Introduction

AMD makes some of the most famous and in-demand CPUs on the market right now. Its CPUs are both very efficient and very powerful. This includes many choices in the Ryzen line of AMD CPUs, such as the Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, and Ryzen 9 CPUs, with different generations and core capacities.

You will need an AM4 motherboard if you want to use a Ryzen CPU in your present build or build a new PC with one. Up to Zen 3 processors can be used with the AM4 architecture system. Some of the most well-known and sought-after CPUs on the market right now are made by AMD.

It’s CPUs work very well and are very strong. This includes many AMD Ryzen CPUs, such as the Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, and Ryzen 9 CPUs, which come in a range of models and core counts. If you want to use a Ryzen CPU in your current build or make a new PC with one, you will need an AM4 motherboard. You can use up to Zen 3 processors with the AM4 design scheme.

Read Full About The Gamer’s Choice: Best Motherboards for Gaming 2023

There are different models described.

Budget-wise

MSI B450M Bazooka MAX WI-FI

At the moment, the B450M Bazooka MAX Wi-Fi is one of the cheapest AMD motherboards, and it offers good value for money. It will give you basic functions that are good for occasional users who don’t want to spend a lot of money. Check out the GIGABYTE B450 Gaming X and the Gigabyte B450 Arouse Elite V2 to see how much they cost. These two models have almost the same features and are often on sale.

Pros

• Cheap
• AM4 connect
• Steel shields for PCIe slots
• Cover for the heat sink on the VRM

Cons

• Not many VRM phases
• There is only one M.2 slot.

Gigabyte B450 AORUS M

Gigabyte has released two new motherboards in the last month, both of which are based on the AMD B450 chipset and are designed to work with AMD’s second-generation Ryzen processors and carry the AORUS brand.

Those who were considering upgrading to a 2nd generation Ryzen CPU but were put off by the high price of the X470 because it had capabilities they didn’t require can now make a more informed decision.

Pros

• Accept the newest AMD Ryzen 2nd generation processor
• Allow for DDR4 memory speeds of at least 3200 MHz
• Participate in AMD Crossfire
• Included M.2 SSD thermal sink
• The PS/2 port for a keyboard and mouse is still present.

Cons

• Due to insufficient cooling, a thermal throttle problem may arise with the MOSFETs.
• Margin for overclocking is tight

Gigabyte B450M DS3H V2

The newest AMD RyzenTM 5000 Series Processors can be used with GIGABYTE platforms. They are also backwards compatible with AMD RyzenTM 4000, 3000, 2000, and 1000 Series Processors. If you want to build the best AMD platform systems, GIGABYTE motherboards are the way to go.

They have a lot of great features, like Ultra DurableTM Armor for PCIe/memory slots, USB Type-CTM interfaces on some boards, better audio quality, high-speed Ethernet, and the newest standard WIFI design on some models.

Pros

• Not expensive
• Little money
• LGA 1200
• 4 places for RAM

Cons

• There is no VRM fan.
• Only one spot for a graphics card

ASUS Prime B450M-A

When it comes to motherboards, it can be hard to figure out what hardware companies’ product names mean unless you know a lot about chipsets and brand lines. You often get excitement words like “Extreme” and “FTW” instead of names and numbers that mean something. Extra points to MSI for “Godlike” The Prime Z690-A ($299.99) is the name of Asus’s newest Intel motherboard.

 It doesn’t say much other than the chipset is the best one for 12th Generation CPUs. According to Asus, its Prime boards are all-around platforms, with the “A” model being the best in each line. Because of its price, the Prime has to compete with other boats, so we’re glad to say that it sails “Alder Lake” without going too far. We’re not amazed by it either.

PROS

• New DDR5 memory can be used.
• Great choices for overclocking
• A good number of USB ports on the back
• It’s simple to set up M.2 drives with Q-Latch clips.

CONS

• No Wi-Fi on board
• Fan-header arrangement is a little off

Performance-wise

ASUS Rog Strix B550-F gaming

We looked at the Gigabyte B550’s Aorus Master and found that for about the same price as an X570, you can get most of the features and functions of a machine that costs a lot more.

This Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming Wi-Fi costs $209.99, which is about $20 less than the type that doesn’t have Wi-Fi. It still has a lot of great features, though.

Pros

• 14-Phase Power Delivery That Works
• Wi-Fi 6 AX200 and 2.5 GbE LAN
• High-End Sound

Cons

• It still seems pricey for B550

MSI MEG X570 Master

AMD’s third-generation Ryzen CPUs and the X570 chipset that goes with them came out this summer. Now it’s time for the top motherboards from the four main companies—Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and as rock—to compete again in the feature wars. But there are different kinds of wealthy. Take the MEG X570 Ace from MSI.

This ATX-size board costs $369.99 and is only available to serious PC builders and upgraders. It is based on AMD’s top-of-the-line chipset and has a lot of overclocking features. But even this board isn’t the best in MSI’s X570 range; the MEG X570 Godlike is the must-have top-of-the-line choice.

PROS

• Three M.2 slots that can work with PCI Express 4.0.
• 128GB of RAM is the most.
• Cool “infinity mirror” bling next to the CPU power port.
• Power delivery and an easy-overclock button.

CONS

• It only has four SATA ports.
• There are two PCI Express x1 slots, but you can’t use both of them at the same time.
• PCB is dull and dark.
• Audio tools in our test build were not working well.

Gigabyte Aorus X570 Master

As soon as the official price for the new 3rd generation AMD Ryzen CPUs is made public, price announcements for X570 motherboards start popping up everywhere. The enthusiast-grade X570 lineup from Gigabyte is likely the one that caught our attention the most out of all the new X570 motherboards that were revealed. That 14+2 and 12+2 phase VRM is really something.

Pros

• No more RGB nonsense
• Strong construction
• Real 12+2 Phase VRM
• Built-in I/O shield on the back

Cons

• Quite expensive
• PCIe 4.0 doesn’t help systems that already use PCIe 3.0.

ASRock Taichi X570

This board costs $299 at our favorite online store, which isn’t cheap by any means but is about average for X570 boards. It costs more because these new boards are some of the first to have PCI-Express 4.0 and the new Wi-Fi 6 standard. When you look at all of its features, this board is a very solid X570 board that we would highly suggest.

Pros

• Very good showing
• There are three M.2 PCI-E 4.0 slots.
• 600 A VRM
• Very good RGB

Cons

• The noisy fan has to be turned down by hand.
• Putting the Type-C port inside the device
• USB 3.2 port on hardware can’t be used with GPU in first place

Editor’s choice

ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming

A lot of motherboards with AMD’s B550 processor have come out recently. Even though the B550 is a cheaper version of the X570 for the budget market, motherboard makers have gone a bit too far by giving customers more than 50 different models with prices running from $120 to $300+.

A good, stable motherboard should be able to be found in the $200 price range. This should get you something with all the necessary features and a bit of quality as well. The ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming is in that common price range. It costs $210 with Wi-Fi 6 and $190 without it. We’re going to talk about what the B550-F Gaming has to offer today.

Pros

• 14-Phase Power Delivery That Works
• 2.5 GbE LAN and 6 AX200 Wi-Fi
• High-End Sound

Cons

• Still seems pricey for B550

MSI MEG X570 Ace

MSI’s MEG X570 Ace cost $370 when it came out (£360 in the UK), but it’s been hard to find in stock in the US since the Ryzen 3000 came out. If you can find one in stock, though, you’ll be rewarded with a ton of features, including a big CPU voltage regulator, good overclocking, a lot of RGB lights on board, and a bunch of different cable headers.

Pros

• Wi-Fi plus 2.5GbE plus Gigabit Ethernet plus 2. 6
• All three long PCIe and M.2 slots are active at the same time.
• Better transfer rate for overclocking DRAM
• PCH heat pipe might let fans run for longer periods of time without doing anything.

Cons

• One PCIe x1 slot can be used at a time.
• The front-panel USB3 Gen2 port is on the bottom edge.

Gigabyte AORUS X570 Master

As soon as the official price for the new 3rd generation AMD Ryzen CPUs is made public, price announcements for X570 motherboards start popping up everywhere. The enthusiast-grade X570 lineup from Gigabyte is likely the one that caught our attention the most out of all the new X570 motherboards that were revealed. That 14+2 and 12+2 phase VRM is really something.

Today we’re going to talk about the X570 AORUS Master, which is a less powerful version of the X570 AORUS Extreme. Even though it only has 12+2 phases, it has a lot of new features for the 3rd generation of Ryzen CPUs. Now that we know that, let’s see how well this board works, especially when it comes to boosting.
Pros

• Two Ethernet ports and one 2.5GbE port
• Built-in Wi-Fi 6
• At the same time, three long PCIe and M.2 slots are open.

Cons

• Back top made of steel
• When the third M.2 is in use, there are only four SATA ports available.

ASROCK Taichi X570

This board costs $299 at our favorite online store, which isn’t cheap by any means but is about average for X570 boards. It costs more because these new boards are some of the first to have PCI-Express 4.0 and the new WiFi 6 standard. When you look at all of its features, this board is a very solid X570 board that we would highly suggest.

Pros

• Very good showing
• There are three M.2 PCI-E 4.0 slots.
• 600 A VRM
• Very good RGB

Cons

• The noisy fan has to be turned down by hand.
• Putting the Type-C port inside the device
• USB 3.2 port on hardware can’t be used with GPU in first place

Recommendations

A motherboard called Gigabyte B450M AM4

The Gigabyte B450M DS3H AM4 motherboard is our top pick for the best AM4 motherboards because it has the best specs for the price. The Gigabyte B450M DS3H works with both AMD’s first and second generation Ryzen CPUs, as well as the iGPU versions that have built-in graphics.

 It’s a Micro ATX motherboard with 4 spots for dual-channel DDR4 RAM. Each slot can hold up to 16 GB of 3600 MHz RAM. You can use the built-in HDMI and DVI-D ports to connect a display if you don’t want to add a GPU right away. It comes with PCIe Gen 3 NVMe M.2 slots for storage, so you can put in the fastest M.2 SSDs you can find.

You can connect to the outside world through 6 USB 3.1 ports and 8 USB 2.0 ports. The high-speed ports can be used for data transfer, and the regular ports can be used for USB-powered products. Even though it’s a micro ATX board, the RGB Fusion technology lets you make your machine look unique with RGB lighting.

ASUS ROG Strix B450-F AM4

This is our second choice for the best AM4 motherboard. It’s the ASUS ROG Strix B450-F Gaming II motherboard. It works with AMD’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Gen Ryzen CPUs because it is an AM4 platform. With a BIOS update, AMD has also made this motherboard work with Ryzen 5000 series CPUs. It is powered by 8+4 MOS high-quality alloy chokes that are very lasting capacitors.

It lets you set up two M.2 NVMe SSDs so that you always have room on your fast storage system to add games. You can also connect via 2 USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, and a USB Type C port for moving data. Either the HDMI 2.0 port or the DisplayPort 1.2 port can be used to connect your monitor.

It also has 4 RAM slots, and each one can handle up to 4400 MHz of RAM. The ASUS ROG Strix B450-F Gaming II can hold up to 64 GB of RAM, and up to 6 SATA storage devices can also be connected. One of the two PCIe 3.0 x16 slots will be used to put in your graphics card.

The ASUS Prime B450M-AN AM4 based motherboard

With its AMD AM4 B450 socket, the ASUS Prime B450M-A can hold CPUs from the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generations. The monitor output ports come in HDMI, DVI, and D-Sub types. The ASUS Prime B450M-A is a micro ATX motherboard, so it will fit nicely in all common cases.

With up to 64 GB of RAM, this board can handle it. Each module can run at up to 2400 MHz. There are three PCIe expansion slots, each with a PCIe express Gen 3 storage link that can connect to any GPU that supports PCIe x16. You will also be able to use Asus’s control center to quickly make any changes you need to the motherboard.

In order to connect, the ASUS Prime B450M-A has 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports and 4 USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports. You can put up to 6 SATA drives and a PCIe M.2 drive inside your machine to increase its storage space. The fastest transfer speed is up to 32 Gbps.

MSI Motherboard for AMD X470 AM4

MSI’s X470 GAMING PLUS Max AM4 motherboard works well with AMD CPUs from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations. Don’t forget that after updating the firmware, you can now also put a Ryzen 5000 series CPU on this system.

The memory’s base speed is 2133 MHz, but MSI lets you increase the dual-channel RAM setup to up to 4133 MHz, and the RAM can hold a total of 64 GB. The X470 GAMING PLUS Max motherboard is different from most others because it has 6 PCIe express Gen 3 expansion slots. These slots are great for adding more than just the GPU to your build.

Although this board only has one NVMe M.2 drive, it comes with AMD StoreMi technology to make sure that gaming is lightning fast. The four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports are built into the motherboard and the two USB 3.2 ports on the back of the motherboard work the same way. This motherboard’s “mystic light” feature lets you set up your own RGB syncing.

Conclusion

People who are into PCs have always loved AM4 motherboards because they are easy to update. Even if someone bought an AM4 motherboard two or three years ago, they might be able to upgrade their build to meet the needs of new apps and games. There are many great choices right now, even if you just want to buy an AM4 motherboard. You can get a cheap motherboard, a compact motherboard, or a workstation motherboard.

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