The best motherboard 2018: the top Intel and AMD motherboards we've seen

Sure, the best motherboards aren’t as exciting to talk about as the best graphics cards or the best processors, but if there’s one component that’s genuinely more important than any other – it’s the motherboard. The best motherboards will not only serve as the backbone of your entire system, but they also feature the latest tech and features behind all of the best PCs. These features will help you realize what your computer is capable of by fully utilizing your hardware, and even giving you more headroom for overclocking your CPU.

However, because of the vital importance the best motherboards carry, it's absolutely necessary to ensure you get one that will last. If you try to cut corners and pick up an unreliable motherboard it may eventually fail, and when that happens you’ll have to deal with the literal nightmare of having to replace it. To replace a malfunctioning motherboard, you’ll have to pull your entire PC apart and rebuild it from scratch – it’s not like upgrading to the best graphics card. At the end of the day, you should do yourself a favor and get one of the best motherboards today, so you won’t have to replace it tomorrow.

That’s why we created this list to help you find the best motherboard for your needs in 2018. Every single motherboard here has been tested by the TechRadar editorial staff and has earned our seal of approval. Not only will the motherboards on this list do everything you need them to do and more, they are built to last. And, considering how many different kinds of motherboards are out there, it’s important to know exactly what to look for.

If money isn’t an issue, the Z370 Aorus Gaming 7 from Gigabyte literally shines. Packed with more RGB lighting than you can shake a stick at, its the best way to celebrate Intel’s 8th-generation Coffee Lake Processors in an ATX tower case. It’s also an overclocking champion – its only limits are the restraints of your other components. You can reasonably expect upwards of 5GHz consistently with this motherboard. We’re not joking. 

You don't need to break the bank to get your computer off on the right footing. This board from MSI is a great, inexpensive solution. It's limited in options for future expansions, so it's ideal for a one-and-done build. Since it's a gaming motherboard it has support for things like "Mystic Light Sync," which lets you synchronize all your RGB lighting with a single click.  

This Micro ATX motherboard from ASRock packs a lot of features onto a smaller form factor. You lose out on the possibility of extra PCIe slots, but there are 4 memory slots to upgrade to a maximum 64GB DDR4 RAM. It also has support for on-board graphics, so if you're building a computer piecemeal, you can still use it before buying a dedicated graphics card.

The best Intel Mini-ITX motherboard on our list kicks off our hunt for only the best Z370 mobos on the market. That’s the chipset used by the chip maker’s 8th-generation Coffee Lake processors, which includes everything from the Core i7-8700K all the way down to the Core i3-8100. This ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming, while lacking support for Nvidia SLI and AMD Crossfire multi-GPU, does ship Wi-Fi ready with an included Asus 2 x 2 Wi-Fi adaptor. 

When it comes to AMD motherboards, the Gaming Pro Carbon from MSI does not mess around in the slightest. Not only is it packed with lots of features to make it extra appealing for AMD gaming PC builds, it has awesome Mystic Light RGB settings that can be adjusted via smartphone app. Besides looking great, it has plenty of room for expansion and support for dual graphics cards.

Budget builds are almost always based around AMD hardware. Not because AMD is "budget," but because it's just cheaper than Intel and Nvidia. Start the build off on the right, low-cost foot with this motherboard from ASUS. It has everything you need to pull off a solid computer build, without having to break the bank. It lacks visual bells and whistles, but hey, it's a budget solution.

If you want to get where you need to go, and you don't care about things like fancy RGB lighting or eye-catching, futuristic-looking heat dissipators, the AB350M Pro4 is the motherboard for you. In spite of its plain-Jane looks and no-frills aesthetic, this is a solid motherboard with plenty of room to expand and grow with your computer needs.

Small and powerful, this ASRock motherboard is a beast, supporting overclocked memory speeds up to 3,466MHz for CPUs that support it. If that wasn't enough to get your motor running, it also supports 4K resolutions and full Blu-ray support through its HDMI ports. Yes, ports: it has two, as well as on-board video support.

The X-series processors are here and they're spectacular, so if you want to take advantage of all they have to offer, you need an X-series motherboard. This ASRock X299 is an excellent choice, with support for overclocked memory speeds up to 4400MHz(!!!) and 8 different slots for memory modules. It also supports up to 128GB of RAM, so with an X-series processor and a good graphics card (or 3…) this thing will absolutely tear apart anything you throw at it.

If you're the type of builder with deep pockets and an "everything and the kitchen sink" build mentality, this Ryzen Threadripper board is definitely for you. It supports 4-way SLI or Crossfire configurations, so you can just empty your bank account in the name of PC glory. All that graphical power is supported by as much as 128GB DDR4 memory, and there's even a flashy RBG lighting scheme to really drive home the point.

Coming to terms

If you’re unfamiliar about what makes the best motherboards, well, the best, we would like to include a bit of a primer for anyone who might not know what to look for. Motherboards are available in a range of different form factors, most commonly ATX and micro ATX. However there are plenty of more esoteric form factors including the recent mini ITX. Don’t worry though, because most of the time PC cases will support one or both of these form factors.

Moreover, in our rundown of the best motherboards, we detailed the socket type that each mobo adheres to. For those not in the know, the socket is the part on the motherboard that the CPU locks into. Typically, newer Intel processors use either LGA 1151 or 2066 while the latest AMD Ryzen architecture is designed for the AM4 chipset.

• Next up, these are the best gaming monitors you can buy this year

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