Best motherboards for Intel CPUs in 2023

The motherboard is one of the most critical components of a PC build. It’s what brings everything together, allowing all connected hardware to communicate with one another. Depending on what you’re planning to use the PC for, it’s possible to pick up a motherboard for less than $150 or spend as much as $600. We’d always recommend spending a little more on the motherboard to ensure you’re getting enough features.

What’s the best motherboard for Intel CPUs?

We’ve already compiled a list of the best motherboards you can buy for both Intel and AMD, but what if you’re already set on using team blue processors? This guide will showcase Intel motherboards for a more filtered approach to choosing the best board for your next build. Two important factors of a motherboard to bear in mind are the socket and chipset.

These will largely determine what CPU will be supported. Intel usually allows its CPUs to support two chipsets, changing the socket type every two chip generations. For instance, 600 and 700 chipsets support both 12th and 13th Gen Intel CPUs. 400 and 500 chipsets support 10th and 11th Gen CPUs. It’s safe to say 13th Gen processors will require a motherboard with a newer 800-series chipset (and a different socket).

12th and 13th Gen Intel processors both use LGA 1700 sockets. 10th and 11th Gen Intel chips used LGA 1200 sockets. Other factors to bear in mind should be price, available I/O for accessories, storage connections, overclocking capabilities, and form factor. Since Intel’s latest processor generations support the LGA 1700 socket and 600 or 700 series motherboards, we’ll be focusing on them for this collection.

Best Intel motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix Maximus Z790 Hero

ASUS was one of the first manufacturers to announce the availability of the new Z790 chipset-based motherboards on the market for Intel’s new 13th gen Alder Lake chips. The company ended up launching a handful of new boards for the chips, but we think the ASUS ROG Strix Maximus Z790 Hero is the best motherboard you can buy for 12th and 13th gen Intel processors. This motherboard carries the new LGA 1700 socket that’s required for the new processors and it also brings a ton of other noteworthy features to the table.

The ROG Strix Maximus Z790 is also one of the best-looking motherboards on the market right now with a unique appearance. The black-colored PCB of the board is covered by a sophisticated heatsink for the most part. There’s a pixelated ROG eye logo on the chipset heatsink along with some RGB showcase on the I/O shroud on the top next to the LGA 1700 socket. You can customize the lighting here on this panel, so you don’t necessarily have to put up with the existing design if it doesn’t float your boat.

The ASUS ROG Strix Maximus Z790 motherboard comes with a robust VRM consisting of a 20+1 phase power delivery system. It also has two 8-pin EPS connectors. The heatsink on the VRM system ensures the thermal output is kept under acceptable limits at all times, even when the system is under load. You can install a DDR5 memory kit with memory speeds of up to 7800MHz, which is great. DDR5 memory is still in its infancy, but you can check out our collection of the best DDR5 RAM kits to check all the available options.

It’s worth pointing out that you can’t use both DDR4 and DDR5 memory kits on the same motherboard. You will have to pick your poison and choose the motherboard accordingly, so do keep that in mind. It goes without saying that getting into the DDR5 memory space will further increase the overall cost of your build. The ASUS ROG Strix Maximus Z790 Hero comes with space to install three M.2 drives. Additionally, you also get an M.2 add-in card as an accessory to add more slots for the drives.

One thing we really like about this particular motherboard is that the M.2 slots come with rotatable latches that make up for a screw-free installation. It also comes with the Q-Release button to release the GPU to make your lives easier. Just like a lot of other premium motherboards on the market, the I/O shield comes pre-installed on this board, so that’s one less thing to worry about while building the PC. The ROG Strix Maximus Z790 Hero also comes with a lot of other noteworthy features including support for WiFi 6, ALC4082 codec by Realtek, a 2.5G Ethernet, and more. You also get plenty of USB ports and a lot of headers for all your computing needs like connecting fans/pumps, RGB lights, USB, etc.

Alternate best Intel motherboard: MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi

If you don’t want to burn a $600 hole in your pocket while shopping for a new Z790 chipset motherboard for your new PC, then you might want to check out the MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi. This is one of the first few Z790 chipset-based motherboards on the market that goes easy on your credit card. That being said, it doesn’t skimp out on any necessary features like DDR5 memory support, PCIe 5.0 slot, etc. It’s our pick for the second-best Intel motherboard you can buy right now.

MSI already has an elaborate list of motherboards on the market for both Intel and AMD systems. It matches the more expensive boards in terms of PCIe 5.0 and M.2 availability and also has a decent set of I/O. Much of the black-colored PCB of this motherboard, just like the ASUS ROG Strix Maximus Z790 Hero, is covered with a heatsink. It’s clearly made for high-end builds involving high-performance CPUs. It also supports overclocking, which is fantastic because all 13th Gen Intel CPUs that are out right now support overclocking.

You also get a decent amount of RGB on the motherboard to make it more appealing. The I/O shroud lights up as soon as you turn on the system and shows the MSI Dragon logo. The Carbon logo on top of the chipset heatsink also glows, so there’s that too. It doesn’t look overly obnoxious though, and we’ve seen more striking designs than this, so we think it’s fine for someone who likes to have a touch of RGB on their motherboard.

The chipset heatsink completely covers the PCIe portion of the motherboard. The part that shields the M.2 drive also has thermal pads to keep the drive cool at all times. Notably, two out of three full-length x16 slots are shielded against electrical interference and are also reinforced to make sure you can install the biggest GPUs of them all. It also comes with a robust VRM module with a 19+1+1 phase power delivery system. As mentioned earlier, you also get support for DDR5 memory kits on this motherboard. This means you won’t be able to install any DDR4 modules on this board, so do keep that in mind. MSI says the Carbon motherboard support memory speeds of up to DDR5-7600Mhz, which is great.

MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi also comes with a lot of ports at the back including both USB 3.2 and USB 2.0. There’s also a 2.5G LAN port for faster ethernet speeds. This particular MSI motherboard also supports Wi-Fi 6 and you do get an antenna for that in the box. The I/O shield comes pre-installed on this motherboard, so that’s great too.

Overall, we think the MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi is one of the best Z690-based motherboards you can buy right now. We’ll continue to get more Z790 chipset motherboards on the market, but there are very few options available right now. This particular MSI motherboard stands out from the bunch right now mainly due to its relatively affordable price tag.

Best enthusiast Intel motherboard: ASRock Z790 Taichi

While you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars chasing a high-end enthusiast-grade motherboard to get the best performance out of your system, we wanted to highlight an ultra-premium motherboard in this collection that comes with all the bells and whistles. The ASRock Z790 Taichi is among the most expensive mainstream Z790 motherboards you can buy and, understandably, it’s one of the best motherboards you can use for your high-end enthusiast-grade PC build.

The ASRock Z790 Taichi, as the name suggests comes with the Z790 chipset and it’s designed for Intel’s 12th and 13th Gen processors. It carries the LGA 1700 socket and comes with quite an elaborate PCB. It’s a black-colored unit that’s mostly covered by sophisticated bright white heatsinks. For power delivery, MSI utilizes a 24+1+2 power phase design, which will be more than enough to push even the Intel Core i9-13900K beyond its factory-set limits.

Another highlight is the support for DDR5-7000 RAM. DDR5 modules are already quite powerful but they also allow you to push the limits further provided you have a capable cooling solution. The ASRock Z790 Taichi also offers a good mix of PCIe expansion slots. You get two 2 PCIe 5.0 x16, a PCIe 4.0 x16, and a M.2 Socket (Key E). This Taichi board also comes with an HDMI port at the back for those learning towards a build involving an integrated GPU.

As can be expected by the price, this motherboard offers an exceptional port selection. The ASRock Z790 Taichi comes with two Thunderbolt 4/USB Type-C ports, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and six USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 at the back. You also get Killer E3100 2.5G LAN along with Killer AX1675 802.11ax WiFi 6E and Bluetooth support. ASRock also adds some thoughtful additions to the box including graphics card support and a WiFi antenna.

All the M.2 slots are covered by the shroud with a thermal pad layer for keeping it cool at all times. The motherboard also packs a ton of headers for RGB lights, fans, USB, and more, so you can connect all the peripherals you want without running out of space. The ASRock Z790 Taichi is a high-end premium motherboard that’s best paired with a high-performance CPU like the Core i9-13900K.

Best Intel motherboard for overclocking: Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master

There’s no shortage of enthusiast-focused motherboards on the market for both Intel and AMD-based builds. The Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master is our pick for overclocking Intel CPUs without spending a small fortune. This is the kind of stuff that enthusiast PC builders like to deal with. It comes with a lot of overclocking-focused features such as additional buttons and switches to help you tweak settings, a monstrous VRM module, dual memory slot design, and more. There’s also a comprehensive BIOS tweaking option that’ll let you tinker around until you find the best settings for your usage.

Let’s start with that VRM setup, consisting of a 20+1+2 power phase delivery design. It’s plenty of power, providing the CPU with up to 105A. That’s a lot of power which we think will greatly benefit even the best CPUs out there. Even the new Core i9-13900K will only need a fraction of that power, so it’s safe to say that it’s an excellent option for overclocking. The VRM will also remain cool at all times thanks to the sophisticated heatsink that covers the power delivery system.

The mainboard is also pretty good for the price, rocking an all-black PCB and is mostly covered by heatsinks and shrouds. One thing you won’t find present is obnoxious RGB lighting effects with only the Aorus branding having some colors. Not only has Gigabyte reinforced the PCI slots, but also the DIMMs too. Speaking of which, you can use up to DDR5-8000 here, which is pretty incredible.

As a high-end motherboard, the Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master comes with plenty of headers for fans/pumps, RGB lights, and more. You also get a very good selection of ports with this motherboard including Thunderbolt 4 and a couple of USB Type-C ports. As many as 11 USB ports are present on the rear and a 10Gbps Ethernet port which goes well with the pair of WiFi 6E antennas next to it for hybrid connectivity. You also get a DisplayPort with this motherboard in case you want to use an integrated GPU.

It may be one of the more expensive boards on this collection, but we think it’s well worth the asking price, especially if you’re looking to pair it with an i9-13900K for extreme overclocking.

Best budget Intel motherboard: MSI Pro Z790-A

If you don’t have $1,000 to cover the cost of a motherboard alone and are looking for something that’s more affordable, then we recommend picking up the MSI Pro Z790-A for an Intel-based build. This Z790 chipset-based motherboard carries an affordable price tag yet offers all the necessary features that you’d ever need for an excellent PC build. We think this motherboard offers a solid entry point for Intel’s 12th and 13th Gen processors.

In fact, despite this being among the most affordable Z790 boards out there, MSI still managed to work in DDR5 support. For speeds, we’re talking up to DDR5-7200, which is pretty good for most PC builds. PCIe 5.0 support is also present for expansion cards and SSDs, so you’ll have a PC that can be upgraded with even better hardware at a later date.

One area that the MSI Pro Z790-A falls a little short on is the VRM cooling, which just isn’t as good as other motherboards with the same flagship chipset. This is absolutely fine for most cases, but if you want to push your processor hard, you may find them heating up. We’ve got an easy guide on how to build a computer to learn more about the steps that are involved while building a new PC.

Ports are also limited. You only get a single USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×2 port, three USB-A Gen 2 port and two USB-A Gen 1 ports. And there’s only a 2.5Gbps LAN port as opposed to the more powerful 10Gbps ports found on other premium Z790-based motherboards. Still, we like the addition of DisplayPort, as well as HDMI for video output. Overall, the MSI Pro Z790-A is a great motherboard for the price.

Best Intel workstation motherboard: ASUS ProArt Z690-Creator WiFi

The ASUS ProArt Z690-Creator WiFi may be rocking the previous generation chipset from Intel, but this beauty is still good for use with either 12th or 13th Gen processors. It also happens to be one of the best-looking Intel motherboards we’ve come across. I mean, just look at it! No RGB lighting. Just pure tech marvel.

If you’re serious about work (and play), this is a motherboard that should be shortlisted. The 16+1 power phase delivery may not sound like anything to write home about, but it’s still more than enough for even stable overclocking an Intel Core i9-13900K with decent results. Where this board comes alive is with its connectivity.

On the rear, we’ve got two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two DisplayPort ports, an HDMI port, a 10Gb Marvell LAN as well as 2.5Gb Intel LAN, and more. The motherboard also comes with four M.2 slots and up to 8 SATA ports that allow you to connect all kinds of storage devices. ASUS addressed the lack of any RGB lights on the board by providing ample RGB and ARGB headers. You also get other headers for things like fans/pumps, and the usual USB.

The slightly older ProArt Z690 motherboard also supports the new DDR5 memory modules. ASUS says you can install modules with memory speeds of up to DDR5-6000(OC). These modules are obviously going to cost you a lot of money, but it’s nice to have the option. It goes without saying this particular doesn’t support DDR4 memory, so do keep that in mind. Notably, there’s support for PCIe 5.0 as well via the two x16 slots. One of the four M.2 slots shares SATA bandwidth but it can run in PCIe mode. ASUS also sells M.2 PCIe cards that can house 2 PCIe M.2 derives, but that will add more to the cost as it’s not included with the motherboard.

The ASUS ProArt isn’t the only creator-centric motherboard on the market, but there are only a handful of these boards from other manufacturers. Even though it’s being targeted toward creators, we think it’s perfectly serviceable for gamers too. It supports all the modern features as well as overclocking for Intel CPUs, so why not, right? There’s a lot to like about the ASUS ProArt motherboard, but it doesn’t come cheap. This motherboard is best paired with a high-performance CPU like the Core i9-13900K. You might want to check some other options if you’re leaning toward a budget build.

Best Mini-ITX Intel motherboard: Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Lite

You can’t possibly fit an ATX motherboard inside a small mini-ITX PC if you’re looking at a small form-factor (SFF) build, and that’s exactly why we’ve added what we think is one of the best mini-ITX motherboards you can right now on the market. The Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Lite is one of the most affordable Mini-ITX motherboards right now and it comes with all the essential features that you’d expect from a decent motherboard for a relatively high-end build involving a 12th or 13th Gen Intel processor.

The Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Lite sports a finned heatsink for the VRM that’s connected to a second VRM heatsink via a heat pipe. The larger heatsink, as you can see, has a brushed aluminum finish also with the Aorus falcon logo at the bottom. The chipset/M.2 slot heatsink has the word Arous written on it. The best thing about this particular motherboard is that all major slots including PCIe, EPS, DRAM, and ATX connectors, etc. are reinforced with Gigabyte’s armor. It makes up for an appealing look in addition to ensuring all your components are sturdy on the board. There’s also an RGB LED strip towards the front of the board. We’ve already seen this particular light on a lot of motherboards, so there’s nothing new here.

Despite being a Mini-ITX motherboard Gigabyte hasn’t skimped on any important features. In fact, it even comes with plenty of headers for fans/pumps, RGB, as well as USB ports. You’ll also see two DIMM slots next to the LGA 1700 socket. The Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Lite supports up to 64GB of unbuffered non-ECC RAM with speeds listed up to DDR5-6000. It goes without saying that your mileage may vary when it comes to memory speeds. At the bottom, you also get a full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot for your graphics card. The M.2 socket and the chipsets are above the PCIe slot.

Another good thing about the Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Lite motherboard is that the I/O shield is pre-installed on the motherboard which means that’s one less thing to worry about while building a PC. This is particularly handy in the case of Mini-ITX builds because you’ll already be working with limited space, making it difficult to install each component. The port selection at the back includes a total of three USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×2 port, two USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and two USB-A 2.0 ports. You also get an HDMI and DisplayPort for using processors with integrated graphics cards. Additionally, there’s also a Q-Flash button, 2.5 GbE port, Wi-Fi antenna connections, and a 2-plug audio stack.

Overall, we think the Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Lite is a fantastic motherboard that’s perfect for dishing out a high-end mini-ITX build. It also supports overclocking, although that’s not something we always recommend when it comes to small form-factor PCs. There are some other excellent options on the market when it comes to mini-ITX motherboards, but we think the Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra strikes a good balance between the price and some other important features that makes it worth considering over the others.

Best DDR4 Intel motherboard: Gigabyte B660M DS3H

All of our Intel motherboard recommendations so far have had DDR5 RAM support, being the latest generation in system memory. But what if you wanted to keep using your existing DDR4 modules? That’s where the Gigabyte B660M DS3H comes into play. It’s also more affordable, making this an excellent value-focused motherboard for 12th or 13th Intel PC builds.

It won’t win awards for being the flashiest motherboard out there, nor is there an I/O shield preinstalled, and the VRM setup is about as basic as you can get with this generation of Intel chips. Still, the 6+2+1 power phase delivery design is more than enough to supply power to even the flagship Intel Core i9-13900K so long as you don’t mess with overclock settings.

Whilst we are talking about DDR4 RAM here, the motherboard does support speeds of up to DDR4-5133. For expansion, a single x16 slot is joined by two x1 slots. No PCIe 5.0 support is present, which shouldn’t be a dealbreaker. We’re also not particularly happy about the ports selection, although that’s given considering this is a budget board with limited options.

Only six USB ports are available but luckily one of them is a USB-C and there are also two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports. You’ll also see a DisplayPort and an HDMI port, which is good for those who’re leaning towards a budget build without a discrete GPU. The Gigabyte B660M DS3H isn’t particularly good for overclocking so we suggest you keep your expectations in check.

It’s a solid option if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on your 12th or 13th Gen Intel build. That being said, you do get pretty much all the essential features with this motherboard, so there’s nothing to worry about, really.

Choosing the best Intel motherboard

Intel’s been slowly but surely making progress with their CPUs, trying to catch up with the existing AMD Ryzen processors. We think the company has already done a commendable job with its 12th and 13th Gen CPUs. As such, we’ve focused on the newer 600 and 700 series chipsets in this list for those who’re interested in building a PC with the new chips. The ASUS ROG Strix Maximus Z790 Hero is one of the best Intel motherboards you can buy right now, period. We’ve also added the ASRock Z790 Taichi as an ultra-premium Z790 motherboard for high-end PCs. Alternatively, you can also go with budget boards like the MSI Pro Z790-A or even the Gigabyte B660M DS3H if you’re looking to save some money for some of the other core components.

With the launch of the new Intel CPUs and Windows 11 OS, things are looking great for those who’re leaning towards an Intel-based PC build right now. You can check out our other collections like the best monitors or even the best webcams if you’re planning to build a new setup from scratch. We also encourage you to join our XDA Computing Forums to get more recommendations or even discuss your PC builds with other experts within the community.