Best B460 Motherboards

How We Choose

When it comes to motherboards, it doesn’t matter whether they’re high-end or budget, the same amount of careful consideration and research goes into every choice we make. Choosing a B460 motherboard specifically can be tricky, especially when you consider the endless list of specifications that makes one better than the other.

While we couldn’t test all the B460 motherboards personally this time around (for obvious reasons), we did make sure to read as much information as we could about them to get the best indication of how they will perform. In most cases, this involved reading as many reviews as possible as well as poring through the product pages to see exactly what they had to offer.

We know just how tricky it is picking up a new product, especially if you need to do a lot of research beforehand. Only once we’ve gone through all of the information we can find can we be confident in putting it in an easy to understand guide for our readers. We aim to make our guides as informative as possible and would never recommend something that we wouldn’t include in one of our own builds.

Things to Consider

Like always, we’ve gone ahead and outlined the most important factors of a B460 motherboard below. By understanding these fundamental factors and specifications, your next motherboard purchase will be more informed and greater suited to your requirements and needs.

B460 Motherboard Pricing

As mentioned above, the B460 was brought to life to give budget PC builders a cheaper alternative over the more premium Z490 options. That being said, it’s still worthwhile understanding how a motherboard’s budget affects the overall price of your build.

Whenever we put together one of our custom-build PCs, we use rough guidelines to ensure gaming performance is prioritized in the process.

Below are some general guidelines that we like to follow when choosing motherboards.

Budget Build – $65-$100
Mid-range Build – $100-$200
High-end Build – $200+

Generally speaking, if you stick to these rules you’ll be able to get what you want from your motherboard without spending too much of your budget on it.

Furthermore, for people interested, motherboard specifications such as form factor, expansion support, RAM support, VRM quality, and RGB can all impact the cost of the motherboard exponentially. So, just keep that in mind if you’re a first time builder working with a strict budget.

Form Factor

Form factor, for the most part, is a fairly simple concept to grasp. Like other hardware components, a motherboard’s form factor literally refers to how big/small the motherboard is – in physical dimensions. At this stage, you’re probably asking yourself, why does that even matter?

Well, for a number of different reasons. The first involves your case. A case that only supports M-ATX motherboards isn’t going to be compatible with a full ATX alternative. The same ideology can be applied for the other form factors in the range. Making sure your PC build is compatible with your motherboard’s form factor should be one of your main concerns.

Another reason to be concerned with a motherboard’s form factor is support and hardware compatibility. What I mean by that is, if you plan on loading your build with several SSDs, a sound card, and a dual GPU setup, you’re definitely going to want to purchase ATX and above. Smaller form factors cater to small builds, therefore losing out on expansion versatility.

Fan Headers

Many modern-day builders like to equip their builds with intricate fan systems that far exceed the stock configuration found within most cases. That being said, if you plan on filling your case with say, six fans, you definitely need to check your motherboard’s fan header support to ensure it can actually accommodate your cooling needs.

Whilst more premium ATX (and above) B460 motherboards will probably be able to support such elaborate cooling configurations, not all will. That being said, there are ways around this problem. Users have the option of buying a fan hub that effectively doubles or triples your motherboard’s fan capacity. Just be sure to check this on the motherboard manufacturer website if you do plan on using additional fans.

Memory

Memory support can be broken into two very clear and distinct categories; speed and capacity.

When you purchase a motherboard, you must ensure that it supports the RAM speed you plan to buy. With RAM becoming much more affordable, more people seem to be steering towards higher speed RAM modules. That being said, it’s very easy to find yourself purchasing a motherboard that doesn’t support your RAM speed. Be sure to check with the motherboard specifications to save yourself a real headache.

Next, is capacity. Most motherboards will be able to handle up to 64GB, more than enough for most people’s needs. That being said, there is the odd occasion where individuals need an excess of 128GB of RAM. In this scenario, it might be better looking for a workstation style motherboard instead.

PCI Slots

PCIe slots are probably one of the last things you should consider before purchasing a motherboard – unless you plan on having a fairly elaborate setup with multiple expansion cards. Depending on how much you plan on spending on your motherboard will usually have a direct impact on how many PCI slots it has to offer.

It’s also worth considering how much space you have between each PCI slot. In some scenarios, a thick GPU will block the other PCI slots on the motherboard, so just be aware if you do plan on using multiple expansion slots.

Price

The price of a motherboard is a key consideration when choosing one for a computer system, as it directly impacts the features and quality that the motherboard offers. Higher-priced motherboards tend to have more advanced features, such as support for multiple graphics cards, high-speed memory, and advanced audio and networking capabilities. On the other hand, budget-friendly motherboards often have fewer features and lower-quality components, but can still provide sufficient functionality for basic computing needs.

When determining the price of a motherboard, it is important to evaluate the specific needs of the computer system and weigh the cost against the desired features and performance. A high-end motherboard may be overkill for a basic home PC but may be necessary for a high-performance gaming or workstation system. It is crucial to find a motherboard that balances the desired features and performance with the budget constraints of the system.

Why does motherboard choice affect PC performance?

Motherboard choice affects PC performance because it determines the capabilities and limitations of the system, as well as the data transfer rates and stability of the power delivery to the components. The following are some of the ways that the choice of the motherboard can impact PC performance:

• CPU socket compatibility: The motherboard determines the supported CPU socket type, which affects the choice of processor and its performance potential.
• RAM compatibility: The motherboard determines the type and maximum capacity of supported RAM, which can affect system performance and stability.
• Expansion slots: The number and type of expansion slots on the motherboard determine the ability to add additional components such as graphics cards, sound cards, or other peripherals.
• Storage options: The motherboard provides the connections for storage devices such as hard drives and solid state drives, and the choice of the motherboard can affect the performance of these devices.
• Power delivery: The quality of the power delivery system on the motherboard can affect the stability and overclocking potential of the system.

Therefore, choosing a high-quality, compatible, and capable motherboard that meets the needs of the build can enhance the overall performance and potential of the system.