Think of the best gaming motherboard as the foundation for your future PC. What your gaming PC can and cannot achieve is determined on its motherboard. Since not all PC parts fit into every motherboard, it also advises you on which parts to purchase. Ideally, a decent motherboard should allow you to play games without worrying about the future of your CPU and GPU.
We’ve created this comprehensive guide with several CPU motherboards to assist you. To make sure you don’t waste your money on the wrong parts, we’ve only included selections that provide the best value.
Table of Contents
- No 1 ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming
- No 2 Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master
- No 3 Asus ROG Strix X670E-E
No 1 ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming

Additionally, the Strix X570-E Gaming offers eight SATA ports, although some rival versions have reduced that number to four so that PCIe (usually a third M.2 slot) can use the remaining four lanes. You discover that everytime the second x1 slot is used, the third x16-length PCIe slot is kicked down to x2 mode, just when you assumed you’d at least receive four lanes to it.
The location of the second x1 slot prevents most users from using it, but that idea begs the issue of why it is even present on a motherboard designed for gaming. With eight USB3 Gen2 ports on the I/O panel, Asus’s attempts seem more sincere.
Since all of the platform’s USB3 ports are Gen2 compliant, Gen1 ports wouldn’t make sense in this case from a chipset standpoint; nonetheless, a number of Asus’ rivals have decided to restrict their I/O anyhow. Although we appreciate that Asus is taking the high road in this case, we would have preferred to see a keyboard and mouse with two USB 2.0 connections instead of a USB3 one, as this is a waste of the platform’s resources.
Since Asus uses the same Realtek 2.5Gbps/Intel Gigabit Ethernet/802.11ax controller combo as similarly priced boards from Gigabyte and MSI, USB support is the main differentiator here. However, there are a few minor differences, like the addition of DisplayPort and HDMI and the removal of a CLR_CMOS button, as well as four more SATA ports and one fewer M.2 slot than those two competitors.
Pros
- More USB3 Gen2 ports than competitors
- Good overclocking
- 2.5GbE plus Gigabit Ethernet plus WiFi 6
- Cheaper than competing boards with above features
Cons
- Only two M.2 connectors
- Efficiency could be better
No 2 Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master

The Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master and Z690 Aorus Master share a similar appearance. The Z790 Master has a black-and-grey theme with a black 8-layer PCB and black VRM heatsinks, in contrast to the all-black appearance of the previous generation Z690.
The heatsinks and shrouds protecting the chipset, audio, and M.2 sockets on the bottom half of the board are the source of the grey accents. All of the slots (PCIe and Memory) are strengthened, and it comes from the high-end mid-range market. With the sole RGB implementation situated above the IO cover, Gigabyte opted for the less is more approach. It illuminates a distinctive design feature, the Aorus slogan (Team Up, Fight On), and the outline of the falcon from below. All things considered, the Aorus Master has a high-end appearance and would be a fantastic focal point for your new setup.
We’ll start by focusing on the VRM heatsinks on the upper side of the board. With a fancy NanoCarbon covering and what Gigabyte refers to as a “Fins-Array III” arrangement, they are weighty and have a large surface area to disperse heat. Through the use of an 8mm heatpipe, Gigabyte distributes the thermal load between two massive metal objects. To extract heat from the components, they additionally employ an effective 12 W/mk thermal pad in between the MOSFETs and chokes. Two 8-pin EPS connectors (one needed) are located above the socket to supply power to the processor.
The first two (of ten) 4-pin fan/pump headers are also located here. You shouldn’t experience any power-related problems because all of the fans have an output of up to 2A/24W. Running all of your fans and water cooling system on this board is simple if you’re willing to do so. Since there are so many of them and they can all do more than the standard 1A/12W output that we are accustomed to, you won’t need to piggyback devices on headers in the majority of configurations.
Pros
- 14 USB ports on rear IO
- 10 GbE LAN
- PCIe EZ Latch release button
- Highest listed memory support
Cons
- No USB4 (40 Gbps) ports
- Just four SATA ports
- Last-gen flagship audio
No 3 Asus ROG Strix X670E-E

The Asus ROG Strix X670-E Gaming WiFi has a higher MSRP than the X570, which was its predecessor. It also has a ton of next-generation features, such as PCIe Gen 5, so there’s a lot to be excited about.Let’s have a look at the fundamental specs you are getting, as well as the key features that will enhance your everyday use. The motherboards with the designation X670-E are considered “extreme” since they contain more PCIe lanes than the less costly B650 models.
Remember that a brand-new Ryzen 7000 CPU is needed for this new chipset. The design of the ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming WiFi is very similar to that of its predecessor, the ROG Strix X570-E Gaming, an AM4 motherboard. This isn’t a bad thing because the motherboard is really sleek and discrete, so it can be used with a variety of PC build themes.
Although there is RGB lighting, it is not very noticeable. There are two 8-pin +12V headers in the upper-left corner; just one of them needs to be connected. After running through a few cooling headers, the four DDR5 DIMM slots are reached. Up to 128GB of DDR5 system memory can be placed on this motherboard using DIMM slots next to the AM5 socket. ASUS positions a power button and LCD status monitor in the top-right corner of the ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming WiFi to facilitate troubleshooting.
Pros
- Great gaming-focused feature set, trimming unnecessary options
- Eye-catching design and great build quality
- Loads of performance: VRMs, DDR5, PCIe Gen 5
Cons
- More demanding workstation users may need to look elsewhere, for faster I/O such as USB 4 or more SATA ports
- Overall platform expense of AM5, DDR5, and Ryzen 7000 may keep some users away
When choosing a motherboard, consider the following:
Pay for built-in Wi-Fi and high-end ports only if you need them. Don’t spend extra for wireless if you are using Ethernet. You can help future-proof your PC by getting fast USB 3.2 Gen 2 and/or Thunderbolt support. But Thunderbolt is still quite rare on AMD motherboards.
Get the right socket for your CPU. AMD and Intel both produce excellent CPUs. Make sure your motherboard has the right socket to accommodate the processor you choose, though. While Intel’s 12th Gen (Alder Lake) and 13th Gen (Raptor Lake) CPUs use the LGA 1700 socket, the most recent mainstream AMD chips use AM5 CPU sockets.
AM4 or AM5? The older, less expensive DDR4 RAM is still supported by AMD’s last-generation AM4 and select motherboards from Intel’s Z790 and Z690-chipset. This can drastically reduce your overall project expense, particularly if you choose to use an earlier kit in a new build. When using a dedicated graphics card, choosing older DDR4 RAM over DDR5 doesn’t significantly affect gaming performance. However, DDR5 has become much more affordable, thus upgrading to a DDR5 board isn’t as costly as it once was.
Smaller boards = fewer slots and features. See our diagram and description of motherboard parts for more information. Motherboards are available in three primary sizes. ATX, Micro ATX, and Mini-ITX are the smallest and largest, respectively. Mini is indeed smaller than Micro. With micro or mini boards, you can use smaller enclosures, but you’ll have to make do with fewer card expansion slots, frequently fewer RAM slots, and typically less features.
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