The best motherboard for games

When building a powerful computer, it’s important to pair a powerful CPU with a powerful graphics card. When it comes to motherboards, they won’t do much to your framerate, but if you want the features, a higher-end motherboard can offer what a lower-end model does. possible – especially if you’re overclocking. The best motherboard for gaming and all that comes with better power design, great on-board audio and a host of connectivity options. A good gaming motherboard may not increase your frame rate in games, but it will ensure that your components stay up to date during many of the upcoming gaming sessions.

Instead of comparing AMD to Intel, we chose motherboards for both CPU manufacturers at different price points. Whether you have $ 100 or $ 1,000 to spend on a motherboard, we’ve got an option for you.

The best motherboard for gaming under $ 100

You can still get most of the features of the top chipsets from AMD and Intel with their low-cost chipsets, though there are some notable exclusions. This price bracket is best for budget gamers who don’t need a lot of expandability and don’t care about overclocking too much.

However, one of the biggest ways to save money is to simply buy a smaller board. Our select Intel and AMD both come in Micro ATX sizes, which is usually a good rule to follow. There are many expensive Micro ATX boards out there, but there are also plenty of inexpensive ones. Typically, you’ll find a Micro ATX version of the full ATX board for between $ 20 and $ 40 cheaper.

The Gigabyte B550M DS3H is the simpler of the two. The B550 chipset has almost all the features of the higher-end X570 chipset, including overclocking support. Despite the downgrade, the Gigabyte board we chose still supports PCIe 4.0, although it can only handle PCIe 4.0 on a single slot. Likewise, it can only use PCIe 4.0 on a single M.2 slot (the X570 board can support two slots). The remaining connections use PCIe 3.0, which won’t make a difference for years, especially at this price point.

Despite its small form factor, the Gigabyte B550M DS3H still packs in connectivity options, including a full four RAM slots that can go up to 128GB at 4,600MHz (with XMP enabled). The 5 + 3-phase VRM design is a step down from around $ 200 boards, even though providing a clean, stable power supply for moderate overclocking.

It should be noted that the B550 chipset only supports Ryzen 3000 and 5000-series processors, unlike the X570, which also supports 2000-series processors.

For Intel, we have chosen the ASRock B460M Pro4 which is a great board for the chipset. Intel, unlike AMD, restricts overclocking to its high-end chipset (Z490 for current generation). That includes overclocking the CPU, but also overclocking the RAM, clocked at 2,933MHz. Even if you buy a faster set, your memory will only run at 2,933MHz, even with XMP enabled.

Overclocking is a big feature to give up, but that’s been the case with Intel’s budget-focused chipsets for a while. Even without overclocking, the ASRock B460M Pro4 comes with other features, including the featured Realtek ALC1200 7.1 audio chip on the MSI board above.

Best motherboard for gaming under $ 200

Unless you have very specific needs, there’s no reason to spend more than $ 200 on a gaming motherboard. At this price, you can buy the best and newest chipset from AMD or Intel, and you also get access to premium features like front panel USB-C, good VRM power design More, support overclocking and support high-speed memory.

The MSI MAG Z490 features an LGA 1200 socket for Intel 10th generation processors, along with a host of USB connectivity and storage. Impressively, it includes two LAN ports – one for gigabit and one for 2.5Gbit. It also supports high-speed RAM, up to 4,800MHz with XMP, and comes with a regular array of two PCIe x16 and three PCI x1 slots.

However, they are PCIe 3.0 slots with half the bandwidth of new generation PCIe 4.0. That really doesn’t make a difference in gaming, at least not for the next few years. PCI 4.0 may have double the bandwidth, but modern GPUs are just starting to maximize the bandwidth of PCIExpress 3.0, so it will likely take a few years before PCIExpress 4.0 is a must-have feature for anyone, Except for those with the highest configurations. GPU.

If you’re on the red team, you don’t want to worry about the PCIe generation. AMD’s latest X570 chipset supports PCIe 4.0, and the Asus TUF Gaming board we choose matches MSI boards in terms of connectivity (two PCIe x16, three PCIe x1). It also comes with a bunch of USB options and comes with eight SATA 3 slots – two more than most other ATX boards.

Coming from Asus’ TUF line, TUF Gaming x570 is built for durability and reliability, and rating shows that board is truly both durable and reliable. The board supports Ryzen 2000, 3000, and 5000-series processors, although you may need to update your BIOS (you may require boot set from AMD).

The most powerful motherboard for gaming

Expensive, overkill and unnecessary – but undeniably great – top gaming motherboards are all of that and more, and we love them for that. RGB lighting, an array of connectors, upgraded cooling, advanced overclocking capabilities and all the extras make these boards the envy of every gamer across the globe. world. Few people can and should pay that much for a motherboard, but if you want the best performance out of your gaming system these boards can deliver.

Both these boards represent the pinnacle of gaming motherboards for their respective platforms, and it manifests in their extensive specs and feature sets. The Asus ROG Maximus motherboard for Intel CPU can support blazing fast memory, lots of graphics cards and large storage arrays, and it has loads of USB ports to connect all your different devices. It also features stylized shielding on the board, making for an attractive and fully functional high-end motherboard.

The Maximus series has always been known for exceptional VRM quality, and the Maximum XII Hero is no different from its 14 + 2 phase design. It also supports a variety of networking connections right out of the box, including speedy Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Its RGB lighting is superb, allowing you to have complete control over your PC’s interior.

With its incredibly higher price tag, the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Extreme board has a lot to offer AMD users who are already using AMD’s new generation CPUs. It’s also a very capable gaming board with more storage options and more USB ports than almost anyone could ever need. It supports the same high speed memory and has a great sound chip.

However, what sets it apart from its competitor Intel is support of PCIe 4.0. This gives it exceptionally larger bandwidth on PCIe ports, giving new generation solid-state drives what they need to create the fastest mainstream storage space ever offered. It also has features Native support for Wi-Fi 6 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet for blazing-fast networking. It’s also one of the few x570 motherboards to perform so cool no matter what, to the point that its chipset doesn’t even need a fan. Its VRM also has loads of conductive metals on its surface, keeping 16-phase setups cool for advanced overclocking and incredible system stability.

These boards also feature overall support for a wide variety of graphics cards for both Nvidia and AMD GPU users. Their PCIe slots are “armored”, meaning they are strengthened to resist crashing High-end and heavy graphics card.

The truth is these boards are more than what most people will really need, but if you are looking for a top-tier motherboard that will mix well with your other high-quality components, we do. can guarantee that you will be satisfied with these.

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