Asus TUF GAMING A520M-PLUS WI-FI AM4 AMD Micro ATX Motherboard

The Asus TUF GAMING A520M-PLUS WI-FI AM4 AMD Micro ATX Motherboard distills essential elements of the latest AMD platform and combines them with game-ready features and proven durability. Engineered with military-grade components, an upgraded power solution and a comprehensive set of cooling options, this motherboard delivers rock-solid performance with unwavering gaming stability. When you build with a TUF Gaming motherboard, you also benefit from the TUF Gaming Alliance an ASUS collaboration with trusted industry partners that ensures easier building, best compatibility, and complementary aesthetics from components to case. With upgraded power delivery and comprehensive cooling options to fuel the latest AMD Ryzen CPUs, plus support for faster memory, TUF Gaming A520M-Plus is the perfect foundation for your next high-core-count battle rig. TUF Gaming motherboards are designed to be easy to set up and configure just the way you want — even for first-time builders.

EASY PC DIY

TUF Gaming motherboards are designed to be easy to set up and configure just the way you want — even for first-time builders. The TUF Gaming Alliance ecosystem makes selecting compatible parts easy, while Armoury Crate software offers full control of system settings via a single dashboard. TUF Gaming motherboards give you everything you need to build your dream gaming rig without adding complexity.

IMMERSIVE GAMING

TUF Gaming A520M-Plus WIFI provides a complete, high-performance gaming package with a long list of features to improve your experience, including ultrafast networking for smoother online gameplay and onboard RGB lighting that syncs with attached accessories to help you create a personalized gaming atmosphere.

NETWORK-OPTIMIZATION SOFTWARE FOR CUSTOMIZABLE PACKET PRIORITIZATION

Turbo LAN is a network-optimization software for customizable packet prioritization. With cFosSpeed traffic-shaping technology, it allows you to configure application priority via an intuitive interface, and reduces network lag.

Asus TUF GAMING A520M-PLUS WI-FI Feature

• AMD AM4 socket: Ready for Ryzen™ 5000 Series/ 4000 G-Series/ 3000 Series Desktop Processors
• Comprehensive cooling: Large VRM heatsink, PCH heatsink, Fan Xpert 2+
• Made for online gaming: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, TUF LANGuard and TurboLAN technology
• Aura Sync RGB: Onboard RGB headers and addressable Gen 2 headers for RGB LED strips, easily synced with Aura Sync-capable hardware

Asus TUF GAMING A520M-PLUS WI-FI Review

The A520 motherboard chipset represents the budget end of the market, perfectly placed to build cheap AMD Ryzen 5000 gaming PCs around. Following on from the Gigabyte A520 Aorus Elite and ASRock A520M ITX/ac we’ve already enjoyed, we have the Asus TUF Gaming A520M Plus. From its Sabertooth motherboard origins, the TUF sub-brand has expanded into other product lines, and not just from Asus. Multiple partners offer TUF products including cases, memory and peripherals.

The TUF brand adopts a reliability or military theme. Asus claims TUF products are engineered for stability and compatibility with other TUF components. While this is mostly a marketing exercise, the unique aesthetic will be appealing to many, with the yellow highlights and discrete designs an interesting change from excessive RGB LEDs and snarling beast bling.

Many gamers really do want something that’s simple, reliable and discrete—to be enjoyed but not seen or heard. TUF products are finding traction among users and gamers who have no interest in hyper-expensive, high-end motherboards. Asus buyers tend to be quite loyal and with more TUF products than ever, it seems it’s a brand that’s here to stay.

As we talked about in other A520 reviews, this budget AMD Ryzen chipset isn’t for everyone. It doesn’t offer PCIe 4.0 support and you can’t overclock, but the truth is a resolutely budget system buyer won’t be overly concerned about these things. They’ll be looking to put a system together, install windows and get into their game.