How to choose a motherboard

Choose the processor first. It fixes the socket, the socket narrows the chipsets, and after that you are only picking a size, a memory type and the ports you need. Work through the seven steps below in order and most of the hundreds of boards on sale rule themselves out, leaving a handful to compare on price.

Step 1: pick the CPU, or at least the CPU family

A motherboard does not make a PC faster in any way you would notice. The processor and graphics card do that. The board's job is to run them reliably and give you the slots and ports you need. So start with the CPU, because it decides everything that follows. If you have not chosen between AMD and Intel yet, our AMD vs Intel platform guide compares the two from the motherboard's point of view: how long each socket will last, which memory it takes and what the boards cost.

Step 2: the socket follows from the CPU

Each processor fits one socket and no other. There is no adapter and no workaround.

Older sockets such as LGA1200 and LGA1151 matter only if you are replacing a failed board and keeping the processor, and sTR5 is for Threadripper workstations. If you are choosing between a current and a previous platform, read AM5 vs AM4 or LGA1851 vs LGA1700.

Step 3: choose the chipset

Within a socket, the chipset sets what the board is allowed to do: whether you can overclock the CPU, which PCIe generation the graphics and M.2 slots are guaranteed to run at, and how many ports the board can offer. Our guide to motherboard chipsets explains the naming. The short version:

• AMD: X-series is the top tier, B-series is the mainstream and the right answer for most people, A-series is entry level with no CPU overclocking. An E on the end (X870E, B650E) means PCIe 5.0 is guaranteed.
• Intel: only Z-series chipsets overclock the CPU. B-series is the mainstream choice, and H610 or H810 is the basic option.

For most builds a B-series board is enough: B650 or B850 on AM5, B760 on LGA1700, B860 on LGA1851. The comparisons most buyers face are covered in B850 vs B650, X870E vs X870 vs B850 and Z790 vs B760. You can browse every chipset on the chipsets page.

Step 4: choose the form factor

The form factor is the board's physical size, and it has to match your case.

• ATX (305 x 244 mm) is the standard. It has four memory slots, the most expansion slots and usually the most M.2 slots. Choose it unless you have a reason not to.
• Micro-ATX (244 x 244 mm) is shorter, with fewer expansion slots. It normally still has four memory slots, fits most ATX cases as well as smaller ones, and is often the cheapest way onto a chipset.
• Mini-ITX (170 x 170 mm) is for small builds. It has two memory slots and one expansion slot, and usually costs more than the larger boards with the same chipset.
• E-ATX is wider than ATX and used for flagship boards. Widths vary, so check that your case lists support for it.

A smaller board fits a bigger case, but never the reverse. The trade-offs are set out in ATX vs micro-ATX vs mini-ITX.

Step 5: confirm the memory type

AM5 and LGA1851 boards take DDR5 only, and AM4 takes DDR4, so on those platforms there is nothing to decide. LGA1700 is the exception: each board is built for DDR4 or DDR5, never both, and the two versions of a model often share a name apart from a suffix such as DDR4 or D4. The slots are keyed differently, so the wrong memory will not physically fit. If you are on LGA1700, read DDR4 vs DDR5 motherboards and then check the listing twice.

Also count the slots. Four slots let you add memory later; two slots mean replacing what you have.

Step 6: check the connectivity you will actually use

This is where boards on the same chipset differ, and where a listing needs reading closely. All of the following vary by board:

• M.2 slots: how many, and at what PCIe generation. Two is a sensible minimum for a new build. Whether you need a PCIe 5.0 slot is covered in PCIe 5.0: do you need it.
• WiFi: a board without WiFi in its name normally has none. If you need it, buying it built in is tidier than adding it later. See motherboard WiFi explained.
• Rear USB ports: count them against what you plug in, and check for USB-C. USB4 is guaranteed on X870E and X870 and is otherwise board dependent.
• Internal headers: a front-panel USB-C header if your case has that port, and enough fan headers for your cooling.
• Power delivery: it matters for high-power processors and barely at all for modest ones. Motherboard VRM explained shows when to care.
• BIOS update button: useful if the board may be older stock than your CPU. See BIOS updates and CPU compatibility.

Step 7: set the budget last

Once steps 1 to 6 have produced a shortlist, price decides. Extra money on a motherboard buys more ports, more M.2 slots, stronger power delivery and better appearance; it does not buy frame rates. Our guide to how much to spend on a motherboard gives budget bands by type of build and shows where spending more stops returning anything.

There are two ways to pay less for the same board. One is to wait for a genuine reduction: our price drops page measures each board against its own price history, as explained in how we track motherboard prices. The other is an open-box board from Amazon Warehouse, which carries some extra risk, mainly bent socket pins and missing accessories. Read are Amazon Warehouse motherboards worth it before you buy one, and use the used motherboard checklist when it arrives.

A note on brands

Brand comes last because the chipset rules are identical for every maker. Each one sells good and basic boards on every chipset, and the model name tells you which you are looking at. Our brand guides decode the ranges: ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte and ASRock. Before ordering, confirm the specification and the CPU support list on the manufacturer's own page. All of our guides are listed on the guides index.