Question What is the best motherboard for watercooling?

[afkiller369]

I am doing a custom watercooling loop, most likely in a Lian Li 550. Using the EKWB configurator because that seems easiest. Probably looking for an ATX motherboard that has the best compatability with watercooling. I'm talking like maybe some temp readouts, software to control fans, etc. I have heard that ROG has some good motherboards for this purpose but I wanted to be sure which ones. Planning on cooling the GPU, CPU, and maybe the mobo if recommended.
Thanks!

 

[Lutfij]

If you're looking for temp probes soldered onto the board and having native support via BIOS or motherboard's software suite, then you should look at high end boards. You've already noticed by now that Asus's top tier ROG boards have them alongside the now mandatory water in/out monitoring headers.

In reality you don't need to have them retrofitted on the board, you can work with flow meters and inline temperature monitoring tools though that will add to more cable clutter.

How much are you willing to spend on a board that has the features you're looking for?

 

[afkiller369]

If you're looking for temp probes soldered onto the board and having native support via BIOS or motherboard's software suite, then you should look at high end boards. You've already noticed by now that Asus's top tier ROG boards have them alongside the now mandatory water in/out monitoring headers.

In reality you don't need to have them retrofitted on the board, you can work with flow meters and inline temperature monitoring tools though that will add to more cable clutter.

How much are you willing to spend on a board that has the features you're looking for?

Well, the cheaper the better but I'm not opposed to spending a bit more if it comes with some useful features. How much are the higher end ones? I know I was looking at the ROG Maximus VI Hero but wasn't too sure if that was a good mobo for water-cooling.

 

[Lutfij]

Where are you located and how much are you willing to spend? That should give help us in sourcing suggestions.

 

[afkiller369]

Where are you located and how much are you willing to spend? That should give help us in sourcing suggestions.

I am located in Indiana, and usually I use Amazon or Newegg for most of my purchases. I'm am probably willing to spend up to $300 ish on a motherboard but if one is a little bit more and has some better features, then I could consider going a bit more. The Mobo would have to be LGA 1151 and z390. Preferably ATX. I try to use ROG because I have used their products in the past and I have liked them.

 

[afkiller369]

Where are you located and how much are you willing to spend? That should give help us in sourcing suggestions.

I was scrolling through some ROG motherboards and the ROG Maximus XI Extreme seemed to have some watercooling features. It is almost $600 but if it was worth it, would this be a good motherboard for my purposes?

 

[Kenny_53]

I built my first custom loop on a MSI Gaming M5 and it didn't have special headers for pumps or loop temp monitoring. You can put a custom loop on anything really. Flow meters are just for looks too, there are some handy tools out there that will help you calculate your head pressure so you can buy the right pump and adjust it accordingly. In short save your money and skip the fancy motherboard (sounds like your on a budget) and put that money towards better radiators, fans, blocks, and fittings so you get the most out of your money.