Gigabyte A520M DS3H V2 AM4 Micro-ATX DDR4 Motherboard

Gigabyte A520M DS3H V2 AM4 Micro-ATX DDR4 Motherboard

A straightforward AM4 micro-ATX board with four memory slots, M.2 storage and both DisplayPort and HDMI outputs.

The Gigabyte A520M DS3H V2 is a micro-ATX motherboard for AMD’s AM4 socket, supporting Ryzen 3000 and 3000G, 4000G, 5000 and 5000G Series processors. The A520 chipset is AMD’s entry-level option and this board reflects that: no overclocking features, PCIe 3.0 rather than 4.0, but everything a mainstream desktop needs in a compact, well-made package. It is a sensible choice for an office PC, a family computer or a budget gaming build around a Ryzen 5 or a Ryzen G-series chip with integrated graphics, where spending more on the motherboard would not buy anything the user would notice.

Processor and memory

Four DDR4 DIMM sockets support up to 128GB of memory at 3200MHz as standard and up to 4733MHz with overclocked kits, which leaves room to add modules later rather than replace them. The board uses Gigabyte’s Ultra Durable design with a digital VRM for stable power delivery to the processor.

Expansion and storage

The PCIe x16 slot is wired to the processor and runs at PCIe 3.0 x16, which is ample for mainstream graphics cards, and a PCIe 3.0 x1 slot from the chipset takes a sound, capture or network card. One M.2 2280 slot accepts either a PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe drive or a SATA M.2 drive, and four SATA 6Gb/s ports with RAID 0, 1 and 10 support cover hard drives and 2.5-inch SSDs.

Connectivity

The rear panel offers DisplayPort and HDMI outputs for processors with Radeon integrated graphics, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and four USB 2.0 ports, a PS/2 port for legacy keyboards or mice, a Realtek Gigabit Ethernet port and three audio jacks fed by a Realtek HD audio codec with Gigabyte’s Audio Noise Guard. Internally there is a USB 3.2 Gen 1 header for two front-panel ports and a USB 2.0 header for two more, with one CPU and one system fan header and a TPM header. Punch can fit this board as part of a new AM4 build.

Ideal for

• Office and home PCs built around a Ryzen G-series APU
• Budget AM4 gaming builds with a mid-range graphics card
• Upgrading an older AM4 system while keeping DDR4 memory

Specifications

• Chipset: AMD A520
• Socket: AM4, AMD Ryzen 3000 / 3000G / 4000G / 5000 / 5000G Series
• Form factor: Micro-ATX, 24.4cm x 24.4cm
• Memory: 4 x DDR4 DIMM, up to 128GB (32GB per module), 3200MHz standard, up to 4733MHz (OC), ECC and non-ECC unbuffered
• Expansion slots: 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (CPU), 1 x PCIe 3.0 x1 (chipset)
• M.2: 1 x M.2 2280, PCIe 3.0 x4/x2 or SATA
• SATA: 4 x SATA 6Gb/s, RAID 0/1/10
• LAN: Realtek GbE
• Video outputs: 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 (5120×2880@60Hz), 1 x HDMI 2.1 (4096×2160@60Hz)
• Rear USB: 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 4 x USB 2.0
• Internal USB: 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header (2 ports), 1 x USB 2.0 header (2 ports)
• Audio: Realtek HD audio codec, 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel, 3 x audio jacks
• Fan headers: 1 x CPU, 1 x system
• Other: 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port, 1 x RJ-45, TPM header