Intel recently released the 11th generation of Core i-series processors. Still, since there is no significant difference from the previous generation, many people are buying 10th generation processors since they are available at a lower price. For budget users, Intel Core i5-10400 and i5-10400F are among the best processors for the Intel platform since these processors are pretty powerful. Unlike the older Core i5 processors, the 10th-generation i5 processors came with Intel Hyper-Threading technology, which is why their performance has roughly increased by 25% in multi-threaded applications. The performance of this processor is approximately equivalent to AMD Ryzen 5 3600, which is pretty impressive for such a cheap processor.
The Core i5 processors are not as power-hungry as a Core i9 processor, such as a Core i9-10900K, which is why their motherboard requirements are not that demanding. Since these two processors come with a locked multiplier, you do not even require a Z-series motherboard. However, most Z-series motherboards offer better features in other departments as well. In this article, we will be checking out some of the best motherboards that you can couple with Intel Core i5 10400 or 10400F.
| Award | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Best m-ATX Motherboard for i5 10400F |
|
CHECK PRICE Read Customer Reviews |
| Best Budget Motherboard for i5 10400 |
|
CHECK PRICE Read Customer Reviews |
| Best Budget B460 Motherboard for i5 10400 |
|
CHECK PRICE Read Customer Reviews |
| Best Entry-Level B460 Mothjerboard for i5 10400 |
|
CHECK PRICE Read Customer Reviews |
| Best Motherboard for i5 10400 |
|
CHECK PRICE Read Customer Reviews |
| Best Motherboard for i5 10400f |
|
CHECK PRICE Read Customer Reviews |
| Best Premium Motherboard for i5 10400 |
|
CHECK PRICE Read Customer Reviews |
Quick Buying Tips!
Motherboards are the most complex components of a computer system, and selecting a suitable motherboard can be a pretty tiring task. That is why we have written a buying guide that will aid you in choosing the best motherboard for your Core i5 processor.
Chipset: The chipset of a motherboard highly affects the overall performance of a system. For a processor like Core i5 10400F, you can consider buying an H470, B460, or Z490 chipset. The B460 is the cheapest of these chipsets but offers limited features, i.e., you won’t get any overclocking features with this chipset. The H470 chipset is a slightly better chipset than the B460 chipset, offering more ports but it does not support overclocking as well. The Z490 chipset is the best chipset for this processor that is capable of overclocking as well, although i5 10400 and i5 10400F are not overclockable by any means.
I/O Connectivity: The I/O of a motherboard holds great importance for many people who are always trying to optimize the performance of their system. Some motherboards come with many USB ports, especially the latest USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, while cheaper motherboards come with only two ports. Apart from the USB ports, there are LAN ports, display ports, audio ports, etc., that can affect the potential of a motherboard.
Aesthetics: The motherboard looks are very important because it is the largest component of a computer system after the case. The Z-series motherboards are better in looks than H-series or B-series motherboards since they are more expensive. Most motherboards these days come with black-colored PCBs, but apart from the PCB color, the RGB lighting on the motherboard holds a significant value. Moreover, the lighting customization capabilities of a motherboard also affect the looks of a motherboard.
Best Motherboard for i5 10400 & 10400F Reviews
Gigabyte B460M AORUS PRO
Best m-ATX Motherboard for i5 10400F
View on Amazon Read Customer Reviews
When you are so fond of playing games all day but already tired of getting irritated by facing the overheating issues due to over-usage, then this motherboard has many things in store for you. It has everything that a best-performing motherboard should have to keep meeting all your P-usage needs whenever you use it in a day.
It comes with a dual-channel non-ECC unbuffered DDR4 which is widely known as the best speed enhancing technology. It keeps your PC running at the fastest speed even when you use it for long hours in a day. Not only does it come with the DDR4 technology, but it is also well-equipped with 4 DIMMs that collaborate with the DDR4 to maintain the efficient speed of your PC all the time.
Moreover, to prevent overheating issues in your PC, Gigabyte has added an advanced thermal design into its motherboard that also contains enlarged heatsinks. These heatsinks are helpful and highly functional in regulating the motherboard’s internal temperature, making the interior well-maintained at a normally functioning temperature.
On top, its Smart Fan 5 comes with multiple intelligent temperature sensors, 4 M.2 with Thermal Guard, Ultra-Fast NVMe PCIe 3. 0, and Hybrid Fan Headers that come with FAN STOP are also added for the same purpose.
All these features make this motherboard perfectly fit for playing high-end games all the time in a day without ever making you face the issues of over-heating.
Gigabyte H410M S2H
Best Budget Motherboard for i5 10400
View on Amazon Read Customer Reviews
When it comes to supporting any heavy hard-drive demanding operation other than heavy-profile games, you will find this motherboard by Gigabyte leading the race. Whether it is video editing, this motherboard can support all without ever letting your PC slow down.
The main reason for its operating with this efficiency is its power of supporting premium quality and highly efficient speed-enhancing 10th Gen Intel Core processors. Despite these processors, if you desire it to be compatible with the i5 10400 & 10400F, it can be so. So, together they make a great partner in making your PC work at amazingly superior speed.
The next thing for which this motherboard is worth buy for your i5 10400 & 10400F is that it comes supported with SATA Interface and 2 Ultra-Fast M. 2 with PCIe Gen3. These additions make the processor work better in collaboration with the motherboard, and hence your PC gains better power and support to support all your high-end tasks.
Furthermore, if you want to buy this motherboard to support your gaming needs, this can also be a great choice. It comes with 8-Channel HD Audio and High-Quality Audio Capacitors, making your auditory experience more fun and real-like while gaming. Its Exclusive 8118 Gaming LAN is preset with containing the Bandwidth Management technology for the same purpose.
ASROCK B460M-HDV
Best Budget B460 Motherboard for i5 10400
View on Amazon Read Customer Reviews
Next is this stunning motherboard by ASRock- a brand name signifying quality, performance, and features advancement. For over the years, ASRock has kept its promises of introducing best-ever quality hardware products and increased customer satisfaction by providing them enough service for their needs; this motherboard is one of those fulfilled demands.
It contains a 7-power phase design that helps maintain the system’s power to run all the heavy loading games and other tasks. It has a better capacity to support all the 10th Gen. Intel Core processors and support the i5 10400 & 10400F.
It supports the superior DDR4 technology and comes with 2933 MHz voltage monitoring systems that include +5V, +12V, +3.3V, DRAM, CPU Vcore PCH, VCCST, VPPM, and VCCSA most efficiently.
The graphics output options support all the DVI-D, D-Sub, and HDMI, so it can support the widest variety of output connectivity options you might need while connecting it with any other external device.
Additionally, the most fabulous thing about this motherboard is that it supports the extensive options for other high-speed components connectivity; these options include 2 PCIe 3. 0 x1, 1 PCIe 3. 0 x16, and 1 M. 2 Key E for Wifi. This makes this motherboard highly admired and appreciated among various other popular motherboards, similar to those in performance but lack particular features.
MSI B460M-A ProSeries
Best Entry-Level B460 Mothjerboard for i5 10400
View on Amazon Read Customer Reviews
To get better speed and performance from your computer, the best decision you could make is to install this great motherboard by MSI. It mainly supports Pentium Celeron processors for LGA 1200 socket and 10th Gen Intel Core, famous for speed enhancement and efficient performance.
This motherboard supports DDR4 memory that reaches up to 2933MHz. This memory speed helps you get better at your PC control and get speed benefits when you are busy using your computer. The processor supports never let your system lag in speed, and hence, it is known as the best-ever item of all times to set up within the system.
Additionally, to boost your computer’s speed, it is made carefully to contain a premium layout and most-amazing digital power design. These designs are known best for supporting an increased number of cores to provide exceptional performance.
When working on your computer for long hours, there are high chances of getting slow down mainly because of the temperature rise. However, this motherboard prevents your system from behaving in the way.
This is because it comes preinstalled with a built-in M.2 thermal solution that ensures to regulate the system’s temperature most conveniently. Also, it can keep the M.2 SSDs safer for a similar purpose when it’s busy preventing throttling. With this process going on within the system, this motherboard makes your system run faster and better at any instant of your use.
In addition to these features, the motherboard is also well-equipped with steel armor that protects the VGA cards inserted within the system. Not only this, but the armor prevents the VGA cards from EMI and bending and thus, make them perform even better, robust, and stable.
Finally, considering all these features, it would be fitting to mention this motherboard as the most exclusive, advanced, and powerful motherboard of all time.
ASROCK H470 Steel Legend
Best Motherboard for i5 10400
View on Amazon Read Customer Reviews
Just like any other fine quality motherboard that is designed to keep meeting the advanced needs of all your gaming PC, this motherboard by ASRock has the same meaning of introduction. It comes to fulfill all those requirements which any hard-core gamer has set for its PC.
Most importantly, the motherboard is quite excellent in supporting 10th Gen Intel Core processors, which are excellent in providing better speed to your system. Also, these processors know how to make your PC work efficiently without irritating you even further in your demands for a better and functional system. The ability to support such an advanced processor makes this mobo one of the most appreciated and demanded ones among the list of hundreds of others.
It comes with 11 Phase Dr.MOS Power Design and super-efficiently supports DDR4 2933MHz to maintain your PC’s effective functioning. These are the most advanced and latest additions in the motherboard’s system, making it categorize among the top-rated and most admired motherboard in gamers' expansive community.
Not ending here, the great thing about this motherboard is that it supports versatile connectivity support as it has various ports for the purpose. It comes with 2 PCIe 3.0 x1, 2 PCIe 3.0 x16, and 1 M.2(Key E) for Wifi connection. With these connectivity supports, you will find greater ease in the process of connecting outer components to your PC for better use.
ASUS Prime Z490M-PLUS
Best Motherboard for i5 10400f
View on Amazon Read Customer Reviews
When we talk about getting the enhanced performance, better power solution, comprehensive cooling technology, ultrafast connectivity support, boosted memory performance, and many other features like these for our PC builds, this motherboard by ASUS comes to mind. It comes with everything we have just mentioned and has the power to introduce these things most effectively into your computer systems.
It has a robust Intel LGA 1200 socket specially designed to support 11th Gen Intel Core processors' maximum performance. With this support, the motherboard becomes quite remarkable in its manufacturing and serves best for all the PC users who have similar processors.
In addition to it, what makes this motherboard worth buying is its enhanced power solution that comprises of ProCool connector, 10 DrMOS power stages, durable capacitors, and alloy chokes. These additions help the motherboard deliver the most powerful and stable performance under even the most demanding situations.
Lastly, to keep your system cooler ad working better, it comes with a comprehensive cooling system combined with a PCH heatsink, hybrid fan headers, VRM heatsink, and Fan Xpert 4 utility. The purpose of this cooling system within your PC is essential as it makes sure that your PC runs at considerable speed without ever being heated up and slowed down in the middle.
Gigabyte H470 AORUS PRO
Best Premium Motherboard for i5 10400
View on Amazon Read Customer Reviews
Here we end our list by mentioning another top-rated motherboard that comes directly from Gigabyte. It is a brand known for its quality and reliability in its products. Its motherboards are among the most liked and preferred hardware items worldwide.
It comes with dual-channel non-ECC unbuffered DDR4 and 4 DIMMs to support increased memory speed and capacity. This memory support makes this motherboard highly appreciative of making the PC capable of running best to support the heavy hard drive demanding operations on the system.
Furthermore, this motherboard is best in supporting 10th Gen Intel Core Series Processors and comes with Direct 11 Phases Digital VRM Solution to make it even more exceptional in its performance.
Its advanced thermal design is powerful enough to keep your system more relaxed and functional under any situation. This is because it has an enlarged surface heatsink which keeps the cooling process going smoother. Also, it has Smart Fan 5 that comes with Multiple Temperature Sensors and intelligent Hybrid Fan Headers with Fan Stop for a similar purpose.
Finally, to support the Wifi connection most strongly, Onboard Intel Wifi 6 802.11ax 2T2R and BT5 come along with AORUS Antenna.
Conclusion
Motherboards are becoming better day by day, providing more ports, the latest features, and better overall performance. For Intel Core i5-10400 or 10400F, we have provided some of the best possible motherboards above. If you are a budget user, it would be better to buy a B460 or H470 chipset motherboard. These two chipsets do not support overclocking, and neither do the processors mentioned above.
However, if you are thinking of buying a motherboard once and for all, it would be better to buy a Z-series motherboard because you will be able to upgrade the processor to Core i7 and overclock it on such a motherboard as well. Moreover, you will be able to enjoy the high-end features on a Z-series motherboard as well, such as a powerful audio chipset, a faster networking chipset, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it worth buying a Z-series motherboard for Core i5-10400/10400F?
The biggest advantage of a Z-series motherboard is that it is capable of overclocking the unlocked processors, but as these two processors are not unlocked, you won’t be able to overclock them no matter what. Therefore, a Z-series motherboard should only be considered if you are interested in its looks or want to upgrade your processor later, or want a particular feature that is not available in an H-series or B-series motherboard.
Should we consider buying a high-end VRM motherboard for this processor?
The VRM of a motherboard is one of its vital components, but for a processor like Core i5-10400, you will not require a high-end VRM. Such a VRM is usually needed when the processor is overclocked, and since there can be no overclocking on this processor, most motherboard’s VRMs should be enough for a Core i5-10400 or 10400F.
Can we use 11th-generation processors with 10th-generation motherboards?
Thankfully, Intel did not release new motherboards for the 11th-generation processors, which is why all the motherboards that work with Intel’s 10th-generation processor work with 11th-generation processors as well; the next-generation processors might not work on these motherboards, though.
