In search of the most effective gaming motherboard in 2022 generally is a daunting process. However, we’ve separated all of them out into our high picks to your subsequent PC construct.
A motherboard lies on the coronary heart of your gaming PC, and is likely one of the most essential items of tech to bear in mind if you find yourself constructing a brand-new setup.
In case you’re getting a top-of-the-line CPU and GPU, you’re going to additionally need a good motherboard to utilize your elements, in any other case, you may threat bottlenecking your system, or, god forbid, not having sufficient RGB headers to energy these costly, shiny followers.
However, not all motherboards are created equal. Each relies on a chipset that corresponds to a CPU platform. You’ll be able to’t run an Intel Twelfth-generation CPU on a B550 motherboard, and also you’ll not be capable of run an AMD CPU on a Z690 motherboard. Be sure that before you purchase, you determine precisely what chipset fits you essentially the most. You’ll discover that most individuals received’t want a cutting-edge motherboard, until you propose to overclock.
Since we’re in a transitional interval between DDR4 and DDR5 RAM, you’re going to need to be sure that no matter RAM that you’ve got picked up is definitely suitable together with your system, as every era makes use of a barely totally different bodily keying on the DIMM, which means that it received’t match, and received’t be suitable together with your motherboard.
Moreover, you’ll must regulate the PCIe customary that your motherboard makes use of, 5.0 is the newest era, and that’s what you’ll discover on many high-end motherboards. This will likely be good to regulate for future-proofing your system considerably, however it’ll come at a price.
You’ll additionally need to consider different issues like BIOS Flashback options, the variety of fan headers, along with the variety of USB headers that you could be need in your board. There’s rather a lot to consider, and searching for the proper match to your gaming system might be an extremely powerful proposition.
Motherboards are available a few totally different sizes and styles, too, however for many PC builds, you’ll discover that an ATX board will supply essentially the most performance, particularly for gaming. If every thing we simply stated makes completely no sense to you, and also you need one thing somewhat bit easier, you may need to choose up a gaming laptop computer, as a substitute.
The perfect gaming motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero
Dexerto
Proper now, the most effective gaming motherboard is the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero. Boasting compatibility with Intel Twelfth gen chips just like the i9-12900k, this board has massive heatsinks for cooling your VRMs for overclocking efficiency, along with big, LED shrouds over them, which don’t supply any efficiency advantages, however they certain are fairly, proper?
ASUS presents an AI overclocking mode, which is what you’d need to use this kind of board for, along with an enormous variety of ports across the again for I/O. You even have assist for 3 NVMe drives, so in the event you’re seeking to put an enormous quantity of storage in your system, this may be the one for you. The board additionally comes packed in with the ROG Hyper m.2 card, which provides you entry to PCIe 5.0 speeds, and you can even broaden the board’s whole M.2 capability to a dizzying 5 drives, which received’t absolutely affect or saturate all your PCIe 5.0 lanes.
This ATX Motherboard has all of it, from I/O, to networking, storage, and all of the dazzling RGB you may want for a contemporary gaming setup. There are higher-end boards on the market, however they’re principally targeted on getting water blocks put rather than conventional air cooling. For most individuals, that is already overkill, which is why we’ve ranked it on the high of our listing.
Key specs
- CPU socket: LGA 1700
- Chipset: Z690
- Reminiscence assist: 4x DDR5 DIMMs, as much as 128GB at 6400 MT/s (Twin-channel)
- Growth slots: 2x PCIe 5.0 x16, 1x PCIe 4.0 x16 (x4 speeds solely)
- M.2 slots: 3x slots, 2x PCIe 4.0 x4 (1x helps SATA mode), 1x PCIe 3.0 x4
- Networking: 1x Intel 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6E
You should purchase the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero right here: Amazon, Finest Purchase
The perfect AMD gaming motherboard: ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero
Dexerto
ASUS continues to slay the high-end motherboard recreation. In case you are on an older AM4 platform and are searching for an improve, then the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII may be the one for you. It helps DDR4 RAM, has twin PCIe 4.0 m.2 slots, and beefy heatsinks for energetic cooling between energy phases, which could make you take into account overclocking your AM4 system.
The one gripe now we have with that is that your entire AM4 platform goes to be outdated quick, so that you may need to chorus from selecting one up, or constructing an AMD AM4-based system till then. However, in the event you’re searching for the most effective efficiency from AM4, this board has all of it, together with some glorious audio compatibility, and a DDR4 Increase function that guarantees that you just’ll obtain larger clocks with elevated stability.
Key specs
- CPU socket: AM4
- Chipset: X570
- Reminiscence assist: 4x DDR4 DIMMs, as much as 128GB at 5300 MT/s (Twin-channel)
- Growth slots: 2x PCIe 4.0 x16, 1x PCIe 3.0 x16, 1x PCI3 3.0 x1
- M.2 slots: 3x slots, 2x M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4, 1x PCie 4.0 x4 22110
- Networking: 1x Realtek 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, 1x Realtek Gigabit LAN, WiFi 6E
You should purchase the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII right here: Amazon, Finest Purchase
The perfect mid-range motherboard: MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4
Dexerto
Since we’re sticking with Twelfth-generation Intel boards for our suggestions as a result of AM4 is rapidly being retired, the most effective mid-range gaming motherboard is the MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4. Because the identify suggests, you’re going to get DDR4 compatibility right here, if DDR5 continues to be too costly to your tastes.
This motherboard presents good heatsinks, and an honest quantity of NVMe slots, and is available in a blacked-out, no-frills look that’s purely utilitarian in its design. Regardless of that, it’s nonetheless capable of deal with the most popular of chips, with good quality-of-life options like onboard WiFi, a wholesome dose of I/O, and seven.1 audio, making it greater than sufficient for many mid-range builds that require a little bit of expandability.
Key specs
- CPU socket: LGA 1700
- Chipset: B660
- Reminiscence assist: 4x DDR4 SIMMS, as much as 128GB at 4800 MT/s (Twin-channel)
- Growth slots: 1x PCIe 4.0 x16, 1x PCIe 3.0 x16, 1x PCIe 3.0 x1
- M.2 slots: 3x slots, 2x PCIe 4.0 M.2 x16, 1x PCIe 4.0 x8
- Networking: 1x Realtek 2.5 gigabit LAN, 802.11ax WiFi
You should purchase the MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk WiFi right here: Amazon, Finest Purchase
The perfect finances motherboard: Gigabyte B660 Gaming X DDR4
Dexerto
Gigabyte’s motherboards are tried and examined, with the corporate providing a unbelievable finances possibility for these on Intel’s Twelfth-generation platform, supporting the newest CPUs, whereas additionally supporting the more-affordable DDR4 RAM platform, so you may nonetheless get nice gaming efficiency, with out having to splash out for extremely costly DDR5 reminiscence.
The B660 Gaming X additionally presents massive VRMs for cooling, and an awesome suite of networking and I/O choices for you, with out utterly breaking the financial institution like different motherboards on this listing. It additionally has nice PCIe 4.0 assist, which means that you just’re not leaving a lot bandwidth on the desk, and also you’ll additionally be capable of take pleasure in Gigabyte’s QFLASH function in the event you ever must improve your BIOS. You would actually do a lot worse at this worth, however Gigabyte has you lined with a wholesome dose of nearly every thing to make for an awesome mid-range PC construct.
Key specs
- CPU socket: LGA 1700
- Chipset: B660
- Reminiscence assist: 4x DDR4 DIMMs, as much as 128GB at 4400 MT/s (Twin-channel)
- Growth slots: 1x PCIe 5.0 x16, 1x PCIe 4.0 x16,1x PCIe 3.0 x16
- M.2 slots: 3x slots, 2x PCIe 4.0 x 4, 1x PCIe 3.0
- Networking: 1x Realtek 2.5 Gigabit LAN
You should purchase the Gigabyte B660 Gaming X DDR4 right here: Amazon
In case you click on on a product hyperlink on this web page we might earn a small affiliate fee.
