVMe M.2 slot for SSDs that operates at the full PCIe x4 bandwidth. You also get four SATA ports for using SATA SSDs and HDDs. The ASRock A320M-DGS offers a total of 6 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports — 2 in the front and 4 in the rear.
The board offers a total of 3 fan connectors — one for the CPU fan and two for the chassis. There are no RGB headers, so those wanting to use custom RGB lighting setups might have to look elsewhere. The BIOS is fully featured as other ASRock motherboards have been so far, and you get excellent and easy-to-use utilities. Of course, considering the limitations of the chipset, you cannot overclock the CPU, but RAM overclocking is possible, and that should suffice for the target demographic of this board. Overall, if you can tolerate the lack of a couple of native display-outs, the ASRock A320M-DGS can be considered for your next budget AMD setup.
- Pros: Good aesthetics; Good performance on a budget
- Cons: No HDMI and D-SUB outs
7. Gigabyte GA-A320MA-M.2
The Gigabyte GA-A320MA-M.2 is very similar to the A320M-S2H described earlier with minor differences. Firstly, the A320MA-M.2 offers four DIMM slots against the two slots found in the S2H version. This means you can use up to 64 GB of RAM on this board, which is something that we do not often see on micro ATX motherboards. The other major difference is that the A320MA-M.2 offers an additional USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A port on the rear and reduces the number of USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports to 3. Apart from these minor differences, both Gigabyte boards are more or less equal when it comes to actual system performance. You can use an NVMe M.2 SSD for ultra-fast storage or also use the conventional SATA ports for SSDs and HDDs.
The A320MA-M.2 uses Smart Fan 5 to provide real-time temperature and fan monitoring via 5 temperature sensors and 3 hybrid fan headers. The hybrid fan headers can support both DC and PWM fans so you can control all fans, including CPU and case fans, right from one intuitive interface. Fan curves can be adjusted from within the BIOS as well.
Gigabyte also offers the cFosSpeed internet accelerator software for the Realtek Gigabit LAN port to help with packet prioritization for online gaming. Users are greeted with the same BIOS and App Center found in Gigabyte's entire AMD motherboard range. The App Center includes useful utilities for one-click tuning and optimization along with an easy driver and BIOS updates. Overall, the Gigabyte GA-A320MA-M.2 offers a good deal for a budget PC setup. If you are looking for a good motherboard that provides USB 3.2 Gen2 connectivity, this is the one to pick.
- Pros: USB 3.2 Gen2; Good performance
- Cons: None as such
8. ASRock A320M PRO4
The ASRock A320M Pro4 is for those who are looking at long-term stability than any flashy gamery features. The features of the A320M Pro4 are similar to other ASRock boards in this comparison, so aspects such as ports, headers, performance, etc. are the same across the board. The Pro4 offers slightly more durable components than the regular boards. For example, you get a high-density glass fabric PCB that helps reduce the gap between individual PCB layers. Each PCB layer is, in turn, made of 2oz copper layers for lesser signal loss.
Apart from the above, the ASRock A320M Pro4 is identical to other ASRock boards and most other A320 motherboards we've seen so far. This includes the presence of an M.2 slot for NVMe PCIe SSDs, PCIe x16 for discrete GPUs, 7.1-channel audio, and more. If you are looking at more reliability than flashy features in an AMD A320 motherboard, the ASRock A320M Pro4 is the one to opt for.
- Pros: Good focus on long-term reliability
- Cons: Slightly expensive for the same performance
Dear readers, that was our round-up of the best AMD A320 motherboards. As always, make sure you choose a model that satisfies your needs for the foreseeable future. We hope that this article has addressed your need to purchase a capable A320 motherboard for your next budget rig.
