TechPowerUp Intel Motherboard of the Year

ASUS ROG Z790 Maximus Apex Encore

The ROG APEX line represents the very best from ASUS, targeting competitive overclockers. While feature-packed, these boards are designed to be simple, with just 1 DIMM per memory channel, a powerful yet simplified CPU VRM, and a plethora of onboard controls, toggles, measurement points, and debug indicators. Besides two 8-pin EPS power connectors that are dedicated for for the Socket LGA1700 with 448 W on tap, the board takes a 150 W 8-pin PCIe input to stabilize its 12 V resources. The APEX doesn't skimp on any connectivity feature you'll ever need, and is a breeze to overclock with. If you don't plan on memory upgrades, and have all the money in the world to spend, this is the one to get.

TechPowerUp Hardware of 2023 Runner Up

GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS Elite X WiFi 7

GIGABYTE's AORUS Gaming line of motherboards has many price-performance tiers, but it's the entry-level AORUS Elite series that's been getting a lot of attention lately for hitting the right spot with pricing, features, and tuning capabilities. The Z790 AORUS Elite X was introduced with Intel's 14th Gen Core series, and GIGABYTE has treated the socket's unexpected third refresh with great care. The board looks like it's from a segment above, there are some segment first features such as an 8-layer PCB, Wi-Fi 7, and a powerful 19-phase VRM.

Notable Mentions

DDR4 as a memory standard is clearly on its way out, but for those still holding onto their expensive DDR4 kits, the MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 stands out as a powerful, all-round package. For one, MSI has taken care to carry forward the PCIe Gen 5 connectivity, topped with a reasonably powerful VRM that uses 90 A power stages. The board has the broadest compatibility with DDR4 memory kits, and you could go to town overclocking them beyond the DDR4-4000 mark. There are even some overclocker-friendly features such as a POST debug LED readout.

TechPowerUp AMD Motherboard of the Year

MSI MEG X670E Ace

The MSI MEG X670E Ace is any easy pick. MSI's MEG line of motherboards aren't just feature-packed, but are works of art, with a subdued black and gold aesthetic. The board has a powerful 25-phase VRM that uses 90 A power stages, a plethora of M.2 NVMe slots and an M.2 riser card to pull out more such slots from the x16; and connectivity that puts the AMD Ryzen 7000's rich 28-lane PCIe Gen 5 interface to good use. It's one of the few high-end motherboards to use the more premium ALC4082 audio codec with a 130 dBA SNR-class DAC, Marvell 10 GbE wired networking, and AMD-MediaTek Wi-Fi 6E. The board also has a very forgiving memory overclocking implementation and broad memory support.

TechPowerUp Hardware of 2023 Runner Up

ASRock B650E Steel Legend WiFi

With overclocking fully enabled in its mid-tier B650 series chipset, most AMD Ryzen 7000 users are drawn to some of the more premium AMD B650E motherboards, and here the ASRock B650E Steel Legend WiFi scores well, despite being a mid-range product. ASRock has given us a sincere implementation of the B650E feature set, with its Gen 5 x16 slot, a couple of Gen 5 M.2 NVMe slots that don't eat into the PEG slot, and some reasonable mid-tier onboard components, with the only area where we find it cheaping out being the onboard audio. It's still a solid, well-rounded, and future-proof product for its roughly $250 price.

Notable Mentions

GIGABYTE X670 AORUS Elite AX is a very well rounded board for its price point. It is a smart choice for those that don't need a Gen 5 x16 slot, but only need Gen 5 x4 NVMe slots to use the latest SSDs. The board puts the added downstream PCIe lane budget to some use with four M.2 NVMe slots, from which one is Gen 5. There's also decent connectivity to be had, with 2.5 GbE wired and Wi-Fi 6E. One area where it possibly skimps is the onboard audio.