Our 6 Best Gaming Motherboards of 2022 Ft. AMD & Intel Picks
We Help You Find The Best Gaming Motherboards For Your Needs
For anyone looking to build a new gaming PC, finding the best gaming motherboard is a crucial, often overlooked step. You could already have a gaming rig setup but want to take advantage of a new Gen CPU and need one of the latest motherboards to go with it. looking for the best AMD motherboard specifically? we have an article for that.
Either way, finding the best motherboards out there can be incredibly difficult, and for some, the terminology and fear of getting compatibility issues can stop people in their tracks! We want to take this headache away here at WePC, and we do that by doing the research for you.
We have been busy researching motherboards for various chipsets and socket types, we have purchased, built with, and tested our selections, all to give you a helping hand.
Sit back and have a read through our article, and by the end, you’ll be ordering the best motherboard for your needs. If you are still a little unsure as to what may be compatible with what, then you can check all of your components are compatible with each other if you need to.
Watch Our Video Rundown
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Our Top Picks
The Best Gaming Motherboards For 2022
In-depth Review
MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
The MSI x570 Godlike is regarded as one of the best boards you can buy with a huge amount of features to go along with its rather large price tag. This motherboard is by no means a budget option as it comes with a high quality 14+4+1 digital power phase design, which requires the large thermal heat sink.
Design-wise it’s hard to beat the MSI Godlike. The motherboard features Mystic Light RGB with an “infinity” RGB window in the corner. The board also has a small OLED display that will show you any debug codes when things go wrong or it can display temps for hardware monitoring.
Other more functional features include the Frozr heatsink design, M.2 expansion card, and 10g ethernet card. To the back of the board, we see a clear-CMOS button which is very handy for the overclocker. This Clear-CMOS function will allow you to push your RAM to the limits without having to go into your system and try to get the CMOS battery out. Next to the SMOS button sits a BIOS flash button so you can update your BIOS without breaking a sweat.
Overall this is a superb motherboard and its onboard WIFI capability is fantastic. MSI is not messing around with the Godlike, as you can probably tell from the Gigabit jack, 2.5 Gigabit jack, and the 10g ethernet card. This board can only enhance your build!
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero WiFi
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero WiFi
- Memory slots: 4 X DDR5
- Max memory: 128GB Dual Channel
- Max memory frequency: 6,400 MHz
Intel 12th Gen Processors - 2 x PCIe 5.0 x16 slots
Intel Z690 Chipset - 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 slot
- SATA ports: 6
- M.2 Ports: 5
The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 is a fantastic premium motherboard and the best Z690 you will find. This latest iteration features everything you need to get the best out of your Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake CPU. If you’ve no interest in buying a 12th Gen CPU then we’d probably recommend going for a Z590 instead, but the Z690 offers maximum future-proofing. Equally, if you’re looking to pick up a lower end Intel CPU this board probably isn’t worth your money either, as you wouldn’t make the most out of the features available here which are geared (and priced) with high-performance users in mind.
The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 board comes with a LGA 1700 socket as befitting an Alder Lake compatible motherboard. As far as motherboards go it has a fairly striking look, between the integrated aluminum I/O cover and Aura Sync RGB lighting system. The board comes with all the features you’d want for a high-performance, premium board with a robust power solution of 20+1 power stages rated for 90 Amps and a sizable VRM heatsink, not to mention ASUS’ Intelligent Control technology (essentially AI overclocking) and ROG water cooling zone.
Ports include PCIe 5.0, PCIe 4.0, Dual Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, as well as a ROG Hyper M.2 card with Gen 5 M.2 support. Although we would have liked to have seen 10GB Ethernet support in a motherboard of this price range, the 2.5GB will do for most users.
ASUS ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Hero
ASUS ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Hero
- Memory slots: 4 X DDR4
- Max memory: 128GB Dual Channel
- Max memory frequency: 4,800 MHz
- 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen Processors
2 x PCIe 4.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) - 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen Processors
2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) - 2nd and 1st Gen AMD Ryzen with Radeon Vega Graphics Processors
1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x8 mode) - AMD X570 chipset
1 x PCIe 4.0 x16
1 x PCIe 4.0 x1 - SATA ports: 8
- M.2 Ports: 3
The Asus ROG Crosshairseries has been quite popular over the years, and this X570 chipset is likely to follow suit. This board comes after the anticipated release of the new Ryzen chips with provision for PCI-e 4.0 and lightning-quick storage. The Hero overall is an excellent board with few weaknesses to differentiate it from the rest.
The design appears to be similar to the Formula motherboard as the base without the display and excessive VRM water block. The motherboard is incredibly aesthetically pleasing as you would expect from the ROG department. The large heatsink features an RGB ROG logo, as does the I/O shroud, making the motherboard pop visually.
It is worth noting that this particular board only supports 2nd and 3rd Gen Ryzen CPUs. Despite being an AM4 socket, it doesn’t work with the 1st Gen Ryzens, and if you plan on taking advantage of the PCIe 4.0 functionality, then you are going to need to pair this with a 3rd Gen Ryzen chip.
We see 2.5G LAN support along with Intels WIFI 6. You also get a Type-C USB port, a BIOS flashback button, and a clear CMOS button to take away some of the overclocking headaches RAM can bring.
Overall the Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero is packed with features and performs as well as some of the best. This board and its plethora of USB ports is an excellent board and a fantastic alternative to the Godlike for performance and financial reasons. The layout of This motherboard is great, the RGB is catchy, and it’s better than its predecessor!
ROG Maximus XIII Hero Z590
ROG Maximus XIII Hero Z590
- Memory slots: 4 X DDR4
- Max memory: 128GB Dual Channel
- Max memory frequency: 5,333 MHz (OC)
- 2 x PCIe 4.0 x 16 slots
- 1 x PCIe 3.0 x 16 slots
- 1 x PCIe 3.0 x 1
- SATA ports: 6
- M.2 Ports: 4
The Asus ROG Maximus XIII HERO is the best Z590 you will find. Not only does it let you get the most out of your Intel 11th Gen Rocket Lake CPU, but also comes with backwards compatibility for anyone still using the 10th gen Intel Comet Lake series.
The Maximus XIII HERO board comes with a LGA 1200 socket, a nice spacious layout and thermal cladding. The overall aesthetic design is quite impressive, the armored aluminum I/O shroud and ROG RGB lighting meld well with each other. The board comes with a solid array of features, 14+2 VRM power stages rated for 90 Amps and enlarged VRM heatsinks. Ports wise you get the full array, featuring PCIe 4.0, Thunderbolt 4, and Wi-Fi 6E.
MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX
MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX
The MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX is officially the cheapest budget range board on our list, however, don’t be totally fooled with the price tag. MSI has had to make some compromises to achieve the low price range but they have kept the core features gamers are most concerned about.
With 64GB of 4,133MHz RAM supported, this board is perfect for an AMD Ryzen build. Having said that, you can still make use of the excellent features to pair this board with any of the Ryzen 3rd gen CPUs. You won’t even have to update the BIOS either. MAX means this board is already updated to the latest BIOS so you can simply pop your new chip into this motherboard without the fear of a none boot.
Unfortunately, the Gaming Plus only comes with 1 M.2 slot meaning future expansion is going to be fairly difficult if you’re looking at using multiple M.2’s. It’s easy to let them off though seeing as though it comes to shelves at such an affordable price.
One of our favorite boards here at WePC that’s great for anyone looking to build a decent first time gaming rig.
Final Word
So, there you have it, the best motherboards for gaming. Which motherboard will you choose? The X570 and Z490 Godlike are easily the best motherboards you can get for the respective AMD and Intel chipsets. The top four boards on this list would make any build go to the next level and give you plenty of opportunity for overclocking.
See alongside this article for related motherboard pieces. Please also consider leaving a comment below if there’s any other motherboard or topic you would like us to cover that we haven’t already.