Intel's 10th Gen Comet Lake and 11th Gen Rocket Lake processors (CPU) remain relevant even today, especially when you can often find them at a discounted price at third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy. They're powerful chips for general computing or gaming, and you might be planning to use one in your next PC build or upgrade.
These CPUs use Intel's LGA 1200 socket — Intel has since moved on to LGA 1700 for its 12th, 13th, and 14th Gen chips — available in a wide range of motherboards with different levels of performance and varying costs.
LGA 1200 motherboards using the Z490 and Z590 chipsets sit at the top in terms of features, while B- and H-class boards are generally a bit more affordable for anyone looking to upgrade without breaking the bank. We've collected a range of great LGA 1200 motherboards right here to help you get the right hardware for your PC.
Best overall
The Z490 AORUS Ultra is the top choice for an LGA 1200 motherboard for gamers. Its build quality and components are high quality with a fantastic feature set, including up to 128GB of DDR4 RAM and three M.2 sockets for super-fast SSD storage. Wi-Fi 6 is included for easy connectivity.
Best white
NZXT's N7 Z590 is a premium motherboard made for gaming, and its white finish can provide some contrast against otherwise black hardware. It has four slots for DDR4 RAM, an M.2 slot for PCIe 4.0 storage, and Wi-Fi 6E support with Bluetooth 5.2.
Great for overclocking
The Z490 Gaming Carbon Wi-Fi is an affordable board with plenty on offer. The usual BIOS luxuries from MSI, such as RGB and fan controls, are perfect for testing overclocked components. Two M.2 sockets and four DIMM slots provide options for storage, and onboard Wi-Fi 6 with Bluetooth 5.1 makes for easy networking.
Best without Wi-Fi
The Z490 Gaming Plus packs a premium feature set. Its four DIMM slots support up to 128GB of memory at 5000MHz overclocked, paired with two M.2 sockets for SSD storage. If Wi-Fi is something you can do without, there are plenty of reasons to go with this budget-friendly board.
Premium performance
This motherboard was built for overclockers, featuring a wealth of tweaking options in its BIOS. Nine USB-A and one USB-C, plus three M.2 ports give you plenty of storage options. Pair all this with 10GB Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6, and it's clear to see that were no expenses spared. Hence the price.
Best budget
LGA 1200 motherboards are slowly being phased out, and prices have gone up as a result. However, the MSI B560M PRO-E is still close to $100. It's a great option for more casual users, with two DIMM slots for 64GB DDR4 memory support, PCIe 4.0 support, an M.2 PCIe 3.0 slot for SSD, and 1Gbps LAN.
Choosing the best Intel LGA 1200 motherboard
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Intel's 10th and 11th Gen desktop processors remain viable options for plenty of people, and while LGA 1200 motherboards are slowly being phased out, you can still find some great hardware on which to build your PC.
Gigabyte's Z490 AORUS ULTRA is our top pick thanks to its beautiful stylized design, high-quality construction (including 12-phase power delivery) with strong performance, and plenty of slots for M.2 SSDs. It even has Wi-Fi 6 and 2.5Gb LAN support.
In our Gigabyte Z490 AORUS Ultra review, former Senior Editor Rich Edmonds said, "Even if you plan on pushing your Intel Core i5, i7, or i9 processor a little further, this Gigabyte platform will handle the additional power requirements without issue. The 12-phase delivery design is amazing, supplying ample clean and reliable power to the CPU."
We also reviewed NZXT's N7 Z590, which comes with a white shroud, incredible performance with strong VRM cooling, and even Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 support. It's not as full of features as our top pick, but it remains a more affordable and stylish option.
For the enthusiast gamer pushing their hardware to its potential, the ASUS ROG Maximus XII Formula is simply one of the best motherboards out there. It might be expensive, but it will carry your gaming rig for years to come, or at least until you decide to upgrade again.
Which LGA 1200 motherboards have Wi-Fi?
While it's hard to find a motherboard without an Ethernet port for LAN connectivity, a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modem isn't always included. Not everyone needs native wireless connectivity, but it certainly is a desirable trait for a lot of people who don't want to snake Ethernet cables through their hallways.
Out of the six top LGA 1200 motherboards we've collected here, only the MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Plus and MSI B560M PRO-E have no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth support. In the case of the B560M board, its near-$100 pricing should be more than enough to make up for the lack of native Wi-Fi support. You still get a 1Gb LAN port, and you can always add a Wi-Fi adapter elsewhere to pick up your router's signal.
