The two main central processing unit ( CPU) manufacturers, Intel and AMD, are constantly in a race to build the fastest processor. If you’re a more casual gamer, you can get away with buying a budget gaming motherboard.ĭo you prefer an Intel CPU or an AMD Ryzen CPU? Are they intense, first-person shooters like the Red Dead Redemption franchise, or do you mostly play platformers and puzzle games? If the games you like to play are resource hungry, you’ll need to plan on looking at more expensive gaming motherboards that are up to the task. To make things easy on yourself, answer these four questions to narrow down your search.ĭo you play games that are graphics intensive?Ĭonsider the games you like to play. There are a lot of gaming motherboards out there, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the hundreds of options. For example, where an ATX motherboard has four slots for inserting RAM, a micro-ATX board has two. Micro-ATX boards connect with all the same components but fewer of them. The two standard sizes of motherboard are full-size ATX boards and the smaller, equivalent micro-ATX (mATX) boards. When you’re ready to buy, check out our top picks, too. Here’s everything you need to know to find the right motherboard for your next gaming adventures.
If you’re ready to build your first PC gaming rig, or if you’re just just looking for an upgrade for your existing gaming PC, you’re in the right place. But they’re not all the same, and once you invest in one, you’re locked into a lot of other decisions, so it’s important to choose wisely. Gaming motherboards are built around the unique needs of PC gamers: they’re spacious enough to support high-end components like bulkier video cards while still allowing enough room for air to circulate for proper ventilation. Motherboards connect and control all aspects of a PC: everything from the CPU to the RAM to the power supply gets plugged into the motherboard, so it’s critical that you start building your gaming rig on the right foundation. If you’re building a gaming PC, you want to pick out the perfect components for optimum playing, and the most important one of all is the motherboard. Buying guide for best gaming motherboards