Picking the best motherboard for your gaming PC is often a lower priority than finding the most extreme graphics cards and processors you can buy. However, your motherboard is arguably just as if not even more important because it connects each of your components (from the main CPU to the most insignificant case fan) to each other.This essential component also determines how quickly your gaming PC can run and how far you can overclock your components. Depending on the specs of your motherboard, you also might only be able to support memory up to a certain speed or a certain number of storage drives.There are a lot of specs to pore over, but weve done that work for you and picked out the very best gaming motherboards for a variety of budgets. Whether your system runs on an Intel or AMD CPU, we think youll find the best motherboards for you below.
TL;DR These are the Best Gaming Motherboards:
1. Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra
Best Intel Motherboard
The Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra is a fully-loaded motherboard that comes at a reasonable price. This mobo packs three M.2 PCIe slots for high-speed solid-state drives and three slots for connecting multiple graphics cards (3-way AMD Crossfire and 2-way Nvidia SLI). If your dream is to build a PC brighter than the sun, this motherboard will help you achieve it with a ton of onboard lighting and two RGB headers to control other illuminated components. Whats most impressive about the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra is it offers all the features found on high-end MSI or Asus models that cost much more.2. Asus ROG Maximus XI Hero (Wi-Fi)
Best High-End Intel Motherboard
You cant really ask for more in an Intel-based gaming motherboard than the Asus ROG Maximus XI Hero (Wi-Fi). This motherboard is ready to unlock the full potential of any Intel 9th Generation (Coffee Lake Refresh) processor you socket into it, plus you can load it up with two NVMe solid-state drives, multiple graphics cards, and 64GB of memory clocked up to 4,400MHz.Asus and other brands may offer even higher-end motherboards with built-in liquid-cooling blocks and other non-essential upgrades, but this is a high-end motherboard anyone can install to soup up their system.
3. Asus TUF Z390-Plus Gaming
Best Mid-Range Intel Motherboard
Trying to save a buck on one of the best gaming motherboards doesnt necessarily mean that you have to miss out on every single high-end feature. The Asus TUF Z390-Plus Gaming is half as expensive as either of our two picks above, but it still fully supports overclocking your processor, and you can increase your memory speeds up to 4,266MHz.You also get two M.2 slots ready to accept the fastest NVMe SSDs and of course support for dual graphics cards in either Nvidia SLI or CrossFire. It’s honestly a little amazing you can get a Z390 board for as little as this to reap benefits of Intel’s latest chipset such as Bluetooth 5.0 and USB 3.1 Gen 2 support.
4. Gigabyte B360 Aorus Gaming 3
Best Budget Intel Motherboard
Finding a full-sized ATX motherboard for close to $100 is tricky, but we think the Gigabyte B360 Aorus Gaming 3 is the best model for users on a budget. It wont let you overclock components like the Z390 motherboard weve featured above will and you can forget about plugging in more than one graphics card, however, you can still install two NVMe SSDs for the fastest storage and it comes with Wi-Fi built-in. Overall, this is one of the best and most affordable motherboards you can use to get started with PC gaming.5. Asus ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi)
Best AMD Motherboard
The Asus ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi) gives you all the expandability and overclocking potential of a high-end AM4 motherboard, but without a price that completely empties your bank account. it still costs a pretty penny at $380, but it’s well worth the expense if you mean to take advantage of the untapped potential of your Ryzen-based system. Thanks to its modern X570 chipset there support for a much wider range of dual-channel DDR4 memory, as well as PCIe 4.0 SSDs and GPUs. The light show youll be able to generate on this part is also quite the spectacle to behold, even if it isnt quite ornate as the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme. This mobo is a hard-hitting performer.6. Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme
Best High-End AMD Motherboard
If youre building the ultimate AMD-centric rig with the latest third-generation Ryzen processors, youre going to want the absolute best motherboard money can buy as your foundation. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better motherboard than the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme. With a modern AM4 socket designed to handle the extreme core counts and power demands of Ryzen 3rd Generation processors.Its X570 chipset comes with full support for PCIe 4.0 storage and graphics cards like the AMD Radeon RX 5700 and 5700 XT. A couple of other niceties of the Gigabyte Aorus X570 Xtreme is every single connector is pitched at a 90-degree angle to make cable management seamless and you’ll also find plenty of RGB lighting onboard. This is what youll need for a high-end, modern AMD build.
7. MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus
Best Mid-Range AMD Motherboard
The X570 motherboards we’ve looked at up to this point have been pretty expensive, much more so than the cost of X470 boards. However, the MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus is one option that takes AMD motherboard prices back to sane levels. For $170, this mobo costs half as much as most X570 motherboards, but it retains almost all the features a hardcore gamer will want.Thanks to its generous overclocking features youll be able to speed up your CPU as well as push your memory to 4,400MHzand beyond thanks to the new extreme memory overclocking support. What’s more, you get one PCIe 4.0 lane for both a graphics card and M.2 solid-state drive.
8. Gigabyte X570 Gaming X
Best Budget AMD Motherboard
Getting a motherboard that can fully unlock the potential of AMD’s latest Ryzen 3rd Generation processors doesn’t necessarily have to cost a fortune. The Gigabyte X570 Gaming X packs an impressive overclocking punch for its low price thanks to its 12 True Phase Digital VRMs. For the low cost of $170, you also still get RGB lighting and all the important features that actually matter like dual M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots and a PCIe 4.0 x 16 slot for AMD’s newest Navi graphics cards.What’s Next For Gaming Motherboards
The announcement of Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation processors came with the introduction of TRX40 motherboards. Although it might seem like these motherboards have the same socket AMD has used since introducing its first Zen-based HEDT chips, this new platform utilizes a new sTRX4 socket that makes buying a new motherboard essential to any Threadripper 3rd Generation system.While this will be an inconvenience to those hoping to continue using their X399 motherboards into the next generation, you at least get PCI-Express 4.0 support. In fact, you get 48 PCIe 4.0 lanes straight off the processor itself then another 24 from the TRX40 chipsetjust be prepared to pay for some pricey motherboards
What to Look for in a Gaming Motherboard
Below we’ve broken down the various chipsets that Intel and AMD processors support along with what specifications and features you should look for in a motherboard.You might be wondering what makes a motherboard good for gaming when you can pretty much game (to a limited degree) on an Ultrabook these days. Well, it comes down to choosing a gaming motherboard, youll want to find one that can do everything you want, whether that be overclocking your processor, having multiple M.2 slots for the fastest solid-state drives or Nvidia SLI and AMD Crossfire support to plug in more than one graphics card.
But lets quickly go back to the most basic thing you should look for when buying a motherboard: chipsets. Intel and AMD processors are designed to work with a variety of tiered chipsets. The highest-end Intel motherboards will feature a Z390 chipset that supports the latest Intel 9th Generation processors with native 802.11ac Wi-Fi and USB 3.1 Gen 2 connectivity and up to 24 PCIe lanes. Additionally, these high-end motherboards will be made of better materials and components to consistently deliver the power necessary for overclocking components attached to them.
Just below that, youll find a Z370 chipset that is nearly identical to the Z390 chipset, except it lacks the native 802.11ac Wi-Fi and USB 3.1 Gen 2 support. With an H370 motherboard, Intel CPUs will only have access to 20 PCIe lanes while losing the ability to overclock. Next up is the Intel B360 chipset, which drops the number of PCIe lanes to 12. Lastly, the Intel H310 chipset only supports six PCIe lanes.
AMD motherboards mostly follow the same tiered system, except youll be able to overclock your CPU on almost any motherboard. The highest-end chipset on this platform is X570 and it complicates things a bit by having PCIe 4.0 lanes that support twice the bandwidth of PCIe 3.0 lanes. X570 comes with 16 PCIe 4.0 lanes and a Ryzen 3rd Generation CPU itself adds another 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes.
Older AMD AM4 platforms like X470 supports 28 PCIe 3.0 lanes, meanwhile, B450 motherboards only have access to 24 PCIe PCIe 3.0 lanes. The A320 chipset is the only one that doesnt support overclocking Ryzen CPUs, but honestly, youd be better off spending a little more on a B450 or B350 motherboard instead.
We mentioned PCIe lanes before and these are important because they dictate how many high-speed components you can install into your PC. For example, a single graphics card can use up 16 PCIe lanes and each NVMe SSD needs four PCIe lanes to operate at its maximum speed.
Youll also want to look for a motherboard with all the physical PCIe slots you need to plug in your components. The good news is that most ATX boards come with at least two to three PCIe slots to slot in multiple GPUs using either Nvidia SLI or AMD Crossfire. M.2 PCIe slots will also be crucial for plugging in the fastest NVMe solid-state drives, should they be part of your build as well.
And those are pretty much the basics you need to know about buying yourself a quality motherboard. Be aware that weve primarily chosen only the best full-sized ATX motherboards in this guide, but there are also microATX and Mini-ITX motherboards to consider if youre building a smaller PC.
Kevin Lee is IGN’s Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam
