The Best Motherboards for a Ryzen 5000 CPU
When building a gaming rig it is important to select the best possible parts for your desired use case. If you are an avid gamer you most likely have already figured out that one of the best CPUs on the market for gaming if you are on a budget (relative to a 13th Gen/Ryzen 7000 build) is the the Ryzen 7 5800X3D which is an older AM4 AMD CPU.
Ryzen 5000 CPUs might not be as new as the 7000 series but these make for an amazing value deal (cheaper motherboards and DDR4) but to make full use of these great CPUs, you will also need to purchase a solid motherboard that has an appropriate chipset and is fully compatible with your AMD CPU.
You should also take into consideration the form factor of the motherboards you are researching since more often than not, bigger-sized motherboards have better VRM cooling and more heatsinks overall.
When considering a motherboard for a Ryzen 5000 CPU, you need to look at the B550 and X570 offerings, since these are the best choices in terms of performance for your CPU, RAM compatibility, and overall system stability.
Indeed, you can also buy older motherboards with a B450 chipset since these boards have also received BIOS updates to be compatible with the 5000 series AMD CPUs but in our opinion, it is really not worth the trouble, unless you want to build and extra-budget PC.
You can find very good B550 and X570 motherboards for the Ryzen 5000 readily available so you might as well buy the motherboards that are recommended by AMD themselves.
B550 vs X570 Motherboards
Although quite similar in prices these 2 motherboard lines have different intended audiences. The B550 is made for “normal” people building a PC that probably won’t use all of the 6 USB ports and the other I/O present on the motherboard.
On the other hand, the X570 motherboards offer a fuller list of I/O and specs that would cover all enthusiast necessities.
A quick list of differences would include:
- B550 motherboards have gen 3 CPU link while X570 has gen 4 CPU link
- B550 motherboards mostly use gen 3 PCIe while X570 all have gen 4 PCIe
- B550 motherboards are compatible only with Zen 2+ while X570 can support a wider range of CPUs in case you want to test older hardware.
The Best Motherboards for the Ryzen 5000 CPUs You Should Buy
ASUS TUF Gaming B550-PLUS
Best Asus B550 Motherboard
- B550 chipset
- High-quality power delivery
- Heatsinks used for cooling
The Asus TUF products are known for being well built and the B550 Gaming PLUS from Asus is no exception. The motherboard is fully compatible with the Ryzen 5000 series and offers a lot of cooling potential for any high-end AMD CPU including the 5800X3D – 5950X.
The Gaming PLUS has 8+2 DrMOS power stages and has the ability to power any high-core-count CPU. It also boasts VRM heatsinks that make sure that the motherboard itself works reliably without overheating.
What this means for the average user is that they can take any Ryzen 5000 and overclock it without ever having to worry about power delivery and the stability of the motherboard.
- Instantly compatible with your Ryzen 5000 CPUs
- Capable power delivery and VRM cooling
- Has 2 PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots
- Might be hard to find in stock
Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite V2
The Best Power Delivery on a B550 Board
- 12+2 Phases Digital Twin Power Design
- Dual Ultra-Fast NVMe PCIe 4.0/3.0 x4 M.2
- AMP-UP audio with ALC1200
The B550 Aorus Elite from Gigabyte performs exactly as expected – absolutely phenomenal. Gigabyte motherboards are known for being extremely good at delivering power and keeping themselves cool, therefore calling the Aorus Elite V2 the best motherboard in terms of VRM performance for a Ryzen 5000 is no exaggeration.
The motherboard has a 12+2 DrMOS power design and also has nice thick heatsinks, which can only mean that if you want to overclock your 5800X3D – 5950X you can do so without any worries.
Besides the solid thermal cooling and power delivery, the B550 AORUS Elite V2 has plenty of I/O, has ALC1200 audio, and PCIe gen 4.0 M.2 slots.
This will cover most of the things you would want to do with your motherboard and a 5000 CPU combo, and even give you some headroom for more enthusiast-grade tuning of your PC.
- Never have to worry about power delivery and cooling
- Fast 2.5GbE LAN
- Front-panel USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C
- Gigabyte is known for not having the best BIOS on the market
MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk & MSI MAG B550M Mortar
One of the Most Popular B550 Motherboards
- Efficient power delivery and VRm cooling
- NVMe PCIe 4.0
- 2.5Gbps Ethernet LAN
The reason why we decided to combine the B550 Tomahawk and the B550M Mortar is because these have essentially the same specs but have different form factors. The B550M Mortar is obviously smaller in size but performs as well as its bigger brother the Tomahawk.
Both of these motherboards have one of the best power delivery and cooling systems on the market allowing them to claim the title of one of the best motherboards for the Ryzen 5000 CPUs.
These motherboards from MSI come with PCIe gen 4, fast 2.5Gbps Ethernet LAN, and solid I/O that even comes with front type C connectors.
As we said, the main difference here is the fact that the Mortar is a Micro-ATX motherboard, so if you are planning on having a smaller build then this is the way to go for you.
- Both can easily handle a 5000 CPU
- Good I/O and connectivity
- Micro-ATX form factor
- There are small thermal differences between the mATX and ATX boards simply because of the size of the PCB
- Because of their popularity and AM4 still being relevant in certain markets it is hard to find them in stock
MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk Wi-Fi
Best X570 Motherboard with Wi-Fi
- X570 chipset
- Good power delivery and cooling
- 2.5Gbps LAN Controller and Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200
Surprise surprise, there is another Tomahawk entry on the list but this time it is an X570 motherboard, which denotes it is even harder to not consider the Tomahawk motherboards part of the best motherboards for the Ryzen 5000 CPUs.
The power delivery on this motherboard is an 8+4 configuration and has extended heatsinks on the board for extra cooling. With this in mind, it is easy to understand why this X570 Tomahawk performs extremely well and can be used for any enthusiast build with your AM4 CPU.
As expected of an X570 motherboard, besides the cooling and power delivery nothing else is lacking, PCIe 4.0, Audio boost, and most importantly Wi-Fi connectivity.
Usually, when you think of PC gaming you would expect to use a wired connection for the most stable and reliable performance, but in case you do want to use a Wi-Fi connection, you always have the option to do so.
- Nothing is missing from this motherboard
- Can power your CPU without a hitch
- Has Wi-Fi for flexibility
- It is still pretty expensive for an older AM4 motherboard
Gigabyte X570 AORUS Elite
Best Price to Performance x570 Motherboard
- 12+2 Dr. MOS power stages
- Beefy VRM heatsink
- Dual PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 Connectors
Indeed, there is another Aorus Elite entry, and just like with the Tomahawk, this one is a jump to an X570 chipset, which means a jump to enthusiast performance and specs. With this purchase, you will receive a true 12+2 phase digital VRM and an extended VRM heatsink that will allow you to do whatever you want with your AM4 motherboard.
Since this is an X570 motherboard you will obviously also get dual PCIe gen 4, high-quality ALC 1200 audio, Intel Gigabit Lan, plenty of I/O that also comes with a front USB Type-C, and of course some RGB!
The X570 Aorus Elite is fully compatible with any 5000 CPU so if you do not want Wi-Fi and want an extremely solid motherboard for your build, this is the choice for you.
- Can cool and power any AMD AM4 CPU
- Front USB Type-C
- ALC1200 Audio
- Quite expensive for an AM4 motherboard
- Gigabyte motherboards are known for not having the best BIOS settings
How to Choose the Best Motherboard for a Ryzen 5000 CPU
When it comes to PC components it is important to find something that fits your build. This will depend on the budget you have, the features you want, and the upgradability you expect.
All of the motherboards on this list are all capable of powering a Ryzen 5000 CPU properly since that was the main criterion for selection. There is no point in suggesting a motherboard with weak VRM cooling and power delivery for CPUs that have the potential run pretty toasty.
Depending on if you want Wi-Fi or perhaps an mATX motherboard your choices are pretty obvious, but if you are not as pretentious then you have a handful of motherboards to choose from.
The main factor that you should pay attention to then becomes price. If you can find an X570 motherboard for the same price as the B550 motherboards you should just get that. If on the other hand, you can find better deals on the B550 motherboards, you should really just invest in that since you are not exactly losing out on much.
There are differences and downsides to the B550 line of motherboards, but for this specific scenario where you want to pair it with a Ryzen 5000, there would be no issue whatsoever.
This is all you need to know about the best motherboards for the Ryzen 5000 CPUs!