MSI A520M-A PRO AM4 DDR4 Micro-ATX Motherboard

MSI A520M-A PRO AM4 DDR4 Micro-ATX Motherboard

The MSI A520M-A PRO is a Micro-ATX motherboard built on the AMD A520 chipset for the AM4 socket, pairing DDR4 memory with a compact layout that suits budget builds, office PCs and everyday home systems. It supports AMD Ryzen 5000 Series, 5000 G-Series, 4000 G-Series, 3000 Series and 3000 G-Series processors, giving an affordable route into the AM4 platform with room for a discrete graphics card and a fast NVMe drive.

Key Specifications

• Socket AM4 with AMD A520 chipset in a Micro-ATX form factor
• 2 DDR4 memory slots supporting up to 64GB, with DDR4 speeds up to 4600 MHz by A-XMP OC mode
• 1 PCIe 3.0 x16 slot and 1 PCIe 3.0 x1 slot for a graphics card and an add-in card
• 1 M.2 Gen3 x4 slot plus 4 SATA 6Gb/s ports, with RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 10 support
• Realtek RTL8111H Gigabit LAN and Realtek ALC892 codec with 7.1-channel high definition audio
• HDMI 2.1 and DVI-D display outputs for processors with integrated graphics
• Rear USB: 4 USB 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps Type-A ports and 2 USB 2.0 ports; front headers add 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and 4 USB 2.0 ports

Turbo M.2 and Core Boost

Turbo M.2 runs the M.2 slot at PCI-E Gen3 x4 to maximise performance for NVMe based SSDs, so a boot drive on this board loads the system and applications quickly despite the board's entry-level positioning. Core Boost pairs a premium layout with a digital power design to support more cores and deliver better performance, while DDR4 Boost uses an isolated memory circuit to deliver pure data signals for stability. A 2oz thickened copper PCB further improves heat dissipation and performance reliability.

1. Start with a Ryzen 5000 Series processor and a single graphics card in the PCIe 3.0 x16 slot for a capable budget gaming or work PC.
2. Fit up to 64GB of DDR4 across the two slots, using A-XMP profiles to reach speeds up to 4600 MHz.
3. Add a Gen3 NVMe SSD in the M.2 slot for the operating system and keep up to four SATA drives for bulk storage.