The Best Motherboards for Game Development

It leaves more money for the graphics card. On M.2 slot count it ties with the Z790 Pro RS, the B850 Steel Legend and the Strix B850-A at 4. It shares a wi-Fi 6E with the Z790 Pro RS; the B850 Steel Legend goes with a wi-Fi 7.

It shares 14+2+1 power stages with the B850 Steel Legend; the Z790 Tomahawk MAX goes with 16+1+1 power stages. It also offers a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot. It uses AMD's AM5 socket, so it takes Ryzen 7000, 8000 and 9000 chips; a board built before a CPU's launch may need a BIOS update first, so check whether it supports BIOS Flashback. Check the manual for which M.2 slots share lanes with SATA ports or the second PCIe slot before filling them all.

On M.2 slot count it ties with the B850 Pro RS, the B850 Steel Legend and the Strix B850-A at 4. It shares a wi-Fi 6E with the B850 Pro RS; the B850 Steel Legend goes with a wi-Fi 7. You get 14+1+1 power stages here, which sets it apart from the Strix B850-A and its 14+2+2 power stages.

It shares an LGA1700 socket with the Z790 Tomahawk MAX; the B850 Steel Legend goes with an AM5 socket. You also get memory support to DDR5-7200 (OC). It uses Intel's LGA1700 socket for 12th, 13th and 14th Gen Core processors; check the CPU support list for the BIOS version your chip needs, since early boards shipped before 14th Gen launched. Check the manual for which M.2 slots share lanes with SATA ports or the second PCIe slot before filling them all.

It fits light-themed builds that still need plenty of storage. On M.2 slot count it ties with the B850 Pro RS, the Z790 Pro RS and the Strix B850-A at 4. It shares a wi-Fi 7 with the Z790 Tomahawk MAX and Strix B850-A; the Z790 Pro RS goes with a wi-Fi 6E.

It shares 14+2+1 power stages with the B850 Pro RS; the Strix B850-A goes with 14+2+2 power stages. It uses AMD's AM5 socket, so it takes Ryzen 7000, 8000 and 9000 chips; a board built before a CPU's launch may need a BIOS update first, so check whether it supports BIOS Flashback. Check the manual for which M.2 slots share lanes with SATA ports or the second PCIe slot before filling them all. On price it sat third of 5, between the cheaper Z790 Pro RS and the pricier Z790 Tomahawk MAX, at the time of writing.

It is the most complete Z790 board for its price here. On M.2 slot count it leads this guide at 5, ahead of the B850 Pro RS (4). It shares a wi-Fi 7 with the B850 Steel Legend and Strix B850-A; the Z790 Pro RS goes with a wi-Fi 6E.

16+1+1 power stages is unique to it among these picks, while the Z790 Pro RS uses 14+1+1 power stages. It shares an LGA1700 socket with the Z790 Pro RS; the B850 Steel Legend goes with an AM5 socket. It also comes with Bluetooth 5.4 alongside Wi-Fi 7 and a PCIe 5.0 graphics slot.

It uses Intel's LGA1700 socket for 12th, 13th and 14th Gen Core processors; check the CPU support list for the BIOS version your chip needs, since early boards shipped before 14th Gen launched. Its price falls between the B850 Steel Legend and the Strix B850-A, based on our last check.

Its white finish suits light-themed builds. Its 14+2+2 VRM is rated at 80A per stage, and heatsinks bridge to the VRMs with thermal pads. ASUS AI Advisor simplifies setup.

On M.2 slot count it ties with the B850 Pro RS, the Z790 Pro RS and the B850 Steel Legend at 4. It shares a wi-Fi 7 with the B850 Steel Legend and Z790 Tomahawk MAX; the Z790 Pro RS goes with a wi-Fi 6E. You get 14+2+2 power stages here, which sets it apart from the Z790 Tomahawk MAX and its 16+1+1 power stages.

It also comes with a rear USB 20Gbps port. It was the highest-priced of the 5 picks at the time of writing, so the case for it rests on what it adds over the Z790 Tomahawk MAX and the rest.