Best AM4 Motherboards for AMD Ryzen – Buyer’s Guide

AMD’s new Ryzen processors are finally here. These chips are based on the new ‘Zen’ core architecture. Ryzen 7 processors are aimed at PC enthusiasts and gamers who want a high-performance CPU while still at an affordable price range. The big news is that the eight-core Ryzen 7 1800X is only $499 – half the price of Intel’s eight-core i7-6900K.

Some mid-range Ryzen CPUs, known as the Ryzen 5 are en route. A lower range known as Ryzen 3 is also on the way. As for now only Ryzen 7 CPUs have been released and are available for purchasing.

If you’re thinking about owning one of these processors for your next PC build, you’ll need to find the right motherboard. With countless motherboards to choose from, you’ll need to know where to start. We at GPUnerd have compiled a list of the best AM4 x370 motherboards and also the best B350 motherboards for AMD Ryzen currently on the market. First, we’ll explain the differences between them and then we’ll help you find the right one for you.

All Ryzen 7 CPUs are unlocked & overclocking ready straight out the box. However not all motherboards have overclocking capabilities. The x370, x300 and B350 motherboards support overclocking. Only the entry-level A320 and A300 motherboards do not have the overclocking feature. This means every motherboard in this article below is overclockable since we are only covering the best X370 and B350 motherboards. It’s crucial to know that only the x370 motherboard supports Crossfire SLI.

AMD AM4 Chipsets

The X370 chipset is for the high-end enthusiast which includes the latest and greatest technology and the most vigorous set of features. Compared to B350 motherboards, the X370 platform adds four more 5Gbps USB gen. 1 ports, twice as many SATA III connections, two more PCIe lanes. The x370 motherboards are all overclockable. And only the x370 motherboard supports Crossfire SLI.

AM4 Motherboard features:

  • Available with 7th Gen AMD A-Series OEM Desktops
  • Supports 35W 7th Gen AMD A-Series APUs for quiet & cool small form factors
  • 7th Gen AMD 65W Delivers Performance of Previous Gen 95W
  • DDR4 Memory Support up to 2400 MHz
  • Unified Platform Provides Simplified Upgradability
  • Future-Ready Platform for Upcoming AMD CPUs (Ryzen 5 & Ryzen 3)

AMD AM4 Motherboard Features

Best AM4 Motherboards

1. Asus ROG Crosshair VI Hero

Design:

Asus ROG Crosshair VI Hero AMD Ryzen AM4 DDR4 M.2 USB 3.1 ATX X370...

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Asus has five new motherboards for the AM4 lineup and the ROG Crosshair VI HERO is the most high end out of them. The ROG Crosshair VI Hero is one of the best aesthetically looking x370 motherboards so far on the market. The board has an armor plating on the left side. And a water cooling flow rate and temperature headers located near the bottom. The 3-D Printing mount is located on the top side. The Crosshair logo and ROG Logo are both RGB LEDs. The motherboard has an “Aura lighting control” system which allows you to customize the lighting from nine different effects to cast multi-color glow across your PC build. If the built in RGB LEDs isn’t enough, you can even attach RGB strips via the two onboard 4-pin headers which will make all lights perform in perfect synchronization.

Hardware & Performance:

ROG’s awesome SupremeFX audio technology delivers an exceptional 113dB signal-to-noise ratio on the line-in connection and 120dB on line-out. As for the memory, the maximum support is up to 64GB of DDR4 memory (support DDR4 2666/ 2400/ 2133). The 5-Way Optimization featuring auto-tuning and FanXpert 4 provides automatic overclocking profiles for maximum OC performance while AIO and watercooling headers deliver dynamic system cooling. The PCIe x16 slots can run in single channel X16 mode, or dual X8 mode (specifically for SLI).

Connectivity:

Asus ROG Crosshair VI Hero Ports Connectivity

For external devices in the rear, there are four USB 2.0 ports, 8 USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit LAN, USB 2.1 Type A Port, USB 3.1 Type C Port, 8 Channel HD Audio port, Clear CMOS button, and a Bios Flashback button. For storage, you’ve got 8 SATA 6 Gbps slots, Sata Raid 0/1/10 and an M2 port.

Features:

One of the main selling features of this AM4 motherboard (besides the flashy RGB LEDS) is the high-quality 8-channel HD audio.

2. ASRock Fatal1ty X370 Professional Gaming Motherboard

Design:

ASRock X370 Gaming X Fatal1ty AM4 AMD Promontory X370 SATA 6Gb/s USB...

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ASRock went for the common black and red theme with their Fatal1ty X370 Professional Gaming motherboard. The board is matte black with the color red appearing on the top, left and bottom sides. And there are multiple red LEDs located around the board. Overall this board would look great in red and black themed builds.

Hardware & Performance:

The motherboard has a Realtek ALC1220 audio chipset with 7.1 channels. As for the memory, the maximum support is up to 64GB of DDR4 memory (support DDR4 2667/ 2400/ 2133). And two PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE2: x16 mode; PCIE3: x8 mode).

Connectivity:

For external devices in the rear, there are 6 USB 3.0 Ports, USB 3.1 Type A Port, USB 3.1 Type C Port, 2 Rj-45 LAN ports with LED, PS/2 keyboard/mouse port, and HD audio jacks (rear speaker, central, bass, line in, front speaker, microphone). For storage, you’ve got 8 SATA 6 Gbps slots, support for Raid 0/1/10 and an M2 port.

Features:

ASRock Fatal1ty X370 Professional Gaming AM4 Motherboard Features

One of the main features for this board is the quality. For example the Premium Memory Alloy Choke reduces 70% core loss compared to iron powder choke. And the Nichicon 12K Black Caps are made a hundred percent in Japan, made high quality conductive polymer capacitors.

3. MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium

Design:

MSI X370 XPOWER Gaming Titanium AMD Ryzen X370 Ddr4 Vr Ready Hdmi USB...

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MSI successfully made this motherboard stand out. The X370 XPower board is covered in a white titanium like finish, with black components. You can connect external RGB strips and sync other RGB capable gear to set up your own color scheme using only 1 application: “Mystic Light Sync”. Select any of the colors from the palette using your smartphone or the MSI Gaming App to match your system style.

Hardware & Performance:

The X370 XPower Gaming comes with numerous features to choose from. The heavy plated titanium heatsinks are there for maximum cooling. The “DDR4 Boost with Steel Armor” optimizes traces and isolated memory circuitry. The “Audio Boost 4 with amplifier” optimizes gaming audio using the best components, with Nahimic 2. Also the MSI fan headers are fully controllable. As for the memory, the maximum support is up to 64GB of DDR4 memory (support DDR4 2667/ 2400/ 2133). And two PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots.

Connectivity:

MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium AM4 Motherboard Ports

For external devices in the rear, there is a HDMI, DisplayPort, 2 USB 3.1 type C ports, 9 USB 3.1 type A ports, and Intel I211At Gigabit Lan controller. The onboard audio chipset is Realtek ALC1220. For storage, you’ve got 6 SATA 6 Gbps slots, support for Raid 0/1/10 and two M2 ports.

Features:

MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium Motherboard for Ryzen

There are many features that MSI brings to this board, but the main feature that stands out is overclocking. With Game Boost you can easily increase your FPS in games.

4. MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon

Design:

MSI Gaming AMD Ryzen X370 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 SLI CFX ATX...

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This AM4 motherboard from MSI is completely matte black with a strip of RGB LEDs on the back of the board and next to the PCIe slots. There are also fluorescent blue LEDS on the MSI logo and on the Northbridge cooler. With a dark background, the LEDs will stand out.

Hardware & Performance:

The X370 Gaming Pro Carbon comes with numerous features to choose from. The heavy plated heatsinks with Carbon are there for maximum cooling. The “DDR4 Boost with Steel Armor” optimizes traces and isolated memory circuitry. The “Audio Boost 4 with amplifier” optimizes gaming audio using the best components, with Nahimic 2. Also the MSI fan headers are fully controllable. As for the memory, the maximum support is up to 64GB of DDR4 memory (support DDR4 2667/ 2400/ 2133). And two PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots. MSI has upgraded the board to have three PCIe X16 slots. This allows you to use 3-way crossfire with AMD graphics cards, or standard SLI with Nvidia cards.

Connectivity:

MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon Motherboard Ports

There are two USB 3.1 ports, in both the A and C connector formats. There are four on-board USB 3.0 ports, and headers for another four case mounted USB ports. HDMI and DVI output. The onboard audio chipset is Realtek ALC1220. For storage, you’ve got 6 SATA 6 Gbps slots, support for Raid 0/1/10 and two M2 ports.

Features:

MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon AM4 Gaming Motherboard

You’ll have to overclock your CPU the old fashioned manual way with this motherboard since their is no automatic overclocking feature built in. Nonetheless, this board comes with numerous features such as overclockable ram (DDR4 Boost) and SLI Crossfire.

5. GIGABYTE GA-AX370-Gaming K7

Design:

GIGABYTE AORUS GA-AX370-Gaming K7 (AMD Ryzen AM4/ X370/ RGB FUSION/...

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Gigabyte choose a simple matte black look with the addition of RGB LEDs. The location of LEDs are all over the board from the ram slots to the PCI slots, Gigabyte gives LED enthusiasts the ability to customize multiple zones independently. The LEDs can be configured to display the PC’s temperature or load. Even RGBW strips are supported if you want more LEDs. This is a great looking AM4 motherboard, perfect for your next Ryzen build.

Hardware & Performance:

The GA-AX370-Gaming K7 comes with numerous features to choose from. Smart Fan 5 features 9 Temperature Sensors, 8 Hybrid Fan Headers, 2 External Thermistors Headers with 2 Included Thermistors, and USB DAC-UP 2 & 4 Front USB 3.0 Ports with Adjustable Voltage. As for the memory, the maximum support is up to 64GB of DDR4 memory (support 3600(O.C.) / 3400(O.C.) / 3200(O.C.) / 2933(O.C.) / 2667 / 2400 / 2133). And PCIEX16, PCIEX8, PCIEX 4 slots.

Connectivity:

GIGABYTE GA-AX370-Gaming K7 Connectivity

The GA-AX370-Gaming K7 has an HDMI port, Ps/2 keyboard/mouse port, USB 3.1 type C port, 3 USB 3.1 type C ports, 6 USB 3.1 ports, 2 RJ-45 ports, and 5 audio jacks (center, subwoofer, speaker out, rear speaker out, line in, line out, mic in). The onboard audio chipset is Realtek ALC1220. For storage, you’ve got 8 SATA 6 Gbps slots, support for Raid 0/1/10 and one M2 port.

Features:

GIGABYTE GA-AX370-Gaming K7 AMD AM4 Motherboard

You can’t go wrong with this AM4 motherboard board. One of the main features that stands out is the RGB FUSION, there are numerous ways to customize the lightings for this board.. This top tier board is for LED enthusiasts who also want SLI crossfire capabilities.

Best AM4 B350 Motherboards for AMD Ryzen:

Sound Blaster Z PCIe Gaming Sound Card with High Performance Headphone...

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The B350 is a new kind of chipset for AMD. It’s the company’s mid-range chipset where users will get a lot of features at a lower price point.The B350 motherboards are all overclockable. As for SLI capabilities, the B350 motherboards do not support Crossfire SLI.

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