The Best Motherboards Under $300

It is the board to start from unless you need something specific. On M.2 slot count it ties with the Z890 Tomahawk II and the Strix Z890-H at 4. It shares an AM5 socket with the X870 Tomahawk and B850I Edge TI; the Strix Z890-H goes with an LGA1851 socket.

It also comes with a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot with Steel Armor and a rear USB 20Gbps Type-C port. 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. It undercut the X870 Tomahawk and every other pick on price at the time of writing.

It has 5G LAN, an extended VRM heatsink and isolated Audio Boost 5. It shares an AM5 socket with the B850 Tomahawk MAX and B850I Edge TI; the Strix Z890-H goes with an LGA1851 socket. No other pick in this guide offers an X870 chipset; compare the Z890 Tomahawk II, which has a Z890 chipset.

It also offers a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot and Bluetooth 5.4 alongside Wi-Fi 7. 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. On price it sat second of 5, between the cheaper B850 Tomahawk MAX and the pricier Z890 Tomahawk II, at the time of writing. The maker doesn't give its M.2 slot count; if that figure matters, the B850 Tomahawk MAX offers 4.

On the spec sheet, it offers a 4 M.2 slot count and offers a 5Gbps wired network speed. Its four M.2 slots include one Gen5 x4, and 7W/mK thermal pads cool the MOSFETs. It matches the B850 Tomahawk MAX and the Strix Z890-H on M.2 slot count (4).

Like the Strix Z890-H, it has an LGA1851 socket, while the B850I Edge TI uses an AM5 socket. It shares a Z890 chipset with the Strix Z890-H; the X870 Tomahawk goes with an X870 chipset. It uses Intel's LGA1851 socket for Core Ultra 200S processors, not older 12th to 14th Gen chips.

Check the manual for which M.2 slots share lanes with SATA ports or the second PCIe slot before filling them all. It was priced above the X870 Tomahawk and below the Strix Z890-H at the time of writing.

It sits between the TUF and Strix-A boards. It matches the B850 Tomahawk MAX and the Z890 Tomahawk II on M.2 slot count (4). Like the Z890 Tomahawk II, it has an LGA1851 socket, while the B850I Edge TI uses an AM5 socket.

It shares a Z890 chipset with the Z890 Tomahawk II; the X870 Tomahawk goes with an X870 chipset. It also offers AI overclocking tools and a PCIe 5.0 graphics slot. It uses Intel's LGA1851 socket for Core Ultra 200S processors, not older 12th to 14th Gen chips.

Check the manual for which M.2 slots share lanes with SATA ports or the second PCIe slot before filling them all. It was priced above the Z890 Tomahawk II and below the B850I Edge TI at the time of writing.

Its white finish suits light-themed small builds. On M.2 slot count it trails the group at 2, while the B850 Tomahawk MAX offers 4. It shares an AM5 socket with the B850 Tomahawk MAX and X870 Tomahawk; the Strix Z890-H goes with an LGA1851 socket.

You also get a PCIe 5.0 graphics 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. As a Mini-ITX board it has one PCIe x16 slot and two memory slots, so plan for a two-stick memory kit and check the case's cooler and GPU limits. 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 Strix Z890-H and the rest.