Motherboard buyer guide

This is the component where spending more delivers the least. Two boards running the same processor and the same graphics card will perform within a percent or two of each other in games, so a motherboard doesn't make your PC faster, and no amount of money changes that.

What it decides is what you can plug in, what you can upgrade to later, and how small the machine can be. So the job isn't finding the best board. It's finding the one that fits your processor, your case, and the things you actually want to connect.

Three decisions, in this order: the socket, the size, then the features. Get the first wrong and nothing else matters, because the parts won't physically go together.

If you already own a board, the socket decides which processors you can fit. If you are starting from scratch, it decides whether you can change the processor later without changing the board. Browse the full range in motherboards, or see motherboard bundles where the processor and board are already matched.

The only genuinely non-negotiable part. A processor fits one socket, a board has one socket, and they either match or they don't.

AMD AM5 takes Ryzen 7000, 8000 and 9000 series chips, including the X3D gaming parts. It's DDR5 only. AMD has committed to supporting this socket into 2027 and beyond, and the previous socket ran for around six years, so a drop-in processor upgrade later is a reasonable expectation rather than a hope.

AMD AM4 is the older socket, still around at the budget end with Ryzen 5000 chips and DDR4 memory. Good value, no upgrade path.

Intel LGA1851 takes the current Core Ultra chips. DDR5 only.

Intel LGA1700 takes 12th, 13th and 14th generation Core i chips. Boards came in both DDR4 and DDR5 versions, so check which you're getting.

Intel has historically changed socket more often than AMD, which matters if a processor upgrade in a few years is part of your plan.

One thing catches people out here. A board sold before a newer processor launched may need a firmware update before it'll recognise it. Most boards can do this without a working processor fitted, but check before you buy the chip rather than after.

If you're buying a complete system or using our PC configurator, compatibility is handled for you and this section is background rather than homework.

The pattern holds across both manufacturers. The letter tells you the tier, the number tells you the generation. On AMD, X is enthusiast, B is mid range and A is entry level. On Intel, Z is enthusiast, B is mid range and H is entry level. Most builds do not need the top tier, and the money is usually better spent on the graphics card.

The chipset is the controller on the board that determines how much you can connect. It doesn't make the processor faster. 

Boards are usually sold in three broad tiers, whichever brand you're on.

Entry level covers the basics well. One graphics card slot, a couple of storage slots, enough USB for a normal setup. No processor overclocking. If you're building a gaming PC and aren't planning to expand it much, this is often all you need and the money is better spent elsewhere.

Mid range is where most people should land. More storage slots, more USB, better power delivery, and support for running your memory at its rated speed. On AMD boards this tier also allows processor overclocking. The sensible default.

High end buys you more PCIe lanes, more M.2 storage slots, faster networking, heavier heatsinks and processor overclocking on Intel. Worth it if you're running several drives, an expansion card alongside your graphics card, or a high-power processor that'll draw hard under sustained load.

The specification worth caring about at the top of the range is power delivery, sometimes listed as VRM. A high-power processor working hard needs a board that can feed it cleanly. That's a real difference, and it's the least glamorous thing on the spec sheet.

The naming here is genuinely confusing. The USB standards body has renamed the same ports twice. What used to be called USB 3.0, then USB 3.1 Gen 1, is now USB 3.2 Gen 1 and runs at 5Gbps. What was USB 3.1 Gen 2 is now USB 3.2 Gen 2 and runs at 10Gbps. Faster ports exist above that on higher end boards, badged USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 at 20Gbps or USB4 at 40Gbps. 

Colour is a rough guide rather than a rule. Blue usually means 5Gbps and teal usually means 10Gbps, but manufacturers vary and plenty of current boards use black or red regardless of speed. If it matters, check the board's specification rather than the colour. 

One practical point. If you are fitting a graphics card, the video outputs on the board will go unused, because the display connects to the card instead. Those ports are only relevant if you are running integrated graphics. A board with fewer video outputs is not a worse board for a gaming build, and the space is often given over to more USB instead.

Three formats, and the choice is mostly about your case.

ATX is the standard full size: most slots, most ports, easiest to work in, and it needs a mid-tower case. MicroATX is shorter with fewer expansion slots, and it still takes a full-length graphics card and a normal cooler, with boards that are cheap because they're mainstream. For most people who want a smaller machine, that's the right compromise.

Mini-ITX makes a genuinely small PC, at the cost of one expansion slot, two memory slots rather than four, and boards that cost more because they're a specialist product. Choose it if small is the point, not if you just want something a bit less bulky.

Decide the size before anything else, because it constrains the case, the cooler and how much you can add later.

Most ATX and microATX boards have four slots. Mini-ITX boards have two.

That matters less for how much memory you can fit than for how you upgrade. Memory should be bought as a matched pair, because two sticks run in dual channel and are meaningfully faster than one. With four slots you can add a second pair later. With two, upgrading means replacing what's already there.

Check the memory speeds a board supports as well, particularly on AMD, where there's a practical sweet spot rather than a "faster is better" rule.

If your case has no window, RGB lighting and decorative heatsinks are money spent on something you'll never see. If it does have one, buy a board you're happy looking at, because you'll be looking at it for years.

Two small things make a build easier. A dark board with dark labelling is harder to read while you're working inside a case, which is worth knowing if it's your first build. And boards that place their fan and USB headers around the edges make cable management considerably tidier than ones that put them in awkward spots.

A mid-range board with a good processor and a good graphics card will beat a premium board with compromises elsewhere, every time. That's the whole case for restraint here, and it's why the tier you want is usually the one covering the ports and storage you'll actually use, with nothing above it.

If you'd rather not check compatibility yourself, complete systems from the gaming PC range ship with the board matched to everything else, and the PC configurator will only offer you parts that work together.

Where to go next 

• Gaming PC buying guide for the whole decision, not just the processorer.
• CPU buyer guide for chipsets and what each one gives you.
• GPU buyer guide for the component that sets your frame rate

Ready to buy 

• AMD gaming PCs and Ryzen 7 gaming PCs for X3D builds.
• Intel gaming PCs for Core Ultra builds.
• Motherboard bundles if you are building yourself and want the compatibility handled.
• PC configurator to build your machine.