KITGURU SHORTLISTS: THE BEST MOTHERBOARD OF 2022

Gigabyte’s X570S Aorus Master offers up pretty much everything we could ask for from a high-end, enthusiast geared AM4 motherboard. The power delivery solution and overall focus on cooling is nothing short of exceptional. Gigabyte deserves real credit here as the company has been consistently improving their focus on motherboard cooling and this latest design is simply superb.

The rewards for offering a high-performance flagship motherboard on the TRX40 platform are clear. Vendors are all competing at price points well above £600 which culminates in motherboard options filled to the brim with the features that almost anybody could wish for. ASUS' ROG Zenith II Extreme was no exception to that point. However, ASUS has taken the fight up a notch by releasing an updated 'Alpha' model which is buffed-up with a set of sixteen 90 Amp power stages.

Overclocking performance throughout our testing was good, despite the awkward LLC settings. VRM performance was fine even when coupled with the mediocre heatsink and fan solution. The lack of a proper or accurate VRM temperature sensor is annoying, but the VRM heatsink and 30mm 5700 RPM fan worked well together to cool the eight CPU-focused Vishay SiC639 50A power stages beneath.

The MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk does well to offer a solid balance of features, good cooling capability, and strong overall performance. This blend of positives is likely to appeal to many prospective buyers, particularly as the notable shortcomings are of minor importance. Performance was excellent at stock conditions. Overclocking numbers were also positive, and it was easy to push our 16-core chip to 4.25GHz thanks to MSI’s simple UEFI and clear LLC settings.

The ROG STRIX Z590-E Gaming WiFi is the one board in particular that I liked from this round-up. The overall hardware choices are sensible, the design is attractive yet functional, and there are quality innovation touches such as the tool-less M.2 retention clip. The bigger positive is the price reduction of around £120 versus the Hero while ASUS is still offering a quality board overall.