Our 6 Best Gaming Motherboards of 2021 Ft. AMD & Intel Picks

The recommendations we see here are considered the best motherboards for gaming and have been hand-selected for a reason. Firstly, we conducted a thorough search to discover which motherboards gamers tend to prefer while trying to balance those with the highest reviews against those with the lowest price tags.

Reviews from various manufacturers were taken into account, as well as reviews from others in the PC gaming industry.

Next, we get our hands on as many of our recommendations as possible so we can see the build quality up close.

From CPUs to the best motherboards for gaming, we like to get hands-on with all the hardware we recommend. Testing the products is a huge part of our overall selection process and it is a way we can be sure that a specific option is the best for the job.

Products must pass our testing which is largely a lot of gaming, with some other boring stuff but most if not every recommendation will have gone through a strict testing process.

With motherboards regardless of the chipset, we need to assess build quality, performance, and finally, value.

This process enables us to provide you with an accurate take on how well a motherboard performs and, ultimately, if it’s worth your hard-earned cash.

Now that you’re aware of the best options available to you, you’re going to have to choose a gaming motherboard that best suits you and your needs. If you’re asking yourself, ”What motherboard should I get?” we’d like to make sure you know what makes a good gaming motherboard, because there are a lot of factors to consider. Here at WePC, we believe an educated consumer is an empowered consumer!

Form Factor

The physical footprint may be something you need to consider when choosing your motherboard. If you’re tight on space, you may want to consider a smaller-sized computer case. If you’ve got plenty of room and want to build an impressive system, then going for a larger form factor could be beneficial.

Whatever your case may be, there are several main types of form factors that motherboards come in:

Form Factor

Form Factor	Size (in inches)
Mini-ITX	6.7 x 6.7
Mini-ATX	5.9 x 5.9
microATX	9.6 x 9.6
ATX	12 x 9.6
eATX	12 x 13

Socket

Every motherboard is going to have a specific socket type. This is the physical slot on the motherboard that holds your CPU in place. You’re going to have to match up the socket type of your motherboard to your CPU making sure they are compatible.

Trying to fit the wrong processor into the wrong socket type can cause fatal damage to your components, and no one wants that.

To make sure your CPU and motherboard are compatible, check the specs. Let’s take a quick look at some examples:

Socket

Motherboard	Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Xtreme	MSI MEG X570 Godlike
Processor	Intel Core i9-9900K	AMD Ryzen 3900X
Socket	LGA 1151	AM4

Chipsets

A large factor when determining which motherboard is right for you and your needs is the chipset. Your chipset is a key factor in determining which features your motherboard comes with. This ranges from PCIe lanes to SATA ports, and even overclocking support. Even if your processor allows overclocking, if the motherboard’s chipset doesn’t support it, then you won’t be able to do it.

With AMD & Intel having non-compatible sockets and chipsets, it’s always worth making sure that your latest hardware components are compatible. Especially when new RAM, motherboards, and CPUs are being released on an all too regular basis.

Let’s take a look at some chipsets from both Intel and AMD:

Intel

Intel

Chipset	PCI Express Lanes	SATA Ports	M.2 Ports	USB 3.1 Gen 1	USB 3.1 Gen 2	Overclocking Supported
H310	6 PCIe 2.0	4	None	Up to 4	None	No
B360	12 PCIe 3.0	6	Up to 2	Up to 6	Up to 4	No
H370	20 PCIe 3.0	6	Up to 2	Up to 8	Up to 4	No
Z370	24 PCIe 3.0	6	Up to 3	Up to 10	None	Yes

AMD

AMD

Chipset	PCI Express Lanes	SATA Ports	M.2 Ports	USB 3.1 Gen 1	USB 3.1 Gen 2	Overclocking
						Supported
A320	1 PCIe 3.0	4	2	1	6	No
	4 PCIe 2.0
B350	1 PCIe 3.0	4	2	2	6	Yes
	6 PCIe 2.0
X470	2 PCIe 3.0	6	2	2	10	Yes
	6 PCIe 2.0
B450	6 PCIe 2.0	6	2	2	2	Yes
B550	6 PCIe 3.0	6	2	2	2	Yes
X570	16 PCIe 4.0	12	3	0	8	Yes

Memory

When it comes to checking memory compatibility, you need to pay attention to four things: Max supported memory, memory speed, multi-channel support, and how many memory slots are on the board.

Check the specs against the motherboard, this will let you know precisely what the motherboard will support when it comes to speed and how many memory slots there are.

Memory Location

Also, some motherboards will have their memory slots a little closer to the CPU than others. Once in a while, this can cause an issue with the CPU heatsink. If you have a larger than normal heatsink for your CPU, you might want to make sure it won’t barge into your memory slot area.

PCI slots

Peripheral Component Interconnect, or PCI, is the physical slot in which you can expand the capabilities of your basic system.

This includes, but not limited to things like:

• Wi-Fi card
• Video card
• Extra USB ports
• NVMe expansion cards

There are two types of PCI slots: PCI and PCI Express (PCIe). The PCIe slot is a larger, faster version of the PCI slot.

Basic expansion cards such as a wifi adapter only require the much smaller PCI slot, while larger, more powerful cards such as your graphics card, require the larger and more powerful PCIe slot.

Making sure you have enough PCI slots for all of your components is important. If you’re running multiple GPUs and want to add in say a network and a sound card or an NVMe expansion card, you might have to check to make sure your motherboard has enough slots to accommodate.

The other thing to look for is plenty of spacing. If you’re planning on running multiple GPUs that are large, you may need PCIe slots that are further apart to allow for adequate space.

Fan Headers

The last thing you need to make sure of is that you have enough fan headers for everything you plan on running. If you’re running a lot of fans, or maybe RGB controllers, you’re going to have to make sure you have enough headers on the motherboard to support this.

If you’re interested in learning more about motherboards, then you can read all about how motherboards are made, as well as what all of the main components do.

So, you know the motherboards available to you, but which one is the best fit for you? Let’s take a moment to talk about that.

High-end

A high-end motherboard would be for someone who is either looking to push their gaming performance to the next level or needs something to help with their content creation.

The benefits of a high-end build include:

• More PCIe lane bandwidth, allowing for faster gaming and processing
• More expansion ports
• Better quality components to handle the increased usage

Mid-range

Buying a mid-range motherboard would be a good investment for anyone who doesn’t need all the bells and whistles of a high-end board, but still wants solid performance out of their machine.

The benefits of a mid-range build include:

• Better price point
• Good quality components for longevity
• Enough bandwidth for performance

Budget

Those that are interested in budget motherboards are probably looking for something that will get them up and running without breaking the bank.

Ultimately, budget boards make compromises to accommodate such low prices. However, that’s not always a bad thing. The two budget boards we’ve recommended are from reliable providers, and have plenty of room for add-ons, making them very versatile and good value for money.

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