Selecting the perfect motherboard to your new gaming PC can usually be missed by builders. In any case, it’s often the graphics card and CPU that get essentially the most consideration as a consequence of being the 2 costliest purchases for any construct.
However while you actually give it some thought, the motherboard is simply as vital as the rest. The whole lot you set into your machine needs to be plugged into the motherboard, and it has to have the best connections and compatibility to make them work.
Your motherboard alternative may also influence the scale of your total construct in addition to the CPU you finally go along with. So, when you’re having bother making a choice look no additional than the perfect motherboards for PC gaming in 2020. We’ve even included the most suitable choice for you price range builders on the market that gives you the options you want at a price that received’t break the financial institution.
For extra assist along with your PC construct, you’ll want to take a look at the perfect CPUs and graphics playing cards accessible.
All CPU costs are listed in USD.
Product Specs:
Socket: LGA-1151 (eighth & ninth Gen) | Chipset: Intel Z390 | Type Issue: ATX | Reminiscence Help: (4) DDR4 as much as 128GB (32GB x 4) | Storage: (3) M.2, (6) SATA | PCIe Slots: x16, x16(x8), x16(x4), (3) x1
Common Worth: $219.99
Rundown: With a decrease price than most motherboards at this spec vary, the Aorus Extremely from Gigabyte is actually the most important “bang to your buck” board for any Intel construct. It options three M.2 slots for SSD set up, built-in WiFi, six whole PCIe slots, and optical audio. There are additionally 10 rear USB ports to mean you can join all your units to your machine with out compromise.
It’s uncommon to get a motherboard as feature-rich because the Aorus Extremely which makes it the proper Intel board for any price range and any construct. To get one thing comparable from different producers, you’re spending $25-$50 extra, minimal. And when you’re an RGB fan, it additionally comes with two RGBW headers together with onboard RGB lighting.
You’ll be able to go so far as saying that is the perfect sub-$250 motherboard we’ve seen for this technology of Intel CPUs.
Product Specs:
Socket: LGA-1151 (eighth & ninth Gen) | Chipset: Intel Z390 | Type Issue: ATX | Reminiscence Help: (4) DDR4 as much as 64GB (16GB x 4) | Storage: (2) M.2, (6) SATA | PCIe Slots: (2) x16 (x16, twin x8 or x8/x4/x4), x16 (x4), (3) x1 | Video Ports: HDMI, DisplayPort
Common Worth: $279.99
Rundown: If overclocking and a number of PCIe slots are vital to you to your Intel construct, that is most likely going to be the board you find yourself with. Regardless of its $280 price ticket, which may be hefty to some, the ROG Maximus XI Hero offers top-tier efficiency for lower than different competing motherboards, together with different ASUS merchandise.
Overclocking may be achieved stably at 5GHz with little-to-no actual voltage spikes and may max out RAM speeds at 4400MHz or higher.
Like many on this listing, the board has WiFi, however it’s arguably the worst-performing connection of the group. It additionally options simply eight rear IO USB (seven Sort-A, one Sort-C) which might really feel a bit limiting.
Product Specs:
Socket: AM4 (2nd & third Gen Ryzen) | Chipset: AMD X570 | Type Issue: ATX | Reminiscence Help: (4) DDR4 as much as 128GB (32GB x 4) | Storage: (2) M.2, (6) SATA| PCIe Slots: x16(x16/x8/x4), (2) x1 | Video Ports: HDMI
Common Worth: $249.99
Rundown: The largest promoting factors for the MSI MPG X570 Gaming Professional Carbon WiFi are the two PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots that may provide double the velocity of the earlier technology 3.0 slots. One other plus is the WiFi 6 appropriate adapter that can provide you connection speeds almost equal to that of a hardwired connection. In fact, that requires you to have a WiFi 6-compatible router to take full benefit of the characteristic.
The Gaming Professional Carbon WiFi additionally affords stable cooling as every of the M.2 slots have devoted warmth shields to restrict potential thermal throttling, which is when the clock velocity is mechanically lowered primarily based on the quantity of warmth being generated.
Like different boards, the prolonged WiFi antenna permits for higher sign protection away out of your case. One in all my largest issues with that is the shortage of house utilization on the rear IO panel. The board affords seven USB-A ports on the again together with one USB-C. However there’s room on there so as to add a couple of extra USB ports, particularly when different boards at lower cost factors have included as many as 10-12 ports for customers.
Product Specs:
Socket: AM4 (2nd & third Gen Ryzen) | Chipset: AMD X570 | Type Issue: ATX | Reminiscence Help: (4) DDR4 as much as 128GB (32GB x 4)| Storage: (2) M.2, (8) SATA | PCIe Slots: x16, x16(x4), (2) x1 | Video Ports: HDMI
Common Worth: $379.99
Rundown: You probably have a robust want for as many USB ports as potential, look no additional than the ROG Crosshair VIII Hero WiFi. It comes with 12 rear IO USB ports with eight of them being USB 3.2, offering quicker switch speeds to your exterior storage. On high of that, each M.2 slots are geared up with their very own heatsinks, very like the aforementioned MSI MPG X570 Gaming Professional Carbon, to deal with potential thermal throttling.
If the $380 price ticket doesn’t scare you off, this ought to be in your shortlist for top-tier AM4 socket motherboards.
Product Specs:
Socket: LGA 2066 | Chipset: Intel X299 PCH | Type Issue: EATX | Reminiscence Help: (8) DDR4 as much as 256GB (32GB x 8) | Storage: (2) M.2, (6) SATA | PCIe Slots: (4) x16 | Video Ports: (2) DisplayPort Inputs
Common Worth: $579.99
Rundown: If cash isn’t any concern and you propose on getting an X299 CPU just like the over-the-top i9-9960X, this ought to be the one motherboard you look to.
The 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports provide wonderful exterior enlargement choices, and the twin DisplayPort passthroughs permit for output through the Thunderbolt 3 ports. With house for as much as 256GB of DDR4-4333MHz RAM, you’ll have the ability to stream, render, and document unexpectedly with no drawback.
The frustration on this board comes from the rear IO the place it limits you with simply 4 USB-A ports, although they’re all 3.2. Its EATX type issue additionally limits your case choice if that’s one thing you care about.
Product Specs:
Socket: LGA 1151 (eighth & ninth Gen) | Chipset: Intel Z390 | Type Issue: Mini ITX | Reminiscence Help: (2) DDR4 as much as 64GB (32GB x 2) | Storage: (2) M.2, (4) SATA | PCIe Slots: x16 | Video Ports: HDMI, DisplayPort
Common Worth: $219.99
Rundown: If you’d like a Small Type Issue (SFF) construct that may deal with overclocking on the highest degree, look no additional than the Strix Z390-I from Asus. It may well provide steady 5GHz overclocking with a wide range of reminiscence speeds. What’s extra is that this little board doesn’t come brief on options with WiFi, optical audio output, and two M.2 slots. Bear in mind, nevertheless, one of many M.2 slots is on the underside of the board, so be sure to set up to that slot first to keep away from having to drag the board out of the case to put it to use.
As with all Mini ITX board, don’t anticipate to replenish your machine with additional PCIe peripherals because it simply has the one x16 slot you’ll possible want to your GPU. That mentioned, the one x16 can deal with high-tier graphics playing cards simply at excessive speeds.
Product Specs:
Socket: LGA 1151 (eighth & ninth Gen) | Chipset: Intel Z390 | Type Issue: ATX | Reminiscence Help: (4) DDR4 as much as 128GB (32GB x 4) | Storage: (2) M.2, (6) SATA | PCIe Slots: x16, x16(x8), x16(x4), (2) x1 | Video Ports: HDMI
Common Worth: $269.99
Rundown: The cheaper and extra sensible youthful brother of the Designare 10G, the Z390 model shouldn’t be missed. The board comes with eight USB ports on the rear IO in addition to two Thunderbolt 3 ports. From a networking aspect of issues, the Designare comes with two Gigabit Ethernet ports to permit these with the power to staff their connections, otherwise you wish to arrange a small house community along with your machine. A pleasant “future proof” bonus of this board, if you’ll, is that it helps 8K decision passthrough with its DisplayPort 1.4 passthrough.
The slight knock on this motherboard is that it doesn’t appear to stably assist 5GHz CPU overclocking. When you’re decided to hit that mark, you might wish to look elsewhere.
Product Specs:
Socket: LGA 1151 (eighth & ninth Gen) | Chipset: Intel Z390 | Type Issue: Mini ITX | Reminiscence Help: (2) DDR4 as much as 64GB (32GB x 2) | Storage: (2) M.2, (4) SATA | PCIe Slots: x16 | Video Ports: HDMI, DisplayPort
Common Worth: $179.99
Rundown: Don’t let the small type issue and sub-$200 worth idiot you. The Phantom Gaming ITX motherboard packs a pleasant punch. When you don’t want a couple of PCIe slot that Bigger Type Elements (LFF) provide, this board can do nearly the whole lot you want. From steady overclocking of CPUs as excessive because the i9-9900K to a Thunderbolt 3 port, the options right here beg for a worth of greater than $250.
It even comes with an exterior WiFi antenna that may be positioned away out of your machine for higher sign power.
Product Specs:
Socket: AM4 (2nd & third Gen Ryzen) | Chipset: AMD X570 | Type Issue: ATX | Reminiscence Help: (4) DDR4 as much as 128GB (32GB x 4) | Storage: (2) M.2, (6) SATA | PCIe Slots: x16, x16(x4), (3) x1 | Video Ports: HDMI
Common Worth: $159.99
Rundown: The most affordable motherboard on this listing, the MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus isn’t any slouch. The board is highly effective sufficient to deal with dependable overclocking of CPUs just like the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X with no issues. Total, it’s a reasonably run-of-the-mill board that may deal with most of what you throw at it, which is what you need to anticipate now for $160.
If you’re attempting to remain low along with your prices and also you don’t want added options like built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, or Thunderbolt, there’s nothing that ought to cease you from choosing this board up to your AMD rig.
Product Specs:
Socket: AM4 (2nd & third Gen) | Chipset: AMX X570 | Type Issue: EATX | Reminiscence Help: (4) DDR4 as much as 128GB (32GB x 4) | Storage: (2) M.2, (8) SATA | PCIe Slots: (3) x16 (x16/x8/x4), (3) x1 | Video Ports: HDMI, DisplayPort Enter
Common Worth: $999.99
Rundown: Probably the most expansive motherboard on this listing by far, the ASRock Aqua is actually a “go large, or go house” kind of board. That includes a 10GbE community connection and a number of the most power-friendly overclocking capability you’ll discover in a board, the Aqua actually has the whole lot you’d need. It may well even slot in ATX instances (relying on the structure), regardless of being labeled an EATX board.
The place it lacks, nevertheless, is that each one the PCIe slots are model 2.0, which is a bit behind the instances. And, aside from the worth for the restricted version board, one other potential drawback you might run into is having greater than you want. The Aqua comes with so many bells and whistles that you could be by no means absolutely make the most of the whole lot it affords.
