MOTHERBOARDS

2021 was a big year for motherboard releases, though mostly on the Intel side, with not one, but two major launches during the year. Things were quieter on the AMD side, with the refreshed X570S chipset and a few B550 latecomers. Intel’s 500 series motherboards may have been overshadowed by Z690 and 12th Gen CPUs late in the year, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some excellent 500 series boards. Just as noteworthy was the long-awaited inclusion of memory overclocking on B560 boards. Many B560 boards surprised us with their step up in quality. But in the end, Z690 was Intel’s hero. Z690 boards include more storage and cutting-edge connectivity options compared to Z590. Add DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support and Intel leads the way. Z690 boards took a step up in price, but the high quality Z690 boards blur the line between mainstream boards and the neglected HEDT segment. AMD X570S boards represent the best and last AM4 motherboards. For the most part, they are fully mature, with refined BIOS and up to date feature sets. And they’re not done yet, as AMD’s V-cache CPUs are still to come in 2022.

MSI consistently produced high quality motherboards during 2021. A refined BIOS and a great blend of features and value for money were a hallmark, with quality offerings at every price point. HIGHLY COMMENDED: Asus FINALISTS: Asus, Asrock, MSI, Gigabyte Aorus