Building a new gaming PC? One of the most important decisions that you'll have to make is what the best gaming motherboard is to buy and act as the foundation for your PC.

Yes, the motherboard is the backbone of a PC. Sure, what CPU and GPU you buy will greatly determine the performance, but remember that everything connects to the motherboard, and if you fit a great CPU and GPU to a poor motherboard, you'll end up with a poor PC that offers a poor experience.

A good motherboard makes all the difference.

Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Pro

Best motherboard for Intel processors overall

Tech specs

• LGA1700 socket
• Z690 chipset
• Support for 12th Generation Intel Core, Pentium Gold and Celeron processors
• DDR5 6200 max bandwidth
• 4x DDR DIMM sockets supporting up to 128 GB
• 1x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 and 2x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x4
• Max 2x USB 3.2 Gen2x2, 4x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 6x USB 3.1 Gen 1, 8x USB 2.0
• 4x M.2 connectors, 6x SATA 6GB/s connectors

 

Pros

• Decent price for a high-end board
• DDR5 support
• Massive array of USB ports

Cons

• Reports of some owners complaining of the board being unstable in some configurations

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MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk WIFI DDR4

Best for for those not interested in overclocking

Tech specs

• LGA1700 socket
• Z690 chipset
• Support for 12th Generation Intel Core, Pentium Gold and Celeron processors
• DDR4 5200 max bandwidth
• 4x DDR DIMM sockets supporting up to 128GB
• 1x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 and 1x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4
• Max 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, 5x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1, 8x USB 2.0
• 3x M.2 connectors, 6x SATA 6GB/s connectors

Pros

• Reasonably priced (but not cheap)
• Fully featured

Cons

• No overclocking
• No DDR5 support

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Asus Prime H610M-A D4

Best for bargain hunters

Tech specs

• LGA1700 socket
• H610 chipset
• Support for 12th Generation Intel Core, Pentium Gold and Celeron processors
• DDR4 3200 max bandwidth
• 2x DDR DIMM sockets supporting up to 64GB
• 1x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 and 1x PCI Express 3.0 slot, running at x1
• Max 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1, 4x USB 2.0
• 2x M.2 connectors, 4x SATA 6GB/s connectors

Pros

• Great price
• Excellent build quality

Cons

• Limited SATA connectors and USB ports

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Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra

Best for overclockers

Tech specs

• Socket AM4
• X570 chipset
• Support for AMD Ryzen 5000 Series, Ryzen 5000 G-Series, Ryzen 4000 G-Series, 3rd Gen Ryzen, 2nd Gen Ryzen, 2nd Gen Ryzen with Radeon Vega Graphics, Ryzen with Radeon Vega Graphics Processors
• DDR4 4400 max bandwidth
• 4x DDR DIMM sockets supporting up to 128GB
• 1x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 and 1x PCI Express 3.0 slot, running at x1
• Max 4x USB2.0, 3x USB3.2 Gen 1, 2x USB3.2 Type-C, 1x USB3.2 Type-A
• 2x M.2 connectors, 6x SATA 6GB/s connectors 

Pros

• Advanced design
• Great features
• Easy to use overclocking tools

Cons

• Expensive

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Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero

Best motherboard for AMD processors overall

Tech specs

• Socket AM4
• X570s chipset
• Support for AMD Ryzen 5000 Series, Ryzen 5000 G-Series, Ryzen 4000 G-Series, 3rd Gen Ryzen, 2nd Gen Ryzen, 2nd Gen Ryzen with Radeon Vega Graphics, Ryzen with Radeon Vega Graphics Processors
• DDR4 4866 max bandwidth
• 4x DDR DIMM sockets supporting up to 128GB
• 1x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 and 1x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4
• Max 5x USB3.2 Gen 2, 10x USB3.2 Gen 1, 4x USB2.0 

Pros

• Rock solid stability
• Solid overclocking tools
• High-quality components used in the build

Cons

• BIOS can be unfriendly for beginners

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Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master

Best for those wanting a quiet PC

Tech specs

• Socket AM4
• X570S chipset
• Support for AMD Ryzen 5000 Series, Ryzen 5000 G-Series, Ryzen 4000 G-Series, 3rd Gen Ryzen, 2nd Gen Ryzen, 2nd Gen Ryzen with Radeon Vega Graphics, Ryzen with Radeon Vega Graphics Processors
• DDR4 5400 max bandwidth
• 4x DDR DIMM sockets supporting up to 128GB
• 1x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 and 1x PCI Express 3.0 slot, running at x1
• Max 8x USB2.0, 3x USB3.2 Gen 1, 2x USB3.2 Type-C, 1x USB3.2 Type-A
• 4x M.2 connectors, 6x SATA 6GB/s connectors

Pros

• Fanless chipset cooling
• Plenty of M.2 connectors
• Powerful overclocking tools

Cons

• BIOS can be overwhelming for beginners

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What's the best motherboard?

Product	Price	Feature	Feature
MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk WIFI DDR4	$256.99	For Intel processors	128GB DDR5 RAM
Asus Prime H610M-A D4	$109.00	For Intel processors	128GB DDR4 RAM
Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra	$689.00	For AMD processors	128GB DDR4 RAM
Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master	$399.99	For AMD processors	128GB DDR4 RAM

Which is the right motherboard for you?

Choose this...	If you want or are...
Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Pro	The best motherboard for Intel processors
MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk WIFI DDR4	A solid motherboard without all the complexities of overclocking
Asus Prime H610M-A D4	An excellent, low-cost motherboard for Intel processors
Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra	A motherboard that's easy to overclock
Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero	The best motherboard for AMD processors
Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master	A fanless motherboard for a quiet PC

How were these products chosen?

This is a combination of products that I use from companies that I trust. All these companies have a reputation for building solid products with good support.

I've covered both Intel and AMD chips, in a range of prices.

How do I know if the motherboard is compatible with all my other parts?

This is where I highly recommend that you go to the manufacturers website and check the compatibility list. Most manufacturers produce a list of compatible CPUs and RAM modules, and this can be offer a wealth of information.

Is it worth "upgrading" a motherboard alone?

Unless you're upgrading a CPU and/or RAM to go with it, I would say no. The only time I would say yes to this is if your existing motherboard is unstable with the parts you have.

Is it worthwhile buying a motherboard that supports "overclocking"?

You can get a lot of of overclocking a system, but it's not for the faint of heart. Overclocking can be fun, but it can also be frustrating, and can damage components. 

It's one of those "at your own risk" things.

Can a server motherboard be used for gaming?

You could, but remember that server motherboards are designed to handle different workloads to gaming motherboards. So while you could use a server motherboard in a gaming PC, performance would suffer a lot. 

How long do gaming motherboards last?

They should last you long enough for the PC to start feeling slow and old, and you're beginning to think about upgrading.

That said, gaming PCs are typically run faster and hotter than standard PCs, and as such components failure is more common, but in my experience you should get a number of years of happy gaming from a motherboard before you have problems.

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