On their own, the best motherboards for gaming aren’t going to do too much for your frame rate, but they do widen your options for cutting-edge components, and guarantee stability for whatever you’re doing. For those who want to overclock too, getting one of the top motherboards is a must as it will make your overclocks more stable and likely more effective.
The Aorus Z690 boards are some of the best gaming motherboards you can buy, but they are expensive.
Different motherboards come with different features, too. The best motherboards include nice-to-have extras like 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet connectors, built-in Wi-Fi 6 connectivity and reinforced PCIExpress slots for holding heavier graphics cards.
But if you don’t need all the latest cutting edge features or you don’t plan on overclocking, you can get an amazing deal on a good gaming motherboard regardless. There are plenty of budget options, and even some tiny Mini-ITX models meant for compact builds which are surprisingly capable, making the range of modern motherboards an exciting list of options for anyone building a new PC. Here are the best motherboards for gaming you can buy in 2022.
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The Intel 12th-generation Alder Lake CPUs are the best gaming processors you can buy, so it stands to reason that the best motherboard for gaming in 2022 is a Z690 board that lets you play with all that new-gen power. This is a mid-range motherboard, but it has a premium set of features and specifications, giving you plenty of room for expansive storage, the fastest PCIExpress ports for maximum GPU performance and some impressive VRMs should you wish to dabble with overclocking.
At around $300, the Aorus Pro is a fairly affordable motherboard too, with others stretching close to $1,000 in some cases, but it can still compete with many of those high-end options. It has an attractive black and silver color scheme with robust heatsinks for the chipset and VRMs, as well as capable onboard sound.
There’s space for four NVMe drives and a massive 13 USB ports, so you’ll be able to plug in everything you want with this board. A useful BIOS reset button is handy for when you’re playing with settings and need to get back to a working state quickly. It also has full support for both DDR5 and DDR4, so if you want to use your last-generation memory to save some money before upgrading later, you can. With all of its high-end features and attractive price tag, this is the best motherboard for gaming you can buy today.
Asus
Although AMD’s AM4 platform is reaching the end of its life, it’s still hotly competitive, and with the AMD Ryzen 5800X3D likely to be a capable CPU for many years to come, building the ultimate AMD gaming PC in 2022 isn’t such a bad idea. With the ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme motherboard, you’ll have every feature you could need to make a seriously powerful machine.
This motherboard supports every AMD Ryzen CPU since the 2000 Zen+ generation, but you can really make the most of it with a cutting-edge Ryzen 5000 processor. You’ll need a big case for it as this is an EATX board which packs a ton of great technology on its PCB. It has Wi-Fi 6E and 2.5-gigabit ethernet support, Thunderbolt 4 ports, an expansive heatsink cover for the chipset and NVMe drives, and a fancy LiveDash OLED screen to give you details about what’s going on in the PC at any time. It also has heaps of Asus Aura Sync RGB LED lighting, so you can really customize every aspect of your system’s looks with your own unique style.
MSI
You don’t need to spend a lot to get a powerful new-gen Intel gaming PC. With an affordable motherboard like the MSI Pro B660M-A, you get a capable motherboard with decent features, good VRM cooling, and plenty of USB ports.
It’s PCIe 4 and only supports DDR4, so you won’t be able to use the upcoming generation of PCIe 5 NVMe SSDs nor DDR5 memory on this system, but those are both super expensive and not what we’re looking for with a budget motherboard. PCIe 4 and DDR4 aren’t going to hold back a mid-range Intel 12th gen system in a vast majority of cases anyway, so these are minor concerns.
What you do get with this board, however, is great performance. Where many budget motherboards start to hold back high-end processors, this B660M board won’t, letting you make the most of whatever CPU you eventually plug into it. It runs nice and cool too, so won’t see your performance degrade if you start throwing heavy workloads at it.
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Despite being a budget board sporting the most entry-level of AMD’s 500-series chipsets, the Gigabyte A520 Auros Elite is a stellar motherboard with a feature set that punches well above its weight. It lacks Wi-Fi but offers full support for three generations of Ryzen CPUs, has some impressive heatsink-covered VRMs for stable overclocking and has plenty of USB ports for all your accessories.
It only supports PCIe 3, which may start to constrain the most powerful graphics cards in the next generation, but that’s not really a concern if you’re building a budget PC.
What this board does give you is plenty of upgrade potential. You can plug in an old Ryzen 3000 CPU right now and upgrade to a Ryzen 5800X3D in the future for maximum gaming performance without having to change anything else in your build.
Asus
Mini-ITX boards seem to get better and better with every generation, and that’s just as true with the latest generation of 600-series motherboards for Intel’s 12th generation processors. This B660 model from Asus packs so many features into a miniature form factor that you’ll be able to build a super-powerful, super compact system that has everything it needs to compete with full-sized desktops.
With full support for PCIe 5, this board is ready and waiting for future generations of graphics cards and can make the most of the highest end options right now. It has capable VRMs for stable overclocking whilst remaining cool and has official support for the fastest DDR5 memory.
It has a pair of PCIe 4 NVMe slots to take advantage of top-tier speeds for modern-day SSD storage and also comes pre-fitted with Intel 2.5-gigabit ethernet networking for an ultra fast and stable network connection. For other wired connectivity, it packs eight USB ports, including two USB-C connectors.
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This is another affordable AMD motherboard, but this time with an external Wi-Fi antenna that gives it capable Wi-Fi 6 support right out of the box. It also offers robust VRM cooling for stable overclocking and maximizing AMD’s automated boost algorithms, plus 2.5-gigabit ethernet support—a feature typically reserved for more expensive motherboards.
Designed originally for Ryzen 3000 CPUs, it has full support for Ryzen 5000 chips now, too, though you may need to perform a BIOS update to get full support there. AMD has a chip loan scheme if you need help doing so.
The main PCIe x16 slot has reinforced armor to prevent GPU sag, and this board comes with the excellent Realtek S1200A codec for impressive audio out of such an affordable board. It also has support for up to two NVMe SSDs, and there are plenty of USB ports on the front and rear I/O panels for connecting all your accessories and peripherals.
Asus ROG Maximum XIII Hero
If you aren’t quite ready for Alder Lake yet but want the best motherboard available otherwise, the Asus ROG Maximums XIII Hero is it. It has full support for both Intel 10th and 11th generation processors, and has some of the most capable and well-cooled VRMs for maximizing your overclocking performance. If you want to make a 10900K perform just as fast as an 11900K, then this is the board for the job.
Outside of its impressive array of cooling and fantastic looks, this board brings with it dual 2.5-gigabit ethernet ports and full support for Wi-Fi 6E, giving you the fastest and most stable network connection possible out of the box. It also has Bluetooth 5.2 and Thunderbolt 4 support to offer plenty of connectivity options for accessories.
There are slots for up to four PCIe 4 M.2 SSDs, ports for up to nine USB connections (USB-A, USB-C and Thunderbolt) and the board has buttons for both BIOS flashback and CMOS clearing to make firmware upgrades and BIOS tweaking as easy as possible.
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If you want to build a powerful AMD PC but don’t fancy paying through the nose for a top of the line X570 board, then this Asus ROG Strix B550-E is well worth considering. It’s the pinnacle of B550 motherboards, offering the kind of performance and features you only see on top-tier motherboards but at a much lower price.
Along with support for Ryzen 3000, 4000 and 5000 CPUs right out of the box, it comes with two PCIe 4 x16 slots and a further PCIe 3 x16 slot for dual GPU configurations or expansive storage and add-in card options. There are also dual M.2 SSD slots and space for up to six SATA drives, giving you all the space you need for massive storage arrays of high-speed drives.
Intel 2.5-gigabit ethernet comes as standard, but it also supports Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity and Bluetooth 5.1 for fast wireless connections. For those with lots of wired accessories, this board has eight rear USB ports and a further seven front-panel USB connections, so you’ll never run out of ports to plug in your hardware.
The first consideration when buying any motherboard is figuring out which size or form-factor you want to go with. Standard desktop tower cases can fit most ATX, Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX boards, but they may not be able to take the larger EATX standard. Likewise, Mid-Tower and Mini-ITX chassis won’t be able to take larger board sizes.
Smaller motherboards tend to offer fewer PCIExpress slots, fewer USB ports, and in some cases, even fewer memory slots. This doesn’t matter if you aren’t planning to fill your system with add-in cards and drives, but make sure that you pick a board that is right for your case and the system you want to build.
Most motherboards only support a handful of process generations, and typically only within the same CPU brand— either AMD or Intel—so you need to make sure that whatever motherboard you’re buying, it can support the CPU you plan to put into it. Sites like PC Part Picker make it easy to check compatibility.
Most modern motherboards support either PCIExpress 4 or 5. Both are perfectly fine for modern graphics cards and newer generations of NVMe SSDs, but PCIE 5 will offer support for newer and faster GPUs and drives in the future, so if you want to future proof your system, going for a board that supports PCIE 5 will have some benefit down the line.
Most modern motherboards support DDR4 and/or DDR5. AMD motherboards only support DDR4, and some Intel motherboards only support DDR5, so be sure to check which your motherboard supports before buying so that you know what kind of memory you’ll need to buy too.
Also consider supported speeds and maximum capacity. Some motherboards will only have two slots, so can only take so much, while higher-end motherboards can support higher memory speeds.
Although all motherboards have voltage regulator modules (VRMs), higher-end motherboards will have higher quality VRMs to support more stable power delivery to the CPU. That, in turn, leads to more stable overclocks and better sustained CPU clock speeds, so if you plan to run a high-end processor or want to overclock, getting a motherboard with quality VRMs is important. These vary massively between brands with no solid metric for VRM quality, so checking individual reviews for motherboards is your best bet to see how good they really are.
Most motherboards come with a single gigabit ethernet connection, but some come with faster 2.5 -gigabit connections, or even multiple ethernet ports for connecting multiple networks, plus support for daisy chaining a network connection to multiple systems. Higher-end motherboards will also offer built-in Wi-Fi, though speeds can vary.
If you want a particular generation of Wi-Fi, check the board’s support to see which one it carries. If necessary, you can add faster ethernet and Wi-Fi support through add-in cards down the line.
All motherboards offer some USB ports, but the bigger and more expensive ones will have more options with faster speeds and a wider range of compatible USB connections. All motherboards have a few USB-A connections, but if you want USB-C or faster USB-A ports, you’ll need to buy more expensive boards. That’s also true if you want Thunderbolt and USB 4 connectivity, though Thunderbolt is typically limited to Intel boards.
Also consider front panel connectors. If you’ve got certain connections on your case that you want to use, make sure your motherboard offers them as they are distinct from the rear I/O panel connectors.
All of the above considerations need to be taken under the umbrella of pricing. Cheap motherboards can cost as little as $70, but you’ll be limited on the features they offer and they may only support older CPUs. Anywhere between $100 and $200 will get you a solid motherboard that supports the latest technologies but without all the bells and whistles.
If you plan on building a particularly high-end PC,or want to overclock, then you’ll want to spend more. Bear in mind that the very best boards can cost anywhere up to $1,000, so budget accordingly.
Motherboards are just about the least important component for gaming, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy something that’s decent. As long as the board has reasonable VRMs and enough memory and PCIExpress slots for what you need, just about any motherboard will do, but be wary of super cheap ones as they will be lacking somewhere.
Higher end motherboards will have useful features, but they will only have a minor effect on in-game performance, so focusing your budget elsewhere is preferable if gaming is your focus.
Definitely. As long as your system cooling is adequate and you aren’t trying to plug a high-end CPU into it, cheap motherboards can be a great way to save a lot when building a gaming PC.
The cheapest boards won’t have the best power delivery, so don’t fit them with top-tier CPUs. They’ll also lack features like overclocking and support for the latest technologies, but if that doesn’t matter to you, buying a cheap motherboard is a great idea.
High-end motherboards give you a lot of additional features to play with, have better cooling, enjoy better power delivery for your CPU, and usually look cooler too. You’ll get faster built-in Wi-Fi and ethernet connections, better overclocking features and voltage regulation, and usually more USB ports.
For the right PC builds, all of that can be extremely useful, so don’t neglect a high-end motherboard if you want to build a high-end PC. For everyone else, though, cheaper boards are likely preferable.
