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AMD’s Zen 5 chips are out and about and ready to take the market by storm. The Ryzen 7 9700X emerges from the stack as a mid-to-high range option, rated at just 65W. While virtually any AM5 motherboard will have enough juice to support it, that doesn’t mean you should just close your eyes and pick any. Many factors need to be considered; don’t worry, we did just that to bring you our best selections for the 9700X.
Comparison Of My Picks
Here are our selections and how they compare to each other.
Best Motherboards For Ryzen 7 9700X
Take a look at our selections:
- Best Overall: Gigabyte B650 AORUS Elite AX V2
- Best Value: MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi
- Best For Overclocking: MSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi Gaming
- Best White: ASRock B650E Steel Legend WiFi
Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX V2
Best Overall Motherboard For Ryzen 7 9700X
Chipset: AMD B650 | Memory: DDR5-8000+ (OC) | VRM: 12+2+2 | Video Outputs: HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4 | RGB Lighting: Yes | Network: Wi-Fi 6E, Realtek 2.5G LAN, Bluetooth 5.3 | Storage: 3x M.2 (1x PCIe 5.0), 4x SATA 6G | USB Ports: 12x Rear, 7x Front
Pros
- Pleasing, minimalistic design
- M.2 PCIe 5.0 slot present
- DDR5 support up to 8000 MT/s
Cons
- No boot code LED panel
The B650 Aorus has one of the most beautiful, streamlined designs I’ve seen. It’s mostly black, with silver elements, and the silver stripes running through the PCB and the heatsinks are a nice touch. Its 12-phase VRM configuration is not the best in even the B650 class, but it is more than enough for the 9700X, even with mild overclocking. Meanwhile, the beefy VRM heatsink kept our VRMs under 45°C.
For storage, I was happy to see that we have an M.2 PCIe 5.0 slot, plus two PCIe 4.0 ones, cooled well by the thermal pads and heatsinks. The PCIe 5.0 SSD sits close to the CPU and GPU, but our drive peaked at a fair enough 68°C. There are 4x SATA 3 ports, support for up to DDR5-8000 and WiFi 6E. Also, Gigabyte’s convenient EZ-latch PCIe and M.2 designs make it easy to install/uninstall your drive(s) and GPU.
Here are our expert motherboard reviewer Nauman Siddique’s thoughts on this motherboard:
At the end of the day, the B650 AORUS ELITE AX is almost a balanced feature set provider motherboard that the user can get for their daily driver need. The game is strong with the storage department of this motherboard and USB Type-C Gen 2×2 port provisions as well, though don’t expect to find a PCIe Gen 5 X16 slot.
What Makes It The Best Overall Motherboard For Ryzen 7 9700X?
With its balanced set of features, the B650 Aorus Elite AX V2 is a great option for the mid-to-high-end Ryzen 7 9700X. It offers a sleek black design, a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot, and memory support that you’ll see in more premium boards. I would’ve liked the inclusion of a debug LED panel, but for most users who have already built a PC before, it shouldn’t be a huge concern.
For a B650 motherboard, the Aorus Elite lives up to its title in quite a few aspects: it has a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot, supports incredible memory speeds, and has a ton of rear USB ports. And, of course, its power delivery and onboard cooling system is plentiful for the 65W Ryzen 7 9700X.
– Usman Saleem
| Performance: 8/10 | Value: 9/10 |
| Features: 8.5/10 | Design: 8.5/10 |
MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi
Best Value Motherboard For Ryzen 7 9700X
Chipset: AMD B650 | Memory: DDR5-7600+ (OC) | VRM: 14+2+1 | Video Outputs: HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4 | RGB Lighting: No | Network: Wi-Fi 6E, Realtek 2.5G LAN, Bluetooth 5.3 | Storage: 3x M.2, 6x SATA 6G | USB Ports: 12x Rear, 11x Front
Pros
- Affordable
- 14-phase VRM design
- Decent set of features
Cons
- No onboard RGB
- No PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot
The first sign of a budget motherboard: you won’t see half the motherboard being covered by heatsinks, and that’s what the MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi shows. It has a simple all-black design without any flamboyance. The VRMs follow a 14+2+1 configuration and are cooled by, still, fair-sized heatsinks. At 80A per phase, this is more than enough juice for the 9700X (in fact, you can even upgrade later).
Unfortunately, there are no M.2 PCIe 5.0 slots. The PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots present are cooled nicely by the M.2 Frozr heatsinks. Plenty of USB ports are present, including a USB 3.2 20Gbps Type-C port. Six SATA III ports are present, with room for up to 128 GB of memory (as fast as DDR5-6400 MT/s). The board’s screwless M.2 SSD installation mechanism is easy to work with, and the I/O shield comes pre-installed.
I was very impressed by the MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi’s stellar value; here’s what I said in my hands-on review:
The MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi motherboard delivers robust performance at an affordable price, making it a great value for budget-conscious users. The motherboard features comprehensive USB connectivity with 23 ports, including a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C. The cooling solutions, including extended heatsinks and thermal pads, also performed impressively well in all my tests. Overall, I recommend it to anyone looking for a bang-for-the-buck B650 motherboard.
What Makes It The Best Value Motherboard For Ryzen 7 9700X
The MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi is one of the better affordable B650 boards out there. The features set is mostly standard but adequate for most users. The VRM design, with 14 80W phases, is not only enough for the Ryzen 7 9700X but also leaves room for a CPU upgrade (for example, to the 9900X) down the line. My only complaint is the lack of a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot, but it’s certainly not a dealbreaker.
| Performance: 8.5/10 | Value: 9/10 |
| Features: 8/10 | Design: 8/10 |
MSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi Gaming
Best Overclocking Motherboard for Ryzen 7 9700X
Chipset: AMD X670E | Memory: DDR5-7800+ (OC) | VRM: 18+2+1 | Video Outputs: HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4 | RGB Lighting: Yes | Network: Wi-Fi 6E, Realtek 2.5G LAN, Bluetooth 5.3 | Storage: 4x M.2 (2x PCIe 5.0), 6x SATA 6G | USB Ports: 10x Rear, 13x Front
Pros
- Great design
- Excellent VRMs
- Dual M.2 PCIe 5.0 slots
- Dual PCIe 5.0 expansion slots
Cons
- Expensive
- No 10G LAN port
The MPG X670E Carbon WiFi has a pleasing carbon black theme, with the familiar dragon logo having RGB backlighting. Overall, the look is premium, but I think it could’ve done without the specs listed on the chipset heatsink. The 18+2+1 duet rail VRMs allowed us to manually overclock the chip to 5.4GHz. The VRM heatsinks, with their direct touch heat pipes and thermal pads, kept the temperatures under 60°C.
Moving on, we have four M.2 slots (including 2x PCIe 5.0), 2x PCIe 5.0 slots, and for support up to 128GB of DDR5-7800 memory. This one also has a screwless mechanism for the primary M.2, a pre-installed I/O shield, plus reinforced PCIe slots. Its abundant USB ports include 8x USB 3.2 10Gbps ports and 1x 20Gbps port. Lastly, its audio codec is more than decent, but the lack of a 10G LAN port is a bit of a shocker.
After testing the MSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi Gaming, I summarized my review by saying:
The MSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi motherboard offers a robust feature set, including Gen5 M.2 ports and PCIe slots, excellent VRM cooling with 19+2+1 power phases, and extensive USB connectivity. Its cooling solution makes it an excellent choice for high-performance builds and overclocking enthusiasts. In short, it provides solid performance across the board, and I recommend it.
What Makes It The Best Overclocking Motherboards For Ryzen 7 9700X?
At $479, you’d want the MSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi to tick all the boxes, and it (nearly) does. You get a sleek design with RGB, plenty of power for your CPU, and room for much RAM. Not only that, its I/O connectivity is excellent, with plenty of room for NVMe and SATA storage, USB devices, and support for dual-GPU setups. The addition of a 10GbE LAN port would’ve really sealed the deal, though.
| Performance: 9/10 | Value: 7.5/10 |
| Features: 9.5/10 | Design: 9/10 |
ASRock B650E Steel Legend WiFi
Best White Motherboard For Ryzen 7 9700X
Chipset: AMD B650E | Memory: DDR5-7600+ (OC) | VRM: 16+2+1 | Video Outputs: HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4 | RGB Lighting: Yes | Network: Wi-Fi 6E, Dragon 2.5G LAN, Bluetooth 5.2 | Storage: 3x M.2 (1x PCIe 5.0), 2x SATA 6G | USB Ports: 8x Rear, 9x Front
Pros
- Distinctive design
- Onboard RGB is great
- Impressive VRMs and cooling
- PCIe 5.0 for GPU and NVMe SSD
- Included GPU bracket
Cons
- Only 2x SATA III ports
- Audio codec could’ve been better
The B650E Steel Legend WiFi’s 8-layered PCB is mostly black, while the heatsinks are a flawless “steel” color, with some camo elements present too. RGB is present, and the build quality is good. Power to the CPU is provided by 16x 60A “Smart Power Stages.” The beefy VRM heatsinks keep everything cool; I also had good success with overclocking, and the VRMs didn’t break a sweat, maxing out at 52°C.
We get the mandatory PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot (plus 2x PCIe 4.0 ones) and x16 GPU slots as part of the “Extreme” package. 2x SATA III ports accompany the M.2 slots, which is really lackluster. Memory support is up to DDR5-7600+, and our 6000 MT/s kit ran without hiccups. The audio processor is not the best, though, and it seems ASRock cheaped out here to save costs.
After thoroughly testing the ASRock B650E Steel Legend WiFi, I was really impressed by not just its design but also its overall feature set:
The ASRock B650E Steel Legend WiFi motherboard stands out with its Gen5 PCIe connectivity, robust 16+2+1 power phase design, and an appealing blend of black, white, and silver aesthetics with A-RGB lighting. Though it only has two SATA ports, the motherboard excels in performance, cooling, and value at a competitive price.
What Makes It The Best White Motherboard For The Ryzen 7 9700X?
The ASRock B650E Steel Legend WiFi comes with the PCIe 5.0 goodness of the chipset, along with looks that will fit right in with most white PC builds. Performance and cooling are impressive, but the audio codec and the presence of only 2x SATA III ports were a letdown. We have WiFi 6E and a 2.5G LAN port for networking, and the amount of USB ports is good enough for most users.
| Performance: 9/10 | Value: 7.5/10 |
| Features: 8/10 | Design: 9/10 |
Specifications Comparison
Here’s a quick comparison of all our top picks:
| Motherboard Model | Total Power Phases | Max Memory Speed (MT/s) | Max Memory Capacity (GB) | No. of M.2 slots | No. of SATA III ports | No. of USB ports (Front) | No. of USB ports (Rear) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gigabyte B650 AORUS Elite AX V2 | 16 | 8000 | 192 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 |
| MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi | 17 | 6400 | 128 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 12 |
| MSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi Gaming | 21 | 7800 | 128 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 10 |
| ASRock B650E Steel Legend WiFi | 19 | 7600 | 128 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 |
The Honourable Mentions
Competition is high! Here are some picks that almost made it to the list:
- MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi: A budget motherboard with decent-enough features and VRMs, but the lack of a heatsink for the second M.2 slot was a bummer.
- ASRock X670E Taichi: One of my personal favorites, but I didn’t find it ideal for the list since its E-ATX size limits case compatibility.
Key Motherboard Terms That You Should Know
- VRM: VRMs manage the flow of voltage to specific components like CPU and RAM, ensuring they get the power they need.
- Chipset: The chipset is a group of circuits on the motherboard that manage data flow between the CPU, RAM, and other components.
- Socket: The socket is the slot on the motherboard where the CPU is installed, connecting it to the rest of the system.
- PCIe Slots: These slots are used to add expansion cards like graphics cards, sound cards, and network cards to your motherboard.
- M.2 Slot: This slot on the motherboard is specifically for installing an M.2 NVMe drive.
- BIOS: The BIOS is the firmware on the motherboard that initializes hardware during the boot process and provides runtime services for operating systems and programs.
- Form Factor: The size and shape of your motherboard, known as its form factor, determine how it fits in your case. Common form factors include E-ATX, ATX, mITX, and ITX.
My Strategy For Testing Motherboards
I have tested countless different motherboards over the years, and whenever someone asks me for a motherboard recommendation, I always suggest the options based on these aspects.
- VRM: I go over the VRM configuration on each motherboard. A robust VRM setup is essential for a stable voltage supply to the processor and influences the motherboard’s overclocking capabilities.
- Features: I evaluated the integrated features of each motherboard, which can greatly impact user decisions. Depending on individual needs, I included motherboards with the best feature sets in my recommendations.
- Design: I also paid attention to the design and aesthetics. While these don’t affect performance, they are important for those looking to achieve a specific theme in their build.
- Value: Finally, I assessed each motherboard’s overall value. I ensured that the performance, feature set, storage options, and durability justified the price, providing the best recommendations for various budgets.
FAQs
If you’re currently using a B650 motherboard, you can upgrade to the Ryzen 7 9700X through a BIOS update.
Our testing with various boards showed that 6400 MT/s is the ideal speed for the Ryzen 9000 CPUs.
As AMD promises an average 16% IPC uplift for the Ryzen 9000 series over Ryzen 7000 series, we can expect the 9700X to represent this difference over the 7700X.
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[Reviews Specialist]
Usman Saleem brings 8+ years of comprehensive PC hardware expertise to the table. His journey in the tech world has involved in-depth tech analysis and insightful PC hardware reviews, perfecting over 6+ years of dedicated work. Usman’s commitment to staying authentic and relevant in the field is underscored by many professional certifications, including a recent one in Google IT Support Specialization.
- 8+ years of specialized PC hardware coverage
- 6+ years of in-depth PC hardware analysis and reviews
- Lead PC hardware expert across multiple tech journalism platforms
- Certified in Google IT Support Specialization
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