Best ATX motherboard

There are many motherboard models and prices you can choose from, but not all models can connect with all parts to make up the overall hardware.

This guide has compiled a list of the best mini ITX, micro ATX and ATX motherboards for you to do a more segmented analysis with the corresponding form factors. Hopefully, this list will make your motherboard buying adventure quick and easy!

In the first category, we looked at motherboards with the small form factor, the Mini ITX , which can fit inside the smallest computer cabinets, making them ideal if you're looking to build a compact gaming PC.

Now, you'd be intrigued to know that these motherboards are great cost options, as a small board means less internal hardware is used, so they should be cheaper, right?

However, that's not actually the case, and Mini ITX motherboards tend to be quite expensive depending on your preferences, mainly because packing all the features that a full-size motherboard incorporates into a compact PCB is not an easy task.

As such, Mini ITX motherboards will primarily appeal to those who really aspire to make the most of the portability they offer.

Motherboards Micro ATX are the perfect combination of affordability and versatility. Since this form factor is a little smaller than the typical ATX, it saves a bit of cost with the components to incorporate without sacrificing too much.

While this form factor isn't essential for everyone yet, it's a great category to start with for both low-budget and high-end builds, especially if you're looking for a somewhat smaller-than-conventional PC.

The motherboards ATX that are full size, are larger than Micro ATX, come with additional PCIe slots and support larger amounts of RAM, which tend to be the best choice for most PC games.

Generally, motherboards come in two types: support for Intel CPUs and support for AMD CPUs.

Today, there are hundreds of options to choose from, ranging from expensive, cutting-edge models to armed and slightly older models.

Key Features to Consider of Desktop PC Motherboards

In this article, the most recognized and prominent motherboards have been listed, but how to choose the best motherboard according to your needs? What are the specific characteristics to watch out for?

Frankly, choosing the ideal motherboard is not that difficult in contrast to other hardware components, especially when it comes to a gaming PC.

So these are the key factors to consider when deciding which motherboard to buy and enjoy it with all its features for a long period of time.

Socket

The first and most important step is to decide which microprocessor you will use for the motherboard, it can be AMD or Intel, since most CPUs use a standardized socket: AM4 for AMD and LGA 1151 for Intel .

There are still processors that use a different socket, such as AMD's Threadripper model (TR4) or Intel's i9 or Xeon models (LGA 2066) , although high and mid-range CPUs are designed for use in a gaming PC having Take into account the two sockets mentioned.

Neither of these sockets are likely to be replaced anytime soon, as the next generations of Best Motherboards For Ryzen 5 3600 and Core processors will surely be compatible with them.

Chipset

Now, we come to the chipset, which determines whether the motherboard will have access to some features such as AMD CrossFire and Nvidia SLI for multi-GPU configurations, or AMD StoreMI and Intel Optane when it comes to storage.

Also, it affects how many ports / connectors / slots the motherboard can have and whether it supports overclocking.

You can see below the characteristics of AMD chipsets , and Intel chipsets . It goes without saying that motherboards that come with the most advanced chipsets will come with higher costs.

Also, it can be said that AMD is doing a better job than Intel when it comes to compatibility, as its AM4 socket was designed with the future in mind.

This means that any AM4 CPU will be compatible with any AM4 motherboard, regardless of the chipset. Meanwhile, Intel has recently overhauled the LGA 1151 socket, rearranging some of the pins and making the new version of the socket incompatible with older Coffee Lake CPUs.