A round up of the best motherboard deals May 2024 (Megathread)
A round up of the best motherboard deals May 2024 (Megathread)
A round up of the best motherboard deals May 2024 (Megathread)
A round up of the best motherboard deals May 2024 (Megathread)
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Posted 8 May 2024

A round up of the best motherboard deals May 2024 (Megathread)

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KITTYBOTS Deal editor
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About this deal

Update 1
17/05/2024 Update!
Hope everyone is having a nice day today!

I noticed a lot of good CPU deals recently,but every good CPU deserves a good motherboard to plug it into! However,with the different sockets,features and standards it can be a bit of a minefield deciding on what to get.

So the aim of this thread is to go through what you need to get and at the lowest price possible.
What is a Motherboard chipset and what is a CPU socket?

The motherboard is the basis of any good PC. It serves as the fabric which holds together all the other components of the PC,so it is essential to choose wisely.Techspot have a good article about the anatomy of a motherboard here which covers all the ins and outs of what makes a motherboard tick. Tom's Hardware also has a set of good articles explaining this here and here.

Living on the motherboard a chipset manages the communication between all the components in a PC. Intel and AMD design several chipsets,each with different features to fit specific price-points. Different chipsets will only work with specific CPUs.

A CPU socket is the place where the CPU slots into on a motherboard. Since different socket shapes exist,only CPUs compatible with that socket shape will fit in that motherboard. They also have to be electrically compatible too.
What are motherboard VRMs and why are they important?

The VRM is the Voltage Regulation Module and is responsible for providing clean and stable voltages to the CPU and is an important part of the power delivery mechanism to the CPU. Poor VRMs can lead to CPU instability. As they produce a lot of heat,motherboards without heatsinks can cause problems.

Overview of Chipsets and Sockets(since 2021)

AMD has two sockets,namely Socket AM4(DDR4) and AM5(DDR5). Intel has had two sockets,namely socket LGA1200(DDR4) and LGA1700(DDR4 and DDR5 dependent on CPU and generation).
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17/05/2024 List

Motherboards are primarily ranked by VRM and heatsinking quality. I have looked through reviews to check VRM quality. DDR4 motherboards for Intel are not included because DDR5 prices are low.
17/05/2024 Update.

Price change

Asrock B550M Pro4(mATX) - £97.94 - price increase to £99.13
Gigabyte B650M AORUS ELITE AX(mATX) - £190.99 - price drop to £190
ASUS ROG Strix B650E-I Gaming WIFI(mini-ITX) - £276.97 - price drop to £275.97
Gigabyte B760M AORUS ELITE AX(mATX) - £154 - price drop to £133.97
Entry level motherboards(AMD/Socket AM4/DDR4/PCIe 3.0/ no overclocking or limited overclocking)

Basic boards to run the CPU at stock settings. Have limited or no overclocking support.

ASUS PRIME B450M-A II(mATX) - £69.95
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MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX(mATX) - £64.99
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MSI B450 GAMING PLUS MAX(ATX) - £79.98( )
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ASUS AMD Ryzen A520M-PLUS WIFI TUF GAMING(mATX/Wi-Fi) - £79.99
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Asrock A520M-ITX/AC(mini-ITX) - £106.88
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Midrange motherboards(AMD/Socket AM4/DDR4/PCIe 4.0/overclocking)

Better VRMs with heatsinks - will be more suited to running CPUs overclocked or with PBO enabled.

Asrock B550M Pro4(mATX) - £97.94
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Gigabyte B550M AORUS ELITE(mATX) - £103.99
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MSI B550-A PRO AMD Ryzen B550 ATX DDR4 Motherboard(ATX) - £109.95
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Entry level motherboards(AMD/Socket AM5/DDR5/PCIe 4.0/no overclocking)

Basic boards to run the CPU at stock settings. Have limited or no overclocking support.

ASRock A620M PRO RS - £119.99/ASRock A620M PRO RS WIFI(mATX) - £129.99
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Asus TUF GAMING A620M-PLUS(mATX) - £119.99/Asus TUF GAMING A620M-PLUS WIFI(mATX) - £133.99
4339395_1.jpgUnusually for an A620 motherboard unoffically supports a single PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD.

Asrock A620I LIGHTNING WIFI(mini-ITX) - out of stock(best mini-ITX motherboard under £170)
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Entry level motherboards(AMD/Socket AM5/DDR5/PCIe 4.0 Card Slot/PCIe 5.0 or PCIe 4.0 NVME/ limited overclocking)

Better VRMs with heatsinks - will be more suited to running CPUs with PBO enabled.

ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2(mATX) - £112
ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2(mATX) - £111.72
ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2(mATX) - £108.98
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Gigabyte B650M DS3H(mATX) - £122.97
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ASRock AMD B650M PRO RS(mATX) - £132.66
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MSI B650M GAMING PLUS WIFI(mATX) - £139.97
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Midrange motherboards(AMD/Socket AM5/DDR5/PCIe 4.0 Card Slot/PCIe 5.0 or PCIe 4.0 NVME/ overclocking)

Better VRMs with heatsinks - will be more suited to running CPUs overclocked or with PBO enabled.

Gigabyte B650 Eagle AX(ATX) - £139
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Gigabyte B650 GAMING X AX V2(ATX) - £149
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Asrock B650 LiveMixer(ATX) - £154.99
Asrock B650 LiveMixer(ATX) - £154.14
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Asus TUF GAMING B650-E WIFI(ATX) - £154.99
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Gigabyte B650M AORUS ELITE AX(mATX) - £190
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ASRock AMD B650I Lightning WIFI(mini-ITX) - £209.99 + postage
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Highend motherboards(AMD/Socket AM5/DDR5/PCIe 5.0 Card Slot/PCIe 5.0 NVME/ overclocking)

Better VRMs with heatsinks - will be more suited to running CPUs overclocked or with PBO enabled. Will have PCI-E 5.0 for both the main card slot and NVME SSDs.

ASUS ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI(ATX) - £229.99
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MSI X670E GAMING PLUS WIFI - £233.98
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ASUS ROG Strix B650E-I Gaming WIFI(mini-ITX) - £275.97
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Entry level motherboards(Intel/Socket LGA1700/DDR5/PCIe 4.0 or 5.0 card slot/ PCIe 4.0 NVME slot/no overclocking)

Basic boards to run the CPU at stock settings. Have no overclocking support. Since Intel CPUs consume more power,they require motherboards with relatively better VRMs than AMD equivalents.

MCE(or the AIB partner equivalent) should be OK with locked SKUs,but K SKUs ideally should be run within the stock settings.

ASRock B760M PG Riptide(mATX) - £123.55
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ASRock B760 PRO RS(ATX) - £131.99
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ASRock B760M PG SONIC WIFI(mATX) - £139.37
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ASRock B760M STEEL LEGEND WIFI(mATX) - £146.99
4339395_1.jpgThe same motherboard as above but without the Sonic branding.

Gigabyte B760M AORUS ELITE AX - £133.97
Gigabyte B760M AORUS ELITE AX(mATX) - £154
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Gigabyte B760 AORUS ELITE AX(ATX) - £174.98
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MSI Intel MAG B760 TOMAHAWK WIFI - £179
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ASUS ROG STRIX B760-I GAMING WIFI(mini-ITX) - £186
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Gigabyte B760I AORUS PRO(mini-ITX) - £191.99
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Midrange motherboards(Intel/Socket LGA1700/DDR5/PCIe 5.0 card slot/ PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0 NVME slot/ overclocking)

Stronger VRMs. More suited for overclocking. Core i9 CPUs might require better motherboards for overclocking.

Asrock Z790 PG Lightning(ATX) - £160.99
4339395_1.jpgMore of a basic Z790 - suitable for overclocking a Core i5 - probably a Core i9 should be run at stock.

MSI Intel MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI(ATX) - £221.78 - reported problems
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GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS ELITE AX(ATX) - £224.99
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ASRock Intel Z790 Steel Legend Wifi(ATX) - £232.19
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Glossary of Terms

VRM:Voltage Regulation Module
Heatsink: Metal Radiator used to dissipate heat from VRM
NVMe:nonvolatile memory express
PCIe:PCI express
DDR:Double Data Rate
Overclocking: method of running CPU faster than factory settings. Causes more power draw and heat production.
AWD-IT More details at
Community Updates
Edited by KITTYBOTS, 2 minutes ago
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92 Comments

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's avatar
  1. Sparco's avatar
    Might be best to avoid Asus motherboards.

    garyho1220's avatar
    One more for Asus, this time is RTX 4090.
    Time to stop paying the Asus tax, we already have had enough taxes.
  2. RockstarRobbo's avatar
    Thanks very much for this just having a browse as looking for a new AM5 compatible board
    KITTYBOTS's avatar
    Author
    With AM5 boards check the PCIe support properly. B650 can have PCIe 5.0 support but it is not mandated. Only B650E,X670 and X670E have mandated PCIe 5.0 support.
  3. bam27beer's avatar
    great idea still looking for a Matx board with thunderbolt 4 +
    went for a asus think 69xx proart matched with a intel 13700K and yes not a Matx , but really not seeing a relative difference on the fx6300 i upgraded from , and in the last 6 weeks /2 months bluescreens and daily freezes till i reboot
    Willy_Wonka's avatar
    Gigabyte do a Thunderbolt 4 card called Maple Ridge as an add on for £80.
  4. xxbluedragonxx's avatar
    Depending on CPU compatibility I’d suggest try to get a fanless motherboard - less moving parts to go wrong (some do have small fans over some components) (edited)
    jonspurs's avatar
    But then which CPUs are fanless?
  5. KITTYBOTS's avatar
    Author
    13/05/2024 Update.

    Removed

    ASRock B650M PRO RS(mATX) - £119.99(Refurb) - out of stock


    Price change

    MSI B450 GAMING PLUS MAX(ATX) - £74.99( ) - price increase to £79.99
    ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2(mATX) - £109.99(plus postage) - price decrease to £108.98
    Gigabyte B650M DS3H(mATX) - £121.97 - price increase to £122.97
    ASRock AMD B650M PRO RS(mATX) - £129.98(plus postage) - £132.66 delivered
    MSI B650M GAMING PLUS WIFI(mATX) - £149.02 - price decrease to £139.97
    Asrock B650 LiveMixer(ATX) - £154.99 - price decrease to £154.14
    Asus TUF GAMING B650-E WIFI(ATX) - £199.61 - price decrease to £154.99
    ASUS ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI(ATX) - £209.99 - price increase to £233.98
    ASUS ROG Strix B650E-I Gaming WIFI(mini-ITX) - £239.99 + postage - price increase to £276.97
    ASRock B760M PG SONIC WIFI(mATX) - £139 - price increase to £139.37
    Gigabyte B760M AORUS ELITE AX(mATX) - £152.99 - price increase to £154
    MSI Intel MAG B760 TOMAHAWK WIFI - £179.99 - price decrease to £179
    ASUS ROG STRIX B760-I GAMING WIFI(mini-ITX) - £186.48 - price decrease to £186
    ASRock Intel Z790 Steel Legend Wifi(ATX) - £239.99 - price decrease to £232.99 (edited)
  6. Synth.ax's avatar
    Asus TUF GAMING B650-E WIFI(ATX) - £191.18 currently selling for £154.99 on AWD-IT. Perhaps I'm missing something though...
    KITTYBOTS's avatar
    Author
    It wasn't when I did the update. Must have dropped afterwards. Will update the description. (edited)
  7. Willy_Wonka's avatar
    I would knock MSIs Z790s off the list. They have major issues.

    ME = Victim aka MUG (edited)
  8. jonnybargain's avatar
    How about 550's they getting rare ?
    KITTYBOTS's avatar
    Author
    They are in the list at the top.
  9. cheekster's avatar
    ASUS are running a promotion currently, mainly on their ProArt line of products which are aimed at Professionals and so not necessarily cheap. But… the cashback of up to £48 on motherboards plus the possibility of another £25 for writing a review can certainly help bring the price down.

    Promotion ends 23rd May 2024. (edited)
  10. kaisersolo's avatar
    Just a side note: don't buy a USED Asus. Theres a good chance you could be asking for trouble if its from early last year.
    xxbluedragonxx's avatar
    Details why?
  12. Leftfield_2k2's avatar
    Fantastic post fella, much appreciated
  13. garyho1220's avatar
    Great, just start to find a nice MB to match the coming AI AI AI 9000 series.
  14. jungleboy123's avatar
    motherboards are so cheap today. When will they run out of A/B/X letters/number and just say sod it lets call it a fatherboard. (edited)
    Glix's avatar
    It's mental, they were meant to get cheaper with the removal of the northbridge yet they cost three times as much now. Someone will come in and tell me that vrms cost more than designing pci lanes and a AGP to co exist with a north and south bridge. (edited)
  15. xigent's avatar
    Good post. thanks
  16. vI_M4YH3Mz_Iv's avatar
    Snagged a b650 tomahawk for £139
  17. deanutd's avatar
    does anyone know is it normal for Gigabyte b650 motherboard to come with no seal sticker on the box and one piece of Sellotape on the bag of the motherboard? just got it delivered today from amazon
    Willy_Wonka's avatar
    My Z790 has no seal on the box. It opened just by pulling it open. As for the board? I can't really remember but it wasn't difficult because I would remember, so that was definitely one or two pieces of tape if any.

    It came from Ebuyer
  18. computerguy234's avatar
    It's worth checking eBay for motherboards when they do the 20% off weekends. At the end of the day there's very little difference between the different brands and designs, as long as the core features are the same
    Auric_Goldfinger's avatar
    True. I picked up an Asus Z790-F via ebay for £299 with a code on here. It's now generally listed as £450+
  19. Wazzer80's avatar
    Heat for the effort. Bravo
  20. Waddle84's avatar
    Very helpful, thank you
  21. toge's avatar
    Good work mate.
  22. CrazyLegsKane's avatar
    Nice. Thanks for the effort
  23. DarkCrystal's avatar
    Crazy effort thank you, will be bookmarking this for reference in the future. (edited)
  24. JackBauer123's avatar
    Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX for me. Excellent experience this far. Used it for the new build in December. £900 all in (using discounts and CB). The GPU is the one part I'm waiting to get, but my trusty 1070 still churns out >60fps at 1440 on majority of games.
    uk.pcpartpicker.com/lis…ZqR
  25. vishy01234's avatar
    I’m buying this mother board for my bored mother
  26. John59's avatar
    So any ideas for a cheap B650 or A620 for around the £80 or cheaper mark, ideally one that has 4 DIMM sockets? Back in the B450 days I could get a really nice motherboard for that price, now everything is just so average at this price.
    KITTYBOTS's avatar
    Author
    The decent B450 motherboards tended to cost more at launch and I am listing motherboards with decent VRMs and heatsinks. For example the B450 Tomahawk was £100:
    kitguru.net/com…/1/

    There are cheaper A620 and B650 motherboards but I wouldn't trust them:

    They need to be used with horizontal air cooling otherwise the VRMs will get very hot and it limits the upgrade path.

    The Gigabyte B650M DS3H and ASRock B650M PRO RS are both around £120 and have good VRMs. The Asus TUF GAMING A620M-PLUS and ASRock A620M PRO RS are the same price and look OK too.

    If you can wait for an Ebay discount code again - check if Ebuyer or Technextday are included. An example is here when the ASRock B650M PRO RS was £100. Sometimes you can get special offers like here when the Asus TUF GAMING A620M-PLUS was below £100. (edited)
  27. LukeyWolf's avatar
    No tomahawk AMD boards suggested, why?
    KITTYBOTS's avatar
    Author
    I can't recommend every board on here,otherwise the list will twice the size! I am already at nearly 40 boards.

    Regarding the B550 Tomahawk - the B550 PRO and Gaming Plus are consistently cheap and should suffice for the most part. It's a good board - I could put it in if people want.

    But as AM4 is now a more budget orientated platform with no real core updates,if spending more I would go AM5.

    The other Tomahawk boards are not as well priced. The B650 Tomahawk when I made the list yesterday is £180. But there are a pair of Asus B650E motherboards for a similar price with PCIe 5.0 card and NVMe slots.

    52719648-0Z9NA.jpg
    The Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX has similar VRM temperatures to the MSI B650 Tomahawk. The Eagle AX also has a better VRM than the Gaming X AX. Both are much cheaper than the Tomahawk when I made the list yesterday.

    Of course the pricing can change,so like the SSD Megathread the list will change according to the changes in pricing. (edited)
  28. Sparco's avatar
    Is the "MSI Tomahawk X670E" the best AM5 motherboard you can get if your max budget is £250 ?
    KITTYBOTS's avatar
    Author
    It looks OK,but I would check prices of other boards also.
  29. tsed's avatar
    Christ, motherboard's are expensive these days!
    KITTYBOTS's avatar
    Author
    They have! But I also avoided a lot of cheap models because of their poor VRMs. (edited)
  30. Just.Wondering's avatar
    I bought one if the ddr5 b760m motherboards the other day 2nd user for £75 delivered, I'm thinking of building a mini ATX build for next to the TV.

    52731382-1Yjzx.jpg
  31. b1koni's avatar
    The Gigabyte B450M K is available for 53 which is 7 cheaper than the MSI B450

    Only difference in the MSI one supports higher RAM speeds and has 6 power phases compared to 5 which I don't think matter?


    amazon.co.uk/Gig…8-3
    KITTYBOTS's avatar
    Author
    Worse VRM and no heatsinks.
  32. KITTYBOTS's avatar
    Author
    15/05/2024 Update.

    Removed

    Asrock A620I LIGHTNING WIFI(mini-ITX) - £162.15 - out of stock everywhere.

    Added

    ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2(mATX) - £111.72 - additional store

    Price change

    MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX(mATX) - £69.98 - price drop to £64.99
    Asrock B550M Pro4(mATX) - £98.71 - price drop to £97.94
    Asus TUF GAMING A620M-PLUS WIFI(mATX) - £136.80 - price drop to £133.99
    ASUS ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI(ATX) - £209.99 - price increase to £229.99
    MSI X670E GAMING PLUS WIFI - £233.98 - price drop to £229
    ASRock Intel Z790 Steel Legend Wifi(ATX) - £232.99 - price drop to £232.19
  33. Cavs's avatar
    The best motherboard is one with a vrm that doesn't burn your wallet.
  34. sadbuttrue's avatar
    I think the Gigabyte B550M DS3H deserves a mention, nice cheap B550 mATX board for a compact gaming set up, recently built a second PC around this, very easy to build with and performs like a champ, cool temps and zero issues so far (NZXT compact case, 5600x, 3060ti, 16gb Corsair Vengeance, Evo NVME).
's avatar