MSI Godlike (can I get 72 point font in here? In Gothic?). I mean, how much better can you get than God? Well, like God I suppose.
But more seriously, it depends what specifics you’re looking for. Currently you can get X670, X670E, B650 and B650E with lower-tier X610 and X670 chipset-based motherboards due along any time now. The main differences are number of PCIe lanes and USB connections, and overclockability. If you want to overclock your system you’re going to need a motherboard with steadier, cleaner VRM stages, and better quality construction. But if you don’t need any of that, pretty much any of the main manufacturer boards will suffice. You can’t really go wrong, I’d say.
My personal recommendation is for MSI boards (just not the Godlike). I’ve built recently with a Z690 Carbon, B550 Unify and PRO X670-P. The latter is the only AM5 board amongst them and it’s not top tier - far from it; very un-Godlike you could say - but I figured that as an 8-layer board it would run a 7950X development machine perfectly well and so far it’s great, even with a tower cooler.
The Z690 Carbon and B550 Unify boards are similarly excellent. I went for MSI in those gens principally because of the relatively huge number of M.2 slots - 5 on the Carbon. The Carbon excellence has been carried over into the X670, B650 and Z690 era, but it’s more of a gamer motherboard with ARGB and that great dragon logo which also lights up. Not what I personally wanted for my 7950X system.
The most recent round of motherboards has got stupidly expensive. A motherboard basically just has to connect all the main parts of the computer via PCIe and memory data and address lines and they all do that more than adequately. They’re all using the same chipset from the same manufacturer (in a particular class).
You don’t have to overspend, and if you aren’t bothered about fancy lights or huge amounts of USB outputs (you can always chain them via a hub externally later) then go for a more basic board. They’re all going to operate the same way, provide the same capabilities and perform about the same, within some small margin of error, in the same price range. The top end of the market has become stupid with fancy add-ons like LCD panels that nobody needs but that’s how you get to spend over $1000 on a motherboard which isn’t really doing that much more than a $200 motherboard.
A recent unfortunate experience with the PRO X670-P build (bad CPU it turned out) tells me that POST codes are not only nice to have but necessary if the inevitable happens and your machine won’t boot (first time it’s happened to me and I had no POST codes unlike those other two boards! Typical.) Hopefully you don’t need them.
I would say don’t get taken in by the hype. Figure out the features that you need and buy the best/cheapest board based on reviews on trusted YouTube channels and online testing sites. A motherboard just has to connect all the other parts together and they will all do that with aplomb. It’s hard to get a bad board at the moment I would say, but the cheapest ones are going to skimp on WiFi, e.g. and maybe other features, but that’s mainly an effort to get you to keep going up the range.
It used to be that $250 was a high-end board, but these days that’s about the low end of the decent AM5 range, I’d say, until sales start happening. I’ve noticed boards coming down in price on Newegg by $10 or so here and there, so maybe wait a bit if you don’t have to have a board immediately; the parts I put in my Z690 system last year (DDR5!) are massively discounted a year or so on. AM5 is similarly new: there’ll be new X3D SKUs coming at the end of the month which may move some other CPU prices down and we’ve just had the non-X CPUs which might also lead to more price reductions. AM5 boards may follow suit the closer we get to spring and summer, especially since motherboard sales were down 55% in 2022 (Paul’s Hardware) and the motherboard manufacturers will be wanting to move kit, unless they decide to follow Nvidia’s example and go the high-margin, low unit sales route.
My choice for a gaming PC with ARGB would be the MSI X670E Carbon Wifi. The MSI Tomahawk is about the same board without the ARGB and fewer “Frozr” aluminum heatsinks but still an excellent board. If you can get away with no frills, like I can, then the PRO series works fine. They all come in X670 and B650 variants, the only real difference being fewer PCIe lanes on B650, and fewer USB connections, but not so many that you’d be left wanting (IMHO. I don’t have a load of USB kit hanging off my machines - keyboard, mouse, external HD and a USB stick is about the most at any one time).
If I can make a YouTube recommendation other than Level1Techs, I’d say check out “Buildzoid” on Actually Hardcore Overclocking channel: he does a great, if somewhat rambling, comparison of motherboards from the perspective of someone who does overclocking and who therefore pays great attention to voltage regulators and component and board construction quality. Last I checked he was favoring MSI boards too which helped me feel vindicated in my choice.
Good luck making your choice! It’s hard to imagine being disappointed with a motherboard in 2023 so long as it basically works!
