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What's the best motherboard for a Ryzen 9950X ?

K

kevinflyn

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Apr 20, 2025
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hi what is the most reliable and future proof motherboard for am5 and amd 9950x.
i am looking for high end board i dont like msi so please dont include them,
i want to have at least 4 or more memory slots, to be future proof maximum pci express version 5 to be future proof and ultra stable...
i will play games and work on it...
i like asus, gigabyte,
as rock.
i am currently divided between x870e vs x670e? I dont see much difference between them i dont care much about rgb or wifi i am using lan cable... some people told me that 870e is faster in terms of cpu and memory compared to 670e?
my budget is limited to 500-600euro max. why i need to buy also cooler, gpu and much more things .... i already have memory which is 64gb corsair for intel, it was better deal but i plan to use it with the motherboard on amd expo somehow? some of the options are asrock taichi, asus hero, gigabyte auros master, ?
or something else please advice.
 
There is no such thing as real future proofing. AM5 socket has one more CPU before the next socket, so if you plan on upgrading in 6-8 years, a new computer will be a better option instead of "upgrading"

As for recommendations. Check out the motherboard reviews and look at the brands you like.

What speed in the 64GB memory kit you have? XMP works on AMD just fine.
 
mb will not help you future proof because you dont know what the future holds. the cpu and gpu play a bigger role for "future proofing" . some features that may not be out till next iteration that you needed. just get the lowest priced one that has the features you need. nothing more. bells whistles and designs is a waste of money. the difference between a high end board to a basic atx board in sheer performance is very minimal. MB are way overpriced anyway

think about 2 nvme drives. and io ports like usb c , enough headers for fans. someone who has taste and doesnt care about the played out gaudy rgb for 12yo. maybe you need usb c header for front case usb c. perhaps a good onboard sound card with optical if you have a high end audio setup or care about that. persoanlly I prefer a usb dac anyway.

for cooler I have 2 thermalright peerless assasin /spirit and they are fine for lower end cpu I have, but for 5950x I got a 360 AIO. for work, I wouldnt run a 9950x on an air cooler.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DHX795DV?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

inexpensive and amazing performance.
 
I have my 9900X on an air cooler, in a well ventilated system.. its fine. I only give up a couple of C to an AIO in push/pull.
 
literally whatever has the appropriate amount of USB/NVME/SATA Ports.
i run a overclocked 9950X3D on the cheapest mATX board that i could find that has enough Ports. (ASRock B850M Pro-A for 140€)
 
GerKNG said:
literally whatever has the appropriate amount of USB/NVME/SATA Ports.
i run a overclocked 9950X3D on the cheapest mATX board that i could find that has enough Ports. (ASRock B850M Pro-A for 140€)
Click to expand...
how dare you not get ripped off with paying for aesthetics and a "cool" name.

youre the reason mb companies are going to go bust. I hope youre happy mister
 
ir_cow said:
There is no such thing as real future proofing. AM5 socket has one more CPU before the next socket, so if you plan on upgrading in 6-8 years, a new computer will be a better option instead of "upgrading"

As for recommendations. Check out the motherboard reviews and look at the brands you like.

What speed in the 64GB memory kit you have? XMP works on AMD just fine.
Click to expand...
64gb corsair dominator platinium or titanium, at 6400mhz this was the cheapest i was been able to find with xmp profile no amd profile




GerKNG said:
literally whatever has the appropriate amount of USB/NVME/SATA Ports.
i run a overclocked 9950X3D on the cheapest mATX board that i could find that has enough Ports. (ASRock B850M Pro-A for 140€)
Click to expand...
I checked this mb its very limited in terms of ports and slots , how long you plan to run it overclocked i keep using mine for at least 10-15 years.
can you reccomend some mb , since you run asrock should i stick with asrock ?
are they the best for am5 ?

is asrock taichi,taichi lite or nova wifi good choise solid choise any issues with them?
 
@kevinflyn

A good starting point, in case you haven't already check this out:
If you want ASRock then the PG Nova is a very solid option. About other brands, well even if don't like MSI that doesn't mean their boards are bad, best is to keep an open mind and check out every model and relative to your demands you might have a nice surprise.
Also be careful with overspending, these X870E are already pushing the prices higher than ever, look carefully at the REAL features (VRM, LAN speed, I/O connectors, expansion) you're getting for a certain price point. It's very easy to overspend when in the end all you get is RGB, whatever-color PCB, whatever-color connectors and whatever-finish on the heatsinks.
 
Depends on what you want.

Lots of Storage: X670E,X870E, B650E

Just performance: B650

Just a PC: A620

They will all support your CPU.

One special mention that no one talks about is that all As Rock boards support 120Hz on the HDMI and DP port. That more applies to the G spec APUs but it is still nice to have in the age of super high refresh rate monitors.

If you are looking at Storage the X870E Taichi is the cheapest board that allows for lane splitting on the 2nd PCIE slot. The X670E Carbon from MSI does the same but not X870E. One of the best ways to cool 5.0 drives is the Asus M2 5.0 card. It is about $100 but on AM5 you can put 2 5.0 drives in RAID 0.
 
Wanna OC your processor pretty decently, or better? Pick a motherboard with a good amount of VRMs. Doesn't have to be a lot, and there are boards that are good value for the amount of VRMs you get. (Generally speaking, most modern motherboards have more than enough VRMs.)
Lots of storage? pick one with an amount of SATA / NVME / USB ports you want or could need.

Then, once you picked one or both of those, find one at a good price that gets the best of one or both worlds. Generally speaking I lean towards getting more ports than VRMs, again, because most mobo's have a good enough number of VRMs to manage a fair OC.

Avoid buying used mobo's. Yea, you can do it if you have a good eye for it, but still not something you should even remotely consider.

inquisitor1 said:
how dare you not get ripped off with paying for aesthetics and a "cool" name.

youre the reason mb companies are going to go bust. I hope youre happy mister
Click to expand...
aesthetics would have a place in mobos if these companies didn't laughably overprice the mobo's. Some of them do look very cool, but they are definitely without a doubt, extremely overpriced usually.

Honestly, I just try to color match as best as I can with other parts of my build and call it a day. Can't be bothered to overpay for something like one of those NZXT mobos.
 
Scattergrunt said:
Avoid buying used mobo's. Yea, you can do it if you have a good eye for it, but still not something you should even remotely consider.
Click to expand...
In this age of pins on the MB I would only buy new AM5.
 
blinnbanir said:
In this age of pins on the MB I would only buy new AM5.
Click to expand...
Yea, again, you gotta have a really good eye for it. I would never recommend it to anyone. The odds are never, EVER, in your favor like 95% of the time.

Only reason I mentioned it is because some people do buy these mobo's and try to look for bent pins on the Mobo, mild cosmetic damage, etc that is to non essential parts. I've tried this before, it isn't easy, and I felt the need to warn OP even though they probably weren't considering it. Just need to make sure our bases were covered since it seems we got almost all the essentials down here. :toast:
 
Scattergrunt said:
Yea, again, you gotta have a really good eye for it. I would never recommend it to anyone. The odds are never, EVER, in your favor like 95% of the time.
Click to expand...
I don't know if it is that bad but if the price is low you can bet there is something wrong.
 
Scattergrunt said:
aesthetics would have a place in mobos if these companies didn't laughably overprice the mobo's. Some of them do look very cool, but they are definitely without a doubt, extremely overpriced usually.
Click to expand...
well said buddy!

>Honestly, I just try to color match as best as I can with other parts of my build and call it a day. Can't be bothered to overpay for something like one of those NZXT mobos.

ive not bought anything from nzxt they never attracted my eyes and I guess its not relevant after being called out by gamers nexus and that cringe interview with 2cents where he was trying to be the bad guy but looked so wimpy
 
kevinflyn said:
hi what is the most reliable and future proof motherboard for am5 and amd 9950x.
i am looking for high end board i dont like msi so please dont include them,
i want to have at least 4 or more memory slots, to be future proof maximum pci express version 5 to be future proof and ultra stable...
i will play games and work on it...
i like asus, gigabyte,
as rock.
i am currently divided between x870e vs x670e? I dont see much difference between them i dont care much about rgb or wifi i am using lan cable... some people told me that 870e is faster in terms of cpu and memory compared to 670e?
my budget is limited to 500-600euro max. why i need to buy also cooler, gpu and much more things .... i already have memory which is 64gb corsair for intel, it was better deal but i plan to use it with the motherboard on amd expo somehow? some of the options are asrock taichi, asus hero, gigabyte auros master, ?
or something else please advice.
Click to expand...
Best = The one that serves your needs and why not, your wants too.

I wanted X800 for future high DRAM speed with Zen6 (if you can call that future proof) so I picked Asrock X870E PhantomGaming NOVA primarily because you can stick 5 NVMe drives on board without having the primary PCI-E slot for GPU cut in half (from x16 to x8). Most X870/E boards do cut 1st PCI-E slot in half when 5 NVMe drives are installed.
Its relatively expensive compared to any board I had so far but there are boards much more expensive from it. Overal good features and plenty USB ports for my needs.
12 USB ports on back IO plate + 5 USB ports on front of case is more than enough.
 
kevinflyn said:
hi all i bought used as rock taichi. No warranty. Lets hope it works and no bend pins,i will receive it in 2 weeks
Click to expand...
Ebay, NewEgg, Amazon?
 
kevinflyn said:
ebay :) its not a joke it was little bit cheaper, and motherboard is high end.
Click to expand...
I got a x570 taichi razor from ebay some time ago. works great. sometimes you get good deals.
 
kevinflyn said:
ebay :) its not a joke it was little bit cheaper, and motherboard is high end.
Click to expand...
I've bought old-tech second hand mobos on eBay. The cheapest included an APU and 4GB RAM for the grand total of $7 + shipping. I swapped the CPU for something faster, fitted more RAM and installed TrueNAS Core.

eBay's return policy for buyers is pretty good, especially if the goods aren't described accurately. If the ad claims fully working and it doesn't POST, I'd start a return. It doesn't matter if the seller states "No Returns". You can still get a refund if the listing was inaccurate. I agree though when buying second hand, caveat emptor. I check the sellers' feedback and if they've received lots of negative reviews, I steer well clear.

For more recent hardware, I always buy new.
 
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