A quality AMD Ryzen CPU deserves the best AMD x570 motherboard that money can buy. Lucky for you, there’s an all-you-can-eat buffet of Chipset Alternatives from Various Manufacturers to choose from. From the entry-level to the extravagant, we’ll assist you to narrow your search.
Today, the most relevant motherboards for a new CPU buyer are those equipped with the following chipsets: X570, B550, X470, and B450. The ‘X’ prefix denotes the high-end motherboards, while the ‘B’ indicates the close-run mid-range models. There’s also the ‘A’ prefix for the entry-level, but these occur usually strapped for features and not that much cheaper than entry-level B450 boards—plenty of options.
This is the platform’s entry point, and we don’t recommend spending less on an X570 motherboard. For smaller budgets, you’re better off with a quality B450 or B550 motherboard rather. For a sub-$200 budget, the only board worth analyzing is the Asus Prime X570-P, and we have to say, for a $170 X570 motherboard, it’s perfect.
If you can spend a little extra thought, you will be rewarded with two high-quality motherboard options.
For around $200, the Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus Wi-Fi carries the same VRM performance as the Prime, but the extra $30 gets you better features such as Wireless-AC, improved audio, USB Type-C, and two additional SATA ports.
Then there’s the more innovative $200 MSI Tomahawk, which is the most impressive X570 motherboard we’ve tested at this price point. The Tomahawk has the advantage of being the more unique, more polished offering over the Asus TUF, and it did run 16 degrees cooler in our OC testing.
There are considerably more options for those of you spending around $300. None of them can be considered bad choices, which should be no surprise given this is a relatively high price to pay for a motherboard supporting a mainstream socket. With that said, you should know the MSI X570 Tomahawk has VRM performance that can surpass many of these at a lower price point; make sure it’s got the features you need since it’s still a mainstream level offering.
The winner in the $300 category is the Asrock X570 Taichi. The board did very well in our VRM thermal testing, and for $300, it packs loads of features, including Wi-Fi 6, three M.2 slots with full coverage heatsink, eight SATA ports, high-quality audio, BIOS Flashback, Intel Gigabit LAN, plenty of USB 3 ports, and much more. It’s also a great looking board with some nice lighting results if you’re into that sort of thing.
Two worthwhile runner ups can be either the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra or Asus ROG Strix X570-F Gaming.
Previous generation boards could also be analyzed for the savings. If you don’t require PCIe 4.0, you might want to check out the X470 Taichi. It’s a perfect board that can be had for less, making it a great value.
A smaller group of four motherboards will set you back around $400, and we’ve tested them all. The Asrock X570 Phantom Gaming X is selling for 350 USD, the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master is 360 USD, the MSI MEG X570 Ace Gaming for 370 USD, and then the Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero for 360 USD without Wi-Fi, or 380 USD with Wi-Fi.
In our latest round of VRM thermal testing, the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master was impressed. The very worst case in that testing agreed on the Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero while quickly beating options from MSI and Asrock.
We like the Aorus Master for a few purposes. Gigabyte has been on top of BIOS updates, so care has been excellent. We also liked how the Master features real finned heatsinks, and we very much like the new Gigabyte BIOS design.
Asus’ Crosshair VIII Hero is our different choice, and we completely acknowledge it’s just as reliable as the Gigabyte, so you can pick whichever board you prefer the look of.
A new category of halo products exists, and while they do tend to be a bit silly, we also love them. If you’re spending $700 on a motherboard, you’ll want to stick to the Ryzen 9 5950X, and if you do, you’ll have a drool-worthy combo.
The Gigabyte X570 AorusXtreme is a great motherboard for those with deep pockets, with two probable alternatives being the Asus Formula and MSI MEG Godlike. We particularly like the feature-rich MSI Godlike.
The 16-phase Infineon digital VRM doesn’t need any cooling, but Gigabyte has slapped on some real finned heatsinks for good measure. The board’s backside is dressed in a heavy aluminumbackplate that also helps extract heat, and on the front side, you’re flat out finding any PCB under all the heat spreaders.
The upside to all of this is a cool running board, plus as a bonus, it’s one of the few passively cooled X570 boards on the market. The feature list goes on for days, and you get stuff like 10 Gigabit LAN, ESS Sabre HiFi, Wi-Fi 6, triple M.2 slots, and more. Some nifty features, such as Q-Flash Plus, enable you to update the BIOS without installing a CPU.
For picking the best MicroATX X570 board, first know the options are minimal: it’s either the Asrock X570M Pro4 or Biostar Racing X570GT. This came as an easy win for Asrock. The Biostar board which we have on hand features a horrible BIOS, the worst we’ve seen on a modern motherboard in years. The VRM is also rubbish, though the X570M Pro4 isn’t precisely unique here either.
Still, for those of you after a board supporting the mATX form factor, the Asrock X570M Pro4 for $185 is it.
This board’s redeeming feature is the massive VRM heatsink, which weighs more than twice that of the current Intel box cooler. As you’d expect, for the money, it’s not brimming with features, but you do get all the essentials.
