Motherboards aren't usually the first component that comes to mind when I think of what really wows me in the visual department. But I'll be damned if the ASRock B860 Steel Legend Wi-Fi doesn't hit me square in the aesthetics cortex (right next to the amygdala), and I'll be even more damned if I don't gush a little over how cool it keeps SSDs.
We already had the B850 Steel Legend Wi-Fi as our pick for a midrange AMD AM5 motherboard, and now we've got its sibling, the B860 Steel Legend Wi-Fi, as our pick for the best budget Intel LGA1851 motherboard (for Core Ultra 200S processors). I know, I know, B850 for AMD and B860 for Intel—motherboard naming schemes are atrocious.
The new addition to our guide offers a ton of features for a downright reasonable price tag, and the wonderful white-and-steel aesthetic is just the icing on the cake, really. The cherry on top of that icing is the cool embrace of the board's M.2 dual-sided cooling (for the first M.2 SSD, at least—the other two that have heatsinks are just single-sided). This cooling keeps PCIe 5.0 drives chilly enough to be actually usable, which is a minor miracle.
And with the Core Ultra 265K dropping below $300 these days, $500-ish for that and this B860 isn't half a bad shout for a new build, I reckon. The Core Ultra 200S series hasn't blown us away, but it's capable and, importantly, much more power-efficient in gaming than Intel's last-gen CPUs.
Now that we've got this B860 listed, our motherboard recommendations cover the whole gamut of current and previous-gen AMD and Intel chips and sockets (yes, even back to AM4).
The quick list
1. Best AM5 - AMD Ryzen 9000/7000: MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi
2. Best budget AM5 - AMD Ryzen 9000/7000: Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WiFi
3. Best midrange AM5 - AMD Ryzen 9000/7000: ASRock B850 Steel Legend WiFi
4. Best AM4 - AMD Ryzen 5000/3000: Asus ROG Strix B550-E Gaming
5. Best LGA1851 - Intel Core Ultra 200S: Asus ROG Maximus Z890 Hero
6. Best budget LGA1851 - Intel Core Ultra 200SASRock B860 Steel Legend Wi-Fi
7. Best LGA1700 - Intel 14/13th Gen: MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk WiFi
8. Best budget LGA1700 - Intel 14/13th Gen: Asrock B760M PG Sonic WiFi
The best motherboards for gaming
The best AMD AM5
With up to 21 USB ports, superb build quality, and excellent thermal and power handling chops, this MSI board is the Zen 5-supported X870 board we'd go for right now. It's still a fair amount of cash compared to some, but a great all-rounder.
The best budget AM5
While it's a little on the pricey side for a B650 motherboard, you won't feel short-changed with this Asus TUF Gaming model. Three M.2 slots for SSDs, lots of USB ports, and excellent support for high-power Ryzen series processors make this a really solid buy.
The best midrange AM5
Affordable and rather pretty, this motherboard has tonnes of USB ports, WiFi 7 support and is PCIe 5.0 M.2 and GPU compatible. It lacks some more premium features and has a pretty basic EFI, but does quite a lot for the money.
The best Intel LGA1851
If a motherboard for your new Arrow Lake Intel chip is what you desire, it's very difficult to find a board with more features, ports, slots and overall options than this. It's darn near perfect, but the price tag is seriously hefty as a result.
The best budget LGA1851
This is the best bang for your buck if you're looking for a motherboard to sit under your Intel Core Ultra 200S CPU. It's got a ton of ports, it keeps itself and its M.2 SSDs cool, and it even looks rather dashing thanks to its white-and-steel aesthetic.
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The best Intel LGA1700
Considering the huge number of slots for SSDs and ports for USB devices, you'd expect this premium Z790 board to be really expensive. But it's not and it's far cheaper than other models which offer little more. It's not the best for serious overclocking features, though.
The best budget LGA1700
The delightfully retro ASRock B760M PG Sonic WiFi is an excellent choice for a user after a value-for-money board without losing too much in the way of features. It'll happily power an i9 CPU and it's generally cheaper now than it was at the time we reviewed it a year or so back.
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