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Graphics cards and CPUs often get more attention, but your motherboard is in many ways the most integral part of your PC build. Every part of your PC plugs into it, its form factor dictates the size of your computer, and its chipset and CPU socket dictate what kind of processor you can install.

If you’re not sure which chipset you’re after, or have more basic questions, you can visit our motherboard basics and motherboard buying guide features to help narrow down your buying options.

The first section of this page contains our recommendations for buying a motherboard with Intel's mainstream LGA-1151 socket. These include boards designed for Intel's 9th Generation "Coffee Lake Refresh," as well as older (though still viable) Z370 chipset boards designed for Intel’s 8th Generation Core “Coffee Lake” family, as well as the lower-cost H370 alternative.

Below our mainstream picks, you’ll find our recommendations for motherboards with Intel's high-end desktop (HEDT) LGA-2066 socket and X299 chipset supporting the X-Series and Extreme line of processors.

Best Intel Z390 Motherboards

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The Z390 Designare beats its closest rival on features for the price, has similar overclocking limits to its closest rival but beats it in overclocked DRAM performance, and has at least enough extra value to justify its premium over cheaper boards. We have to consider whether the “workstation replacement” PC market will tolerate a board with mediocre CPU overclocking. But given that there’s so little to gain from overclocking the Core i9-9900K, we feel that more often than not the answer is yes.

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Even if you never use its Thunderbolt 3 port, it’s hard to deny the supremacy of a board that does everything else better than the competition, while costing less. The Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac is even cheaper than the non-Wi-Fi version of MSI’s ATX MGP Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon, though that won’t matter to anyone who needs the extra DIMM and PCIe slots afforded by the larger form factor. But for those looking for a Mini ITX board to support Intel’s Core i9-9900K, the Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac is easily our first choice.

Best Intel H370 Motherboard

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Priced around $80 and at times dipping below $70, the ASRock H370M Pro4 brings Intel’s more-advanced H370 feature set to buyers who thought they could only afford a lesser B360 model. ASRock splits the H370’s extra HSIO (high-speed input/output) pathways across two rear-panel USB 3.0 ports and two internal SATA headers. Buyers who don’t need RGB or a 10Gb/s USB 3.1 Gen2 front-panel header will be pleased to find that the H370M Pro4 offers more of nearly every other port than its closest competitor, for a lower price.

Best Intel Z370 Motherboard

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Gigabyte’s Z370 Aorus Gaming 5 solves the value concerns of its Gaming 7 sibling thanks to its significantly lower price. Strong overall value is this board’s killer feature, especially for customers who love RGB lighting excess. And for those who love the board but hate the lighting, it can be switched off, by zone, or in its entirety.

Best Intel X299 Motherboards

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ASRock’s X299 Extreme4 is a fine value for, say, pairing a PCIe x16 four-way M.2 adapter with a single graphics card. The price could also entice prosumers seeking to go from a six-core to an eight-core CPU. But the board’s restrictive slot configuration limits its appeal to niche cases.

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By being the only LGA 2066 motherboard available to Mini-ITX builders, the ASRock X299E-ITX/ac automatically becomes the best choice for these builds. Despite its lack of competition, the price is reasonable and the performance level is spot-on for the Core i9-7900X, even with the board’s lower-than-average default power ceiling. It’s not perfect, but if you’re looking to build a compact high-power Intel X299 desktop, this board should serve you well.