MSI Unveils B650M Project Zero Motherboard With All The Connectors Hidden On The Back

Oct 21, 2023

MSI has been teasing its "Project Zero" motherboards for a while now, and now they have officially unveiled the B650M variant, stepping into a new era.

For a quick recap, the first look of "Project Zero" was teased a year ago, which disclosed MSI's intentions to adopt a "stealthy approach" on its motherboards. This new approach meant that motherboards under the lineup will adopt a "connector-less" look and it meant that all connectors will be placed at the back. While at that time, it seemed like MSI won't release such a product due to the constraints involved (which we will take later on), MSI made an interesting move here, & has now officially unveiled the B650M "Project Zero."

Diving into the tech specs, the MSI B650M Project Zero motherboard under the new lineup features the B650 chipset, which is a mid-range one for AMD processors. We have summarized the onboard I/O capabilities below.

The MSI B650M Project Zero motherboard features plentiful ports, storage, and memory options for vast support and it will hopefully be enough for any user. Moving on to the more intriguing part, the B650M "Project Zero" aims at taking cable management and "tidy" aesthetics to the next level by integrating all physical connectors at the backside. This change brings in several benefits, the primary one being that MSI can extend the heatsink around the motherboard, enabling much more efficient cooling and thermal management.

MSI is the first company to relocate all connectors at the back end of the motherboard. The repositioned connectors include every necessary one, such as the ATX power (24-pin and 16-pin), SATA ports, and every other ARGB and USB header. Basically, at the front, you will only see RAM slots, PCIe slots, and your respective cooling solution. This approach is intended to take your setup's look to the next level along with allowing the company to provide a better thermal design.

Moving on from the "exciting aspects", there is a crucial fact that we would like to highlight. In MSI's case, the "Project Zero" motherboards will require compatible products with the most important one being a case. Since all connectors are located at the back, a case that supports the new placement will be necessary to take full advantage of the innovation. However, MSI has the upper hand, since the company itself manufactures cases GUNGIN and SEKIRA lineup, which you can view here.

We believe that with MSI setting the trend, the innovative connector placements will open new doorways for vendors to bring changes to their motherboards. For several years, we have seen similar motherboards emerging, with little to no change being made to the aesthetics department. The "Project Zero" lineup will surely convince others to offer similar options, and we already have a glimpse of it from Colorful's CVN B760M motherboard.

The B650M "Project Zero" is yet to hit retail markets, and the company hasn't disclosed its pricing yet. However, one should expect a price increment from the existing B650M models although we believe that it won't be a big of a jump.