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After the massive success of the 1st generation of Ryzen processors, AMD released the 2nd generation Ryzen processors alongside their 400 series of AMD chipset motherboards. Out of those, the most powerful are the X470 motherboards, designed specifically to power the Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 series processors.
Best AMD X470 Motherboards for your Build
The AMD X470 chipset is designed to extract the best out of the high-end 2nd Generation Ryzen processors such as the Ryzen 7 2700X and the Ryzen 5 2600X. We’ve reviewed the best X470 motherboards after going through different models from manufacturers like ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI.
Our focus has been on picking the best motherboard for each budget range (high-end, mid-range, and entry-level) without sacrificing the essential performance and reliability. Do note that X470 motherboards are designed for high-end PCs and enthusiasts, so you shouldn’t expect to find sub $100 motherboards with this chipset installed without facing some serious headaches.
Best High-End
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ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero
The ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero motherboard is simply overkill because of its immense number of enthusiast level features, fantastic performance, and a huge array of I/O ports.
The ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero is, in our opinion, the best X470 motherboard money can buy right now. We highly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t have a budget limit.
Technical Analysis
- Memory: Up to 64GB DDR4-3466MHz (OC)
- Expansion Slots: 2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8)
- Storage: 2 x m.2, 6 x SATA 6Gb/s
- Network: Intel® I211-AT, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller, Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- RGB: 2 x Aura Addressable Strip Headers, 2 x RGB Headers, Integrated RGB on heatsinks
If there’s one company that everyone will default to when buying a motherboard, it’s ASUS. As the saying goes: when in doubt, buy ASUS. Yes, we made up that saying, but it’s a hidden mantra among PC enthusiasts because ASUS simply makes some of the best hardware, and their crème de la crème products are from the motherboard niche.
ASUS has known how to make motherboards for the longest time, and their dominance in this PC part is well-deserved. They look to improve their product every year, and now under their relatively fresh Republic of Gamers series of PC parts and peripherals, they’re making some stunning motherboards for both Intel and AMD.
The AMD X470 chipset has some great motherboards based on it, but we simply consider the ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero the best overall motherboard for Ryzen builds. It has everything you need from it, even if you’re not intending to build a PC solely for gaming.
The Wi-Fi and regular versions of this ASUS X470 motherboard cost around the same, so there’s no reason to go for the one without wireless technology. Regardless of which one you opt for, the ASUS Rog Crosshair vii Hero will offer plenty of enthusiast features for gamers and tinkerers alike.
The VRM here is in a 10+2 phase mode, so you have plenty of headroom for some serious overclocking on your CPU. AMD Ryzen processors don’t reach stupidly high clock speeds because of their multicore architecture, but with a board like this, you’ll be able to run them at incredible speeds with little stability issues.
This ASUS motherboard is a combination of gorgeous plastic and metal. Metallic heat sinks dominate the right side, out of which the I/O heat sink has RGB LEDs in it. The other heat sink to the right also has RGB LEDs. It’s not as accentuated with colors as our runner-up, the Gigabyte AORUS X470 motherboard, but we like the minimalistic look and prefer the additional features of this motherboard.
For instance, this motherboard comes with in-built power and reset buttons as well, located in the top-right corner. Alongside it, you’ll find a two-character POST display for diagnosing any problems that may arise. Additional buttons and options such as safe booting, retrying system settings for overclocking, and loading in slow mode are cramped at the bottom. Pair that with the motherboard’s powerful connectivity with a plethora of USB 3.1, USB 2.0, and even a couple of USB Type-C ports, and you’re staring at the most complete X470 motherboard out there.
But perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of the ASUS ROG Strix series of motherboards for both Intel and AMD chipsets is the BIOS. This is where Gigabyte and even MSI simply can’t match ASUS. ASUS offers simple yet reliable BIOS that makes overclocking both RAM and CPU a complete breeze. ASUS is also the quickest to release BIOS updates when any potential problems or compatibility issues may arise.
Overall, there’s little reason not to buy this board other than its exorbitant price tag. Not all of us keep a budget of $300 for a motherboard alone, but if you’re looking to build a godlike Ryzen PC, the ROG Strix Crosshair VII Hero can’t be beaten.
RUNNER-UP:
Gigabyte X470 AORUS Gaming 7 WIFI
We find the Gigabyte X470 AORUS Gaming 7 WIFI motherboard way more aesthetically pleasing than our top pick, and it even costs around $25 less. We also love that both its m.2 slots have heatsinks as compared to the ASUS Crosshair which only provides a heatsink for one m.2 slot.
Best Mid-range
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ASROCK FATAL1TY X470 Gaming K4
ASROCK is a solid competitor when it comes to motherboards, they have really decent features packed in their boards that make them really stand out and the FATAL1TY X470 Gaming K4 packs a real punch at an affordable price tag.
With tons of features, the ASROCK FATAL1TY X470 Gaming K4 is a steal at under $160 price tag. With 2 16xPCIe 3.0 slots, 4xDDR4 DIMM slots you can expect to pull some great performance from your Ryzen CPU.
Technical Analysis
- Memory: Up to 64GB DDR4-3466MHz (OC)
- Expansion Slots: 2 x PCIe 3.0×16 (x16 or dual x8)
- Storage: 2 x m.2, 6 x SATA 6Gb/s
- Network: Intel® I211-AT, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller, Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- RGB: 1 x Addressable RGB Header, 1 x RGB Headers, Integrated RGB on the heatsinks
The board is more about performance than anything else, so don’t expect a lot in the aesthetics department. We all know Ryzen to be memory savvy, by that we mean, we can really boost the performance of a Ryzen CPU with a good amount of memory. AMD has put up tons of effort for us to be able to tweak its CPU to the max, and with the ASROCK FATAL1TY X470 Gaming K4, you can do just that by installing up to 64Gb DDR4 RAM.
2 16xPCI Express 3.0 slots in the ASROCK FATAL1TY X470 Gaming K4 will allow you to go SLI on this board, so you can save some buck here and invest in another GPU to get some premium gaming performance. Both these slots are reinforced for maximum protection.
The rear IO is pretty packed as well, you get 6 USB 3.0 ports which is more than enough to connect all your devices in. It even has a PS2 port, which is not a necessity, but the more the merrier. Then you get USB 3.1 port along with a USB Type-C port underneath it, which can be pretty useful for connectivity.
Of course, you also get a built-in HDMI port, so you can even run the board with onboard AMD graphics till you save up enough to buy a GPU. And that is not all of the rear connectivity options and still, there is plenty more for the front panel options.
With overclocking abilities you can push your Ryzen CPU along with the memory and get the bang for your buck. The handy post-code screen saves you while diagnosing any issues with your setup through postcodes.
You get 2 M.2 Slots, one under a shield and other on the bottom right corner, so you can attach SSD for faster load times, and with 2 of them, you can significantly increase the amount of solid-state memory you can install in this thing.
It wouldn’t be a gaming board if it does not have some form or factor of some game lighting, so the chipset heat-sink has LED’s that glow under it and the rear IO and VRM heatsinks also have built-in LED lighting. All in all the features in this board far supersede what this board is worth, so we decided to crown it at the top of our category.
RUNNER-UP:
MSI X470 Gaming Pro
The MSI X470 Gaming Pro is a wonderful motherboard with some stylish red and black aesthetics, but it costs more than the ASUS Prime X470-Pro without offering the same kind of features. It supports lower DDR4 RAM clock speeds at 3200 (OC), has only one reinforced steel armor PCIe slot, and provides no heatsink for either m.2 slots. We also don’t think it has the coolest lighting out there for its price. However, it is great for overclocking and offers plenty of flexibility.
Best Budget
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Asus ROG STRIX X470-F
Well, we feel pretty shameful that we did not find any other better boards in the mid-tier range other than another Asus ROG one, but c’mon, look at it, the ROG STRIX X470-F is such a beautiful piece of work by Asus.
Not a lot of RGB, but a sick graffiti, this board looks wicked cool bunched with all the specs and features this thing packs!
Technical Analysis
- Memory: Up to 64GB DDR4-3466MHz (OC)
- Expansion Slots: 2 x PCIe 3.0×16 (x16 or dual x8) and 1 x PCIe 2.0×8 Slot
- Storage: 2 x m.2, 6 x SATA 6Gb/s
- Network: Intel® I211-AT, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller, Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- RGB: 1 x Aura Addressable Strip Headers, 1 x RGB Headers, Integrated RGB on rear IO heatsink
So we first let us just admire the look of the board in itself, a cool Asus ROG logo on the back IO heatsink, which can be adjusted in the Asus Software. There is some pretty sick graffiti near one of the M.2 drives, which is not RGB, we would have liked it to have that, but it is reflective and can reflect the color of your RGB lighting, so Yay to that.
The board has tons of connectivity options, 6 SATA drive ports that you can use for…well your storage of course. There are 2 M.2 slots for your SSD and other things that you can use your M.2 slots for. One is covered under a shield while the other is out in the open.
When you look at the rear IO, there are tons of connectivity options, you get 5 USB 3.1 Gen-1 ports, 2 USB 3.1 Gen-2 ports and also a PS2 port for keyboard and mouse…we don’t know who still uses that port, but well good to have it anyway. It also comes with a DisplayPort and an HDMI port if you want to run the PC without a GPU, but who games without a GPU these days, nonetheless, really good additions in our list.
With SupremeFX audio technology by Asus, you can guarantee some quality sound from this board, putting good use of those audio jacks in the rear IO. Now let us talk about what you have been waiting for, yes Asus ROG STRIX X470-F does support SLI, with 2 PCIe 3.0 Slots and one PCIe 2.0 slot available. Weirdly it has a cloth tag on the board, which is very unnecessary but hey more points for design.
So all in all, the ROG STRIX X470-F is a great board from Asus, which you can overclock your AMD Ryzen CPU with, and get the most out of it. And it falls under the $200 price tag, making it a perfect mid-tier board if you do not mind the less amount of RGB on this thing.
RUNNER-UP:
Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming
The Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming has a fancy and intimidating name, but it’s one of the lower-priced AORUS motherboards from Gigabyte. It’s more expensive than the MSI X470 Gaming Plus, offering slightly better overclocking and a heatsink for one of the two m.2 slots. However, the rest of the performance is largely the same as our value pick, and we don’t see a major reason to recommend it over the Gaming Plus other than its aesthetics and slightly superior overclocking.