8 Slot Ram Mobo

• 1Socket 8
• 2Slot 1

Asus ROG Strix B450-F. Asus is continually evolving and improving their products, and the. All; amd 690g; amd 740g; amd 760g; amd 770; amd 780g; amd 780l; amd 785g; amd 790fx; amd 790gx; amd 790x; amd 870; amd 880g; amd 880gx; amd 890fx; amd 890gx.

Socket 8

• GIGABYTE X399 AORUS XTREME sTR4 AMD X399 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 Extended ATX AMD Motherboard. Limited time offer, ends 02/28. Number of Memory Slots: 8×288pin Memory Standard: Support for DDR4 3600+.(O.C.)/ 3466+(O.C.)/ 2933/ 2667/ 2400/ 2133 MHz memory modules. Recommend to use a 1st Gen. Ryzen Threadripper processor to achieve 3600 MHz (O.C.) speed.
• What memory slots will be used to install the memory based on the information provided? Install the two 1GB modules in DIMM0 of channels A and B and the two 512MB modules in DIMM1 of channels A and B Install two 512MB modules in DIMM 0 of channels A.
• Mini ITX motherboards come with two RAM slots whereas the others come with four or sometimes even eight. Depending on what kinds of tasks you need to carry out, two RAM slots is usually enough as Mini ITX motherboards can accommodate up to 32GB of RAM total. A great gaming setup will do just fine with 32GB of RAM, and if you’re using the PC.

Socket 8 was introduced in November 1995 and is the initial platform used for the P6 architecture, the Pentium Pro CPU. It was primarily used for workstations and servers, and mostly ignored by home users. Motherboards and the CPU itself were pricey, and Pentium Pro is not necessarily a significant improvement for typical home user applications. In the worst case, running 8/16-bit code, the PPro can be slower than a Pentium at the same clock speed. In the best case with 32-bit code or heavy FPU operation, it far outperforms Pentium.

For gamers the PPro was an exciting development. Its various improvements were highly beneficial for emerging 3D games. It can occasionally outperform the bottom Pentium II models.

The initial chipsets from Intel, 450KX/GX, are not ideal for gaming because of PCI deficiencies. It is best to use a later 440FX-based board. It is also a good idea to try the FastVid utility when playing SVGA DOS games because PCI throughput can be dramatically improved. Windows 9x video drivers usually take care of this though.

Intel 450KX

The Intel 450KX 'Mars' was one of the first genertaion Pentium Pro chipsets, aimed to single and dual CPU systems

Chipset part numbers:

• 82451KX - Memory Interface Components (MIC)
• 82452KX - Data Path (DP)
• 82453KX - DRAM Controller (DC)
• 82454KX - PCI Bridge (PB)

Posible southbriges are: SIO (82378IB/ZB), SIO.A (82379AB), PIIX (82371FB), PCEB (82375EB/SB) and ESC (82374EB/SB)

Main features:

• Support for Single and Dual CPU operation
• Up to 1 GB of FPM Memory
• ECC/Parity Memory support
• PCI 2.0 Support
• EISA support with PCEB/ESC southbridges
• FSB 60/66
• No USB support
• No UDMA support

Intel 450GX

The Intel 450GX 'Orion' was one of the first genertaion Pentium Pro chipsets, aimed to quad CPU systems.

Chipset part numbers:

• 82451GX - Memory Interface Components (MIC)
• 82452GX - Data Path (DP)
• 82453GX - DRAM Controller (DC)
• 82454GX - PCI Bridge (PB)

Posible southbriges are: SIO (82378IB/ZB), SIO.A (82379AB), PCEB (82375EB/SB) and ESC (82374EB/SB)

Main features:

• Support for Quad CPU operation
• Up to 4 GB of FPM Memory per 82453GX
• ECC/Parity Memory support
• PCI 2.0 Support
• EISA support with PCEB/ESC southbridges
• FSB 60/66
• No support for USB
• No UDMA support

Intel 440FX

The Intel 440FX 'Natoma' was the second generation Pentium Pro chipset primarly replacing the Intel 450KX in single/dual CPU systems

Chipset part numbers:

• 82441FX - Northbridge/Memory Controller (PMC)
• 82442FX - Data Bus Accelerator (DBX)
• 82371SB - PIIX3 Southbridge

Optionally can be paried with the PCEB/ESC southbridges instead of PIIX3 for EISA support

Main features:

• Support for Single and Dual CPU operation
• Up to 1 GB of FPM, EDO or BEDO Memory
• ECC/Parity Memory support
• PCI 2.1 Support
• EISA support with PCEB/ESC southbridges
• FSB 60/66
• USB 1.1 controller (not present in all boards, requieres PIIX3 southbridge)
• No UDMA support

OPTi Discovery

OPTi's Pentium Pro chipset, very little is known about it

Chipset part numbers:

• 82C650 - Northbridge
• 82C651 - Southbridge
• 82C652 - PCI to AGP Bridge (Optional)

Main features:

• Support for Single CPU operation, not known if it supports dual CPU
• FPM, EDO or BEDO Memory
• ECC/Parity Memory support
• PCI 2.1 Support
• FSB 60/66
• USB 1.1 controller
• ATA-33 support

VIA 680 'Apollo P6

VIA's Pentium Pro chipset

Chipset part numbers:

• VT82C685 - System Controller
• VT82C687 - Data Buffer
• VT82C586 - Southbridge

Main features:

• Support for Single and Dual CPU operation
• Up to 1 GB of FPM, EDO or BEDO Memory
• ECC/Parity Memory support
• PCI 2.1 Support
• FSB 60/66
• USB 1.1 controller
• ATA-33 support

Slot 1

Slot 1 was introduced in May 1997 and served as Intel's successor to Socket 7 and brought the P6 architecture to the home market. CPUs come in a cartridge which contains the CPU chip, cache chips and a cache controller. Later CPUs like Celeron 'Mendocino' have on-die cache and thus the cartridge became unnecessary and so Slot 1 was replaced with Socket 370.

440FX

Intel 440FX 'Natoma' was the first Slot 1 chipset. It was originally designed for Pentium Pro and there are boards with both Socket 8 and Slot 1. 440FX lacks AGP, SDRAM support, and its IDE interface is limited to 16MB/s.

440LX

Intel 440LX 'Balboa' introduced AGP, SDRAM support, and UDMA33. It still has a 66MHz FSB limit. The fastest CPU's that will work are the Pentium II 333MHz (or a Pentium II 400MHz downclocked to 366MHz), the Slot 1 Celeron 433MHz (though faster Celerons can be installed with the use of a slotket) or a downclocked Pentium III with the Katmai core (which will be recognised as a Pentium II usually by the BIOS). Other solutions are to use a special type of slotket that lets one use a Tualatin-core Celeron which will be underclocked also, but will provide a speed up to around 1000MHz. Some of the 440LX motherboards had issues with powering more modern AGP graphics cards.

Chipset part numbers:

• 82443LX - Northbridge (PAC)
• 82371AB - Southbridge (PIIX4)

Main features:

• Support for Single and Dual CPU operation
• Up to 1 GB of EDO or 512 MB of PC66 SDRAM Memory (Some boards may do 1 GB with SDRAM)
• ECC/Parity Memory support
• PCI 2.1 Support
• AGP 1.0 (AGP 2x, 3.3v)
• FSB 66, 75/83 w/ overclocking
• USB 1.1 controller
• ATA-33 support

440EX

Cost reduced version of Intel 440LX, mainly intended for the Intel Celeron processor.

Chipset part numbers:

• 82443EX - Northbridge (PAC)
• 82371AB - Southbridge (PIIX4)

Main features:

• Support for Single CPU operation only
• Up to 256 MB of EDO or PC66 SDRAM Memory (Some boards may do 512 MB)
• No ECC/Parity Memory support
• PCI 2.1 Support
• AGP 1.0 (AGP 2x, 3.3v)
• FSB 66, 75/83 w/ overclocking
• USB 1.1 controller
• ATA-33 support

440BX

The Intel 440BX 'Seattle' is an evolution of 440LX and was very popular. BX boards officially support 100MHz FSB, though many motherboard manufacturers feature other FSB speeds for overclocking. BX also supports up to 1GB of SDRAM.

Chipset part numbers:

• 82443BX - Northbridge (PAC)
• 82371EB - Southbridge (PIIX4E)

Main features:

• Support for Single and Dual CPU operation
• Up to 1 GB of EDO or PC66/100 SDRAM Memory
• ECC/Parity Memory support
• PCI 2.1 Support
• AGP 1.0 (AGP 2x, 3.3v)
• FSB 66/100, 75/83 and 112/124/133 w/ overclocking
• USB 1.1 controller
• ATA-33 support

Chipset notes:

• It doesn't support memory modules greater then 256MB.
• It's AGP slot requires 3.3v support from the AGP card.
• Overclocking the FSB to 133MHz will overclock the AGP bus to an out of spec 89MHz due to the lack of 1/2 FSB/AGP divider. PCI can remain at 33MHz with proper BIOS configuration.
• Not all BX motherboards will work with Coppermine CPUs (either due to Voltage Regulator, BIOS support or both) and none support Tualatin without an adapter.

440ZX

This chipset is a low-cost version of the much more famous 440BX. It replaces 440EX, the 440LX's low-end counterpart, adding 100MHz FSB. Few drawbacks do exist when comparing 440ZX to 440BX, although they can be considered minor for most retro builds today. The Intel 440ZX-66 variant shares the same specs as the standard variant except for the lack of FSB 100 support.

Chipset part numbers:

• 82443ZX - Northbridge (PAC)
• 82371EB - Southbridge (PIIX4E)

Main features:

• Support for Single CPU operation only
• Up to 512 MB of PC66/100 SDRAM Memory (loses two memory banks and EDO support)
• No ECC/Parity Memory support
• PCI 2.1 Support
• AGP 1.0 (AGP 2x, 3.3v)
• FSB 66/100, 75/83 and 112/124/133 w/ overclocking (440ZX-66 doesn't support FSB 100 MHz)
• USB 1.1 controller
• ATA-33 support

Chipset notes:

• Same notes from 440BX chipset can be applied to the 440ZX as well

The marketing effort behind this was to push some of the competition aside, providing entry-level logic with all the basic 440BX features, including 100MHz FSB. While some ZX-based boards were poorly built to further reduce the costs, others were as solid and reliable as a top-branded 440BX one. The ASUS P2-99 is a good example of such board.

810

The 810 (codename: Whitney) is a low end Intel chipset. The original chipset supports only a FSB of 100 MHz, the enhanced 810E and 810E2 support 133 MHz. None supports AGP graphics. The ASUS P3W-E is an example of a Slot 1 motherboard with 810.

Northbridge part numbers:

• 82810 - i810 Northbridge (GMCH)
• 82810E - i810E/810E2 Northbridge (GMCH)

Southbridge Part Numbers:

• 82801AA - ICH (ATA-66 Support, 2x USB 1.1)
• 82801AB - ICH0 (ATA-33 Support, 2x USB 1.1)
• 82801BA - ICH2 (ATA-100 Support, 4x USB 1.1)

Chipset variants:

815

There were some Slot 1 motherboards based on the Intel 815 chipset. Examples include SOYO SY-7ISM (with both Slot 1 and Socket 370) and Abit SH6.

Northbridge part numbers:

• 82815 - i815/815E Northbridge (GMCH)

Southbridge Part Numbers:

• 82801AA - ICH (ATA-66 Support, 2x USB 1.1)
• 82801AB - ICH0 (ATA-33 Support, 2x USB 1.1)
• 82801BA - ICH2 (ATA-100 Support, 4x USB 1.1)

Chipset variants:

820

The i820 chipset is designed to support only RDRAM and only 1.5v AGP, although some motherboards feature special RDRAM to SDRAM bridge chip. Using the bridge significantly affects memory bandwith and overall performance plus posible data corruption issues (Intel MTH was recalled in the mid 2000s due to major issues).

Chipset part numbers:

• 82820 - Northbridge (MCH)
• 82801AA - Southbridge (ICH)
• 82805AA - Memory Translator Hub (MTH, Optional)

Main features:

• Support for Single and Dual CPU operation
• Up to 1 GB of PC600/700/800 Single Channel RDRAM or 1 GB PC100 SDRAM w/ MTH
• ECC Memory support
• PCI 2.2 Support
• AGP 2.0 (AGP 2/4x, 3.3/1.5v)
• FSB 100/133
• USB 1.1 controller
• ATA-66 support

840

This chipset is a workstation/server logic, SMP capable, usually found in dual CPU motherboards. The i840 supports dual-channel PC600/PC800 RDRAM, ECC or non-ECC modules. There is no option to run this chipset in a single-channel mode, so, unlike i820, modules have to be installed in matching pairs. The memory controller first introduced in i840 is quite similar to those found in later NetBurst-supporting i850 and i860. In fact, its optional Intel 82803AA MRH-R (Memory Repeater Hub) is compatible with i860 as well.

The i840 was targeted to replace the aging 440BX/GX (as the x40 name may suggest) and is therefore a collection of pioneering and unique features implemented to outperform and outshine older chipsets:

• First x86 chipset to support RDRAM.
• First Intel chipset to support AGP 4x, as well as AGP Pro.
• First Intel chipset to combine AGP and official 133MHz FSB.

Chipset part numbers:

• 82840 - Northbridge (MCH)
• 82801AA - Southbridge (ICH)

Main features:

• Support for Single and Dual CPU operation
• Up to 2 GB of PC600/800 Dual Channel RDRAM (4 GB w/ MRH-R)
• ECC Memory support
• PCI 2.2 Support
• AGP 2.0 (AGP 2/4x, 3.3/1.5v)
• FSB 100/133
• USB 1.1 controller
• ATA-66 support

The i840 board is a sensible, though expensive choice for a retro build. It will run reliably under Windows 98/98SE/ME (with single CPU and obvious RAM limitations), as well as NT4.0 and later NT-derived OSes. Retro games may benefit from faster AGP and wider RAM bus, but will lack raw CPU power compared to i815 B-Step systems due to no Tualatin support.

Other

There are some other chipsets that feature Slot 1. VIA chipsets tend to be less stable but have some advantages compared to BX because some feature AGP 2/4x, 133 MHz FSB and support for larger SDRAM memory modules.

Most Slot 1 boards are made in the ATX form factor but some AT versions have been made.

Today:: Slot 1 comes with a single significant advantage that seems to outweight all other benefits, as well as all downsides, and this advantage is called 'BX'. There were more chipsets available for Slot 1, but most others usually have some kind of disadvantage compared to BX.What makes BX so great and what makes BX so popular amongst retro computer enthusiasts is the great flexibility and stability BX motherboards often offer.BX has the advantage of supporting up to 1GB of SDRAM using 4 DIMM sockets (Intels own i815 was limited to 512MB) and was a very stable platform with very few critical hardware quirks. It also has good compatibility and BX motherboards often sport as many as 3 ISA slots in addition to the then usual PCI slots and the AGP slot.CPU support is pretty good out of the box, with basically all BX Slot 1 boards supporting anything from Klamath (early Pentium 2) and Deschutes (late Pentium 2) up to Katmai (early Pentium 3 which was only released in Slot 1 form). Quite a lot of the BX boards had native support for Coppermine Slot 1 CPUs as well, but compatibility differs between different Slot 1 BX motherboard models, often even between different revisions of the same motherboard. In some cases one revision of a certain motherboard may actually (unofficially) support Coppermine while another board with the exact same revision will not (ASUS P2B rev 1.10 being a great example of that, with rev 1.12 being the first P2B to officially support Coppermine).Officially Slot 1 was designed to only accept Slot 1 CPUs with the higher end Coppermines being the top of the line. But these Slot 1 Coppermines are not as easy to find compared to it's Socket 370 counterparts. It is still possible to install a Socket 370 CPU into a Slot 1 motherboard by use of a slotkey and with a slotket even a 1.4GHz Tualeron CPU suddenly is within reach.

Some people also find the peculiar Slot 1 design to be interesting and in some ways it has it's advantages. One such advantage is that, as the CPU is basically one giant cartridge with the CPU cooler part of the cartridge, swapping CPUs is an easy chore which is as easy as swapping around any dedicated PCI or AGP card, one doesn't need to remove the CPU HSF, clean the old CPU of it's TIM (Thermal Interface Material), replace it with new CPU and reinstall the CPU HSF again.

The disadvantages of BX are mostly related to it's native 2x AGP slot (AGP 8x cards won't work in BX) in addition to some of it's AGP slots having problems with AGP cards which need a lot of power. Another disadvantage is BX's inability to use SDRAMs with more than 256MB per module (BX supports SDRAMs with 16MB/chip and a higher density will, at best, result in only part of the total memory size of that module being recognized).

Socket 370

See also: List of Socket 370 motherboards

Introduced in January 1999, Socket 370 was originally made as a budget CPU socket. Later it became Intel's main CPU Socket until the release of the Pentium 4, after which it moved to the budget end of the market again before being phased out altogether.

Common chipsets for Socket 370 are Intels i815 chipset and it's VIA counterparts, though other chipsets like 440BX and even 440LX were also used for Socket 370 boards. Especially the 815 and VIA 694 chipsets are very popular these days for use as a base for a retro computer. Socket 370 BX remains a good and popular option also, though the vast majority of BX boards came with Slot 1 instead of Socket 370.

A wide variety of CPU's exist for this socket, ranging from the 333MHz Celeron (with Mendocino core) all the way to the Pentium III-S 1400MHz (also known as Tualatin-S). VIA also made a variety of CPU's for this socket, though compatibility is somewhat sketchy.

As this CPU socket went through a few revisions, not all Socket 370 CPU's will work in any given Socket 370 motherboard. Generally speaking there are 3 different types of motherboards using this socket: the early Celeron Mendocino-only motherboards (usually limited to a 66MHz FSB and often these boards will be equipped with Intels 440LX chipset), the Coppermine capable motherboards (having a maximum FSB of either 100MHz or 133MHz) and the Tualatin capable motherboards. Sometimes Tualatin capable motherboards have their CPU socket colored blue instead of the usual white.

To prevent usage of newer CPU's in older motherboards, Intel switched a couple pins around to prevent operation of Coppermine CPU's in the earliest Celeron-only boards and Intel repeated that trick when it started manufacturing Tualatin CPU's. This prevented the use of later chips in older motherboards, even if the right (lower) voltage could be supplied by the motherboard.

Usually Socket 370 boards have AGP slots, unless an IGP is present. The older ones have an AGP 2x (3.3V) and the newer ones have a universal 1.5V AGP 4x slot. Motherboards using ALi's M1631 (Aladdin TNT2) or Intel's i810/810E chipsets do not support an AGP slot. All Socket 370 motherboards have PCI slots and the older types of Socket 370 motherboards have ISA slots. ISA slots are more common on motherboards using non-Intel chipsets. Almost all Socket 370 motherboards are ATX (though a few AT Socket 370 motherboards are known to exist). Only very few Tualatin motherboards featured one or 2 ISA slots. Usually motherboards with the Intel i815 chipset have no ISA slots, except when the motherboard is equipped with a bridge chip. The bridge chip may cause some problems when using ISA sound cards.

The Intel i810/815 chipsets also only support up to 512 MB of SDRAM. Its main competitors didn't have that limitation. Even though Socket 370 will usually come with SDRAM slots, a few Socket 370 motherboards were made that will work with either RDRAM or DDR instead.

All Intel Socket 370 CPUs have their multiplier locked, which decreases it's effectiveness when it comes to underclocking (Socket 7 doesn't have this problem and for DOS Socket 7 is overall a more popular choice). However, many Intel Socket 370 ES (Engineering Sample) CPUs and most (if not all) VIA C3 CPUs can have their CPU multiplier changed, usually by either software or from the BIOS. ES CPUs are quite rare though and not all may come with their CPU multiplier unlocked.

Because Socket 370 shares it's dimensions with Socket A, CPU Coolers for Athlon XP are physically compatible with Socket 370 and as Athlon XP CPU coolers are typically newer, beefier and easier to find, using a CPU cooler designed for Athlon XP is very popular when building a Socket 370 retro computer.However, one should note that installing of many Socket A or Socket 370 CPU coolers for use of Socket 370 CPUs which come with an Integrated Heatspreader (or IHS) may prove difficult.

Today:: Socket 370 is a very popular basis for a retro computer these days, for several reasons.One reason is that these high-end Pentium 3 motherboards are widely available, overall very stable and flexible and it's also a well documented platform with lots of options on both the hardware side (think components like graphics cards and sound cards) as well as on the software side (Windows 98SE and ME are popular, but Windows 2000 and XP will also work). Many interesting parts for Socket 370 based retro rigs are also very common , easy to find (and often cheaply), partially because of the universal AGP slot with with the newer Socket 370 boards are usually equipped. Socket 370 boards featuring ISA slots and Tualatin CPUs (with or without the use of an adapter) combined with an ISA sound card is a very popular build for many retro computing enthusiasts.Another pro about Socket 370 (and mostly because of the higher-end Coppermines and Tualatin-S's) is Pentium 3's relatively low power dissipation compared to it's performance, which has the added benefit that even todays PSUs will usually work with Socket 370 builds, unlike Socket A which requires strong 5v rails which modern PSUs often do not provide.

Socket 370 is overall a very good platform for both beginners as well as the more experienced retro computer enthusiasts, though motherboards that support the latest incarnation of Pentium 3 (the Tualatin) are a bit more tricky to find as these started to get hit by the capacitor plague and because Tualatin entered the market as Pentium 4 was starting to sell, meaning Socket 370 boards which support Coppermine at the most are greater in number to begin with.

Have you landed a great Ryzen processor, and now you need the right motherboard?

Well, AM4 is your best bet. It’s the most popular socket, supports a whole range of chipsets, and best of all, it’s future-proof: AMD has promised long-term support.

Check out our guide to the best AM4 motherboards for every budget and purpose whether you’re a gamer, video editor or streamer.

What Makes a Good AM4 Motherboard?

Compatibility

Motherboards are all about compatibility. Motherboards have different chipsets, but AMD’s are way more forgiving than Intels.

You also want to check it supports your RAM and it’s got enough PCIe slots, memory slots and ports, taking into account any extras you might want to add later.

Finally, think about casing; make sure it can actually fit into your case.

Size

There’s 3 main sizes (or to use the more technical term, form factors) of motherboard: ATX is the largest and most ‘standard’ size, Micro-ATX is smaller and Mini-ITX is the smallest. (I know, you would think Micro would be the smallest but it isn’t).

Generally, the bigger the board, the better; it will have more features, and more connectors, heatsinks, card expansion slots, and RAM slots.

Micro and Mini have to inevitably make some pretty large sacrifices, and you’re never going to get as good value as an ATX board, so we recommend ATX if you can swing it.

How We Choose AM4 Motherboards

Features and Performance

Although specs are important, real-life testing is even better. For example, gaming benchmarks, overclocking testing, and efficiency all paint a much better picture of performance.

Purpose

We always bear the user purpose in mind, instead of just going for the highest specs. You don’t want to overspend for nothing.

Value for money

The price has to be reasonable, but even more importantly, can you get more for your money elsewhere?

Best Overall AM4 Motherboard

Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra

Image credit: Gigabyte

Tech Specs

Socket: AM4

Chipset: AMD X570

Form Factor: ATX

PROS

• Front and Rear USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port/header
• Three high speed M.2 slots with heatsinks
• Great overclocking

CONS

• Gen2 M.2 slot

If you’re looking to use a AMD Ryzen 3rd or 2nd Generation chip such as the quality Ryzen 7 2700 or 3700X, this is the best motherboard sporting the latest AMD X570 chipset.

It delivers great performance, stability and overclocking, topped up with an attractive design and expandability options.

This model holds its own against more expensive X570 boards, the only major difference between losing 2.5G network capabilities and 2 less SATA ports.

It’s a very well-rounded board with 3 M.2 slots, premium audio, wifi, a quiet fan and plenty of USB slots.

It’s also backward-compatible with Ryzen 1000 series and other AM4-socket processors.

Memory is DDR4 with speeds up to DDR4 4400, with up to 128GB over 4 RAM slots and 6 SATA ports.

There’s plenty of fast USB connectivity with 10 USB ports, including 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (one Type-C).

It uses a premium Realtek ALC1220-VB audio codec.

The voltage regulator heatsinks are a bit revolutionary, with a direct-touch heatpipe and a fin design that increases heat dissipation area by 300%.

There are 3 full-length PCIe 4.0 slots, the top 2 of which are reinforced, supporting two-way SLI and up to three-way CrossFire multi-graphics card configuration.

Gaming performance was similar to other more expensive X570 models (Crosshair VIII’s 64W and ASRock Phantom Gaming) when playing Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation.

It overclocks well with no issues and no overheating, similar to more expensive X570 boards.

It’s also 12% more efficient than a few other X570 models, and temperatures peaked at just 148W, lower than Crosshair VIII’s 64W and the ASRock Phantom Gaming’s 218W.

RGB lighting is more subtle than some, on the left voltage regulator heatsink and audio section, though it does come with a few headers if you want to add more.

Honorable Mentions:

ASrock X570 Taichi – a close contender.

Best Bang for the Buck AM4 Motherboard

Gigabyte Aorus AX370-Gaming 5

Image credit: Gigabyte

Tech Specs

Socket: AM4

Chipset: AMD X370

Form Factor: ATX

PROS

• Affordable
• Great connectivity for price
• 2 audio codecs

CONS

• Awkward UEFI

If you’re looking for a well-rounded budget board that’s not just for gaming, you can’t go wrong with the Gigabyte Aorus AX370-Gaming 5.

It’s got a very well thought-out layout, and beats its ASRock competitor, the X370 Taichi, in features.

Memory is still a standard DDR4 over 4 RAM slots supporting up to 64 GB memory.

Connectivity and storage is still respectable. There’s 2 PCIex16 3.0 slots and 4 PCIe 2.0 slots and 1 M.2 or U.2 slot (if you use the U.2 slot, you can’t use the M.2 slot). There’s also 8 SATA 6Gb/s ports and 2 Express ports.

There’s 10 USBs in total: USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 3 USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A and 6 USB 3.1 Gen 1.

It actually offers 2 Realtek ALC1220 audio codecs rather than the standard 1, with one each on the front and back ports.

The only downside is the UEFI, which is a bit awkward to use.

The board aesthetics are rather bland, but it comes with full-on RGB lighting.

Honorable Mentions:

Gigabyte AB350-Gaming 3 – if you’re content with a B350 chipset.

Best AM4 Motherboard for Gaming

Asus X570 ROG Crosshair VIII Hero Wi-Fi

Image credit: Asus

Tech Specs

Socket: AM4

Mobo Dengan 8 Slot Ram

Chipset: AMD X570

Form Factor: ATX

PROS

• Amazing overclocking
• Tons of slots and expandability
• 2.5G ethernet

CONS

• Expensive

• Chipset fan in awkward position

This is the best high-end AMD X570 for enthusiast gamers and overclockers who want some extra oomph. It pairs well with the much-lauded Ryzen 9 3900X chip.

It’s packed with features, and is incredibly powerful and reliable.

There is the more expensive Crosshair VIII Formula variation, but we think the extra money just isn’t worth it in terms of overall performance.

It comes with a strong voltage regulator, lots of USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, Wifi 6 and a stellar audio codec in the form of ROG SupremeFX.

Memory is DDR4 RAM supporting up to 128GB over 4 RAM slots and 8 SATA ports.

8 Slot Ram Motherboard

There’s 3 full-length PCIe slots, 2 of which are reinforced. All support SLI twin or CrossFire twin- or triple-card installations.

Two M.2 slots can also run SATA or PCIe.

The voltage regulator is covered by 2 heatsinks, which are cleverly connected by a heatpipe. The chipset also has a large heatsink and a small fan, which is quiet and can last up to 60,000 hours.

The only issue is the chipset fan might be blocked when using a dual-slot graphics card, which isn’t ideal.

There’s 12 USB ports in total, including an incredible 8 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (seven Type-A, one Type-C).

There’s also quality 2.5G Realtek based LAN.

There’s 16 IR3555 PowIRstages that can handle 60 amps each, perfect for overclocking.

It comes with a power and reset button, as well as very handy voltage read points.

The BIOS is well-organized. It features beginners and advanced modes, as well as a ton of overclocking options.

It’s all-black aside from a grey steel diagonal stripe running across the board.

They go for an understated RGB look on the rear I/O shroud and chipset heatsink, including an ROG logo, but it comes with more headers if you want the full bling effect.

It’s 12 USB ports(much more than most), 2.5G ethernet, 8 SATA ports, and incredible overclocking are stand-out features.

Honorable Mentions:

ASRock Phantom Gaming X – slightly cheaper if you don’t want to overclock as much.

Best AM4 Motherboard for Video Editing

MSI X470 Gaming Pro Carbon

Image credit: MSI

Tech Specs

Socket: AM4

Chipset: AMD X470

Form Factor: ATX

PROS

• Excellent audio codec
• Plenty of storage
• Good value

CONS

• Not very stylish
• Not great for gamers

This motherboard is much more suitable for video editors than gamers, with an emphasis on stability, storage and audio quality, rather than overclocking and aesthetics.

It’s also mid-range in price, allowing you to invest more in a decent CPU which is crucial for video editing.

The board is rather plain looking, just black with some silver lines, and some RGB lights on the rear I/O shroud, chipset heatsink, and one of the edges.

There’s 3 full-length PCI Express x16 slots and 2 PCIe x1 slots.

Memory is DDR4 RAM supporting up to 64GB clocked up to 3,466MHz.

The memory and PCIe x16 slots are steel-reinforced.

It features 8 SATA 3.0 ports and a generous two M.2 slots for storage devices. The first slot has a heatsink and is designed to connect to your CPU, and works perfectly with Ryzens, operating with a PCI Express 3.0 x4 connection, the best possible.

Audio is high-quality for the price. First off, it’s separated from the rest of the motherboard to reduce signal degradation. It comes with a Realtek ALC1220 DAC audio codec that has a 120dB signal-to-noise ratio. There’s also high-quality capacitors, a headphone amplifier, and an EMI shield to help guard against electromagnetic interference.

There’s also plenty of USB ports; 11 in total, including 1 USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C and 1 USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A port on the rear I/O.

The BIOS has rather basic overclocking options, but this isn’t an issue for video editors.

Best AM4 Motherboard for Streaming

Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7

Image credit: Gigabyte

Tech Specs

Socket: AM4

Chipset: AMD X470

Form Factor: ATX

PROS

• Stunning looks
• Great expandability
• Great overclocking

CONS

• Gen2 M.2 slot

If you’re looking to use a AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation chip for streaming such as the quality Ryzen 7 2700X, this is the best motherboard sporting the AMD X470 chipset.

It delivers great performance, stability and overclocking, topped up with an attractive design and expandability options.

It’s also backward-compatible with Ryzen 1000 series and other AM4-socket processors.

Memory is DDR4 with speeds of DDR4-3600, with up to 64GB over 4 RAM slots, and support for ECC memory for un-buffered modules.

It includes 3 PCIe slots, the top 2 supporting Gen3, and the bottom Gen2.

There’s 10 USB ports in total: 1 Type-A and 1 Type-C USB 3.1 Gen2 port, 6 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports, and 2 2.0 ports on the back.

It’s wifi-capable with 2 wifi antenna ports, and also provides Bluetooth 5 support. A wifi antenna can be positioned away from the motherboard for a stronger signal.

It uses a solid Realtek ALC1220 audio codec.

It also comes with power and clear CMOS buttons, very handy for experimental gamers.

8 Slot Ram Mobo

It’s got a nice large power delivery heatsink with a large copper heat pipe and aluminum fin stack.

For gaming, this model beat several competitor models when playing Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation at mid-quality.

In efficiency benchmarks, the Aorus Gaming 7 Wifi beats the ASRock X370 Killer SLI/ac by 1.5% overall.

Best Budget AM4 Motherboard for Gaming

ASRock X570 Steel Legend WiFi ax

Image credit: ASRock

Tech Specs

Socket: AM4

Chipset: AMD X570

Form Factor: ATX

PROS

• Affordable
• Very efficient
• Large voltage regulator for price

CONS

• Fixed x16/x4 pathways on the two long PCIe slots

This model has enough power with its 10-phase power delivery to handle the top Ryzen 3000 processors, which is extremely rare at this price point.

There’s 2 full-length PCIe slots, although they only run at x16/x4, supporting two way AMD CrossFire multi-graphics cards. Incredibly there’s also 2 M.2 slots, both with heatsinks, and 8 SATA ports.

Audio codec is solid Realtek ALC1220 HD.

Memory is up to DDR4-4666 over 4 RAM slots, with a max capacity of 64GB. Overall, this is very impressive.

2 Ram Slots Vs 4

There’s 8 USB ports overall: 1 USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, 1 USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, and 6 USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports.

Wifi isn’t included, which is to be expected, but you can install your own via the M.2 Key E 2230 slot.

In terms of gaming, it actually performed better than many higher-priced X570 models in all game settings, including against the ASRock X570, and Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master.

It was also 12% more efficient than these models.

Honorable Mentions:

ASUS TUF B450 – a cheaper B450 alternative.

Which AM4 Motherboard Should I Buy?

The best AM4 motherboard for most people is Gigabyte’s mid-range X570 Aorus Ultra, sporting the latest chipset with great performance, stability and overclocking.

8 Slot Ram Motherboard Gaming Amd

Serious gamers, however, will want to opt for the high-end Asus X570 ROG Crosshair VIII Hero Wi-Fi, with an extremely strong and well-cooled voltage regulator and incredible memory and overclocking.

For budget gamers, the ASRock X570 Steel Legend WiFi ax is a safe bet.

If you’re just looking for a cheap well-rounded motherboard, that would be the Gigabyte Aorus AX370-Gaming 5.

Video editors will appreciate the plain but solid MSI X470 Gaming Pro Carbon, whilst streamers will find the Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7 suits their requirements well.