We've liked the Aorus branded motherboards starting with Skylake in 2016, and the company's Ryzen boards have been excellent all-around picks too, but this is the best we've tested.The smallest Strix has a lengthy features list, with no shortcomings despite the tiny form factor, including dual PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 slots, Intel v219 Ethernet, upgraded Intel 9560 2x2 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and an ALC1220A audio codec supported by isolated circuitry and headphone amps. ASRock B450M PRO4 MicroATX Motherboard. TL;DR – These are the … The Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac is even cheaper than the non-Wi-Fi version of MSI’s ATX MGP Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon, though that won’t matter to anyone who needs the extra DIMM and PCIe slots afforded by the larger form factor. We'll be filtering those options in as we get through testing them. Serial Advanced Technology Attachment ports, an interface for connecting storage devices/drives to a motherboard (HDDs, SSDs, optical drives, etc.). It's possible for a x16 slot to only provide 8 lanes of data, for instance, which means the maximum possible data transfer rate is halved (though in many cases, because PCIe provides such a high ceiling for transfer speeds, a lower number of lanes doesn't make a tremendous difference).The gaming motherboards recommended in this guide all received extensive research and evaluation, including enclosure installation (full tower, mid-tower, and ITX where applicable), performance benchmarking, stability testing, and a follow-up period of real-world break-in usage that focuses on gaming, entertainment, and media software.It's worth noting that this board can be hard to find, but the previous generation ROG Strix Z370-I model, with its slimmer design, remains an excellent alternative, especially at clearance prices.When possible, all tests are performed with the same components installed to remove any variables except the motherboard itself.
Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master (Image credit: Gigabyte)
The number of total slots contributes to the maximum amount of RAM your system can handle, paired with the chipset and OS. Best for small form-factor Intel 9th-gen builds.AMD has also just released its new B550 boards, offering PCIe 4.0 support at a more reasonable price than a high-end X570. The real-world break-in period encompasses office and creative work, media streaming, and gaming with a variety of demanding titles like GTA V, Total War: Warhammer II, DiRT Rally, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Far Cry 5, Hitman, and others.Your choice of gaming motherboard will also influence other parts of your build, not least of which is the size of your PC.
While it's certainly an excellent mobo, if you aren't already committed to a shopping list of top-of-the-line components now or in the near future, you may want to consider a slightly less expensive board for your needs. Gigabyte isn't as flashy as the other top tier motherboard makers, but it has managed to accumulate plenty of PCG recommendations over the years. And pay through the nose if Asus' Z490 Maximus XII Extreme is anything to go by.