Motherboards are called motherboards because they connect all the components. These days, the job of a motherboard has been further intensified as modern processors and memory are getting power-hungry. Moreover, many I/O features previously available with add-in cards now come built-in on the motherboard, such as WiFi, S/PDIF out, etc. In this article, we will review the best motherboard for RTX 4090.
NVIDIA designs the world’s most powerful graphics cards, and the company has just released the latest generation of gaming graphics cards. The RTX 4090 is the latest addition to the GeForce series of the company and is currently the most powerful graphics card in the world. Also, it’s the biggest one too, which is why big chassis with adequate room and airflow ventilation is required to house this behemoth. The graphics card’s performance has been improved by almost 60 to 70%, and there are tremendous improvements in the RT features of the graphics card.
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Best Performance Motherboard for RTX 4090 ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X670E HERO Read More | See On Amazon |
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Best Overall Motherboard for RTX 4090 MSI MEG Z790 ACE Read More | See On Amazon |
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Best Runner-up Motherboard for RTX 4090 ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-E GAMING Read More | See On Amazon |
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Best Value Motherboard for RTX 4090 Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER Read More | See On Amazon |
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Best DDR4 Motherboard for RTX 4090 Gigabyte Z690 AORUS MASTER Read More | See On Amazon |
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Best High-End Motherboard for RTX 4090 ASRock X670E Taichi Carrara Read More | See On Amazon |
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Best Budget Motherboard for RTX 4090 ASUS TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI Read More | See On Amazon |
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Best AM4 Motherboard for RTX 4090 Gigabyte X570S AORUS MASTER Read More | See On Amazon |
As expected, RTX 4090 requires a processor monster to drive it to its full potential, bringing us to the battle between the two platforms. And to run all this, you need a monstrous Power Supply too. AMD Ryzen processors have been here for quite some time, and their architecture has hugely improved over the past few years. On the other hand, Intel has taken some wild turns with its all-new multi-design processors. Currently, Intel Raptor Lake processors are tackling the Ryzen 7000-series processors very well, and there will be a tough fight between the two.
AMD Ryzen 7000-series processors are the first processors based on the all-new AM5 socket, while the Intel Raptor Lake processors are based on the previous-generation LGA 1700 socket. Both Ryzen and Core i-series processors can now run DDR5 memory, although the Core i-series processors can still be coupled with DDR4 memory, as there are Intel motherboards that come with DDR4 slots. The Ryzen processors, on the other hand, are not compatible with DDR4 memory anymore, as the latest motherboards do not provide DDR4 slots.
The Ryzen 7000-series processors are compatible with the B650 and X670 chipsets, while Intel Raptor Lake processors are compatible with the Z690 and Z790 chipsets. Even though there are other Intel chipsets, it would be a shame to use a chipset like B660 or H670 with a graphics card like RTX 4090. However, to truly feel the power and immersion - you should get a high refresh rate and high-quality monitor.
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Best Motherboard for RTX 4090 Reviews
Coming at a whopping price tag of 699$, you surely expect something out of the world in return. Well, this behemoth does a great job meeting your high expectations with the features and new tech that has been integrated inside it.
Starting with the obvious, you get what this budget motherboard should have; an 18+2 phase configuration for the VRM. This is enough for overclocking without running into unstable Windows experiences like freezing or BSOD. As we all know, such powerful VRMs require a powerful cooling solution too - and for that, there are plenty of heatsinks available all over it to passively cool things down while you’re enjoying the perks of having such luxury. The motherboard also has RGB LEDs on the I/O shroud, and design-wise, it resembles the ASUS Strix variant of the X670E and Z790 chipsets.
Rushing further into details of what this thing can do and what not, we come across its memory capacity, the type of memory it supports, and at what speeds it can run them. The plus side is that you can future-proof yourself by procuring DDR5 for this one as it only works with DDR5 memory modules and can crank up their speeds to a 6.4GHz limit - however, that can also be exceeded if you know how to play with timings and voltages.
Connectivity-wise, we get a good I/O featuring both TypeC and A USB ports of Gen1 and 2 and the new standard 6E WIFI. It is also worth noting that this motherboard offers not one but 3x PCIe slots with Gen5 technology running through them. This is one of the differentiating factors here; we also get 2 more PCIe Gen4 slots for the M.2 Drives.
You get some cool stuff for the accessories, like key chains, stickers, and a graphics card holder to eliminate the GPU sag. Now, in the end, after looking at what this motherboard offers - you need quite a beefy budget for your PC; only that way you will do justice with this board. Overall it’s the best motherboard for RTX 4090, but only if you have enough cash.
MSI ACE series comes in the premium budget segment and tries to max out on everything for budgets around $699. The same can be said for the one we will discuss today, the MSI MEG Z790 ACE. This piece of hardware is made to support Intel’s 12th and 13th gen of processors right out of the box, from Pentium to i9 - everything is usable. However, pairing it with a Pentium or even an i3 13100 would be plain stupid.
The motherboard comes in an EATX form factor slightly wider than the normal ATX motherboards. So, keep an eye out for the chassis' dimensions. This motherboard is a dream come true for overclockers because of the insane VRM power design of the 24+1+2 phase. MSI went crazy on this side of the motherboard, which is great for consumers.
Not only the CPU overclocking side but also the RAM. MSI has also done an excellent job here by allowing you to exceed the 7.8GHz mark when done right. And such speeds are only possible with newly launched DDR5 memory kits. You can couple a total of 128 Gigs with this motherboard.
The motherboard looks stunning and spreads a premium aurora with its gold and matt black color scheme. Returning to the technical side, you get an ALC4082 chip to handle all your audio-related work with the finest quality possible. Another praiseworthy thing on the motherboard is the implementation and quality of the heat spreaders over the VRMs and the rest of the PCB. It keeps the temperature levels well under control.
For the stuff that we can plug into this motherboard, this bad boy is stuffed with many ports ranging from TypeA/Cs, thunderbolt ports, mini Display Ports, and lightning-fast Ethernet to physicals button for easy troubleshooting. However, the only thing it needs to catch up to the ASUS CROSSHAIR HERO is fewer PCIe5 M.2 slots. This one only comes with one, and the rest of the 4 slots are Gen4 powered. Still, it would be a great option for a beast of a PC build.
Strix series of PC components have always been the talk of the town for gamers out there due to the superior quality and brand image that it provides to its user. The Strix series comes after the Prime series, which hovers around the budget segment. Strix costs more and places itself in the mid-range to high-range motherboard segment.
You get the basic accessories and the motherboard out of the box. However, there’s another practical accessory that ASUS ships with its Strix motherboard series: the graphics card holder. This one is handy when pairing a beefy-looking graphics card with your build. On paper, the Strix Z790-E packs a lot of power and endurance for overclock lovers with the 18+1 phase design. As for its cooling, the motherboard is fully covered in ROG-branded armor, providing both cooling and aesthetics.
The motherboard is also impressive regarding memory speeds due to support for up to 7.8 GHz in dual or single channel configuration while embracing the DDR5 modules. Moreover, there’s another question that comes into mind - which is about the memory capacity of the motherboard. Well, like most of the 4 slots motherboards out there - this one also has room for using 128 Gigabytes of memory running at 7.8 GHz.
There’s another thing to highlight here is the inclusion of a Gen5 slot for the NVMe drive which many manufacturers usually ignore and incorporates a Gen5 x16 slot into the motherboard, which doesn’t make sense due to the unavailability of PCIe5-supported graphics cards. The board boasts 5 M.2 slots, with 4 of them being PCIe4 and one 5.
Other modern-day features and I/O are also present, consisting of ports like USB3.2 of both Type-A and C and following the rule of engraving the latest WIFI module onto the motherboard. The board comes for 500$, and its purchase is only suited if you’re building a high-end build, and this is why we’ve put it on our best motherboard for RTX 4090 list.
AORUS MASTER comes before the AORUS XTREME, which is Gigabyte’s top-of-the-line motherboard offering and stays above the AORUS ELITE. This one is, however, more budget orientated than a premium one. The X670E chipset is for high-end processors like the Ryzen 9 7900X or the 7950X because they are built to entertain higher voltages and intense scenarios.
This is where the 16+2+2 VRM power design kicks in and lets the motherboard push the required power to the processor to work smoothly and give the user an unhindered experience. Also, because the motherboard itself is based on the ATX form factor, it gives the company enough room to integrate sleek-looking and effective heat spreaders over those VRMs with high temperatures. This way, the VRMs are cooled passively and help the motherboard to allow a performance boost on the processor and memory modules.
The motherboard also flexes its 2x PCIe Gen5 NVMe slots, which at the price of $489 is rare as most manufacturers only ship their motherboards with one of these fancy Gen5 slots and fill the rest with either Gen4 or Gen3.
Now let’s move towards memories as it’s one of the core components of a computer, and it’s the motherboard’s job to work feasibly with quality memory modules and get the most out of them. Being the first Ryzen chipset that utilizes DDR5 memory modules to be operational. It does quite a great job of throwing support for memories to work at speeds as high as 6.6GHz with XMP and EXPO memory configuration profiles.
A motherboard is only complete with its I/O, and this one has a decent variety over there. This features all the new fancy tech ports, which come in handy and makes the user experience more fluid and way faster with its Type Cs, Type As of Gen 1 and Gen 2, and high-speed RJ45 or Ethernet ports for faster internet access. All this information is enough to see why this board should be on your wishlist for your next PC build with RTX 4090 or RX 7900 XTX.
Gigabyte Z690 AORUS MASTER is a great contender for the mid-range motherboard offerings because of the choice in both design and feature set that it comes with. AORUS products have always been made to please gamers and PC enthusiasts with their over-the-top performance and royalty factor.
The AORUS MASTER series is like the iPhone of the PC community as it means performance and luxury simultaneously but with flexible prices, unlike the overpriced iPhones. In this board, 22 (105Amp) VRMs phases are installed into it and are internally configured in a 19+1+2 arrangement. Speaking of which, such OC generates a lot of heat and hence requires a sufficient cooling system which it does have as it uses the DTHT design for its heat spreaders to keep down the temperatures of the VRMs as much as possible.
Rolling over to the memory side of things, the board can handle four 32G DDR5 modules simultaneously, up to 128GB. To make it more fun and gain additional performance, we can tune the default RAM speed on the board, which is 4800MT/s, to reach a maximum of 6400MT/s. By doing so, we can significantly increase the performance of our build and use it at its full capacity.
The motherboard mentioned above from Gigabyte has an artistic impression due to its beautiful design choice and many helpful functionalities. It comes with an RGB-illuminated emblem on the cover of I/O, transforming it into a more appealing motherboard. And as for the feature set, it offers many of them, including a physical button for Q-Flashing and a top-of-the-line 10Gigs LAN port for some of the fastest internet connections.
Regarding the storage and GPU housing, we get one Gen5-supported x16 slot and four PCI-E 4 NVMe slots. The back I/O panel includes USB-3.2 ports, one of which is a Gen-2x2 compatible TypeC, three Gen2, and four Gen1 Type-A ports.
Dissecting the looks factor more, it is quite visible to note the abundance of many heat spreaders covering almost all of the motherboard. Generally speaking, it is an excellent board and the greatest considerable option when paired with an i9 12900k or 13700k CPU. Nevertheless, hosting a massive GPU like the RTX 4090 is also more than enough.
Taichi Carrara is ASRock’s top-of-the-line offering to compete with high-end boards from other famous brands such as Gigabyte, ASUS, and MSI; surprisingly enough, it does beat most of their offerings by a big margin which makes it obvious for PC enthusiasts and gamers with a higher budget to spend.
Taichi Carrara is one of them in the category of high-tier motherboards and offers some of the best features and performance to please its user. One can easily choose it over the offerings from the big 3 when he gets to know what this board offers.
The motherboard has an EATX form factor, and for power delivery, it has 27 (105A) phases VRMs installed in a 24+2+1 layout. This performs excellently when you pair processors like Ryzen 9 7950x or Ryzen 7 7700x and OC them. You also do not have to worry about VRM temperatures due to implementing multiple custom heatsinks.
Exploring the motherboard much ahead, it is visible that it is a piece of art in its design choice, as it catches the attention with its distinctively designed marble heat spreaders that provide cooling and aesthetics simultaneously. This behemoth doesn’t lack behind in providing the latest features, too, as it comes with two of the latest Gen-5 powered x16 slots, which would help the upcoming GPUs to run at their full potential, a total of seven x4 NVMe storage slots, one of which is Gen5x4 and rest of them are Gen4x4 and Gen4 respectively.
On the USB side, it has two of the latest USB4 Type-Cs and eight Type-As with Gen2 and Gen1 tech and is powered by USB 3.2. As for the wired internet, it has a 2.5gigs supported LAN port and 5.1 CH HD Audio Codec for the Audio.
Diving into the details further, we see four slots of RAM, which we can use to utilize 128G DDR5 memory for productivity purposes. Related to this, it is also possible to crank up the speed of those kits to 6600MT/s and more by selecting the OC profiles using the Intel XMP or AMD EXPO.
Ultimately, this is one of the most powerful and heavy-duty motherboards to date and can be titled as the best motherboard for RTX 4090 if paired with a suitable CPU. This is a great motherboard to consider when considering a one-time investment that would also benefit you in the long run.
ASUS TUF is your go-to choice when you prefer performance over RGB lighting because of a limited budget that doesn’t allow you to spend too much on a single component. This is one of the reasons ASUS introduced the TUF series to the PC community: they can fill in the needs of that specific audience and give the general one a broader list to choose from.
It’s always good to have competition between the manufacturers; this allows for more polished and numerous products being introduced to the audience. TUF results from one such thing: most manufacturers were busy making their boards look more rainbow with the RGB and stuff. The ASUS TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 is a great choice, with 15 phases of DrMOS power delivery and VRMs arranged in a 14+1 configuration - to give great performance and overclocking headroom when combined with i7 12700k or i9 12900k processors.
Regarding RAM support and its accommodation capacity, we get four memory slots of the DDR4 variant that allow 128GB memory to be used, and the memory speed can also be boosted up to 5333MT/s (varies) using the Intel XMP OC profiles.
The board looks beautiful overall, and it looks even greater with a TUF GAMING emblem. The feature set of this motherboard includes:
- A PCIe-5.0 x16 slot.
- A fast ethernet port whose support is rated at 2.5 gigs per sec.
- Four Gen-4 powered NVMe slots.
Now let’s talk about the USB3.2 powered USB ports, which include three Type-Cs with Gen2x2, Gen1, and Gen2 support, four Gen1, and two Gen2 Type-As. It also features Realtek 7.1 surround HD Audio Codec for clear and immersive audio quality. Therefore, looking at the available information above, it is safe to state that TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS Wi-Fi is the top motherboard if you want to enter the Z690 series lineup on a budget and save some extra bucks.
Consumers are why manufacturers put so much effort into their products to satisfy them and earn profits. The same is the case with Gigabyte; they’re one of the biggest suppliers of PC components in the whole world and manufacture numerous components. AORUS is also one of them and has been a great product all around as it comes in different price categories, so everyone gets to enjoy products from the same brand.
The AORUS MASTER’s motherboard series is exceptional, and Gigabyte made it hard for consumers to choose from after releasing the X570S AORUS MASTER into the wild. The board contains 16 (70A) phases of power delivery VRMs developed in a 14+2 arrangement to survive extreme overclocking conditions. Besides, the thermal design is advanced, with numerous heatsinks and a thermal conductivity rating of 9W/mK to keep the VRM cool under severe conditions like overclocking or rendering.
The board has a beautiful design and a lot of practical features. It has an RGB-illuminated AORUS on the board’s Aluminum I/O cover, a dedicated Q-Flash button, Wi-Fi 6E, onboard 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and 4x PCIe 4.0 M slots. There are two USB-3.2 Type-C ports with Gen-2x2 compatibility, two Type-As of Gen2 and two of Gen1, and an x16 PCIe 4.0 slot to support and facilitate PCIe 4.0 supported graphics they can use fully.
Moving on to RAM, the board, in its four RAM slots, can successfully handle a massive amount of RAM, 128G of DDR4. The cherry on top is the RAM speed on the board is 2933MT/s, which can easily be tuned to 5400MT/s through the XMP profile - what it does is that it overclocks the memory automatically.
Furthermore, the board has a variety of differently shaped heat-spreaders that hide the motherboard’s ugly-looking components, resulting in an aesthetically polished appearance, along with the ARGB logo on the board, which is something special. When partnered with a CPU like the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, it’s the best motherboard for RTX 4090 with so much packed inside. It can be termed the excellent mobo due to the value and performance it provides in return.
