Best Motherboards For The Money (Archive)

[adamovera]

Are you having a hard time keeping track of the best motherboards out there? Our resident motherboard expert helps you pick the right platform with this collection of award-winning boards covering today's top AMD and Intel processors.

Best Motherboards For The Money

 

[kasialorenc]

Archived comments are found here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2960490/motherboards-money-october-2014.html

 

[Onus]

IMHO you still have the wrong AM1 boards listed. A mere two SATA ports will be a dealbreaker in too many cases. ASRock's alternatives have four.

 

[Michael_A]

I would have liked to see the GIGABYTE GA-990FX-Gaming board been included in the AMD shoot out. I recently picked up this board and it is the best AMD based board I have ever owned.

 

[babernet_1]

Are you serious? The only Z170 SLI board is $500?

 

[falchard]

The problem is the 990FX boards are very mature so everything tends to be top-notch on them. In MSIs case, they fit all the bells and whistles they would on their top range Intel Board. Most mobo makers don't feel an AM3+ board is worth the expense. Probably the biggest seperator for me on the Gigabyte and MSI boards is the audio. Gigabyte uses the same generic realtek ALC1150 sound card.

 

[Crashman]

Are you serious? The only Z170 SLI board is $500?

Hahah, I just noticed that. This is the result from dropping "approved" boards from the shortlist because there were too many of them to fit into the article. Here are the three most recent Z170s to get it.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asrock-z170-extreme4-atx-motherboard,4337-3.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/msi-z170a-gaming-m5-motherboard,4319-3.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asrock-z170-oc-formula-motherboard,4317-3.html

Approved is the lowest award and is given out frequently because it's applicable to good boards that otherwise tie competitors in both price and features. A tie is OK when all the tied boards boards are equally excellent, but too many awards isn't a great outcome for this awards showcase.

 

[josejones]

I would like to see a new article about the new Z270 motherboards soon to come out:

"the new 200-series chipset will mostly remain the same but will include increased I/O performance that is very important for the platform to be ready for Intel’s next generation Optane storage products that use Intel’s 3D XPoint memory architecture. So the basic features of the 200-series chipset aside from supporting Kaby Lake-S processors will include up to 24 PCI-e 3.0 lanes (up from 20 on 100-Series Chipset)"

200-Series Union Point Motherboards
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2983311/200-series-union-point-motherboards.html

; )

 

[jtd871]

Gigabyte AM1M-S2H is mATX, not mITX.

 

[Crashman]

Gigabyte AM1M-S2H is mATX, not mITX.

Yes, and MSI AM1I is Mini ITX
Asus A88X-Pro full ATX
The labeling errors appear to be limited to AM1 motherboard descriptions, I'll tell the proper people

 

[vonbose]

The longer I read these best of's in the new format, the less helpful they seem to me. I bought a MSI Micro ATX B150M MORTAR for an Intel I5 6500 and felt like I was committing some kind of mortal sin.

 

[Heri_2]

Where's the best mini-ITX 1151?

 

[Crashman]

Where's the best mini-ITX 1151?

ASRock got an Approved:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asrock-fatal1ty-z170-gaming-itx-ac-motherboard,4326.html

 

[Onus]

When the H170 review comes out, you'll see another mITX 1151.

 

[ikissfutebol]

One giant flaw with this list - the vast majority of users don't need the top notch boards. While I realize the Tom's community often falls into that tiny minority, or feels they do, this list will likely result in people referencing this list for basic needs/gaming set ups. I think it would be netter to make separate lists - one for top end and one for all the others. For MANY, probably a healthy majority, there is simply no need to buy a Z170 board when an H110 will meet/exceed their needs.

 

[ikissfutebol]

Where's the best mini-ITX 1151?

Are you overclocking? Are you planning to add an M.2 SSD? If both are no, the non Z170 boards only vary then on SATA/usb port quantities/type and if internal wifi or not. I got the ASRock H110mitx/ac for $67. Hard pressed to find a better deal in my opinion (for nonOc'ers and no plans of M.2 SSDs).

 

[falchard]

One giant flaw with this list - the vast majority of users don't need the top notch boards. While I realize the Tom's community often falls into that tiny minority, or feels they do, this list will likely result in people referencing this list for basic needs/gaming set ups. I think it would be netter to make separate lists - one for top end and one for all the others. For MANY, probably a healthy majority, there is simply no need to buy a Z170 board when an H110 will meet/exceed their needs.

I think my builds are pretty normal. My computer case only cost $300. I am planning for my next build in 2017. I am hoping for 2-32 core AMD server CPU mated to 64GB DDR4. Use AMDs next high end GPU, and have a custom watercooling loop in order to reduce noise so my mic doesn't have a constant whirring noise in the background. 100% totally normal build.

 

[vonbose]

One giant flaw with this list - the vast majority of users don't need the top notch boards. While I realize the Tom's community often falls into that tiny minority, or feels they do, this list will likely result in people referencing this list for basic needs/gaming set ups. I think it would be netter to make separate lists - one for top end and one for all the others. For MANY, probably a healthy majority, there is simply no need to buy a Z170 board when an H110 will meet/exceed their needs.

I do think most Tom's users are working on a budget and really want to get the best bang for their buck. I see a lot of posts where people want to be able to play certain games etc, but what that actually means, graphic settings, fps is largely up to the builder/buyer. I think this new format is less helpful.

 

[ibaldo]

I think the Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 is a great board for the price.
You get USB 3.1 gen2 Type-C and another Type-A, dual M.2 (useful when you need to copy data from an old or a friends M.2 to another M.2), 2 way SLI, triple SATA Express, great sound quality.
Its not an overclocking beast, but for its price is very good and supports DDR4-3200 easily.
What other motherboard in its price range offers all that features simultaneously?

 

[Crashman]

I think the Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 is a great board for the price.
You get USB 3.1 gen2 Type-C and another Type-A, dual M.2 (useful when you need to copy data from an old or a friends M.2 to another M.2), 2 way SLI, triple SATA Express, great sound quality.
Its not an overclocking beast, but for its price is very good and supports DDR4-3200 easily.
What other motherboard in its price range offers all that features simultaneously?

Since Gigabyte didn't send one, maybe I'll ask the company to buy one

 

[Cameroon36]

Why didnt you include the b150 chipset. Asus make some great boards for that chipset for some great prices.

Not to mention it also supports the lga 1151 socket.

Also it supprots 2 way sli and lots of other pic express slots. 1 type-c, usb 3.1, 2 usb 2.0 and 4 usb 3.0 ports.
Also there is super awesome aura lighting in built and can be manually controlled so easily (like even my granny could do it) and 2 pci express 16x slots and 2 8x slot and 1 4x.

This page needs to be updated. I use the asus b150 progaming/aura and it is awesome I even use it you need to update this page.

 

[EastOfEden]

What if I want an AMD board for gaming with one ( 1 ) GPU; as in no cross fire and no SLI ? No more then 4 SATA and perhaps USB3. Is there something good that does not exceeds my needs 3x and is ... like ... cheaper? A bit?