Asus ROG Rampage V Edition 10

HIGH-END DESKTOP: that’s the name of the game with this little beauty. X99 2011-3 Broadwell-E processors adorn this motherboard to create one mighty combination of processing prowess. It’s certainly no slouch—but packing support for U.2, M.2, 10 SATA 6Gb/s ports, and a whole heap of rear I/O means this motherboard comes in at an incredibly pricey $600.

So, why invest in the platform? Especially with Ryzen kicking Intel to the curb with its latest octo-core processors? Well, it’s all down to that chipset. If you’re looking for the best, Broadwell-E’s support for up to 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes on the processors themselves makes any combination of graphics and PCIe SSD solution viable, running at full speed, with no bottlenecks.

On top of all of that, you get a tried and tested platform, used around the globe in professional render houses, design studios, and so forth. Which leads us on nicely to the fact that this board is purely for enthusiasts, for those looking for the best possible system that money can muster. You’re likely to find this motherboard only in the highest of high-end liquid-cooled dream machines and gaming systems.

And with good reason, because it’s a truly beautiful piece of art. The sleek black design, subtly accented by the RGB LEDs in both the chipset and the VRM heatsinks, makes this an exceptionally clean-looking motherboard. With its vast range of hardware support, superior audio, wireless A/C, reinforced backplate, and overclocking potential, it’s a sure-fire bet to say that this must be the best-equipped motherboard we’ve ever clapped eyes on.