Do Motherboards Have Integrated Graphics?
Do motherboards have integrated graphics or do you need a integrated graphics chip or a dedicated GPU? This article will tell you all about it.
Best Motherboards For i9 10900K
Intel Core i9-10900K is one of the best mainstream processors these days, and it is even faster than its successor, Core i9-11900K, as it has ten cores, compared to eight cores in the i9-11900K (see also best graphics card for i9 9900k). It has a core clock of 3.7 GHz, while the Turbo clock is 5.3 GHz. The processor supports Hyper-Threading as well, which is why it has a total of twenty threads.
Intel’s 10th generation came with LGA 1200 socket, so these processors work on older chipsets like B360, Z370, Z390 (see also the best Z390 motherboard here). For a processor like i9-10900K, the most suitable chipset is the Z590 or Z490, the successors of the Z390 chipset. Both these chipsets are the most powerful mainstream chipsets and provide many high-end features that make them stand out compared to other chipsets like H470. In this article, we will look at some of the best motherboards that can be used with Intel Core i9-10900K.
Quick Motherboard Recommendations for i9 10900K
| Award | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Best Budget Motherboard for i9 10900K |
Gigabyte Z490 AORUS ELITE AC
|
Check Price Read Customer Reviews |
| Best Mid-Range Motherboard for i9 10900K |
MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge WiFi
|
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| Best Premium Motherboard for i9 10900K |
MSI MEG Z490 GODLIKE
|
Check Price Read Customer Reviews |
Quick Buying Tips!
Intel Core i9-10900K is a mighty processor, and choosing a suitable one for this processor is a hectic task. There are a lot of factors that must be considered before buying a motherboard. That is why we have created this buying guide for those who need help purchasing a motherboard for Core i9-10900K.
Power Delivery: The more cores a processor has, the higher is its power consumption. For power-hungry processors, you must use a motherboard that hosts a powerful VRM. Moreover, a good-quality VRM is very useful in overclocking the processor, and with a weak VRM, the processor cannot reach high clock rates.
Unique Features: Nowadays, many motherboards come with special features that are not present in other motherboards. For example, some ASUS motherboards come with a DIMM.2 slot, which can host multiple M.2 slots. Similarly, some motherboards come with an OLED display that can be used for various motherboard parameters. Whenever you consider buying a motherboard, you should have a look at its exclusive features.
Design and Looks: The motherboard’s design dramatically affects the looks of a system because it is the largest component in a computer system after the case. The latest motherboards come with fancy RGB lighting, metallic textures, shiny I/O covers, and whatnot. However, most of these features are present in high-end motherboards only, costing much more than mid-range motherboards.
You might also be interested in this article about how to buy a desktop motherboard.
Best Motherboards For i9 10900K Reviews
Gigabyte has some premium motherboards like Z490 Xtreme and some budget-friendly options like Z490 Elite AC in their Aorus series. Both of them are well suited for Intel Core i9 10900K, but that depends on your budget and needs. The Z490 Aorus Elite AC has potent heatsinks over the voltage regulators, which offers exceptional overclocking headroom, but you might need some good aftermarket cooling solution for that. The networking side of this motherboard is powered by Dual-Band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and 2.5G NIC, which offers a great online gaming experience.
The memory support of this motherboard is excellent as it has four RAM slots allowing users to install 128 GB of DDR4 memory clocked at 4933 MHz. There are two PCIe x16 slots where one runs at x16 mode while the other at x4 and thus results in a two-way Crossfire. There are two M.2 slots and six SATA3 slots, and luckily both of the high-speed slots come with their dedicated heat spreaders. The rear side of this motherboard has two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A and a single Type-C port along with some other USB, Ethernet, and Audio ports.
There are a few RGB lights on the black base of this motherboard which you can change with the RGB Fusion application to produce various effects with it. Overall this motherboard is excellent for a flagship processor like Intel Core i9 10900K, but a few USB ports on the rear side and the absence of Wi-Fi 6 also disappoint the users. The price of this motherboard is reasonable for the features it offers, but still, a price cut will be excellent.
Summary: Entry-level Aorus series motherboard packed with potent VRMs and offers exceptional overclocking headroom for a reasonable price.
MSI Z490 Gaming Carbon Wi-Fi was a premium motherboard and too expensive for any budget build, but if you are saving some money and can compromise on features cut down, the MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge Wi-Fi. Even though it’s cheap, it still comes with premium stuff like two M.2 slots where one has its integrated heat sink, six SATA slots, Wi-Fi 6, Intel 2.5G NIC, and four memory slots that allow you to install 128 GB of RAM clocked at 4800 MHz. This motherboard looks much similar to the MSI Z490 Gaming Carbon, but they’ve changed a lot of things too.
This motherboard doesn’t have RGB lights except for a few lights underneath the chipset, but the heatsinks with excellent cuts and pattern printed give great aesthetics. There are two PCIe x16 and two PCIe x1 slots, and it comes compatible with AMD Crossfire in two ways. The BIOS of this motherboard is straightforward to use, and you can easily overclock your processor with it. Still, unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a BIOS flashback button which means you can’t easily recover the BIOS in case of corruption. No doubt it’s one of the great motherboards that you can consider for your i9 10900K when you can’t afford its expensive sibling.
Summary: Cheap alternative of Z490 Gaming Carbon provides many similar features, but few are not available, overall a great mid-range option.
When you have the Comet Lake flagship processor in your hands and looking to get a motherboard for showing off, there might be no other better option for you than the MSI MEG Z490 GODLIKE which we also recommend for i7-10700K. Targeted for enthusiasts, this motherboard has excellent connectivity options and a great set of accessories, but it will also make your wallet empty. MSI has made this flagship motherboard compete with Asrock’s Z490 Taichi and Asus Z490 ROG Maximus XII Extreme by offering better price and performance. If money is not a problem for you and you are willing to push the Intel Core i9 10900K or i7 10700K to their limits, this motherboard is worth considering.
The core features of this motherboard include support for 128 GB of DDR4 memory clocked at 5000 MHz, six SATA3 slots, three M.2 slots with dedicated heatsink for all of them, two ethernet ports on the rear, integrated Wi-Fi and a lot more things. It also has three PCIe x16 slots with PCI Slot Armor and allows you to install multiple graphics cards but are only compatible with AMD Crossfire. There are many USB3 ports on the rear side, including USB Type-A and Type-C and two Thunderbolt ports.
The only downside of this motherboard is its price which is too much for a casual gamer and PC build, and also the E-ATX size reduces the casing compatibility of this motherboard. The fast 10Gbit ethernet port is exceptional in this motherboard, and the bundled M.2 expander also makes it compelling.
Summary: MSI top-notch motherboard, expensive price, packed with many features that any enthusiast demands, not built for casual gamers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best motherboard for Intel Core i9-10900K?
MSI MEG Z590 GODLIKE is one of the best motherboards for Core i9-10900K. It is also one of the most expensive Z590 motherboards and comes with tons of extensive features and accessories that you won’t find in most motherboards. It might look overkill at first, but you don’t need second thoughts if you can afford this beast of a motherboard.
What chipsets are compatible with Intel Core i9-10900K?
Intel Core i9-10900K is compatible with the LGA 1200 socket. There are eight mainstream chipsets that come with this socket; H410, B460, H470, H510, B560, H570, Z490, and Z590. Even though the H-series and B-series chipsets are compatible with i9-10900K, it is not a good idea to use this processor with such chipsets because it requires a Z-series chipset for overclocking. Moreover, most H- and B-series motherboards do not have good enough VRM to host a processor like i9-10900K.
What is the cheapest Z-series motherboard for Core i9-10900K?
MSI Z590-A PRO is one of the cheapest Z-series motherboards that can be used for Core i9-10900K. Despite being cheap, it is pretty capable of overclocking this processor to high clock rates, and you shouldn’t suffer from any problems using this motherboard with i9-10900K.
Conclusion
Intel Core i9-10900K is a promising processor that offers ten cores and twenty threads. The power requirements of this processor are pretty high, which is why it must be used in combination with a high-end motherboard, especially in the case when it is overclocked. The Z490 and Z590 chipsets are the most prominent chipsets for this flagship processor from Intel’s 10th-generation.
The Z590 chipset is the most powerful Intel chipset ever designed(for mainstream processors), and motherboards based on this chipset come with PCI-E 4.0, lots of USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and many other exclusive features. For extreme enthusiasts, we recommend buying something like ASUS MAXIMUS XIII Hero or MSI MEG Z590 GODLIKE.
For high-end users, GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS ELITE AX (which is also one of the best motherboards for i9 11900K), ROG STRIX Z590-E GAMING WIFI, and ASROCK Z590 EXTREME are suitable. For budget users, MSI Z590-A PRO, ASROCK Z590 PRO4, and GIGABYTE Z590 UD are going to be fantastic options.
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