7 Best Motherboards for i7-10700K

A computer without a proper motherboard is like a human body without the central nervous system. What that means is, all the components will just be heavy paperweight or at least won’t work properly.

Intel’s latest i7 10700K processor packs a serious punch. Given their performance, it’s not surprising to see why they are selling like hotcakes. If you just grabbed yours or are thinking of one, you will need a motherboard to go along with it.

Well, here is a review of the best motherboard for i7 10700K that will ensure your brand-new CPU will run to its full potential. And boy, do we have a product selection for you! There is something for everyone. We included a budget motherboard and also a couple of premium options too!

Our Top Picks for the Best Motherboards for i7-10700K

A quick google search for the best motherboards will give you hundreds of results for a motherboard. But are all of them the right pick? Well, if that were the case, this review wouldn’t have existed, now, would it? Here are the only i7 10700K motherboards you need to care about.

1. ASUS TUF Gaming Z590-Plus – Best motherboard for i7-10700K

Socket: LGA1200| Chipset: Intel Z590| Form Factor: ATX| PCIe x16: 2| Memory Max: 128GB | Memory Slots: 4| Warranty: 3 Years

ASUS is one of those brands that doesn’t need any introduction. They are a juggernaut in the PC part industry. The TUF Gaming Z590-Plus is our top pick for you if you’re building a heavy-duty gaming PC. It may not be the best premium motherboard; however, it simply is one of the bests.

One of the key features is in the name itself. Asus TUF lineup of products is meant to withstand tough operating conditions, and it uses many high-quality components to make that happen.

Its military-grade components give you top-notch and, most importantly, reliable performance for day-to-day usage and heavy-duty usage. Since it supports the LGA 1200 CPU socket, it will fit perfectly with your i7 10700K motherboard.

On top of that, cool features like its robust VRM solution with 14+2 DrMOS power and DGI+ VRM ensures your processor gets all the juice it needs. The VRM is a fanless one, so there won’t be annoying noises you need to deal with either.

Gamers will love the ultra-fast networking solution, which supports WIFI 6 AX201 and 2.5 Gb LAN. The M.2 ports and NVMe SSD support provide storage for an overall fast and solid experience. Now that’s what we call a top motherboard.

You will love it too if you’re a gamer since the brand is quite reputed in the gaming industry! ASUS TUF gaming motherboard is exactly what the name says it is. It’s tough!

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2. MSI MPG Z590 Gaming Carbon WiFi – Best Premium Motherboard for i7-10700K

Socket: LGA1200| Chipset: Intel Z590| Form Factor: ATX| PCIe x16: 3| Memory Max: 128GB (DDR4)| Memory Slots: 4| Warranty: 3 Years

Those who are looking for a premium motherboard and money is no issue, boy, do we have a motherboard for you! If you came to play, get this one from the guys over at MSI. Their MPG series of gaming motherboards are some of the most gorgeous pieces of kit out there.

It has the same socket support as our previous ASUS one. LGA 1200 will directly fit your Intel Core i7 10700K processor. In fact, this motherboard will support 11^th Gen and 10^th Gen Intel processors without any worries.

One cool feature is the PCIe 4.0. If that sounds like a new term, that’s because it is. Up until now, PCIe 3.0 has been the standard. With newer graphics cards coming out and the new PCIe version, you will soon have an arsenal of powerful cards to choose from. So, this motherboard sort of sets you up for the future.

What about the cooling, then? Well, MSI has taken care of that too! The enlarged heat sink with additional choke thermal pads helps keep the VRMs cool and running smoothly.

Oh, and did we mention it supports DDR4 memory with speeds up to 5333 MHz? Because it does. And the 4 DIMM slots mean you can fill out 2 slots now and expand your computer’s memory later.

The power design is great as well with its 16+1+1 dual Rail Power system. All these features together easily make this one of the best motherboards you can buy.

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3. ASUS ROG Strix Z490-E – Best Enthusiast Motherboard for i7-10700K

Socket: LGA1200| Chipset: Intel Z490| Form Factor: ATX| PCIe x16: 3| Memory Max: 128GB (DDR4)| Memory Slots: 4| Warranty: 3 Years

Another motherboard, another ASUS. Let us tell you one thing though — all the products in this list are from either ASUS, MSI, ASRock or Gigabyte. These are the top names in the industry. And when you have a review of the best motherboard for i7 10700K, you can’t ignore ASUS.

Do you consider yourself a bit of an enthusiast and just straight-up love technology and tinkering?  Then this ASUS ROG Strix Z490 is the one to get. Why? Glad you asked.

One of the reasons this motherboard works so well for enthusiasts is because of the cooling.  It features a 14+2 power stage. This means the overclocking capabilities of this board are very high!

The VRM helps this motherboard deliver clean and adequate power to your CPU. With enough power, you will be able to overclock the CPU and take it to its limit. Cooling is handled by the ProCool II power connector. We are sure that extreme overclockers will love it!

There are tons of connectivity as well. So, you don’t have to worry when it comes to plugging in peripherals. It has HDMI ports, DisplayPort, USB Type-C connectors, and more.

All this, coupled with the high-quality sound with the SupremeFX S1220A codec, gives you a completely immersive experience. This one is easily the best enthusiast motherboard.

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4. MSI Z490-A PRO ProSeries – Best Budget Motherboard for i7-10700K

Socket: LGA1200| Chipset: Intel Z490| Form Factor: ATX| PCIe x16: 3| Memory Max: 128GB (DDR4)| Memory Slots: 4| Warranty: 3 Years

Okay, we know what you’re probably thinking. All these motherboards look great, but the price tag is a bit too much. If you’re on a budget, don’t worry. MSI has just the one for you. Their Z470-A Pro is a total value for money.  This might not be the cheapest motherboard, but it is still great.

It supports a total of 128GB of DDR4 memory. Yes, you read that right, 128GB! It’s compatible with super-fast memory too! You can easily pair a 4800 MHz memory kit with this thing.

The power delivery for the CPU is also very high-quality. You can be sure that your CPU will get all the power it needs at the right time and in the right amount, thanks to MSI’s Core Boost.

Like most motherboards out there, networking is taken care of by the fast Gigabit LAN. 2.5G LAN, to be exact, and this one also supports WIFI 6 for some wireless convenience. Wi-fi is awesome to have, wouldn’t you agree?

And lastly, you can’t forget the M.2 slots for fast SSD storage speeds. There is a cooling shield that MSI calls Shield Frozr. It keeps the drives cool and gives you even faster transfer speeds.

All these ‘cool’ features aren’t too shabby for a budget motherboard, now, is it? As you can see, the best motherboards don’t always have to be expensive. So, if you call this the best budget motherboard, no one’s stopping you.

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5. GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS Xtreme – Best E-ATX Motherboard for i7-10700K

Socket: LGA1200| Chipset: Intel Z490| Form Factor: EATX| PCIe x16: 3| Memory Max: 128GB (DDR4)| Memory Slots: 4| Warranty: 3 Years

From our experience, anything with ‘Xtreme’ in the name is bound to be awesome. And this one even omits the ‘e’ from the word extreme. So, you can bet it’s even more ‘Xtreme’. Well, joking aside, this one is a great choice for E-ATX form factors.

It’s great for larger PCs and will give you a lot of room to work with. That’s good news if you want an easy-to-build PC and want to do some custom water cooling. Not that you need an E-ATX for water cooling, though.

It has a very robust VRM that ensures your i7 10700K gets enough power to stay running at its peak levels. The 16-phase digital VRM does a lot of work here.

If that wasn’t enough, the heat pipes used are ‘Direct Touch’ with nanocarbon coating. What this means in simple English is that cooling is superb. There is even a baseplate that should keep everything scratch-free and safe.

There are 4 DIMM memory slots. So, just like the previous ones, if you fill out 2 of them now, you can occupy the rest 2 later on. If you’re wondering about the supported memory speeds, don’t worry. It will take up to 5000 MHz RAM. Now that’s impressive.

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6.  ASROCK B560M-HDV – Best Micro ATX Motherboard for i7-10700K

Socket: LGA1200| Chipset: Intel B560| Form Factor: Micro ATX| PCIe x16: 1| Memory Max: 64GB (DDR4)| Memory Slots: 2| Warranty: 3 Years

For any kind of home computer that needs a reliable motherboard, this one is it. You get good reliable features minus the extra bells and whistles. You can think of this ITX motherboard as the everyman’s motherboard.

There are 2 DIMM slots for RAM and 9 USB ports. Although you can have a lot of memory, you are limited to only 2 RAM sticks. That might limit future expandability and upgrade options. If you want to upgrade the RAM later on, you will need to completely remove the remaining two.

The VRM and power delivery are good but nothing too special. As we said, it’s an everyman’s motherboard. It should be enough power to run the i7 10700K but overclocking might not be the best idea here.

There are good storage options, though. You get 2 M.2 slots for fast SSD storage and SATA 6GB/s ports for hard drives and/or SSDs. The PCIe version is 4.0. So, that’s pretty impressive still.

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7.  MSI MEG Z490I Unify – Best Mini-ITX Motherboard for i7-10700K

Socket: LGA 1200| Chipset: Intel Z490| Form Factor: Mini-ITX| PCIe x16: 3| Memory Max: 128GB (DDR4)| Memory Slots: 4| Warranty: 3 Years

Our last motherboard is from MSI once again. This one features an ITX form factor for small PCs. If you like the idea of a small footprint with tons of power, the MSI MEG Z490I has you covered.

Since it’s an ITX motherboard, we aren’t surprised to see only 2 DIMM slots. There isn’t that much space to fit 4 slots. 2 slots shouldn’t be a problem, though, since it supports 128 GB of memory.

It has an all-metal heatsink that dissipates heat efficiently and will help high-end processors like the i7 10700K run at their full potential. It’s also pretty feature-rich in the networking department.

The 2.5GB LAN with WIFI 6 gives you fast networking. You can game without any worries. Of course, the actual speed of your connection will also depend on your ISP. So, keep that in mind. This one is the best motherboard to get from this list if you’re after a gaming rig.

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Buying Guide For i7 10700K Motherboard

Here is the thing, picking out any product from a top list is easy. We handpicked these motherboards for you. So, no matter which one you go for, you will end up with a solid choice.

But if you want to be a bit more diligent and get one that works just for you, then you need to keep some things in mind. When it comes to picking PC hardware, shopping for specific features pays off. The CPU socket is one of the most important things when buying the best motherboard.

Socket

The socket is the first thing you need to look into when choosing the best motherboard for i7 10700K. Whether you’re shopping for a high-end board or one at the low-end, if it isn’t the right socket, the processor won’t fit. It’s as simple as that.

In this case, the i7 10700K uses Intel’s LGA 1200 socket. Look for a compatible motherboard that supports this socket and supports 10^th/11^th Gen Intel Core processors. That way, you can be sure that your motherboard will work with the processor for sure.

VRM and Power

VRM and power are also important. The i7 is a powerful CPU. Just like any powerful CPU in the market, it needs plenty of clean power to keep it running. VRMs also ensure stability when the processor is going at full throttle.

So, you can probably see why quality VRMs and smart power stages are things that are held as very important. Get a motherboard with good VRMs, and your CPU will thank you for it. You will get optimal cooling performance with the right CPU cooler and more stable power delivery.  

Form Factor

Then you, of course, have the form factor. Motherboards come in different sizes depending on which form factor they are. It’s true even for the ATX motherboard. M-ATX (Micro ATX motherboard), E-ATX (Extended ATX motherboard), and ITX (Mini ITX board)

The tricky thing here is that there isn’t a hard and fast rule on which form factor is better. Each has its pros and cons.

ATX is the most common one. However, ITX is great for those who want a small PC. E-ATX, on the other hand, are large motherboards and give you plenty of real estates to work with.

It all depends on your preference and what kind of rig you want to build. Do keep in mind that there will be some inherent limitations with specific form factors. For example, ITX will have fewer ram slots and E-ATX might need a much larger case.

RAM Slots and Capacity

Speaking of RAM Slots, this is another thing you need to consider before pulling the trigger on a motherboard. Some motherboards may have 4 slots, while others may have 2. Enthusiast grade and very high-end motherboards can even have 8 RAM slots or DIMM slots.

We wouldn’t normally recommend going with anything less than 4. That isn’t because of performance. It is more because of future expandability. If you buy a motherboard with 2 slots now and want to upgrade the RAM later on, you will need to completely remove the two old RAM sticks.

Whereas, if you just bought one with 4 slots, you could have just added two extra sticks later on. Although, sometimes, there are just physical constraints. In an ITX motherboard, you need to give up more RAM slots for a small form factor.

Capacity and speed are important as well. More RAM is, of course, better. But there is a point of diminishing return. You might not need the maximum capacity of RAM that a motherboard can handle. But having the option to use high capacity gives you peace of mind.

All the ones in this review do give you a lot of capacity, with 64GB being the minimum and a whopping 28GB being the maximum. So, that’s not a worry at least in this case.

Future-Proofing and Extra Features

Features like PCIe 4.0 and other cool new features are always nice to have now. You might not see complete usage of PCI 4.0 today. The computer industry moves fast though. So, PCI 4.0 will also become more relevant and give you more value later on.

As manufacturers release more and more PCIe 4.0 GPUs, you will need a motherboard with that slot to make use of all those features. Keep an eye out for features like these that help make your rig future-proof.

That being said, it’s still completely fine to go with a PCIe 3.0 board now. It still works perfectly fine, and GPUs run quite stellar also. With better GPUs, you will also see better gaming performance. Investing in a PCIe 4.0 still might not be a bad choice even now.  You should look into these types of boards if you’re building a gaming PC.

Also, it doesn’t hurt to have some extra features like wireless connectivity and superior audio. All these will make the experience of using the motherboard much more enjoyable.

The good thing is that you don’t need to buy an expensive motherboard to get the best features.

Overclocking

It is something that won’t appeal to everybody. You need to be an enthusiast and have to like tinkering with your computer for it to matter to you.

If you do want to overclock your CPU, make sure you buy a motherboard that’s able to handle that. Going back to the earlier point, you need a board with powerful VRMs and also a nice cooling solution.

Plus, high-quality components also make it easier to overclock. Honestly, high-quality components are something to look for regardless of overclocking.

Intel Core lineup of products has different naming schemes. Ones that end with a ‘K’ like the i7 10700K, are made for overclocking.

Why buy a motherboard that you can’t overclock with, right? That would be just a waste of money and a mispairing of the motherboard and processor. Get a quality board that lets you overclock.

Any flagship motherboard or premium motherboard will have good VRMs. It’s when you’re shopping at the low end you need to be a bit careful about it.

RGB

Having an RGB is either a yay or a nay for you. It’s subjective. Some love the idea of their computer glowing up. They get a thrill from controlling all the lighting effects. Others find them tacky and unnecessary.

Well, if you’re on the first camp, you need to keep an eye out for RGB-specific features like addressable RGB headers. Manufacture exclusive features like ASUS’s Aura Sync and Mystic Light are also cool things to have.

Although RGB isn’t a very important feature to look for when shopping for the best motherboard for i7 10700K, it’s still nice to have. It isn’t considered one of the must-have premium features like when RGB first became popular.

So, you might find it in affordable motherboards nowadays as well. But as we mentioned, it doesn’t, of course, have any influence on the performance of the board.

Brand and Price

Lastly, there is the brand and price. You can pick any brand from this review without any worry. It will easily work with your i7 10700K. All the ones we mentioned are top names in the industry. They have years of experience making top-notch computer hardware.

As for price, settle on a budget and shop for a motherboard that fits within that budget. Don’t forget to keep the features we mentioned above to make the best decision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

There you have it. Now you should have a very clear idea about which is the best motherboard for i7 10700K. But more importantly, which one is right for you. The thing about computers is they are personal. Everyone has their own needs.

You need to pick the one that works for you. Whether that be an enthusiast one, a budget one, or a small factor ITX motherboard. Get the right one for you and enjoy years of quality performance from your brand-new hardware.

Building your own PC can be very fun if you have the right knowledge. And that was the main idea behind this whole review! So, if you’re buying a processor like the Intel Core i7 10700K, it makes all the sense in the world to also buy the best motherboard you can get for it.